I am looking for a scope to go on my AR. It is going to be a longer range varmint rifle.

I have been looking at Leupold Mark V's but I was told to also look into Horus scopes.

Whats the verdict on these, is the glass any good?

You need to tell us what you mean by "longer range." ARs in general aren't known for tack driving accuracy, with some exceptions, so the range will be limited by the inherent accuracy of the rifle. What varmints are to be the target is also important since shooting a squirrel at 200 yards is a lot different than shooting a coyote at the same distance.

I have no personal experience with Horus scopes but, from what I've read on internet forums, their customer service is bad.

I have several Leupold Mark 4s which I'm quite pleased with and Leupold's customer service is second to none.

I am going mostly for woodchucks and coyotes, and in the 200-400 range.

First about the woodchucks, known around here as groundhogs. I drive a lot at night and I've spent quite a few evening hours glassing my field and over several years of looking for them at night I have NEVER seen a woodchuck out at night. They come out in early morning and during the day around here. Is it different where you live?

Since you're shooting an AR, I presume the cartridge is 223 which is adequate for what you want to do. If you're getting 1 inch groups at 100 yards, you're going to do no better than 4 inch groups at 400 yards.

Up to 200 yards on the size targets you're talking about, you don't have to worry much about bullet drop because if sighted in 1 inch high at 100 yards, the bullet is only going to be 1 or 2 inches low at 200 yards. At 300 yards, you have to allow for bullet drop or you'll miss and at a bit below 400 yards and longer, the trajectory is such that if you don't know the range pretty precisely and the bullet trajectory, you'll more than likely miss the size targets you're talking about.

For 400 yard shots 12X magnification is nice to have and I like 14X or greater on the top end better. It's also nice to have reticles marked in mils which give you very nice holdover marks for longer shots. For shots at dusk, before it's real dark, you don't need a lighted reticle. For shots when it's pitch black with no moon, you'll need a lighted reticle and a spotlight for shots much over 100 yards. If the animal is close enough that your light will illuminate the whole animal and not just the eyes, you don't even need an illuminated reticle at midnight with no moon.

As for specific scopes; I have several Leupold Mark 4s a couple of which have lighted reticles which I like and have used to kill stuff at night. I also have several Nightforce scopes which have served the same purpose well.

I've have several Horus Scopes.

One is an actual Horus Scope, the other two are USO scopes with Horus reticules in them (H-25).

I really like them all.

However, Horus is a small company, and their real product is a marksmanship system. Their software has been adopted by the federal government who claims that it makes a good sniper into a great one.

You need to understand the system. Their web site does a great job explaining all the options.

I understand that now NIGHTFORCE offers their reticules, although I have not seen one.

I recommend calibers that can handle high BC heavy bullets at high velocity for best results. My current favorite is the 7WSM with the 180 Berger VLD for example. Parallax and trigger control are critical.

Current goal is cold bore shots on 2 mil targets at 1500 meters or so. Environmental variables such as air density, humidity, temperature become significant at these ranges.

So that 400 and 600 ranges become almost like plinking.

A "Horus Vision" scope with all the bells and whistles for 200-400 yard vermin shots is a ridicoulous amount of overkill!! Get yourself a Nikon Buckmaster in 6-18 and do the "D.A.D." routine............"dial and dust!!" Now if your going to shoot a lot of stuff 6-800 and even further, then all the electronic and mathematical wizardry incorporated in the Horus Vision scopes may trip your trigger but not mine and a lot of the folks on this forum. Give me a good Leupold, Nikon, Burris, Zeiss and some benchtime and rangetime and I'll generate a chart to be affixed to the stock that will give me all I need to know at the ranges I shoot at. And the ranges I shoot at are a lot more than 400 yards!! Up to 400, I get the 17 Fireball or the 204 out or the 222MAG and turn the vermin off!! Groundhog "shooting" starts at 400 and that depends on the wind!! GHD