Vortex gets a lot of press due to their VIP warranty which is incredible, no doubt. I prefer to NOT need to avail myself of a warranty. Over the years I’ve seen more people speak from experience about the Vortex warranty and that, in and of itself, is something to look at. Leupold, IMO, makes a solid product with better quality glass. Especially if you’re looking for a basic hunting scope. Where they have fallen short lately is in changing trends in shooting (shooter needs) and the robustness and precision of their internals. Basically, I think they sat on their laurels for a while. Last year, though, they seemed to make some big changes that showed they are willing to claw their way back to their former glory. I’m really impressed with some of the newer Leupold scopes I’ve been shooting for the last 9+ months. They’re some of the top-tier offerings but the improvement in the reticle offerings and the redesigned dials have been tremendous. The hit-or-miss nature of the dials, in terms of repeatability, is gone. At least in the 3 2017 models I have. A BiG improvement over the ‘15 and ‘16 models. Their Gold Ring warranty has always been good but I’ve only had to use it once out of probably 30-35 scopes I’ve had. They also tend to be lighter than Vortex, and many other premium brands, which makes them very appealing (to me) for a mountain rifle.
Don’t get me wrong- Vortex makes some terrific products and I own a good number of them. My daily driver binos for work (guiding) is a pair of Viper 10x42s and I’ve got a bunch of different rifle scopes. My AMG is terrific as a PRS scope. I own lots of optics and almost all of it is from one premium brand or another. I’ve got no brand loyalty - I find what I like at the time for the particular need I have and that’s who I go with. That said, Leupold ranks slightly higher, in my mind, over Vortex. All things being equal, that is.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk