I have (listed alphabetically):

* Leupold
* Nightforce
* Tract
* Zeiss

My favorite is Nightforce. I haven't yet used the Tract but I think I'm going to like it. My Leupold is fine.

I'd consider the high[er] end Burrises. Maybe a Meopta.

Leupold

I’d love to have a few other brands, just haven’t pulled the trigger.

I don't have too much experience, but I really like both my SWFA scopes (5-20x and 3-15). These are the ones that I learned how to shoot longer distances with. Other than that, I really like Trijicon Accupoint/powers too.

For the Trijicon fans, Eurooptic has some steep discounts on their Tenmile line.

Vortex. Have a dozen of them now.

I just picked up the 3-18 and the 4.5-30. Buy once, cry once, right?

We have not gotten into why we prefer certain scopes or dislike certain scopes. People's eyes are like their feet in that what works for one person is horrible for another. For whatever reason (since I don't know the reason) my eyes just love looking through the Primary Arms 3X compact (not micro) scope. It is very easy on my eyes. It works extremely well in poor light (hunting). Most any scope has a lifetime warranty. Glass is good. First shot hits on clay pigeons are a certainty to 200 yards and the same for a volleyball at 300 yards. It meets all my needs and is dirt cheap.

I have quite a few Burris scopes. They tend to have good glass but that varies some. The 3X15 XTR ll has served me well in target shooting. Outstanding glass and my eyes love it. Finally... it is a good value IMO.

I have had good luck with Vortex, but I will say I feel like you still have to go with their higher end scopes. I bought a cheap one for a 10/22 and it just doesn't seem to be that great in comparison to other scopes in the low end price range. Not a bad thing I suppose. I will say, for what it's worth, their customer service REALLY impresses me. I lost a manual for one of my scopes that has a zero stop I wasn't familiar with. I asked them for a new one and they not only send me a manual so I can take it to the range, but also a vortex hat...FOR FREE!

I anticipate trying a Nightforce at some point, that's what the best shooters I've met use and that has me intrigued, but around the $1K mark for a scope I do think Vortex has been good for the money and service.

Have done the vast majority of my shooting and hunting with an old school leupold VX II 3-9. Have always treated me right but they do not track at all.

Probably my favorite is a SWFA 5-20 HD.

Big Sam, not sure what you mean “easy on eyes”. Maybe it’s just cause I don’t shoot a lot but I would never look through a scope enough to get any kind of eye fatigue. Also, I’m no eye expert, but would not think eyes vary much in regard to different scope compatibility. Not meaning to give you a hard time but just always trying to learn and curious what others think.

Theringworm is correct ,hard to pin down based off a couple or one type of a brands models.
I don’t have a favorite “brand” per say.
Recently also picked up a few Burris XTRIII’s and they are really nice scopes that I had not previously used but now really like a lot. One is the Pro version which recommend for Comp’s if someone is looking for that.
I was using a Tangent Theta which is awesome but it’s sitting collecting dust because my old eyes can’t see the turret to dial.
Day in day out Bushnell is probably best for money and often overlooked.
I used to be like others a die hard Leupold fan but there is a big ole world of optics out there and we are living in the best of times as far as great optics go.

You are not giving me a hard time. Let me explain a bit. So many times and over many decades I have tried scopes that were not focused from edge to edge but when others looked through them they were fine. Others were not clear or only if I held my head just so. But again others (usually the owners of those scopes) could not see what I was talking about. 40 years ago the only scopes I liked were Leupold among decent quality scopes. Redfield was a nightmare. Even now I have a nice 1.5X6 Burris scope that I love but a friend thinks is terrible. Yet some of these prism scopes have no problems and there is much less eye strain (2 weeks ago I shot for 7 hours among 4 rifles and 1 handgun) and lining up a clear shot is simpler. But without being right or wrong, others find they prefer other scopes. I am no eye expert so I explain it the best I can. I took a trotting hog in May that was almost a snap shot. That 3X Prism scope worked perfectly to help me pull the shot off. Hope all this makes some sense.

Swarovski, have 2 with a 3rd on the way

Thank you David Mass. Swaro hasn’t seemed to get much love yet on here. I had just ordered my first and was considering second guessing. From what little I know, it seems that the high end Swaro are not as well liked as other higher end. It’s been said thats because all the bells and whistles with turrets and such, the Swaro hasn’t kept pace, or at least not for the money.
I ordered their plain Jane z3 3-10x42 with capped turrets and no parallax adjust so I’m still comfy with my choice for my purpose of 300 yard deer hunting.
Prior to this I was always Leupold VX3 and no complaints but doesn’t always hold zero and takes some shooting to get zeroed.
I’m just starting to consider getting into shooting more(not just hunting), so I’m really following this thread.

Nightforce NXS or higher in the NF line is all I buy anymore.

Equipment needs to work and Nightforce does and will.

Scopes that have failed on me through the years include Leupold, Redfield, Zeiss, US Optics, Unertl, and Nikon.

A 70+ year old Lyman Alaskan still is going strong.

Man y’all spend some crazy money on scopes!

