Leupold Vari X II is OUT

27 July 2001, 14:18

<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.

29 July 2001, 09:40

<WOLF>

quote:
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.

08 August 2001, 03:28

<Sniper>

I wonder if they are going to drop the prices on them?

08 August 2001, 07:17

Stonecreek

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.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.

08 August 2001, 11:52

<Eric Leonard>

these are the ones i have
4-12ao
2 3-9x40
3-9x50
3.5-10x40
3.5-10x50
24xbr
36xbr
8.5-25 lrt
the only labratory i have is the woods,and there is no comparision the 3.5-10x50 is the best scope i own.it is on a 300 ultra that has about 300 rounds through it with narrie a problem.edge to edge it is brighter and clearer lots easier to adjust. the vari-x 2s i have are hard to zero either moving more or less than the 1/2 moa per line.the 3-9x50 is a decent scope but not in the game with the 3.5-10x50.just my findings from sitting at the bench shooting these scopes alot and from many hours in the woods with each.

08 August 2001, 13:05

<500 AHR>

That's too bad. I haven't had much luck with the VarIII scopes and for heavy recoiling rifles they seem to fall apart all too quickly. I do not consider the 300 Magnums to heavy recoiling they are in fact light recoiling rifles. My 416 Rigby and my 50 BMG just destroyed the VarIII scopes that I put on them (multiple times by the way). Leupold does stand behind their product though and repaired both scopes 3 or 4 times before I finally gave up and purchase a VarII for the Rigby and a Burris for the BMG. I have a VarII on my 500 AHR also.

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

Todd E

08 August 2001, 13:38

<JohnT>

I'm with Stonecreek & Todd E. I have both Vari X II & III. In the bush can't tell the difference. I don't really hunt much in the dark so can't comment on the supposed light transmission benefits of the Vari X III's. But I have heard of more failures on the X III's than X II's.

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

08 August 2001, 15:21

<Bill>

The only thing I do not like about the VariX II is the friction ring windage and elevation adjustments. I wouldn't have killed them to put 1/4 minute clicks in there.

09 August 2001, 03:52

Stonecreek

Remember, since the early 60's, the Vari X-II has been the standard against which all other hunting scopes are judged. The remarkable thing is that no one has really been able to improve on it ALL that much. (I bought my first one in 1965, and it works as well as the day it was mounted -- and as well as any of today's II's and III's.)

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.

09 August 2001, 08:52

<Gary Rihn>

Does this mean my Vari-X II's are now "scarce, hard-to-get" collector's items & worth more?

12 August 2001, 06:57

KuduKing

quote:
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]

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.