I got to look at a 2.5x8 Leupold today I liked it alot very clear and good eye relief.I have not looked at a Burris 3x12 is eye relief about the same.Would like more info before,I buy need to here from you guys.

Oh I forgot this is going on the 300Mag pistol.

only thing ive got to say is that once i went to the 3-12 i couldnt shoot the lower power scopes. i like mine alot its on a 243 striker. jason

Never had the Leo but do love the three 3x12 burris I have.

I have a Leupold 2.5-8x and I love it! It's been on a 375jdj, and is now on a 309jdj without ANY problems. If you ever have to deal with Leupolds customer service for any reason, your falt or thiers, you will not be disapointed. On the other hand, God forbid ANYTHING ever goes wrong with ANY Burris product, no matter what it is, you my friend will be bald from the stress that they will give you. That is just my 2 cents.
Good luck with whatever you get.

P.S. If this is going on a hunting handgun, you will not want much more than 8x

Tony

i havn't looked thru a 2.5x8 leupold but i know they are a super scope. 8x would probably serve you well om the 300mag, in my opinion. now, i don't remember the actual eye relief in inches of the 3x12 burris. it does shorten some as you turn up the power. how much clearance you got when that pop gun goes off? do you think the scope would get you, or does it come anywhere close? my 3x12 burris does ok with 7-08 recoil, but at first it did skeeeer me a little the leupold is gonna go about $100-$120 more. don't you just love making these tough decisions? maybe someone can give eye relief and field of view comparisons. i know the burris has about 14' field of view@100 on 3x. burris makes the 2x7 also, which has 21' field of view@100. it comes with or without AO. i like the 2x7 on my 30-30AI. if you go burris, i hope you have better luck this time. i'd say you just got a lemon on the first go around. that could happen with any of them. too many good burris reports to just give up on them. BUT, if it did happen again, Don't blame me for talking you in to one

I found some more info.......
Burris FOV on 3x=14feet 12x=4feet
Leupold FOV on 2.5x=13feet 8x=4.3feet
-------------------------------------
Burris weight 16oz.
Leupold weight 8.3oz

T/C

I HAVE BOTH OF THEM PLUS OTHERS ON VARIOUS HANDGUNS.

THE 3X12 IS ON MY XP-100 IN 300RUM HOLDING UP GREAT SO FAR.THE 2.5X8 LEUPOLD IS A GREAT SCOPE BUT HAVE HAD THEM BREAK.THE FIXED POWER LEUPOLD 2X,4X SCOPES ARE BULLETS PROOF.

CUSTOMER SERVICE WITH BOTH HAVE BEEN GREAT,DEALT WITH BOTH OF THEM MANY TIMES(SCREWS,COVERS,REPAIRS,ETC.)

YOUR 300WM WILL REACH OUT THERE AND HAVE SOME RECOIL BEING CLOSE TO MY XP.IF YOUR ONLY SHOOTING 100YDS OR SO AND WANT A SCOPE TO LAST FOR EVER GO WITH THE 4X LEUPOLD.IF YOU WANT TO SHOOT LONGER RANGE WITH IT THEN GO WITH THE 3X12.

WHEN I HAVE A KICKER LIKE MY 416 REM MAG ENCORE BARREL A 4XLEUPOLD WILL BE ON IT.

WADE

T/C Nut,

I have three Leupold 2.5 - 8X LER's. The one exposed to the heaviest recoil is on a 358 Bellm Contender barrel. It has done its thing so far (at least 1200 rounds) without a hitch, and is a good scope, although it doesn't have an adjustable objective. The other two are also on Contender barrels, but are on ones of less recoil, and they too perform as expected.

Tony makes a strong point about customer service, as when a Leupold has trouble it will be repaired at no cost, no questions asked. I have heard from silhouette shooters that ANY scope will fail after enough rounds of heavy recoil have been fired. Leuplod will fix them, but whether Burris will or not is another issue. I have heard of cases when they did and cases when they gave all kinds of grief. Unfortunately, I have heard more complaints than kudos for Burris.

My own preference is the Leupold.

Don Shearer

Don Shearer wrote :"..., as when a Leupold has trouble it will be repaired at no cost, no questions asked."

Don-I have to make a correction here. That USED to be Leupold's policy, but that is not the case any more. They will readily charge you for a repair if they can. Case in point: My family got wiped out by a flash flood, and the only scope to take on water was a Leupold 2x EER. When I talked to the rep, he informed that that if Leupold determined the failure was due to my own use/abuse and not a "technical" problem, I would have to pay for any repair. I did send the scope in with a letter noting that if there would be any charges to return the scope immediately because I would not ever pay for a faulty product.

I got the scope back in app. a month -- at no charge, I might add. But Leupold, to the contrary of the thinking of many, is not a no-questions-asked type of company and has not been for several years now.

I am aware of numerous others who have had to pony up cash for the repair of a Leupold scope, so this was not an isolated incident.

With that being said, I prefer the 2.5-7s, esp. the TCs (Burris a close second), over any other EER scope. But of the two mentioned, I do like the Leupold a bit better than the burris, and my reasoning is simply that the Burris is less forgiving of any lateral head/eye motion, a critical factor when you are cranked up to top-end magnification or may be undertaking a lengthy range session.

Bobby,

Surprise, surprise. I hadn't heard of their policy having been changed. Sounds like a preliminary inquiry would be in order before sending a damaged scope to them. Thanks for the update.

