Question about the Leupold Vari-X III Scopes

I have a Leupold Vari-X III scope--an 8.5-25x40.  (It seems the 40mm.  objective version of this scope was quite rare, with more 50mm. ones made.)  Anyway, this is an older scope--at least 20 years old,  I believe. I'd like to mount it on a walking-around varmint rig.

I have some questions about this scope.  First, does anyone here know what quality of lens coatings were applied to the Vari-X III line?  I'm wondering how they would compare to the current Leupold scopes in this regard.  The lenses have a green tint to them when viewing them from the outside of the scope.  There is a company here in Canada that services Leupold scopes, and I could have them replace the lenses with newer ones if I wanted.  My second question, I guess, is whether this is worth the effort and expense (about $140 USD).  Would the gain in clarity and brightness be noticeable?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts and advice on this.

Edited by South Pender - November/19/2023 at 23:38

If not mistaken this model was replace by the next generation of Leupold scopes in the early 2000’s. Since then there’s been a couple more model changes / updates. The model in question should still be fine for most applications, it’s just older technology and you can probably find newer and much better for not much more.

Thanks, guys, and Gerry for that chart.  So it has the Multicoat 4 lens coatings.  I guess I'll have to decide whether the newer coatings will improve it re clarity and brightness enough to make it worth the cost.  It sounds as if the newer Leupold lens coatings are substantially better than the Multicoat 4 version.

I would not attend money on trying to update it.  The difference with more modern designs go beyond just coatings