I’m no hardcore deer hunting or anything so I really wouldn’t know what’s so special about those high end optics. All I know is that I can smoke anything with my Primary Arms SLX LPVO that was $280 lol. I kind of wish I would have went FFP instead though. Oh well

Last year I shot over 7,000 rounds of rifle ammunition. Most was for my own testing, but a lot of it was with customer rifles. I shoot and see a lot of rifles and scopes. I can play with them and actually get to use them. I'm always dialing and turning on scope turrets. You get a feel for scopes and can see what you like and what you don't. When you get a high end scope, you can feel it. You can tell a quality difference when clicking on the turrets to dial something in, and you get weird mushy turret clicks. Or when you max out the internal elevation trying to sight in and the turret/reticle hits the outer tube and the reticle jumps off the screws inside. When you break a $1500 Swarovski (more than once!), you can figure out what works and what doesn't. Most scopes go down (break) due to the reticle or screws inside the tube come loose or stop working properly. I've seen many scopes go down in competition this way also (US Optics being a top one break).

A lot of the times it's not how much a scope is. But it's what scope is not going to cause me problems, and what would those problems cost me if it didn't work properly. I shot competition for years, and with the cost of the entire trip, I never wanted a scope that would give me problems. So a $1800-$2000 Nightforce was more of an insurance policy, so to speak. (And I'd have an extra scope and 308 rifle as a back up rifle). I do not know of a better scope for the money on the market.

I have had leupold, zeiss, swarovski, vortex, burris and Leica. I have narrowed it down to Leica and Zeiss. The Leica is probably my favorite for low light performance. The Zeiss is better in clarity. I liked the Z6, but it as not near as good in low light as some of the other scopes and it was at least 800-900 more. For the money, Athlon Midas HMR is a great hunting scope. Its good in low light, but isn't on the same level with clarity as some of the others, but its 1/3 of the price. Its a great scope for a AR, or an older beat around type hunting gun that stays in the truck or on the sxs. The vortex I have had have all had problems. One wouldn't track and the other the crosshairs would move around in it. These have all ben viper HS scopes. Vortex customer service is great though.

Hand's down - Aimpoint

Nikon for their overall value. Too bad the company decided to stop making them.

The Leopold Mark 5 gathers light better than any scope I've ever seen. I see animals through the glass I can't see other wise. And mine always seem to return to zero.

One or more ne'er-do-wells convinced me to try the Nightforce ATACR. The clarity is fantastic. But it's REALLY picky on eye relief at high magnification. With glasses, I find myself wasting time looking for the right combo of eye relief and cheek weld.

If I was going to buy a serious high dollar scope, I’d want the opinion of Chad and JG. Anybody that shoots that much with a wide assortment of guns and scopes is going to have a firm grip on what works well and what doesn’t work as well. And, since both are fans of certain Nightforce scopes, that means something. I just haven’t had the need or desire to upgrade to that degree.

And my Dad, God rest his soul, hunted for decades with a tang safety Ruger 77 in 270 and a Bushnell Banner 3-9 that had to be 30 years old. Nobody on this forum would have wanted that scope. It stayed zeroed pretty much, thank goodness, because I really don’t know if it could be adjusted. I still have it, but won’t even put it on a 22. He killed an awful lot of deer over the years, so his approach worked. Once I gave his rifle a mercy cleaning, and when I saw that scope, I went right out and got him a Zeiss, which he then put on his NEF 223. His optics desires were about as far from Nightforce as you could get. I still have the scope, but cleaned and rescoped the Ruger for his favorite nephew.

As a kid. I killed more deer than I can remember with a Savage 99 in 243 and another in 300 Sav. The 243 has a Weaver K6 and the 300 had a Weaver 4x with a post. Those rifles still wear those scopes, but I have not used them in 30 years. I cannot remember one time those scopes were adjusted. We just checked them before the season and went hunting. Im sure glad we have better options today, I experimented with several makes and models over the last 30 years and would not want to have to hunt with one of those old scopes again.

My favorite is probably Trijicon accupoint. I like it because it is lightweight,simple, and it works. I don’t like scopes that take batteries, I don’t like all the confusing zero stop and weird other things. I like clean clear glass and lots of light but not a lot of the other things that come with it.

I own some high end scopes. I have a leupold VX5 and a NF atacr 7-35. I don’t shoot the leupold rifle much cause I prefer the Trijicon scopes. I probably should swap it around because it is on a nice expensive rifle that just sits. The NF I have had about a year and I have never even shot it. Why? I dunno it is huge and heavy. It seems complicated.

For me Trijicon is where it’s at. It is the only scope that I own multiple of. I think I have five of them. It’s the only one I have bought, used, and said wow I like this I want the exact same thing on my other rifle. Most the other scopes I have I just sort of feel stuck with. I bought them for a lot, don’t want to sell them for pennies on the dollar, so I just use them but I sure wouldn’t buy another one.

Nightforce is my favorite brand but I own and have owned many brands over the years.
I pick a scope for feature and function first based on the purpose of the rifle. For me, NF fits a lot of what I want in a scope but sometimes, they don’t.