Nikon Monarch 4-16x50 SF vs. Leupold VX-II 4-12x50?

[MDGrand]

cant speak to the lupy as i do not own one but i do own a nikon monarch 4-16x42sf its a great scope have it sitting on a ruger m77 hawkeye its crystal clear and holds zero perfectly. as a matter of fact last time i shot that rifle/scope was a year ago yesterday until this afternoon (so 366 days ago) and ive moved twice in that time frame went out today to "resight" it in for the montana rifle opener this coming saturday first three shots at 100yds were one ragged hole 1inch high of the bull, exactly were i set it about 13 months ago

i like the side focus as it takes the parralax out of the equation, one less thing i have to worry about. i also have the BDC recticle and have used the nikon "spot on" deal on their website and a word of warning is that the "spot on" gets you in the ball park you really have to go shoot at various distances to see exactly where each circle puts you once you do that its potential really shows the BDC is not an out of the box cure for shooting dead on long range

I will have to echo the statements made here.. For a very long time, I have been a Nikon fan.. I think just as clear as a Leupold, but for the past several years.. just few dollars less.. And the warranty is identical.

That being said, when it comes to the "spot on" technology... even when calculated with an exact load, it just gets you in the ball park. Here is what I mean... I hand loaded and chrony'd a load for my 300 WSM.. when I put these variables in the spot on system with my BDC reticle, it said the 1st circle below the cross hairs was 207 yards..

so.. I went and tried this out.. I took all equations out of the rifle.. put it in a lead sled, and focused in.. turned out my shots came probably within the circle, but about 7-8" high. With the ballistic data, I should have been maybe 2" right above the bullseye.. But I wasn't.. the area just below the cross hair and above the 1st BDC circle was where 200 is at.

So.. you really do have to go try it out to see where your rifle is at.

Given this info.. I decided to try a different method.. instead of hold over points, I am going to try and CDS dials from Leupold

[MDGrand]

I know.. there were other reasons I chose to make a change.. Trust me.. I have been a Nikon promoter forever..

But

Leupolds new VX R line.. is awesome.. standard 30mm tubes, and an illuminated reticle is pretty freaking awesome.

Add that to the dial option.. and I decided to make a change.. I would rather have built in Hold over marks, but the more I read about them, the more they are hit and miss. As opposed to dials that you can adjust for. We will see.