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Leupold VX-III LR vs. Nikon Monarch Gold

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TheDrakeTaker View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote TheDrakeTaker Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Leupold VX-III LR vs. Nikon Monarch Gold
    Posted: July/21/2007 at 12:31
I need some input from people who know more about optics than I.  I have narrowed my decision down to the two scopes listed in the subject.  Leupold's VX-III LR 4.5-14X50 and Nikon's Monarch Gold 2.5-10X50 scopes.  I know that swaro and zeiss are much better but I can't afford them.  Which would you guys go with?  The price difference between these two does not affect my decision, I want to maximum brightness and clarity that I can get on my budget with one of these two scopes.  Thanks for your help.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote cheaptrick Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July/21/2007 at 14:56
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote koshkin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July/21/2007 at 16:53
Both are good scope.  Nikon is, I think, a little better optically, but Leupy gives you higher magnification, which really comes down to a personal choice.

If you are OK with a 10x top end, I would also look long and hard at IOR Hunting 2.5-10x42 with #4 reticle or 4-14x50 with the same reticle:

http://www.swfa.com/pc-10154-291-ior-25-10x42-hunting-30mm-r ifle-scope.aspx
http://www.swfa.com/pc-10178-291-ior-4-14x50-hunting-30mm-ri fle-scope.aspx

That would be a step up in optical quality.

ILya


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote TheDrakeTaker Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July/21/2007 at 20:58
Thanks to both cheaptrick and koshkin.  To answer your question cheaptrick, the scope will be used on my .300 win mag for big game hunting.  Mainly whitetail deer.  I really want the best low-light scope I can get for the money, which one is it in your opinion?  Thanks again.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote TheDrakeTaker Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July/21/2007 at 21:08
Also koshkin, I have never heard of IOR.  I have checked out their webpage and they look good, how much of a step up is IOR?  Thanks again.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote pyro6999 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July/21/2007 at 22:11
i dont know much about ior either but i can tell you that if the dark loard says it a good scope, its a good scope.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Urimaginaryfrnd Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July/21/2007 at 23:44

I am a big fan of the Leupold VXIII 4.5-14x50  30mm LR, I have one and I really like it. The big advantages of that particular scope are that Leupold offers 100 moa of internal adjustment and some very useful reticles the Boone & Crocket and the Varmit reticle which give known hold over points and estimated wind drift points. Wind has severe effects on bullets at distance. The 4.5-14 is by far my favorite power range as I find that most of my hunting is from a fixed position. The 14 to 16 power allows more detail to select which deer you do not want to shoot while still having a low end that you could use walking in to the stand. I typically try to allow the mid size bucks to survive and reach their full potential and would rather shoot a doe or a true trophy than a 6 or 8 point. As for IOR I have closely compaired their 6x42 tactical MP8 reticle scope to a Leupold Mark4 10x M3 Tactical and the glass on the IOR is every bit as good. I would love to have an IOR Tactical in ar 4-14x50. Also note worthy is Bushnell 4200 4-16x40 which has very good glass for about half the cost of these. The Monarch Gold is a nice scope also but I like the tactical scopes and the ability to dial in correction for distance and wind so my first choice would be the

414508 IOR 4-14x50 Tactical 30mm Rifle Scope                                                                                   IOR 4-14x50 Tactical 30mm Rifle Scope
  • Matte
  • MP-8
  • 30mm
  • Side Focus
  • Free IOR Sun Shade w/ Purchase
SWFA: $894.95
More Info... Buy Now

 

 But this Leupold also has a lot going for it.

LEU57170 Leupold 4.5-14x50 VX-III 30mm Riflescope                                                                                Leupold 4.5-14x50 VX-III 30mm Riflescope
  • Matte
  • Varmint Hunters
  • 30mm
  • Long Range
  • Side Focus
  • Index Matched Lens System
SWFA: $769.95
More Info...
 


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote cheaptrick Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July/22/2007 at 06:28

I'm curious as to why you think you need a side focus for a big game scope, Drake.

Maybe you do where and how you hunt, but I find AO's and SF's to be a waste of money for big game type rifles.

I don't think I have ever had the luxury to "correct parallax" on a deer before I pulled the trigger.

 

Hunting in these God awful Carolina thickets, it's all I can do to flip the safety off my rifle and try for a "snap shot" when the deer comes into field of fire...... <<<<<Looks like that!! 

 

Call me a purist, but a 3-9x or 3.5-10x is probably the ideal power range for MOST big game hunters in the US.

 

 

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 8shots Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July/22/2007 at 07:51

I am with Cheaptrick. I have the Leupold 3,5-10x40 and the 8,5-25x50AO. I would love to take the big scope on a hunting trip for the sake of long range clear sight picture, but realize that the AO would probably be on the wrong setting everytime. Our game certainly does not give you enough time to fiddle with scope settings.

So for hunting I only use the 3,5-10.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote tahqua Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July/22/2007 at 10:23
I never have the time for an AO on a big game rifle, either. I like 3-9X40 sized scopes for deer hunting. The Leupold 3.5-10 will be a good choice among many available in this range.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote TheDrakeTaker Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July/22/2007 at 14:54
Thanks everyone.  One more question, what's the difference in the IOR tactical scopes and hunting scopes besides the price?  Also, how much better is the IOR hunting scope than the leupold I have mentioned???
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Urimaginaryfrnd Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July/22/2007 at 17:12

