New Leupold vs. Burris

[Jon Bischof]

Can anyone tell me? How come my new Leupold Vari-X III 4.4-14X with adj. Obj. is not as clear as my old Burris Signature 4-16X? I thought Leupold were supposed to have better resolution; but to my eyes, the Burris is clearer? DID I waste the extra money?
Sure looks like the Burris is better when focusing on a target at 100 or 200 yards.
JCB

 

[Cybra]

You know, I have owned a number of both scopes--and on average, the Burris, especially in the Signature series--were...brighter? Crisper? Resolution, I felt, was little better, but this can be quite shooter-dependant. As for wasting the extra money? <shrugs> Some people claim, after buying a $1000+ scope, that their $600 was better; go figure. If image alone is what you're taking into account...you may have gotten the friends between the cheeks, but I would be hesitant to assure you of that. I have one Leupold Var-x III in 6.5 x 20 that is so nice to look through, I have been known to take it off my rifle in the summer, and bring it to the beach <it maintains a "zero", too>. Beat the hell out of both of your scopes--the one to maintain consistancy is the better one!

)

Dave

 

[Bear]

I have a 4-16 signature and 3-12 black diamond compared to a 4.5-14 and a 3-9 VXIII and the burris scopes are much brighter.

 

[JustC]

My 4.5-14x50mm vari-x III was traded away after I bought a 4-16 burris signature. I had the same results as the previuos posts.

 

[thequickad]

The brightness is not the only quality a scope is judged upon. I too own both Burris (two black diamonds) and Leupolds (too many). My personal experience with Burris is not so positive. Leupold has always been great. I was just pondering between the new Black diamond 6-24 with Sidefocus and decided to go with Leupold Long Range instead. The Burris is just hit and miss and you may be unlucky to get a bad one? I also think someone said the Black diamond looks like a German WWII hand grenade. What a fitting description. It's big and bulky.

 

[jcpython357]

JCB, Milanuk called me the Burris messiah cause I'm always jabering about Burris, I always tell guys they waste their money when going from a Burris to a Leupold, I got a Lupy 3.5x-10x too, it's a nice scope, but for the money or not I think Burris makes the best scopes around, If I'd happen to get a bad one, which shouldn't happen cause Larry at Burris says his QC is top notch, but we don't live in a perfect world now do we, I'll send it back and they'll take care of it, no questions asked, your Burris is brighter, clearer, etc. because Burris Sig. scopes have bigger internal lenses that allow more light to get to your eye, I've compared my 6-24 with my buddies 6.5-20-50mm varix3 both set on 20x with my light collector closed and my scope is still brighter, my brother in-law buys Leupold because he like the way they look, thats what I told my buddy why everyone uses Leupold in their gun ads, they have the prettiest scopes. Quickad, I got 7 Burris scopes, haven't got a bad one yet.

Jay

 

[thequickad]

Don't get me wrong, I don't hate my burris. Actually I do like the Ballastic Mildot reticle. But brightness is not the only factor. I pointed out for one thing the Burris is big, long and bulky. Especially the black diamonds. It's good for benchrest but I had to adjust my gunsafe just so the 700 with black diamond can fit in it. I am sure there are other factors to scope selection as well.

 

[thequickad]

And here is putting the money where the mouth is. I was deciding between a new Burris Black Diamond 6-24x50 part# 200934 and the Leupold 6.5-20x50 Long Range part# 51621. Both have 30mm tubes, side focus. The Leupold has 65 MOA of adjustments. Not sure about the Burris 52 MOA? The price is parity with both at $669. I went with the Lupie.

 

[jcpython357]

Quickad, I looked in my Lupy catalog and #51621 is the 30mm LRT 6.5-20-50mm Trg Dot has 72moa, price $799.99 in Midway catalog, the one your getting must be the 1' tube 6.5-20-50mm mil-dot ret. 44moa $699.99. The 3.5-10-40mm LR M3 is the only one with 65moa. check it out. Jay

[ 03-29-2003: Message edited by: Jay Gorski ]

 

[4mesh063]

JCB,

When comparing, be sure to center BOTH reticles in the scopes. Don't have one of em off center and then say it's crap. Put bot sets of turrets in the middle and then compare after refocusing both.

I also am a big fan of Burris. I like the fact that all mine repeat like a broken record. No adjustment on the zero's on my guns!

 

[4mesh063]

Cybra,

As for "beating the hell out of a scope", My black diamond 8-32 was on my gun when I had big problems getting a muzzle brake off and so I made a socket, put a 1-5/16 wrench on it and beat it with a peice of steel to get the brake off. (A gun's just a tool, right). The scope still points where it did!. I had to have my brother hold on to the gun while I pounded on it to get the thing apart! I just wasn't in the mood to take the scope and waste time.

Hows that for taking a licking and keeping on ticking!

 

[thequickad]

Jay,

Typo on my part, 72MOA. Leupold part# 51621 is correct. 30mm tube with target dot and side focus. If you are paying $799, you are paying way too much. Even if you just do a yahoo search for "Leupold 51621" you can find them advertised for around $715. I got a great deal on a new-in-box.

 

[thequickad]

BTW, Jay, you also made a typo. The Leupold 51621 is 6.5-20X50, not 6.5-26. And it doesn't look like a German WWII hand grenade nor a Maglight 3D cell flash light.

 

[long action]

Have sold six Leupolds, And replaced them with Burris.

My Black Diamond was run over by a one ton. Was still on zero.

Plus they don't make better people than Larry at Burris....

[ 04-03-2003: Message edited by: long action ]