Vote between these three scopes for my 20" AR build

at the moment all my rifles sport Nikons. Dollar for dollar, the best value I've found.

A good bang for the buck in a long range scope, is Burris 5X25X50 II. It's done very well at 1,000 yards plus.

The coyotes around here will tell you to avoid the Nikons.

...but I am a believer.

This guy paused to take one last look at us from 400yds.

I have owned one Nikon and used/looked thru maybe 6-8 others. Always been underwhelmed.

Very little experience with Vortex. They seem to get good reviews, but I kinda take that with a grain of salt. Most guys don't have a large enough sample size to be objective. Or, they want their choice validated by someone else getting the same thing. Dunno.

I can tell you that I've owned and used LOTS of Leupolds. Their newest line is absolutely awesome, and service are second to none.. my close second would be Burris.

I go on a prairie dog hunt every few years. After sitting behind a scope for hours, the differences become apparent. I thought my older Leupolds VX-III's were top of the line. The new VX-3's blow them away.

YMMV

I recently put a Monarch 4x16BDC on a 6.5 Grendel AR. It's seems like a pretty good scope.
I don't think any of the three you listed are bad choices.

My eyes prefer nikons glass and coatings, probably the coatings.
I had one of the older Mark Ars, not a mod 1, solid scope but didnt like it enougn to justify keeping it.

I'm not a Vortex fan. I've sold a bunch of Nikons and recommended them to many people. They are good scopes but I don't see well through them so I don't own any. Others such as LoonWulf see great through Nikon and I don't believe it's just because he is a low class individual that he does see well through them. Come to think of it my best friend Opie is much lower class than LoonWulf and his favorite scope brand is Nikon.

I voted Leupold because I see great through them and their customer service is number one on the charts and climbing higher all the time.

I believe Crossfires suck, Diamondbacks are pretty decent, Vipers underwhelm me and Razors are top notch. And yes I've looked through many Vortex scopes and used to own two Vipers.

Pfft low CLASS!?! Ill have you know i drink only the finest boxed whine, whilest i partake of snausages and string scheez........

Cdb made a good point, everyone's eyes are different. And even changing lines in brands can have an effect on how one see thru the scope. Finding the correct brand and line that fits your budget can sometimes be tough
But once your there youll always have a fall back. Unless of course your eyes change.

Ive got a buddy who loves leupolds and knows they work for his eyes, hes not a scope (or really even a gun) guy so this actually makes huge sense for him. He wont try a bunch of scopes before buying he just orders the leupold in the magnification range he can wants and can afford.

Got another friend who really happens to like the old Burris scopes, and found that the mid level Vortex look the same to him (i dont think any of us liked the crossfire), now hes an avid Vortex fanboy.

Honestly your eyes will tell you more than we can....oh just as a note, keep an eye out for the 2015 nikon bushmasters, they have the optical quality of the older bushmaster line but are housed in whqt LOOKS like old prostaff tubes....ive only ever seen 3-9s tho...

I have the exact vortex scope on my 20" woa upper. It's a VERY very good scope. Best bang for your buck and THE best warranty on the market. Get the hst

I own a Mark AR which has pretty good glass but not top-notch. I own a Nikon P-22 (rimfire scope with similar turrets to the M-Series) and it too has decent glass at 1/3 the price I paid for the Leupold, though in a slightly lower magnification.

I would agree that a peek through each would be a good idea. I was impressed with the VX-3 my father bought but far less impressed with the Leupold binoculars he purchased. Comparing the binos side by side to the less expensive Nikon Monarchs, there was noticible chromatic aberration with the Leupys that my father could not see. I saw a distinct, thick blue outline to the image.

Still, I voted Leupold. Really like the filters and covers you can purchase for them as well.

I don't think Leupold is strong in the binocular market. I could be wrong but I don't think they make their binoculars.

It's hard to pick, I don't think you've included any bad choices, but if cost isn't a consideration, I pick the Leupold. I have the most experience with 'em and I've put a couple of them through tough conditions and they've never failed me.

I picked the Leupold just because thats just about all I own on my hunting rifles and there made in the USA

I do not like high powered large objective scopes on an AR, and have no experience with any of these. I would go somewhere you can set all three on a table and do an objective comparison as the only difference between them is the brand manufacturer.

I own 3 Vortex scopes, one on an AR, one on a K98 Mauser 8MM, and one on a Mini Ranch 14, no problems and I like them. Hard choice though, as they are all good scopes. The scope I have on the AR is a Crossfire II 9X40, so only a 1" tube. The other two are 30mm.

It's hard to go wrong with the Vortex warranty.

The Vortex warranty must be exercised far too often IMO. It's basically a copy of the Leupold warranty but Leupold scopes don't break with near the frequency as Vortex. My opinion is based on selling both brands of scopes at a very large dealer. There is one caveat- Razors-they are excellent scopes.