I have said for the longest time that I believed that Leupold had been sitting on their laurels with their then current Vari-X series - which had remained essentially unchanged for, I don't know, 10, 12, 15 years?
Yes, I know what some of you will say - why fix something that ain't broke. Yup, I understand your point, but, then again, does something have to be broke before you can improve it? During the "Vari-X years" other companies, like Bushnell and Nikon, for instance, came out with their Elites and Monarchs, respectively. And Rainguard is a nice little feature to have on a scope.
Before the Monarchs came out, both the Pre-Monarchs and the Vari-X IIIs had 88% light transmission. Yes, I know that optical clarity, resolution, and brightness are not everything, but let's just talk about this for now. So, all else being equal, for some, it was still a tough call between the pre-monarch and Vari-X between the Leupold starting getting more expensive. Heck, I remember back in 1988, the 3.5x-10x-50mm matte in both the Nikon Pre-Monarch and Leupold Vari-X III were both $399 at a big sports store in Houston. And not just this sports store, but many other stores too, and even big named catalogs too (remember that this was wayyyy before the internet.) Then, sometime soon after 1988, the Leupolds starting getting more expensive. Why? Some people will tell you just because of the product, others will tell you just because of marketing. At that point I had not owned any Leupolds, but several friends did. Truth be told, neither the Nikons nor the Leupolds gave any of us any problems - they all tracked well, kept their groups, and were rugged.
Anyhow, I don't know why, but the prices on the Leupolds went up, and then Nikon came out with what we all know was the Buckmaster and the Monarch. As far as I know, the Buckmaster is essentially the pre-monarch with 88% light transmission, yet it was now selling for a whole lot less, and the Monarch now had 95% light transmission and was selling for about what the pre-Monarchs sold. Other than that, I think that, internally, the Buckmaster and Monarchs are the same. Still, the Vari-X IIIs were still climbing in price.
As a result, since my experience led me to believe that the Monarch was actually a better scope than the Vari-X IIIs (at least for my hunting styles and purposes), I bought Nikon scopes. I later bought a few Vari-X III scopes with the Illuminated reticles because Leupold was one of the first companies to come out with illuminated reticles and I just loved that concept. So I bought about 3 or so Vari-X IIIs. Still, I was disappointed in the optics. The Monarch's optics were better and much less expensive than the Vari-X IIIs.
So during the Vari-X years, yea, I bought some Vari-Xs, but I bought a bunch more Elite 4200s and Monarchs, as well as a couple of Burris Black Diamonds, Nightforce NXSs, and the like.
However, now that Leupold has come out with the new VX-III line, I may buy one, even though they are still more expensive than the Monarchs. The optics are supposed to be much better, with something like 98% light transmission. Oh, BTW, Leupold did come out with the technology of the LPS, so I am remiss in not mentioning that. However, the LPS was a $1,000 scope and competed with the likes of Zeiss (pre-Conquest, meaning the REAL Zeiss scopes - the V/VM line), and Swarovski PH scopes. It's a good thing I mention this here because the LPS had (has) 99.something light transmission. Well, if the new VX-IIIs have 98% and the Monarchs and Elite 4200s have 95%, and the VX-IIIs are more competitive with the 4200s and Monarchs, then why would anyone spend another $500 or so to get the LPS for an extra 1.something percent light transmission??? While the LPS has a 30mm tube, I still don't think that it will, at least in my eyes, justify essentially double the price, but it might to some people because 30mm tubes offer greater internal adjustments and, for whatever reason, that may be important to someone, but not me.
One of the things that sets Leupold apart from the Elite 4200 is that the Elite 4200 is, on average, heavier and longer than a Leupold. I sure wish that Bushnell would improve in this area. Now, on some rifles this is not a big deal - I don't care about the extra length or weight. However, on some rifles, it is important.
Another important point is that the Elite 4200s generally have less eye relief than the Leupolds. Granted, everyone should take this with a grain of salt because the 4200s essentially have constant eye relief whereas the Leupolds have variable eye relief. This means that, say the 4200 has 3.3 inches of constant eye relief, anywhere from 2.5x-10x, and the Leupold may have 4.5 inches (at 3x) to 3.6 inches at (10x). So, if you are hunting at lower powers, then you have more eye relief. However, if you shoot at higher magnifications, then you have less eye relief. So if you shoot a Leupold at high magnifications, then the difference is not that great when shooting an elite 4200 at any magnification.
I am going to be receiving my Kimber 8400 Montana in 300WSM soon, and this is a relatively light rifle. I need a scope that will not only be lighter, but also shorter so as to balance the rifle. Also, this will primarily be my elk gun (hopefully :grin: ) so I will be using lower magnifications. In this instance, the VX-III is going to be my choice. Yes, I know that it will cost noticeably more money than a Monarch and Elite 4200, but it is kinda essential in my case.
Well, that's it for now. As a moderator, I just wanted to give our members and guests a little history about these scopes, kinda like an author writes a column in a magazine. I like to go the extra mile in my capacity as a moderator, especially when sometimes my traveling and busy schedule prevent me from participating as much or often as I would like.
My question is whether any of you have used the new VX-III scopes. If so, how do you like them? Do you think that they are a definite improvement over the older Vari-X line? I guess our sponsors could at least tell us how the new scopes have improved optically. Jon? Your thoughts? And then, are there any of you that have purchased these scopes and actually used them in the field? Your thoughts?
I'm pretty sure that I'm going to get the new VX-III in 2.5x-8x-36mm for my Kimber, but I would like to hear any experiences or opinions that you guys may have.
Thanks for reading.
Zachary
