Putting together a 30-06 to be a mid range deer (whitetail and Mulie) gun. Will be shooting from 50 yards out to 400 yards. Looking at the 3x18x44 with fire dot on the VX6 and the 3.5x18x44 on the Z5. Must haves are parallax adjustment and ballistics turret. I am tired of the BDC type reticles and want to dial in the distance. The reviews on the Swarovski are a bit higher, but the Leupold brings illuminated reticle and 30mm tube to the party. Really leaning towards the VX6. What do anyone that have these scopes think?

I don't even think you'll need to shell the coin on a vx6. I think a vx3 is fine. I have a vx3 2x10 with CDS with a boring duplex reticle. It was good enough for me to do good in a competition a few months ago and hit 6" plates at 600 yards using the CDS dial. I have had no long range training nor had I tried that dial system. I was very impressed. If I would have had a fine duplex I could have been more confident.
I would buy illuminated fine reticle with CDS in vx3

I have also used it to take hogs at night with only a flashlight

If the money is not in the equation I would go with the swaro anytime because the glass is going to be second to none. But if the money is the issue follow BIL advice. He did shoot damn good with his setup.

Walter

I honestly don't even want the magnification to 18x. I never go beyond 12x. When looking at the Swarovski, you have to go to the Z5 for the parallax adjustment option. I have a Leupold FX3 6 power fixed and it is just awesome. The Parallax adjustment is probably the best features I like about my Vortex Viper scope. No matter the distance, all you have to do is dial it on with the p adj and you don't have to worry about perfect cheek to stock placement. I really want a little better glass for this new build.

Money is not an option for this custom build, but performance is. The best glass in the world isn't going to help me if I have to shoot a 200" Mule deer at 400 yards off hand or using a less than average rest. I know my limitations through lots of practice and I need the parallax adjustment to hit out to 400 yards consistently.

If this gun was for competition shooting, I wouldn't worry about the adjustment since I would be shooting off a rest. And, I agree that Swarovski is one of the best glass money can buy (of course Night Force would argue it).

If the money is not the object go with the swaro. It is always better to have more magnification and back it down then to not have enough.

Walter

I would go swaro.

I bought both of these and sold the leupold. I just couldn't believe the difference in clarity of the swaro over the leupold, I would read the address on a mail box at 770 yards with the swaro and could barley make out that there was even a address there with the leupold. 2 of my buddies looked thru both scopes too and had the same thoughts. Now if I was rough on my gun or needed it for personal protection like like on a ar 15 or something I would not go with the 1in swaro.

I bought the Z3 4-12x50 with the ballistic turret. They are going on a Tikka T3 (semi custom) 30-06, which will be a hunting rifle. I am getting the custom dial for both the 150 grain silver tip and 180 grain silver tip.

I can't speak for the leupold, but I have the exact swarovski you are looking at...I would but it again if I needed another gun scoped. The optical quality is simply amazing and with the p adj and the ball turret it should be a great hunting scope for 300-500 yard shots.

Swarovski is the better scope for sure but for your needs the vx3 will do the job and not break the bank as much

I have 3 leupold vx-6. 3-18

I love them! The sawro is probably better glass but i preferred the ergonomics of the leupold.

If you plan to dial the scope, I would not go Swarovski. I've seen 2 break internally. Yes, they have great glass. But what good does it do if the scope doesn't work. I have a Leupold VX-7, which is very similar to the VX-6. I like mine a lot, and I'm not the biggest Leupold fan. I'm not a Swarovski fan at all.

LEUPOLD

VX-6

I like Leupold VX-6 and I think they have made some HUGE strides with mechanical performance.

But optically, I have yet to find anything that will compete with Swarovski. Leica and Zeiss Diavari is close, Kahles is another making some significant headway, but if I were in your position again and this was for my personal use, I would buy another Swarovski.

I have a VX-6 1-6 that I regularly shoot 500+ yards with. Mine has the firedot SPR and the cross hairs are THICK. It makes it harder to engage small targets at long range. I like the daylight visible dot but it does make the stadia overly thick.

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400 yards, swaro its a smiple system and great glass

Swarovski is the better scope if you wanted to use the reticle to make your shots. They do not have a very good turret system and that would be where it lacks when compared to the vx6. Since you want to dial in the vx 6 would be better.

Have you looked at the vx-r ?
I love my vx6 and the vxr great scope for a lot less $