I have had nothing but luck with the Vortex Viper riflescopes. Very smooth magnification adjustments, very clear and bright optics. I own 2 vipers currently...a 3-9 x 40 and a 6.5-10 x 50.
I had the opportunity to handle a loose viper HS LR scope at the ISE Expo on saturday and all I can say is I LOVE IT!! It has all the features I look for in a scope and the reticle is to die for. Extremely fine cross hairs with the bdc hash marks instead of the bulky dots. It also has some windage hash marks (kind of like the huskemaw scope) that are spaced 2 MOA at max magnification. The uncapped elevation turret is solid and is supposed to track even better than the previous vipers (which i have heard nothing but praise about). I was a little worried about bumping it off zero, but you have to want to move it to make it move. 75 MOA adjustment on the 4-16x model. It also has a zero stop adjustment so you can easily return to your zero mark. I was really impressed at how clear the glass was.
I can't wait until they start shipping them in June because I will be one of the first to own one and kill a lot of stuff with it.
You won't go wrong with the Leupold, but you might be doing yourself a disservice by not looking at the Viper HS LR first!!
In answer to your question, BDC reticle or adjustable turret...I say BOTH!
