Leupold Vari-X III vs. Vari-X II Scopes

M

Mike Kilo Niner

New member
I was in the local Bass Pro Shop drooling over Tikka Whitetail Hunters this afternoon, and have made that decision -- for the money I've got to spend, the Tikka will do nicely.

Now it's time to pick optics... Since I'm looking to put together one versatile, fairly lightweight, accurate bolt gun, I'm looking for a good scope -- Leupold being the natural choice based on a scan of the archives.

But what's the difference between the Vari-X II and Vari-X III scopes? Apart from price, I mean -- and the difference was substantial. I was thinking something along the lines of a 2-7x33mm or 3-9x40mm with a Post & Duplex or German #4 reticle.

I'd also appreciate some suggestions on other brands I should be considering -- good quality, not too spendy?

Thanks for the help.
 
I've owned a number of Leupold Vari-X II's and have never been disappointed in any of them. Mostly, I have used the 3x9 (I believe that I have owned 4 or 5 of them), and one 2x7. My most recent purchase, about 8 months ago, was of a 3x9x40 in a matte finish.

I have hunted in the mountains of New Mexico to far South Texas, in temperatures ranging from sub-zero to the high nineties, in snow, rain, and shine. The Vari-X II has never let me down.

My teenage daughter inherited (confiscated?) the 2x7x30 from me a couple of years ago. That scope is a perfect match for her Rem 700 Mountain rifle and she has taken more than a half-dozen deer with the combo. She really brags on the scope even though it is well over 25 years old! It is still crisp and bright.

Guess what I'm leading up to, is that I can't see any really good reason to spend the additional bucks for the Vari-X III -- not for the hunting that I do, at least.

For what its worth.

Good luck with your decision.
 
I'm quite pleased with my two Vari-X IIs; a 3x9 and a 2x7. They're age 30 and 20, respectively, and still doing just fine. The 3x9 has spent a lot of truck-time on rough jeep trails; no movement off sight-in. It's tumbled down a couple of mountains with me, also, with no harm.

For the money, and for hunting at ranges inside 500 yards, I'm quite content.

Art
 
Over the years I've owned two Vari-X IIIs and two Vari-X IIs. Optically, the Vari-X III gathers a little more light and might permit you to shoot longer. In daylight I couldn't discern a meaningful difference.

The III has click adjustments and the II friction adjustments if that matters. I thought it would but in practice it doesn't. The III eye relief varies with the power level and I know of at least one hunter who despises the III for this reason. The III has a slightly greater range of power in the variable but it's not enough IMHO to make a large difference.

The IIIs that I've owned came to me as parts of trades or other dealing and I've sold them for as much if not more than I paid for them. I kept the IIs because they do the job and I don't see a glaring advantage of the III given the difference in price.

Other scopes I used and been satisified with are the Bausch and Lomb/Bushnell Elite series. I have spent money on cheaper scopes and regretted it.
 
Thanks everyone!

That's exactly the kind of info I needed. Thanks for the tips. The sample scopes I saw had screw-on caps on the adjustment turrets, but no knobs. Are you really supposed to adjust them with a penny, or are those samples just stripped to keep grabby hands from messing with them?

I've got a scope on my 10-22 which has knobs to adjust the windage and elevation, and assumed that was just a standard thing. As you can tell, I'm a scope newbie ;) -- iron sights are all I ever used up until a year ago.
 
For hunting purposes, I've never touched the elevation or windage adjustments. In fact, I don't touch them at all except to sight in. Once set, I screw the caps on firmly (the rubber o-rings keep dirt and moisture out) and leave them alone.

And, yes, various coins work just fine!

Hint: Once you have your zero doped out, reset the metal ring around the adjustment screw to "0". Then, if you ever do have to re-adjust, you will know your starting point.
 
I bought a Vari-X II 3x9x40 from my neighborhood gun shop owner because the price was so good. I then sent it to Premier Reticles for target turrets and click stop adjustments, again for a reasonable price. The gun shop owner commented that for a hunting scope he preferred the coin adjustments and screw on caps. He went on a hunting trip with a target turret scope and missed his first shot at a nice deer or elk by a good distance. It seemed that one of his hunting companions just couldn't resist fiddling with those knobs when the rifle was set aside in hunting camp.
 
One other difference between the VXII and the VXIII is the lens coatings. The III has a better lens coating for superior light transmission. But for the average person you can't go wrong with either one.
 
I have both. The III is definately a better scope, IMNSHO. However, I think you get more bang for the buck with a II.

David
 
"Bang for the buck" -- that's exactly what I'm looking for. Thanks all for the quick replies. I'll keep you all posted once I get the rifle, rings and scope.
 
Mike, you've gotten good feedback here. I have both VX-IIs and VX-IIIs. I choose between them based on application. If strictly for big game hunting, you get more for your money with the VX-II. As has been said, you'll likely zero the scope at your preferred range and then forget about it, except to reaffirm zero occasionally.

For target work, however, I prefer the VX-III. The better lens coatings are nice, but this is where the click adjustments really shine. My VX-IIIs all wear target turrets to make adjustments simple. Precision shooters work up data cards so they know how many "come-ups" they need from a particular zero to be able to hold "dead on" at some other range. Target turrets are particularly well suited to target quality rimfires. I can now click to 15, 50, and 100 yard zeroes without "sighting in" all over again.

With regard to your last question, I think highly of Leupolds. They are NOT the best quality glass out there, but they sure fit my need. You might also take a look at Burris scopes. My experience with them has been very good, although some have reported some quality control issues. But I'd avoid anything of less quality.
 
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