8.5x25 Leupolds have been showing up on ebay with regularity in the last few months, seen them go from 560.00 - 710.00 with knobs and dot ready to shoot , most been around 600.00.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/280773790501?ss ... 1438.l2649

teetertotter wrote:I made my decision today and sent Chicken George[GeoNLR] a personal check to buy the Sightron 6-24 SIL. I had saved up 1/2 and wife said to just go ahead and buy it. I keep some papers next to my laptop on the kitchen table and on top of the papers I have had a picture of the Sightron with specs for the past month. And for a couple months i have mentioned SCOPE out of the corner of my mouth every 2 weeks or so. I did not choose the Leupold 20X as really need the xtra 4X power.

I will put my 1 year old Vortex Viper 6-20, side focus, Target Dot, on my granddaughters .22 youth Savage. Since the parallax is 50 yards and does not like to shoot indoors at age 10 due to noise, it will work out nicely. She is right handed and side focus will work for her plus has better optics than the 6-20 Simmons she uses. The Simmons is currently on my rifle for winter indoor practice having parallax of 50ft vs 50 yds. Confusing.

I will be anxiously waiting arrival of the Sightron SIL, Chicken George!

Scheduled Delivery:
Thursday, 12/22/2011, By End of Day
Last Location:
Arrived - Oak Creek, WI, United States, Wednesday, 12/21/2011

Getting closer as we speak! Haha!

BCloninger wrote:The Leupold VX-II 6-18x40 is a great scope! They will definitely focus closer than 40 meters, but someone else will have to nail down the number. Leupold says fifty yards on their website but, unless they've changed in the last couple of years, they'll definitely get closer.

The new 'Mark AR' line does have some potential... close focus is inside of 25 yards, 1/4 moa adjustments, 56 MOA travel, 14 ozs, plex reticle, MAP price of $499 (email me for quote)... now you start adding a $60 dot and you get dangerously close to the Sightron... But it's an option in the '$400' range... Buy it right (though me of course), take care of it and you should be able to re-sale with little to no loss...

kevinbear wrote:8.5x25 Leupolds have been showing up on ebay with regularity in the last few months, seen them go from 560.00 - 710.00 with knobs and dot ready to shoot , most been around 600.00.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/280773790501?ss ... 1438.l2649

I sell used scopes all the time, great way to get a bargin if you know what you are looking for. Example - the scope in the listing is a vari-x III... that's 3 generations ago. that scope is right at 14 years old... Didn't cost $610 new... and it's not an EFR... They have changed many of the coatings and the errector systems. Don't get me wrong, Vari-x scopes can be a real bargin, IF bought at the right price... I see people pick up used vari-x iii 6.5-20 efr's for $600 and think they have a deal... when in reality they paid $100 more than the scope cost new! Haha.

Vari-x iii

VX - III

VX-3

Not the same, not worth the same $...

Also - a scope 'cost' the sum of the parts... Example again the scope in the link... .002" BR dot... Dot sizes are in the eye of the beholder... but I don't know many that use a BR target dot for silhouette...

$625 (shipping)
$15 shipping to Leupold
$60 Dot
$700 later you have 'fuzzy' chickens on 25X

... Put $25 with it and I'll mail you a new EFR target w/ 2 sets of knobs, sunshade, etc. and you'll have a 14 year newer scope with the right size dot of your choosing.

Not bashing at all, just adding some info to the think tank ;)

Chicken

8.5x25 Leupolds are a relatively new scope, introduced and discontinued within the last five years I believe, the internal workings are modern. Mine focuses just fine on chickens when set on 18x which is the right magnification for myself at 40m {I progressively increase the power for the farther targets}.

Chicken George, thank you for the update on delivery of my new Sightron SIL with your super FAST service!! It will be mounted early Friday morning, focus reticle, and then run over to the indoor club 5 minutes away where I belong too. After sighting in at 50 ft, I will know approx. where approx. start setting will be for 40 meters when I go to other club to establish the 4 settings in 30ish temps that afternoon. I am happy with returning to front focus for a lefty with easier precise taping for distance , 24x at 100 meters vs old 20X, maybe a little better glass, and maybe brighter with more contrast than the Vortex Viper target dot that has been discontinued a year plus ago.

