Quick Unofficial Comparison: Elite 6500 and VX-6
Currently I have a Bushnell Elite 6500 2.5-16x42mm and a Leupold VX-6 3-18x44mm in my possession for review, and since the review article for each will be an independent review of each product I thought I would post up a few things here that I've found while directly comparing them to one another. Please remember these are just my views and opinions based on my personal observations - your mileage may vary.
Bushnell Elite 6500:
Pros - Noticeably better glass in most conditions. Sight picture is just sharper, crisper and clearer in every regard. Turrets feel smoother and have a more solid tactile detent. Magnification ring offers more traction for when wearing gloves. Easier to operate side-focus knob.
Cons - More sensitive to eye relief and alignment in terms of shadowing, the detents for rezeroing the turrets are very light and it's rather easy to pop the turret up accidentally when making adjustments.
Leupold VX-6
Pros - Generous eye relief and alignment window that all but eliminates shadowing. Solid turret cap reset detents. Excellent brightness in low-light conditions.
Cons - Turrets feel somewhat gritty and the detents aren't very solid. Integrated illuminated reticle button in side-focus knob make the side-focus hard to manipulate as it's only a narrow outer ring that turns. Ribs on the magnification ring are too close together to provide any traction advantage when wearing gloves.
Both scopes use a pop-up style turret cap for resetting them once you're zeroed in. On the Bushnell the turrets pop up fairly easily and did so on more than one occasion while I was attempting to dial in adjustments. The same feature on the Leupold is more solidly locked in place with it's detent and it actually takes a little effort to pull them up/out to reset them.
Conversely, the feel of the clicks was far superior on the Bushnell compared to the Leupold. The Bushnell was very definitive and positive feeling, whereas the Leupold felt rather gritty and the detent for each click wasn't nearly as prominent.
Both offer very clear, high quality glass - but when compared side by side the Bushnell (to me) clearly holds an advantage in most every regard. The sight picture just appears brighter, sharper and crisper at all magnifications and under most all lighting conditions. The one place where the Leupold did have a slightly noticeable advantage was it's brightness in low-light conditions, and even then the difference is very minimal.
Given the above and the significant price different between the two I'd have to say the Bushnell is by far the better product. Not only is it better in most regards, but it's also a couple hundred bucks cheaper.
