Hey PDshooter, I've got a whole bunch of Leupold scopes and have never had a problem with them. Did return some to have the HEAVY Duplex reticles installed and noticed they "upgraded" some of the internal goodies on scopes that had no problems at all as far as I could tell. Apparently Leupold thought this newer stuff would make them even better, so they changed those pieces on their own.
I've got a buddy who is beginning to buy Burris Scopes and I must admit that the ones he has so far seem to be very well built. His latest is a Fullfield II and we both get the impression that it is equivalent to a VariX-II. We base that simply on looking through them during twilight, not by any sales brochures.
Haven't had a chance to compare one of the Signatures with a VariX-III yet. But, I see nothing at all wrong with Burris products.
By the way, the Burris Signature scope rings, that have the floating synthetic inserts, are the best rings currently available on the market. I've got a bunch of the Leupold Dual Dovetail mounts, but as I get new rifles, they will ALL have the Burris Signature rings.
Good hunting and clean 1-shot kills, Hot Core