Don Shearer

Don-
That's a good point about checking with them first before sending in any scope for repair. One item they did replace at no charge for a friend of mine was an old 4x -- so old that it had faded to purple instead of its normal gloss black. They sent him a brand new M8-4x. He is a licensed dealer, however, and that may have factored into the equation as well.

T/C Nut,

I have the Burris 3x-12x on my 7-30 Waters Super 14" barrel. Recoil would not be anywhere near what you 300 Winchester Magnum would be. This 'scope has been "absolutely great" on this barrel. Less than M.O.A. groups out to 200 yards the vast majority of the time.

Now to a few facts on the 'scope. On 12x, the eye relief for a FULL FIELD OF VIEW is about 11 inches. You can "crowd" that a bit and get up to about 12.5 inches from your eye and still see clearly in the center of the 'scope, but the black starts to creep in around the edges. On 3x you will have at least 20" of relief. So, for hunting you can stay on 9x-10x and still have a good field of view at the 14 inch mark WITH A LEANING REST. In tight thick cover, well, crank it down to 3x-5x.

Your 300 Winchester Magnum is more than capable of shots requiring the higher magnification greater than 8x. My opinion, you can't have too much 'scope providing it is a variable. Good-luck...BCB

I have a T/C 2.5x7 on my 300 now and like it alot.I just can't bring myself to try the Burris for I too have had very bad luck with them.I will get the 2.5x8 Leupold.

T/C NUT,
You will not be disapointed with the 2.5-8 Leupold. I've had mine for some time now, and could not be happier.
As for Leupold's customer service, it's still better than any, as far as I'm concerned! I bought a Leupold Gilmore site that came with two brushed satin rings that I liked. I called and told the sales person that I would like to purchase (6) more rings for different scopes. He asked for my name and mailing address, and then said he would have them out to me in a few days. I told him I would be paying with my credit card, and tried to give him my # and he said he didn't need it. TWO DAYS LATER 6 new rings and the allen wrench to go with them was in my mail box.
That's not first dealings with their great service, and it is not a fluke.
Have you been out bear hunting this year? The west side has had such a dry summer the blueberry crop was real bad. I went out Thursday and didn't find much crap or anything in an area that is loaded most the time.
Anyway good luck.

t/c nut that will be super! i think it will be awesome on the 300mag. i just hate to shell out the extra $100-$120.

Shame Leupold don't make it in a matte black or I would have me one. Just don't like the gloss thang. Still, it's one of the best

Has anyone tried the Nikon yet? Yes...No...Maybe???

Jules-I am patiently waiting to try the Nikons. In the rifle scope lineups, I prefer the Monarchs over anything else. An area dealer said he'd get one in for me to purchase several months ago, but his primary distributor keeps making excuses. I hate to tell him to forget it, but I may have to and just mail order the thing myself.

Here is a POSITIVE Leupold service story.

Some time ago i purchased a Leupold 2x from one of the boards. The day i received it i noticed that someone had the eye piece lock ring cranked in (and i have enuff of em to know where to adjust it too, LOL!) sooooo, i attempted to adjust it. The eye piece would move but that lock ring was FROZE. Upon further inspection, the lock ring was found to be seriously damaged!! There is also a gouge in the eye piece from where the scope had been dropped and contacted something. I contact Leupold and they advised to return it. Approximately 2 weeks later i received the scope back, new lock ring installed and givin a "clean bill of health" AT NO CHARGE!! To say i was impressed is an understatement. This scope had obviously been damaged by someone and Leupold fixed it at no cost anyway.

I have never dealt with Burris' service and hope i never do....

T/C Nut,
I have used both Burris and Leupold in specialty handguns since 1985 chambered in 222 Rem., 223 Rem, 7mm TCU, 6.5 TCU, 7mm-08, 250 Sav. Imp, 260 Rem, 22-250, 22-250 Imp, 6.5-284, 308 Win., 338 Win Mag, 284 Win., 7.82 Patriot, and 243 Win. I have had to send two scopes back in all that time. One of the older 2 1/2-7 Burris variables which was mounted on my 338 Win Mag Encore barrel and a 4 power Leupold. I have had Burris modify scopes for me in the past and recent past and I guess I have been fortunate in that they have done the job right and in a timely fashion. Leupold also responded in a timely fashion. I typically use Burris because of their greater magnification and Ballistic Plex Reticules. I think that a fixed power scope will always be able to stand up to more than a variable will and that is why when I had my FA 454 I always had a 2 or 4 power Leupold on it. I don't have a problem with either scope.
Ernie

I too have heard the horror stories about Burris customer service and got a chance to check it out first hand a few months ago. I have the Burris 2x handgun scope mounted on a 10" 44 mag TC barrel. I was going to mount it on a 14" 22 rim fire barrel and noticed the verticle reticle was broken just below where the reticles cross. I emailed Burris and got a reply with an address to mail it to them for repair. About a week and a half later, the scope shows up looking good as new and for no charge to me. Maybe the folks at Burris are trying to change their image, but I was delighted with the service.

Tony D ><>

I just received a 3x12 Burris back from being repaired. It would not focus because the paralox went bad. I sent it in and less than a month I had it back. I have four of these 3x12 scopes and really like them. I've heard about there bad service, but I can't complain.