I will be doing a scope upgrade on my VLP 204 (hopefully before the gophers are out). I currently have a Bushnell legend 5 - 15 x 40 with mil dot.
I am trying to decide between the new Leupold VXL 6.5-20x56 Long range extreme varmint with varmint hunter reticle ($1200 out here)
or
The Burris 4-16x44 signature select with the lighted ballistic plex / posi-lock. ($1000)
I am leaning more towards the Leupold but I'm not to sure about the new style (bottom curve). Has anyone used the new VXL?

204

If you get the Burris you should get the Ballistic Mil Dot not the Ballistic Plex. The BMD is made for the flatter trajectory varmint calibers, I have mine on a 22-250. The BPlex is made for the regular hunting calibers like the 270 or 30-06.

Can't speak for the quality of the Leupold (I would never buy one) but I think the VXL is weird looking (JMHO).

The Burris however is very bright and good optics.

The first scope I ever bought was a Leupold. I've tried others since (Nikon, Weaver, Burris, Bosch & Lomb, etc...)and have found them wanting. Now every scoped firearm I have wears a Leupold.

Where are you pricing the Burris? If you're paying $1,000 then you're getting absolutely raped! That scope can be had on numerous web sites for under $590!

What is your budget for a scope? If you're looking to spend $1,200, you have a quite a few options that are vastly superior to the VX-L.

I'm a big fan of Leupold scopes. But, if you are looking for a really powerful varmit/target scope in the 6.5-20x range, I see no reason to buy anything anywhere near that price range. 56mm scopes are for guys that hunt at night in deep forests. Even with such a scope, a fine reticle may well not be visible, etc.
Even though Leupold's other 6.5-20's are excellent, the cheaper Nikons and Weaver Grand slams will do just as well for your purposes. They are within a hair or the equal of the Leupold in optical qualities, and they track just fine. Leupold does have superior eye relief/ eye box qualities, but these aren't useful in this type of shooting.
I found that while my Leupold 6.5-20X40 was pretty impressive in the wide open space - like having a combination rifle scope and spotting scope - it wasn't really practical. I had to put the rifle on a really solid rest to use anything above 12X. The truth is I can do very well on small varmits witha simple 8-10X scope as far away as I can hit them.
The Burris Posi-Lock is suppose to prevent the erector tube from going sour. It doesn't work.
Other good, fully multicoatede scopes are the Bushnell Elite 4200's, the regular Burris FFII's and some of the Sightrons.
There are some very useful scope that are only multicoated, i.e. not all their lenses are fully multiocated. The Leupold VX-1's, the Bushnell Elite 3200's and the Nikon Prostaff's.
I'd recommend some sort of adjustable parrallax feature. It tough enough hitting the small stuff at 300 plus yards. A couple of inches of parrallax makes it much harder. E

Thanks for the info guys. The prices that I listed are from the sporting good stores out here in Alberta, Canada. I havn't found any place in the US that is willing to ship to Alberta with substantial savings compared to the retailers out here. I will also be checking out the VX-III in the 40mm tube. I never was a big fan of the larger tubes but the VXL intrigued me enough to at least check them out. I was hoping someone had some experience with the VXL. I have a budget of about $1200 for glass. I have thought about the Nightforce as well but out here in Alberta I would be looking at over $2000.

Gube,

We ship to Canada as long as the necessary paperwork it completed. If you are interested or have other questions, just let me know.

Thanks Jon. I will be sure to check out your web site. If I have any questions I will PM you back.