Better coatings, better light transmission. I am just a simple man myself and just need a scope to hunt with in legal shooting hours. The VX-1 suits my needs and is all I can afford anyway. The rifleman series seems to be a lot like the VX-1 series. According to the Leupold catalog the VX-1 might have a better coating and is ahead of the Rifleman in the catalog so I would assume it is better. If this is the case, I do not know why anyone would buy a rifleman since from what I have seen they are the same price.