i like the shepherds, bullet compensator ... hands down... but want the utmost reliability... will put it on a new olympic ultramatch... which would you get??????

Leupold M3LR with a custom dial from Kenton's to match my cartridge, unless of course you use the 55gr XM193 or Q3131a as a match round.....[:D]

Shepherd's ads claim a lot of good stuff, i.e. match wins, etc.    And it may or may not be true; I don't know because I've never tested one out.  

But what I do know is that I've NEVER seen a Shepherd on a military or LE weapon before.  Ever see them use Leupold?  That ought to tell you something.  

My friend has a Sheperd on a 357 H&H.  If it can take the recoil from THAT gun a .223 will be NOTHING.  They are very nice scopes.  Me, I would buy anything BUT a Leupold cause I'm just tired of seeing all the people jump on their band wagon.  There are plenty of other great scopes out there just as good as Leupold that cost less.

Hey, how is the Shepherd's warranty?  Customer Service?

Got a Leupold from 1970? Maybe it doesn't click like you remember...send it in have them re-certify it -- no charge.  Going on a big hunt and want to make sure the scope is within factory spec, send it back......covered under warranty.

Oh, did we mention the glass is pretty friggin' clear and bright?  In some cases, they can be talked about in the same sentence as S&B, Nightforce, Swavorski....hmm.  I NEVER EVER hear Shepherd named in that company, why?

Nevermind...

[BS]

Sorry Da, but have to raise the bs flag here, as your statement is spoken like a true neophyte and one whose never owned a quality scope in his life...., or never had the time to find out whether the scope ya got is any good.

please refer to my comments in this re-post from an old thread asking about BEC scopes:

[red]As long as your requirements are low, most any scope will do.

If all you want in a scope is to set it for one specific range and require that it hold zero fairly well, then these types of scopes will work for most folk. They are reasonably clear and probably sealed.

Should your requirements extend to cover say something with more dependable expectations, like:
1. [b]Durability[/b], rain/shine/sleet/snow, I want my scope to be bullet-proof.
2. [b]Clarity[/b], I want that extra 30 minutes in the morning and at dusk, and I want it to be guaranteed to stay that way for it's entire life.
3. [b]Solid[/b], being rock solid at any point along it's elevation travel, dead on the money no matter the range and having the ability to hold zero permanently, (given the occasional falling out of tree, train wreck of other act of god).
4. [b]Precise[/b], 100% repeatability no tracking errors at any time, again guaranteed.
5. [b]Longevity[/b], this item has a life and a guarantee such that I will never have to buy another or need to replace it 'cus it wore out.

When viewed w/ these types of requirements suspect the 30 dollar BEC I put on my twin boys, 22s would come up dreadfully short and are worth no more than their cheap cost to begin with.

[b]Leupold[/b] is the only name I trust, but then I expect my scopes to become my sons someday, and there's the lesson. Nothing beats quality, whether it's the most expensive/best tires for my scooter, (which my life rests on everyday) or the scope for a particular rifle, quality lasts, quality instills confidence, quality is a very worthy goal in my book, I'll take a lifetimes of it, please.....YMMV

Mike

PS - don't forget ya can spend 60-90 here for this one, 200-300 there for that one, but precision costs, save your bucks, if ya want to have pride in your scoped rifle, the scope is critically important, buy one you'll be proud to own for the rest of your life, see if ya don't feel better about yourself.......all depends on what your willing to settle for.[/red]

Here's another valid point, I suggest ya take a trip to the 1000 yard Nationals in S.Carolina later this year and take a look at the scopes on these rifles, 'spect you'll find ONE named scope more prevalent than any other and that name will be [b]LEUPOLD[/b].

'nuff said,
Mike

Added: here's the one I got for my LR Rem 700 '06 rifle from Premier Recticle, w/ the "new" Gen II Mil-dot, that allows ranging at any power, [url]http://206.131.255.85/merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=PR&Product_Code=49801G&Category_Code=GEN2[/url]

 

i understand leupold are excellent scopes... but seems like alot of sheperd bashing here... yet no-one has ever heard of one failing either??? still havent made up my mind yet... but it will definatly be one of the 2... please keep the comments flowing..

What's a Shepherd? Is it that SGN scope?



