Lower end Bushell, Vortex, Leupold ?

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VX is much better all around.
I will say I will never buy another freedom scope. The windage and elevation knobs are plastic and fell off.
 
To my eyes Crossfires suck. Glass is subpar and eyebox is bad. Where Crossfire, Diamondback and Viper fall short to me is low light.

I wouldn’t feel disadvantaged with a Fullfield II. I haven’t looked through any of the Bushnell’s recommended, I do have an Elite 4200 that holds its own with much newer scopes.

Of all the suggestions my choice would be easy, VX-3i 2.5-8x36.
 
I have been unimpressed with the lower end leupold scopes. Now, don't get me wrong, I have 4, but only because they are small and I'm putting them on carbines. Their turrets are garbage, the glass is fair, and the price is...well, they're proud of their stuff. I bought my last 2 vx freedon 1.5-4x scopes from mysmokinguns for $162 each, $10 flat rate shipping, no tax 3 weeks ago. now, the price has gone up, but today I got an email from them saying
ENJOY 15% OFF ATHLON AND LEUPOLD OPTICS AND A FURTHER 20% OFF EOTECH AND HOLOSUN!

We are pleased to announce new coupon codes for all Leupold, Athlon, EOTech and Holosun optics that entitle you to huge discounts. These coupons never expire. Please share with your friends, colleagues and family.

Our items are permanently on sale, and available to you at the lowest prices you will find ANYWHERE.


Your Discount Codes Are:

GLASS for Leupold or HOLODAY for Holosun
for Athlon or Eotech just use ATHLON and EOTECH to redeem your discount!

As far as burris/vortex: I compared a 2-7x ff2 to a 1-5x diamondback. When both were set on 5x, the diamondback had a brighter and wider field of view by a fair margin. Now, the 4-12x diamondback I had was not good. Tight eyebox and it was dark. My favorite scopes were the weaver grand slams that natchez used to clear out. They're mostly gone, but this one would still be my pick for a 450 bushmaster over a ff2 or anything leupold less than a vx3 https://www.natchezss.com/weaver-re...scope-2-8x36mm-49-1-12-6-3-46-3-31-matte.html $260
I also compared a vortex strike eagle to a primary arms 1-6x scope. optics were virtually identical, they probably come from the same factory. I like the KISS reticle of the PA a lote better than the strike eagle reticle. Actually I hated the strike eagle reticle, though the powere adjustment ring was easier to turn than on the PA.

if I was on a budget, I'd get this bushnell legend. I liked the legend scopes too. https://www.natchezss.com/bushnell-...x-reticle-35-12-fov-3-5-eye-relief-matte.html $110
I would also look at the used scopes on ar15.com. sometime you can find a screaming deal.
 
I ended up at my local gun store today. Other than Lowe’s, grocery and the hardware store it’s the only thing open here in MI. He matched any price I had for the Leupold, and strongly recommended Leupold with what I was looking at. I ended up with the VX Freedom. He said he couldn’t recommend lower end Vortex but would sell me one if I wanted it. He said the higher end Vortex were ok. I didn’t ask them to explain as I was not particularly looking at Vortex.

I think the Leupold will be fine, and I feel good buying local. I don’t twist turrets much anyhow so I may never notice they’re crap . Thanks for all the suggestions guys.

Jeff
 
There may be other good options, but Leupold is never a bad one. If you tend to zero the scope and leave it even the lower end Leupolds do fine. If you are constantly twisting knobs there may be better scopes for this. But they are clear in low light and generally pretty tough. I do also like the Burris FF-II, but they have stopped making it and replaced it with a newer version. I have not even seen one of the new ones yet.

You don't say what magnification you went with, but on an AR I really like 1-4X or 1.5-4X. 1X or 1.5X is incredibly fast up close and 4X is enough for 300+ yards. That'll cover 90% of what anyone will ever do.
 
js8588 said:
FYI the new Leupold Vx-Freedom 30mm line is just the VX-R line rebranded.
Click to expand...
Don’t remember VX-R Patrol having plastic knobs. My Freedom does. No more Freedom optics for me. So they are not rebranded. Freedoms most likely are have some Chinese glass and plastic knobs.
 
army_eod said:
Don’t remember VX-R Patrol having plastic knobs. My Freedom does. No more Freedom optics for me. So they are not rebranded. Freedoms most likely are have some Chinese glass and plastic knobs.
Click to expand...

30mm, not the 1 inch.

And all Leupolds are US assembled.
 
it's because of the truth in labeling law. Some of their products are assembled in the USA. But the components are not all made here. All Leupold glass is Asian. Some Japanese, some chinese. they used to say that on their website, just like they used to say that their scopes are not as bright as some counterparts because their erector systems are designed to allow for more windage and elevation.
 
I wouldn’t call the VX-Freedom with IR as rebranded VX-R’s either. I’d call them the replacement for the VX-R and in this case not a good thing.

Does anyone know if Leupold has come under new management or ownership over the last five years or so? The reason I ask is because from the outside looking in, the moves made by Leupold during that timeframe were almost exclusively cost cutting measures. I was a Leupold fan for a long time but not anymore. The only scopes of their’s below VX-5HD I’d care to own are the VX-3i 2.5x8x36 and Freedom 3-9x33 EFR.

I don’t have any problem with Asian glass. As with anything else some of it is outstanding and some sucks.

Made in the USA also means nothing to me because it quite often doesn’t reflect what we think of as, “Made in the USA”.
 
I'd get a varix III or vx3 1.5-5 used for around 250-300$ if it were me. I have a few low power leupolds I use on hunting rifles because I like a lot of fov in case anything spooks close up
 
Just bought a vx-3i from libertytreeguns.com for 302 OTD. Considering leupy has a rebate through may 28 for free alumina cap set with VX-3i purchase, hard to go wrong. Can sell them for $70 profit and only be into the 3i for about $230. Lot of scope for $230 invested. I also have a vx-freedom 3-9x40, ffii 2-7, have time behind a freedom 3-9 firedot. My thoughts are this, with this rebate going on, get the 3i. That being said the firedot on my buddies vx-freedom was sweet but he paid $315 new and that is a pretty solid price for that scope. Eye relief and eyebox aren't quite as good on the ffii as the Leopolds but not much is. As far as clarity and glass they all seem quite decent to my eyes. For me eye relief and weight is also important as is aesthetics so leupold is my preference for the most part. Good balance of features I'm looking for. Probably just muddied the waters for ya. Also, forgot to mention I had a crossfire ii which I quickly sent down the road. Eyebox was pretty bad (relatively), eye relief not great and glass was a noticeable step down from the above scopes. Also had a diamondback hp. Somewhat underwhelmed for price paid. Well built and solid eye relief on that one though. Just felt like I was looking through a straw on the low setting and noticed more edge distortion than I like close to the 2x mag.
ETA - Im a set it and forget it shooter so the mushy plastic turrets on the freedom don't bother me and no it hasn't given me any undue trouble and they have not fallen of or anything. Quite happy with it for price paid.
 
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