I have used 1" Leupold variables on my hunting rifles for many years and they got the job done, But...
A few years back I started shooting a lot of precision and PRS style rifle competition matches and that exposed me to some really outstanding rifle optics. Bottom line is that my Leupold VX2 3-9x was not all that clear. Does not gather light all that well and could be improved upon. fast forward a few years and I was prepping for a Safari to Africa and was outfitting two rifles for the trip. One was a vintage FN Browning 308 that came to me with a vintage Kuharsky Bros mount that will only fit with some old vintage Weaver and Balvar optics with 1" tubes. These are unique since they zero using adjustments on the mount instead of the optic and as such can be zeroed and moved from one rifle to the next and still hold zero on each rifle. How cool? Well, I took off the old Weaver 2.5-8x and replaced it with an Ebay B&L BalVar 2.5-8x scope. It is old, clunky and obsolete. Difficult to zero precisely but once zeroed, it would take getting hit by an asteroid to disturb it. Plus, that BalVar optic is as clear as they come and does not require re-focusing for changes in the zoom.
My 2nd rifle was another FN Browning 375HH and part of the reason I bought it was that it already came with another Kuharsky mount (but no scope). My plan was to fit it with a 1" LPVO using that mount. Unfortunately, the Leupold 1.5-4x optic had a turret assembly that was just a bit to large to fit the old vintage mounting system. On to plan B. I fitted the #2 rifle with a Browning mount and 1" Leupold steel rings and fitting the 1.5-4x optic on it. All good right? It worked great at the range but I like to field test my equipment before a long travel hunt trip and so, I took it hunting whitetail deer in WV last year. That experience exposed a number of weaknesses in my plan. The 375 was eventually going to be a DG rifle. Early opening day only about 15 min after legal shooting light, I spotted a nice 8pt buck slinking along a bench below my stand. When looking at the deer from only 70y in the dim light, I could not make out the antlers at 1.5x and initially mistook it for a doe. Zooming to 4x corrected my assessment. But the scope just did not provide the clarity in low light to do a great job. I did bag the buck so, it was not a fail but I went home thinking that a better optic was needed before Africa.
I decided that I needed a illuminated reticle to aid in the low light hunting and that for DG I wanted one that could be dialed to a true 1x so that it would function like a red dot for fast, up close action if/when needed. That, drove me to a 30mm tube. There are probably 1" lighted scopes. I dunno but most that I wanted to consider were all 30mm. I ended up buying both a Swarovski Z6i and a Kahles K16i. Both are great optics and while I liked the Kahles the best, the Swarovski fit the rifle better. In Africa on my PG hunt, we spotted a stud Blue Wildebeest alpha bull about 30min before dark and put on a stalk that led to a 160y shot standing on sticks at this bull. It was a frontal shot (not ideal) and with the red dot on, even in the low light conditions, I was able to nail him with the first shot. Afterwards, I knew I had made the correct choice. Some final take aways:
1.) Both the Swaro and the Kahles do not require any external focus adjustment thru the full magnification range. This is a time saver and that is important when hunting.
2.) Red dot is a huge plus and the Swarovski feature of turning off when the rifle is slung on the shoulder is a nice feature.
3.) Some lighted optics are not very bright. Both the Swaro and the Kahles are full dylight bright when turned all the way up.
4.) A good hunting reticle is a plus.
5.) Both the clunky $60 vintage BalVar and the modern lighted $2500 Swarovski performed flawlessly in Africa. I guess the moral of that story is that the price of the optic is not what determines its quality or usefulness.
Pics added for color