The difference is in the choice of reticle and the tactical knobs. I hunt different ways. Some of the guys I hunt with push deer and you are always trying to shoot at something that is running past you with the exception that sometimes you get one that will hesitate a brief instant. For that type of brush hunting an aimpoint or a trijicon accupoint low power scope works best. But I also bow hunt from a tree stand and with the right scent killer and doe sent and camo and stand and call they will walk under you so close you can pet them. But I grew up hunting Texas and there they set up a box blind sometimes elevated 10 or 12 ft. and from that you can expect to make carefully aimed shots at distances ranging from 200 to 600 yds. Most deer are pretty comfortable being 200 yds away from you and I have three 50 cal muskets that are just deadly at that distance one has a 3-9 Nikon Omega with balistic compensating reticle. One has a Leupold VXIII 4.5-14x50 and one has a 2.5 tasco. All three will kill deer but I really enjoy the 4.5-14 power range maily because it allows me the opportunity to examine the rack more closely and decide if that is the deer I want to shoot. Since I am hunting my own land If I let him go he might get bigger next year. I will under most conditions pass up anything less than a large 10 point. The deer on my wall are in the 170+ class I dont shoot bucks smaller because I dont want to pay to mount a deer smaller than that. On the other hand I have no problem when late rifle season gets here taking out the sniper rifles and going after does. My youngest has dropped does the last two years with a .308 Rem PSS with 8.5-25X50 Leupold Mark 4 Long Range Tactical scope. Lots of guys hunted for years with fixed 4x or fixed 6x scopes and anyone who thinks you cant hunt a 4 or 4.5 to 14 or 16x scope is simply mistaken. I've taken out a fixed 20x Super Sniper and you can work with that if you have to but your tactics have to change. It all depends on how you hunt I would just love to put a 4-14 IOR tactical on my 30-06 Encore single shot, it would be loads of fun to play with, I'd eaven be pretty comfortable with the IOR 6x42 tactical because as it gets dark that is where the power setting needs to be anyway to get all the light through the scope you can. I think that it is just as likely that I could get off a good shot at 4x as at 3x (if a 3-9 scope) but that might change if you were talking 4x comapred to a 1x Aimpoint, because then there is a huge difference in how fast you acquire the target and the field of view.

The VXIII is a very good scope and the IOR is a very good scope but with tactical knobs and a tactical reticle and is more comparable to the Mark 4 Leupold Tactical but with a more user friendly knob height and cap covered knobs.

 

That also brings us back to the Nikon Monarch Gold 2.5-10x50 scope you mentioned they also make a 1.5-6x42 which is a fantastic under 200 yds very bright scope and there is a huge difference between 1.5 and 4x and the 1.5 to 6 would be a great brush gun fast action scope they just dont offer much of a choice of reticles.



Edited by Urimaginaryfrnd

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Urimaginaryfrnd Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July/22/2007 at 17:39

Also worth consideration:

5214309972 New Zeiss 4.5-14x44 Conquest Rifle Scope                                                                                New Zeiss 4.5-14x44 Conquest Rifle Scope
  • Matte
  • Rapid Z 800
  • 1"
  • Side Focus
  • Etched Glass
  • 2nd Plane
  • Free $20.00 Zeiss Conquest Baseball Cap w/ Purchase
SWFA: $774.95
More Info... Buy Now

424164M Bushnell 4-16x40 Elite 4200 Rifle Scope                                                                                 Bushnell 4-16x40 Elite 4200 Rifle Scope
  • Matte
  • Multi-X
  • 1"
  • Rainguard
  • Adjustable Objective
  • Free 5" Sun Shade w/ Purchase
SWFA: $389.95
More Info... Buy Now

424165M Bushnell 4-16x50 Elite 4200 Rifle Scope                                                                                 Bushnell 4-16x50 Elite 4200 Rifle Scope
  • Matte
  • Multi-X
  • 1"
  • Rainguard
  • Adjustable Objective
  • Free 5" Sun Shade w/ Purchase
SWFA: $499.95
More Info... Buy Now


"Always do the right thing, just because it is the right thing to do".
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote TheDrakeTaker Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July/23/2007 at 09:46
So the tactical IOR's and hunting IOR's have the same glass, there is no difference optically other than the knobs and reticles?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote cheaptrick Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July/23/2007 at 13:13

Originally posted by TheDrakeTaker TheDrakeTaker wrote:

So the tactical IOR's and hunting IOR's have the same glass, there is no difference optically other than the knobs and reticles?

 

My knowledge of IOR's is rather dated, but after having both a hunting version and a tactical version, the glass "should be" the same. IOR's glass is VERY nice.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote RifleDude Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July/23/2007 at 18:28
I believe CT is correct.  Best I can tell, the only difference between the Hunting and Tactical series scopes of the same magnification range is the knobs and reticle options.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ROCKMAN57 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July/27/2007 at 17:01

Here's a tip.If you go with the luppy don't get the varmit style reticle.The lines on the reticle are way to thin for big game hunting.I learned this the hard way.Purchased one for a great price on e-bay and wound up trading it at the gun show for a VXll with the LRR which was much more viewable.

Good Luck,

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote TheDrakeTaker Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July/27/2007 at 19:32
Just to follow up, after my recent joining to this forum and learning a lot of valuable lessons from the experienced people on it, I have decided to go with the Zeiss Conquest 4.5-14X50.  Now my only decision is between the #4 and Z-plex reticles.  Of course I will be ordering from swfa as soon as I save up the cash.  Thanks for everyones' help.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote cheaptrick Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July/28/2007 at 04:10

Can't go wrong with a Conquest.

 

For big game hunting, I prefer the #4, but my Conquest had a Z Plex reticle and I hunted with it in low light fine. 

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Urimaginaryfrnd Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July/28/2007 at 09:21

Rapid Z reticles are new balistic reticles from zeiss matched to specific calibers.

http://www.opticstalk.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=7342&PN=1



Edited by Urimaginaryfrnd

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