Leupold vs Vortex

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shroh

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Hey guys,

I have been doing a bit of research and finally came down to Leupold vs Vortex for my future rifle.

Quick background:
Been clay shooting for 10+years (still learning)
shot handguns here and there
no experience to long range shooting / bolt action rifle.

My friend and I have been talking and got ourselves into getting a nice set of bolt action for some 1000 yard+ shooting.
We are still debating but it looks like we are looking towards Savage 110 Stealth Evo (cant afford tikka... ...)



When it comes to optics... well I have little to no knowledge towards optics.

After talking to my friend, we've filtered down to MIL, FFP, something that will handle 1000 yard, up to 1000m.

And so far what I am looking at are:

Leupold VX-3i LRP 8.5-25x50mm (30mm) Side Focus MIL FFP
Vortex VIPER® PST™ GEN II 5-25X50 FFP

What do you guys think and what are your opinions?

Let me know =)

Thanks
 
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Used and owned both, VX3I LRP hands down. Main reason is although vortex has a good warranty, I had to use it twice on the same scope. Both times my groups began to steadily creep to the right. Leupold warranty is just as good, but fortunately I have not had to use it. Just my 2 cents, and only my experience.
 
I'll give you another perspective that may or not be useful to you.
Disregard if buying new.

If purchasing scopes used,
Vortex has an unconditional lifetime warranty, which means if previous owner is hiding something major from you, big chances are you are covered for it.
Leupold is about the most counterfeit scope in the world right now, I am not saying don't buy a used one, but due diligence (asking the owner to picture the serial number and then you e-mailing it to Leupold) is strongly suggested.
As the previous owner may not even know himself that he's been scammed.
 
I've had good luck with my gen 2 PST, but with Bushnell offering 30% mail in rebates right now I'd be looking at their elite tactical scopes. After the rebate you could have a DMR 2/HDMR 2 for a similar price as those two scopes.
IIRC, Precision Optics (vendor here) put an additional discount on top, bringing the total up to 37% off.
 
Leupold hands down. I've not owned the specific model of vortex you have but I have owned 2 vortex viper HS 4-16x44 and the glass quality doesn't live up to the price point. I do like the overall build of the vortex but when it comes to clarity leupold is much better for a similar price point.
 
Superglide said:
Used and owned both, VX3I LRP hands down. Main reason is although vortex has a good warranty, I had to use it twice on the same scope. Both times my groups began to steadily creep to the right. Leupold warranty is just as good, but fortunately I have not had to use it. Just my 2 cents, and only my experience.
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I WAS leaning towards vortex but that is a good point... last thing I want is having to send your scope for service over and over instead of shooting with it...


kawicrash said:
I think you mean Vortex
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hahaha you are absolutely correct! FIXED! - thank you kawicrash.


MartyK2500 said:
I'll give you another perspective that may or not be useful to you.
Disregard if buying new.

If purchasing scopes used,
Vortex has an unconditional lifetime warranty, which means if previous owner is hiding something major from you, big chances are you are covered for it.
Leupold is about the most counterfeit scope in the world right now, I am not saying don't buy a used one, but due diligence (asking the owner to picture the serial number and then you e-mailing it to Leupold) is strongly suggested.
As the previous owner may not even know himself that he's been scammed.
Click to expand...

I will be buying new. This is actually really good info. I did not know leupold had problems with counterfeit. I should watch out even when I am purchasing as a new.


Unholysavage said:
I've had good luck with my gen 2 PST, but with Bushnell offering 30% mail in rebates right now I'd be looking at their elite tactical scopes. After the rebate you could have a DMR 2/HDMR 2 for a similar price as those two scopes.
IIRC, Precision Optics (vendor here) put an additional discount on top, bringing the total up to 37% off.
Click to expand...

hmmm I did look at elite tactical dmr ii pro at one point and cost might have been what drove me away. Found Precision Optics web and saw their rebates. Thank you!
 
If you will be shooting known distances and just plinking I would go a used Sightron Siii with a SFP reticle. Better glass than both scopes listed (imho) and you dont need FFP for plinking.
 
If shooting Leupold, the only ones worth owning are the LRP, Mark 5 and Deltapoint Pro. The rest are overpriced and lacking in features. Leupold rested on their laurels too long from Government contracts in the 90’s and are behind the ball and now playing catch up.

Vortex has a whack of garbage lines that will break and fail with a breeze. That is except for the Razor line of scopes they have which are duty grade and worth the money.

Both companies have diamonds in the rough but you need to be careful which scopes you pick. Just because it has the brand name on it, doesn't mean the quality or workmanship is equal across all the product lines.
 
LittleBoyLefty said:
I don't know anyone, who shoots a high-ish round count, that has been happy with either option for long. YMMV. :)
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100%. If you want to get into the LR or ELR game and stay there, buy once cry once. Nightforce, Schmidt & Bender, Zero Compromise, Minox are the brands to buy. I would include the Vortex Razor HD and Leupold Mark 5 in that as well.
 
Vortex is awesome, good quality with warranty, bit compared to Leopold, it's entry level, Leopold is high tier, like a caddy vs a Austin Martin.
From what I finds anyways
 
shroh said:
I will be buying new. This is actually really good info. I did not know leupold had problems with counterfeit. I should watch out even when I am purchasing as a new.
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Here arrrr ah couple photos of a fake.
Leupold down south is the place to get hold of.
The gent I spoke to mentioned this serial number on this clone
is a familiar one to wartch out for.
He did mention a sure give away on a clone is the placement of the serial number.
Leupold puts them on the bottom flat, not the side.
Then again, some of my old Leupold scopes have the number on the left side flat.
No idea when they changed this location.

I too agree with the Leupold decision.
They seem to work very well with my eyes.

wyH7MBY.jpg
74PMYSi.jpg
 
kamlooky said:
Here arrrr ah couple photos of a fake.
Leupold down south is the place to get hold of.
The gent I spoke to mentioned this serial number on this clone
is a familiar one to wartch out for.

I too agree with the Leupold decision.
They seem to work very well with my eyes.

wyH7MBY.jpg
74PMYSi.jpg
Click to expand...

And if you want pictures of a fake leupold Mark for 4 to 12 x just ask I can get them I have one on my rifle right now bought it off someone on the e e figured it was too good to be true but I didn't care and the glass is clear as day
 
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Vortex has a good warranty, but chances are your going to need it. Most serious experienced shooters I know will not own one, some are good many go bad. They are made in China and are unpredictable. A bad scope can be a nightmare on a hunting trip. I have looked at many Vortex scopes but found them to be heavy and overpriced for what they really are.
 
bunny said:
Vortex has a good warranty, but chances are your going to need it. Most serious experienced shooters I know will not own one, some are good many go bad. They are made in China and are unpredictable. A bad scope can be a nightmare on a hunting trip. I have looked at many Vortex scopes but found them to be heavy and overpriced for what they really are.
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My razor says otherwise, don't put all Vortex in the same basket!
Been going strong for 3 years and 3500+ rounds of 308 now.
Own a NF ATACR and a Vortex Razor gen ll, while the ATACR is superior the razor gen 2 sure holds on it's own for the price point.

Agree that crossfire and possibly diamondback and Chinese junk.
When you start in the viper or pst lineup they are made in Philippines, and most are problem free and not junk.
 
I put Leupold in the "quality entry level" category witj some good upper end stuff. I won't buy Vortex again. I've owned multiple products from Crossfire to Razor, red dot to binoculars. Every single one went back for warranty at least twice. I gave up trying to like them, sold what I hadn't already and never looked back.
 
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