Guys, since Leupold brought out thier VXII scopes, I have been kinda confused on why a Vari-X III is so much better than VXII. The VXII has the same multicoat 4 coating and the same click adjustments. Bass Pro was having this big hoo ra ra, with all these vendors having reps on site. So I cornered the Leupold rep and he said the VXII has better characteristics than the old VariX II. But the VariX III has the multicoating on inside lenses also which gives something like 94% transparancy compared to the VXII with the coating on only two of the lenses for a 88%. Wow, you pay alot for that extra light gathering capability. Just if anyone else was wondering. Also got to talk a bit with Steve Puppe from Knight rifles. Saw a bunch of hunting videos with him in them before. Pretty down to earth guy with a cool job I must say. Said he still has to pay for the taxidermy work even though the sponsors pay for all these cool hunts. I don't feel sorry for him.

[ 08-24-2002, 04:08: Message edited by: bigcountry ]

I asked what the particular differences were between the three some time ago and it appears that the Vari-X III line remains as it always has been, and one of the other two (I've forgotten which by now) has click adjustable turrets where the other does not. There are surely differences in coatings and such as well. I was afraid the new scopes were now being made in Korea, Kazakstan or somewhere NOT Oregon, but Leupold swears they're still made here.

My 2 cents

Redial

If leupold go the Asian production road it will be a step backwards IMHO.

VXIII has a one-piece tube. VXII has a two-piece tube.

I have heard, but cannot confirm, that the VXIII has a higher grade of lens.

MM

CHECKED THEM OUT AT THE NRA CONVENTION IN CHARLOTTE LAST YEAR. HAD THEM MOUNTED ON GUNSTOCKS. I ALWAYS WONDERED THE SAME THING AS YOU I BOUGHT VARI-II. HOWEVER I LOOKED THROUGH EVERYTHING THEY HAD ON DISPLAY, SIDE BY SIDE AND THERE IS A NOTABLE DIFFERENCE IN THE TWO. IF IT,S GOING TO BE A SERIOUS HUNTING RIFLE I WILL BUY THE VARI X III. IF IT,S ONE I WILL SHOOT MORE THAN HUNT WITH I WILL BUY THE II. JUST MY OPINON
BEST OF LUCK TO YOU.

As a optics engineer by trade. I know that Leupold buys there lenses from several different manufactures, even European and japanese optics. Or at least inquires about contracts with them. Due to I have seen paperwork on the desks of the salesman. But there specs are the same for each manufacturer. Swarski does make their own optics and usually don't outsource from what I have seen. They also have the best raw lenses which really don't matter in the shooters world. The idea of better quality optics for the VariX-III may or may not be correct. Thats privleged info, that you could only get from the manufacturer or Leupold's Purchase Orders. I was doing an audit at on manufacturer and was inquiring about Leupold. He said, "do you want me to tell your competitors in the telcom business, about your purchase orders or contracts, I am sure Leupold don't want me to either". So he couldn't tell me that information even though we are in two totally different industries. But when it comes down to it, the shape of the lenses is negliable when it comes to the human eye. What matters is the coating. This is where they try to match the index of refraction with air. If you got the machinery, this is dog cheap to do. And everyone does the same thing. But the machinery cost several million but with the volumns they put out, they have already paid for that equipment. So the rest is gravy. For this, I can't believe they charge so much more to coat the convex lenses and rest.

In my opinion, what you care about scopes is tolerances in the machanical assembly first and foremost. This affects clarity over time, by being air tight (especially in varibles where if the tolerances are bad, then point of impact changes). Second, the coatings or how well manufactures can match the index of air for return loss of a lenses in a manufacting enviroment. Anybody can do it in a lab, but doing it in mass quanities is hard pard. Lastly, the overall shape of the lenses which in todays time, anybody should be able to get high quality lenses from about any manufacturer dog cheap. Lets not forget about customer service and warranty. What craftsman tools has become famous for.

Bigcountry,

Sooooo......What's on your rifles???

Leupold Vari-X III on a few. VariX-II on one. Nikon on another. Burris on another (good scope). Got a few cheapys Pine Ridge on rimfire guns, and a simmons on a muzzleloader. A little bit of everything I guess. Why?

I was told that the Vari X III lenses are hand trimmed in distance from each other with optical machines, just to get the clearest picture.
The old Vari X II and new VX II are just mounted together with the lenses at certain distances without the finetuning. This was an authorized service center here in Europe that told me this.
True or not, it could be the answer to the big difference between them. By the way, In Sweden we have had Vari X II scopes With the Vari X III coating for about ten years. But in USA and rest of the world this is something new. VX II scope is the new scope with Vari X III coating. If you ask leupold they will deny this fact and say it isn�t true. Read any Swedish scope advertise and you can see it for yourself. Or check the importers website www.smalandska.com

This is info taken from leupolds answering guide

Differences between the Vari-XII and the VX-I and the VX-II
The Vari-X II line was retired at the end of 2001. Leupold replaced this line of products with two different lines, the VX-I and the VX-II. The VX-I is the exact same scope as the Vari-X II except that it is only offered in Gloss Finish, Duplex Reticle and in 2-7x, 3-9x and 4-12x. They have the same Lifetime Unlimited warranty that Leupold is famous for. However, there are no custom shop option available such as reticle changes, target knob installation or parallax changes.

The VX-II line is also basically the same as the Vari-X II with the addition of 1/4 MOA click adjustments and Multicoat 4 lens coating on the external lens surfaces. The line is offered in Gloss, Matte and Silver finish, all the power varieties as the last year of the Vari-X II and all custom shop modifications are also available.

You know what I also found out on another page and Customer Service was the VXII is a 3 piece tube with makes it much easier to manufacture than the one piece Vari-X III. But all you have there sound right.