CHRIS

[url=http://www.snipercountry.com/hottips/ScopeShepard.htm]Some reviews of Shepherd Scopes[/url]

Of course YMMV.....[;)]

I have shot the Shepherd scope and liked the ranging system, however the clarity of the optics where not even close to the Leupold.

I own several Leupold's and if you want a good ranging system for one load, you can get Premier to set you up with a good system.

If you want a great scope for the money, I would suggest looking at a Nikon, it has some of the best optics you will find and is not that expensive.

A friend of mine recently bought a Shepard scope. Very busy reticle, and the "1 shot sight in" took an extra round or 10[:D] He still hasn't taken it out past 200 yds to check out the ranging part of the reticle. Hopefully soon, as I recently had a friend give me access to a 500yd+ private range. I have heard him say he wished he'd bought a Leupy instead after shooting my SR25 with my 4.5-14 VXIII on top.

As for me, I'll stick with those golden rings.

Take a look at the Nikon 2.5-10x44 Tactical.  it is in the same price range as the Leupolds and Shepards.  

Mil-Dot (Army std.) w/ hash marks between each mil dot.  Allows for presice .25 mil calculation and easier .10 mil estimation.
Exposed target turrets
Side Focus Parallax
30mm Tube
Nice compromise between the 40 and 50mm objectives.

Beeen a Leupold fan all my life but, just recently got a Tasco Super Sniper and am quite impressed.
Also the dials from Kenton are great.

Semper Fi

thanks shivan 458... those reviews were good to read... i particulalary paid attention to the bad customer service and the close eye relief... sounds like the optics may not be up to par either.... seems like the leupold is the better bet..... i have a friend with a as new vari-X 3 6.5X20 he would sell me for $400... i think i will see if he still has it.... appreciate it much... would like a leupold mil-dot... but prices get too high...

$140 will get you a mil-dot in the 6.5-20 (shipping included).

Huh?

If he was to send in the 6.5-20 to Leupold, it is $140 to install a mil-dot reticle.

I have always had excellent results with Leupold scopes.  I have no first hand knowledge of Shepherd other than just looking through one.  I can tell you, however, that their ad in Shot Gun News has not changed in twenty years.  The sniper match that was won with a Shepherd that they brag about was a very long time ago.  Watch-Six

lol.... i never thought about that!!!!  just when did that match happen anyway???? thanks for the input...sealed my leupold deal....

I had a shephard on a .22 mag and didn't care for it.

When you adjust the magnification, you reticles will separate.  It's a 2-piece reticle, so when you change power and see the lines split - it gets annoying.

The .22 mag shephard had the drop for .22 mag bullets wayyy off.

i have an iolder steel tube 6X18X40 redfield AO scope,,, that has a mil-dot... i will be mounting this on the pcr.... in the meantime i will be looking for a nice leupold... i'm sold on them,,, thanks...

I'm going to have to disagree with just about everyone else here.
Leupold: I've owned just about every model imaginable and for decades would use nothing else. Then a couple years ago, when I got my SR25, I bought one the (then new) 30MM variables with BDC. The scope would not work (knobs froze when the rings were torqued down). Four returns to the factory did not fix it. The factory's final "fix": Torque the rings to no more than 15 inch-pounds! (That you can do with your fingernail.) Bye-bye to this useless toy! Leuplod's CQB scope: An utterly silly device inspired by marketing guys rather than engineers. Let's not confuse the old Leupold we all knew and loved with the current company.

Shepherd: Got one for the SR25. Worked up a load that tracks the BDC perfectly (using the Pejsa ballistics program). It is a very, very good thing. The gun shoots precisely to point of aim at every distance out to 800 yards. Optical clarity: every bit the equal, IMHO, of my S&B 3-12. The two reticles moving relative to one another: They're supposed to do that. They are in seperate focal planes; an EXTREMELY useful feature to remind you if have adjusted the scope in the field. Range finding: The Shepherd also has horizontal and vertical minute scales. Ask anybody who has tried them. They are vastly more useable than mil dots (the latter being an adaptation of ancient artillery practices). Customer service: great! Just call Dan Shepherd, offer to buy him a beer, and he will bend over backward to help you out. Caution: You must determine if YOUR round will actually fly the Shepherd BDC curve. Otherwise, life gets rather problematic.
Good luck.
SD