They will still accept orders from distributors thru Novemeber, then they will phanse the Vari II out for good.

Rumor is the new scope will be a little less expensive, and of course made in the USA.

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Originally posted by Bill:
Leupold will be discontinuing its line of Vari X II scope within this next few months.

They will still accept orders from distributors thru Novemeber, then they will phanse the Vari II out for good.

Rumor is the new scope will be a little less expensive, and of course made in the USA.

I could see this coming for a long time. It appears to me that any serious shooter would pay the little extra and upgrade to the Vari XIII or even the LPS.

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Why? The difference between the performance of the VX II and the VX III is difficult to detect in a laboratory, much less in the field. Multicoating on the III's gives you maybe 1-2% more light transmission. The only other advantage is if you like clicks instead of continuously variable reticle adjustments, then you might prefer the III's.

Otherwise, the $200 difference isn't worth it except in terms of snob appeal.

(Also, internal failures due to heavy recoil seem to be more often associated with the III's, which may be just a little "tenderer" inside.)

As for the LPS, I can't blame Leupold for catering to people with more money than sense, but those bulky, enormously over-priced boat anchors have no place on any sporter.

I hope the replacement Leupold comes out with is as good as or better than the old VarII.

Todd E

I hope the replacement is worthy. I've just bought another Vari X II 3-9 x 40 just in case though. A bargain at 50% less than the Vari X III equivalent.

Regards,
JohnT

In regard to the friction adjustments, virtually all scopes before and since have had "click" stops. When it came out, the Vari-X II's infinate adjustment mechanism was regarded as superior to the cheaper Weaver's and Bushnell's, because you could theoretically make less than a 1/4 inch adjustment. This may or may not be important, and click stops are obviously more popular. I just make this observation to point out that at one time in the past, many in the shooting community regarded the friction adjustments as a "cut above".

I don't doubt that Leupold's dropping the Vari-XII line has more to do with marketing than with the utility and quality of the product. Leupold has been able to sell the higher-profit VX III line to the public very successfully. Patents on the Vari X II line have long since expired, making it possible for another company to build and market the identical scope, and perhaps undercut the Leupold price.

Business is business, but I hate to see the Vari X II's go. I would expect their replacements to be serviceable, but not nearly as close to the Vari X III's in quality, and perhaps a little under the Vari X II's price. Also, look for them to be imported. Leupold has done this before with binoculars, now I expect them to go that way with their "mass market" scopes.

I'm not against Joe Sixpack being able to go into Walmart and buy a new "Wind Creek Vari-XL by Leupold" for $129.95 (precision-built by some of the foremost optical craftswomen in Korea), but the niche filled by the old II's will be gone forever.

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Originally posted by Stonecreek:
[B
Business is business, but I hate to see the Vari X II's go. I would expect their replacements to be serviceable, but not nearly as close to the Vari X III's in quality, and perhaps a little under the Vari X II's price. Also, look for them to be imported. Leupold has done this before with binoculars, now I expect them to go that way with their "mass market" scopes.

I'm not against Joe Sixpack being able to go into Walmart and buy a new "Wind Creek Vari-XL by Leupold" for $129.95 (precision-built by some of the foremost optical craftswomen in Korea), but the niche filled by the old II's will be gone forever. [/B]

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How true, and how sad.

I have never found the dozen or so Vari-X IIs that I've used down the years wanting in the field. The friction ring adjustment is primitive wears out (binds) under constant range/bench use, but once set, if left alone it is consistent and solid.

I view the Vari-X IIIs as a supreme ripoff as they are heavier, have shorter ring spacing, and offer no optical improvement to my eye over the Vari-X IIs. The extra $200+ to my mind is pure unadulterated profit to Leupold.

If the Vari-X IIs are dropped for a cheap foreign replacement, it might be time to start looking more closely at Burris.