Again, thank you so much for your quick response e-mails and super fast shipping coupled with GREAT pricing! I think it was Baby Huey that was able to recall your name where to purchase the Sightron SIL for me.
Jon

kevinbear wrote:8.5x25 Leupolds are a relatively new scope, introduced and discontinued within the last five years I believe, the internal workings are modern. Mine focuses just fine on chickens when set on 18x which is the right magnification for myself at 40m {I progressively increase the power for the farther targets}.

Kevin,

Sorry to come off any other way than informative... was just trying to add to the discussion. But Leupold has not produced ANY Vari-x scope in a number of years...Like 9-10... don't remimber the date when the vx-111 came out (I'm gonna say 2002)... VX-3 has been out for a number of years now... I'm fairly sure the 8.5-25 1" tube scope were discontinuied with the vari-x line... currently they are a 30 mm tube 'Long Range' with side focus, not a/o.

the scope in the auction has a s/n of Serial # 225660F as per the auction...

http://benchrest.com/attachment.php?att ... 1261019958

Suffix
A 1993
B 1994
C 1995
D 1996
E 1997
F 1998
G 1999
H 2000
J 2001
K 2002
L 2003
M 2004
N 2005
P 2006
R 2007
S 2008
T 2009
U 2010

Again, not saying there is anything wrong with them, I was just saying that many people that buy them used are not aware of their age / construction...

YMMV,

Chicken

Something's going on with that scope dom list, I have a 6.5x20 with a N code that I bought in 82 or 83 NIB, the 8.5x25 I have has a F code as is the one in the ebay ad, it was NIB last summer, old stock? Checking the serial numbers on the 18 Leupolds that I have many of the date codes don't seem to correlate with the BR central list.

[quote="Mike D"]I'm new to rimfire silhouette, but not to shooting. I'm going to be using a customized Ruger 10/22 and like alot of new to the sport shooters angonizing over what scope to purchase. I'm looking for a decent reliable scope with a budget of approx $400. After much searching through various forums and reviews, I think I've narrowed it down to the 3 scopes listed below:
1. Bushnell Elite 6-24x40; multi X reticle (approx $400 thru my local FFL dealer)
2. Clearidge Ultra XP 6-20x40; duplex reticle (approx $320)
3[color=#FF0000][color=#FF0000]. Mueller 8-32x44; target dot reticle (approx $249)[/color][/color]Now comes my questions: Are any silhouette shooters using these scopes and what are your opinions and pros and cons ? Especially on the Clearidge and Mueller scopes, do they have enough elevation adjustment to go from the chickens to the rams ? What about eye relief; are they sufficient to be shot comfortably ? How about clarity; is there any issues with fuzziness at the higher powers ? I plan on mounting the scope with the Ruger supplied Weaver/Picatinny base (is this a good choice ?), can you suggest some good rings and what height I'll need for both the 40 and 44mm scopes ? Any comments and or suggestions is both welcome and greatly appreciated. Thanks
Mike[/quote]




I had a 8x32 Mueller, two problems with them, the dot is almost imperceptible and if the rear mounting ring is placed anywhere near the side focus it binds it up with smallest amount of tightening. Mueller has great customer service though, they replaced the scope twice and even paid for the shipping, in the end the scopes are made in China and they can't fix that problem.
Kb

kevinbear wrote:Something's going on with that scope dom list, I have a 6.5x20 with a N code that I bought in 82 or 83 NIB, the 8.5x25 I have has a F code as is the one in the ebay ad, it was NIB last summer, old stock? Checking the serial numbers on the 18 Leupolds that I have many of the date codes don't seem to correlate with the BR central list.

Actually it's dead nuts accoring to what you are saying...Just the difference between prefix and suffix... Wow, what a memory! Shoot, I can't remimber back 10 years much less 30!

"I have a 6.5x20 with a N code that I bought in 82 or 83 NIB" - N 1982

Prefix
E 1974
F 1975
G 1976
H 1977
J 1978
K 1979
L 1980
M 1981
N 1982
P 1983
R 1984
S 1985
T 1986
U 1987
V 1988
W 1989
X 1990
Y 1991
Z 1992

The reason I remember it is because it was my first Leupold scope, 165.00 from Natchez shooters supply, your correct, the codes are right on, I didn't look far enough back. Still the 8.5x25 is a mystry, no way the scopes that old, the box is the new style.