Leupold makes a great scope. I think I have 3 right now. I have one on my Weatherby 300WM that I saved for a whole year and bought when I was 13. Got that VX2 new with it the same day. Last year, 25 years later, probably 1500-2000 hard pounding rounds later, untold western Washington, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Alaska, mountain miles later, it fogged. I e-mailed Leupy. They said, "Sure! Send it back!" A couple weeks later I got it back in brand new condition, polished out, new objective lense, re-charged and re-sealed. You can't beat that.
But the topic at hand is whether or not Nikon is a good price alternative. Nikon is an excellent price alternative. I like Leupold better, but I completely trust my Nikons, and will continue to buy them.