Help me pick a leupold

U

Ultra12

New member
I am a big leupold fan have few vx-3 scopes. I just bought a tikka 223 and making it a long range (300-500 and maybe even further distance) varmint / target rifle. I like the quality of leupold but the biggest magnification I have in my leupold scopes is 10x so I have no expeience with higher magnifications. I am looking at few scopes from leupold. There are 3 groups I am considering each group has few scopes with slight diff like max magnification (20 vs 25) and scope aperature (40 vs 50 vs 56). I just would like to know for my purposes which one would be better. Here are my choice

Vx-3L. 6.5-20x 56
Vs
Vx-3. 6.5-20x 50
Vx-3. 8.5-25x 50
Vx-3. 6.5-20x 40
Vs
Mark 4 LTR 6.5-20x 50
Mark 4 LTR. 8.5-25x 50



I understand that bigger bell = more light but since i will be shooting mostly during the day it will come down to a price (or should I say what I can get a better deal on). I would like to know of anyone had experience with some of the scopes mentioned above and how do they compare. I really like the look of vx-3L but I would like to know your experiences with that and other scopes mentioned above
 
Most of my scopes are Leupold and a couple of them are the old VariX III, and they are great. I can only assume that the newer versions are even better. I have a 6.5-20X50 with the 30mm tube and the fine Duplex reticle. The only thing I'd add to it are the Varmint Hunter reticle lines for bullet drop compensation. That's all you'd need for shots to 500 or 600 yards if the reticle lines are matched to your actual trajectory. Inside of 400 yards you don't even need the lines if you know your bullet drop and you know the range.

You will likely be bombarded with suggestions for a zillion other scope makers and models and I'm sure that most of them will do just fine, but if you want Leupold, buy Leupold. Unless you want to reach out past 500 regularly, you don't need anything more than a 6.5-20X40 with the 1 inch tube and the standard turrets. I do recommend the fine duplex and the varmint hunter lines. But...if you're gonna shoot out to 1000, what I've recommended isn't enough scope and you need advice from the long range guys.
 
I love varmint shooting, and I even mounted a Vari-X III 6.5-20 on my 22-250 briefly. I say briefly because I took it off after a few weeks and traded it for a Vari-X III 4.5-14. The 6.5-20 was just too much scope for shooting in the field, where targets would pop up at anywhere from 50 yds to 500 yds. The field of view is so small that at 20X, it was hard to find the animals in the scope even at 200-300 yds after spotting them with the naked eye. I dropped back to the 4.5-14X and never had another problem.
 
Although I fully understand Scorch's argument, and accept it as completely valid for his shooting conditions...

As both models of scope have side focus or parallax adjustment, and I know from experience that both are quite accurate, I'd opt for the higher power (25X) of either model... MK4 or VX-3. The VX-3, from a slightly lower price standpoint would be the better choice.

Why? Assuming you're shooting from a steady rest set-up... with a bit of practice, you can scan your FOV at lower power, while on target - increase the power as needed, calculate your hold over, reset your parallax and take your shot... all in a few seconds.
Second... you can always back down on magnification and just leave it there. If and when you might benefit from it, it's nice to be able to go up to 20 or 25X... while if you don't have it... whatcha' gonna' do?

If the above is all just "a bit too busy" for your specific shooting conditions... then perhaps Scorch's logic is more sound.

Cheers,
C
 
Thank you guys for your responses. I will be getting either mildot or varmint reticle. It looks like vx-3l and mark 4 both with 6.5-20 are my best choice. Anyone had experience With either of those 2 can chime in
 
Ultra 12

I love Leupold Scopes myself, most of my Rifles have Iron Sights, but the two that do have Scopes wear Leupold. Best Eye Relief, and Warranty in the Buisness. Good luck with your Scope Purchase.:)
 
I have a VXIII 6.5x20x50 with Varmint reticles mounted on my 22-250 and 220 Swift Varmint rifles (Model 12 & No. 1V) and they perform very well. In addition, installed Kenton Industries turrets for dialing in elevation. For target acquisition, just reduce the magnification and adjust as necessary.
 
i have two 6.5x20 lupy,s with target knobs and small target dots and a 8.5x25-50 lupy with side focus target retical and they fullfill most of my long range needs. for most varmite shooting with a 700 vls in .223 i have a burris 10x target and out to 400yds the 10x in enough glass for me,either leupold or burris.eastbank.
 
what you also get with the so called over priced leupold is free service,no matter if you are the first owner or the tenth, or that you picked it up at a yard sell. and the turn around is in days not months. with return postage paid by leupold.i have tried the service of a few brand scopes and i have found them to be slow to none. eastbank
 
I don't have any loopypolds but I do have a Swarovski 6-18X50 on a Sako varmint SS with a Ballistic reticle that I shoot Ground Hogs with and the reticle is very usefull at making those very long shots and I have killed a GH at 380yds which for some is not along shot but for me it's out there. So my advise is to get the milldot or Varmint reticle on the LP.
 
It is your money, but a 3-9 is plenty of scope for your needs. Anything over 4-12 is a handicap for what you want to do. Same with any objective over 40mm. You can get a VX-2 in those power ranges for $300-$350. Add about $150 for the VX-3 if you just want to spend money, but you'll never notice the difference between the VX-2 and VX-3.

Buy a sensible scope and spend your money on more important stuff.
 
These days a 3-9 scope just doesn't do it for me, particularly with all the great choices we now have. If all I was going to shoot were deer, it would certainly do. but I do get the occasional coyote and pig shot that's longer distance. I think the just about perfect power range for a scope, for my needs, is about 4-16, but I don't have one. I have a VX2 in 6-18 and that VariXIII in 6.5-20 and I do, from time to time, use the upper range of power for critter blasting. Most of my shooting is done at 8 power, and it's in open fields. But if I'm in the woods, I'll go to the lowest power and that'll be 4.5 on my deer rifles. But to get to the point, if I have a nice standing shot at 400 yards or more, I'll crank the scope to max power and take the shot. I popped a coyote a while back with my 220 and I could see the expression on his face when the bullet got there. On the down side of scope power, I was pig hunting late last year when I had a herd of them show up. Perfect range of about 60 yards and moving rather slowly. I pulled the 220 to my shoulder and I had left the darn thing on 20 power. Not good. Mother Nature doesn't give many time-outs for equipment adjustments.

Why limit yourself to a 3-9 scope unless you only hunt in closed in areas? I don't see the logic.
 
I select my varmit scopes by caliber and max yardage and for target scopes I like a fix powder so trying to combine the both a Leupold 6.5x20 would be ideal IMHO.
 
Ultra:

Your trust in Leupold is well founded. They are among the best scopes out there.

One thing to consider: How you shoot, you know time of day weather etc. I had [past tense] a Leupold 6.5 -20x with target knobs and parallax thing for a while. Many times, the higher power was not usable because of mirage. I would have to dial back to 9 0r 10x. Sure I could dial it back, but I was carrying all that weight.

I did a test at 300 yards with an accurate .223. From 6x on up to 20x groups ran from 1.25" to 1.5". The best group was with a 2.5-8x that weighs 12 oz. Sure I SAW better at 20x but my rifle is blind.
 
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