[Rusty P. Bucket]

I am a fan of Leupold scopes and have been for some time. They just seem to work and you can't quibble with that. They are elegant scopes too, with the subdued finishes with that understated gold ring on the bell.

I damn near swallowed my cigar when I noticed the new ones out. Now you can get them with etchings of game animals on them and weird new finishes. What is this? 'Pimp My Rifle'? I suppose they are going for that 'custom' look but to me these things look like a 3 dressed up as a 9. It is like putting Valvoline or STP stickers on a friggin Bentley!

I am all for classy embellishments like skillful engravings, octagonal barrels and high grade wood stocks...but these mass produced etchings make the scopes look like the mass produced chit that should be sold at places like Wal-Mart.

What about it fellers? I know looks are only skin deep with rifles, but would you go for embellishments if you could afford them? What would your custom rifle look like?