Thoughts about Leupold VX-3HD

[Edster]

Ok not sure what the big deal with the little Allen key is. You get one with the scope and one with the Custom dial when you order it. I have had one in my wallet on a piece of card stock for going on 4 years now. I also have spares in my range kit and travel kit. To be honest I have 3 rifles with CDS on them. They have been to Africa and back, one rifle has made 2 trips. Along with range trips once a week for close to 3 years and I have yet had to rezero any of them.

 

[HookMeUpII]

I’m genuinely curious to know what European glass you’ve looked through if you feel a VX3 is on par with it.

That's fair. I have VX5's. I should have specified.

PH and I both agreed in RSA that my VX5HD was on par with his Swaro. Which Swaro he had, I can't remember. Another hunter had a Leica, my personal feeling was the glass was on par. He and I didn't get into it it in terms of comparison.

I'm sorry, a lot of it is personal preference. My personal feeling is that the VX5's and VX6's are very much on par with comparable sized Euro glass.

Another hunter had a Schmidt & Bender in camp and I will say, that was some really nice glass.

 

[HookMeUpII]

As far as glass quality, my Leupold MK 5 HD 3.6-18x44 is an awesome scope, but at last light my Swarovski Z6 1.7-10x42 is noticeably better.

I've never looked through a Euro optic in a low light situation but I have my Leupold. In RSA the PH and I were attempting (probably, futile) to stalk warthog in the grasslands on his property. It was about 85% dark. We spotted a male. I checked him out through the scope and it was right back to early dusk. The PH also wanted to see the firedot and he tried it out. It was incredible how much light it pulled.

I'm sure the Euro optics are as good and maybe even better, I just can't say.

My 300WM did almost have a Swaro. I was working with a factory rep and it became "We have none, won't have them for a long time" etc.

The Leupold VX5 and VX6 are right on par. I can't say better. Wouldn't be fair to. However, is a Swaro or Leica for the amount more than a Leupold is, that much better? That might be a tough argument to make for 95% of hunters.

 

[WAB]

I've never looked through a Euro optic in a low light situation but I have my Leupold. In RSA the PH and I were attempting (probably, futile) to stalk warthog in the grasslands on his property. It was about 85% dark. We spotted a male. I checked him out through the scope and it was right back to early dusk. The PH also wanted to see the firedot and he tried it out. It was incredible how much light it pulled.

I'm sure the Euro optics are as good and maybe even better, I just can't say.

My 300WM did almost have a Swaro. I was working with a factory rep and it became "We have none, won't have them for a long time" etc.

The Leupold VX5 and VX6 are right on par. I can't say better. Wouldn't be fair to. However, is a Swaro or Leica for the amount more than a Leupold is, that much better? That might be a tough argument to make for 95% of hunters.

I actually take multiple scopes out back and glass deer well past legal shooting light (the closest shooting house to my front door is 50 yards). I love Leupold scopes but they don’t compare to the Z6 and Z8 Swarovski’s in low light which is when 90+% of our deer are shot.

The absolute best low light scope I have tested is a Schmidt & Bender 8x56 klassik.

 

[Laniarius]

I certainly don't want to say that scopes with the CDS-ZL are bad, and it's great that many of you have had excellent experiences with them.

Some of us just prefer the older design of simply removing a cap, turning the dial whichever direction it needs to go, and putting the cap back on. And I prefer the look of a cap to a dial whose function I don't intend to use because I don't shoot far enough. It's that simple. I've brought up supporting arguments but I admit those are not likely to happen and I deserved some ribbing for that.

 

[HookMeUpII]

I actually take multiple scopes out back and glass deer well past legal shooting light (the closest shooting house to my front door is 50 yards). I love Leupold scopes but they don’t compare to the Z6 and Z8 Swarovski’s in low light which is when 90+% of our deer are shot.

The absolute best low light scope I have tested is a Schmidt & Bender 8x56 klassik.

I'd love to be able to do a comparison like that. I have sort of done that with other brand optics. I won't mention names but one very popular brand in the USA I found to have terrible glass for the money. It would be different if it was a $400 optic. This was something someone paid quite a bit for. In fact, that was the first time I really understood there is good and bad glass. It wasn't Leupold, Swaro, or Leica.

S&B and also Steiner, impress me quite a bit. Steiner was one I always knew bad good marine optics. When I looked through one of their rifle scopes, I was really impressed.

 

[skydiver386]

I certainly don't want to say that scopes with the CDS-ZL are bad, and it's great that many of you have had excellent experiences with them.

Some of us just prefer the older design of simply removing a cap, turning the dial whichever direction it needs to go, and putting the cap back on. And I prefer the look of a cap to a dial whose function I don't intend to use because I don't shoot far enough. It's that simple. I've brought up supporting arguments but I admit those are not likely to happen and I deserved some ribbing for that.

No ribbing necessary. It's your money and it's unfortunate that Leupold can't built it the way you want it.

What would be ideal is a non-CDL model through the Leupold Custom Shop, but according to the website that has been temporarily suspended, except for custom CDS dials of course.

 

[375Fox]

I've never looked through a Euro optic in a low light situation but I have my Leupold. In RSA the PH and I were attempting (probably, futile) to stalk warthog in the grasslands on his property. It was about 85% dark. We spotted a male. I checked him out through the scope and it was right back to early dusk. The PH also wanted to see the firedot and he tried it out. It was incredible how much light it pulled.

I'm sure the Euro optics are as good and maybe even better, I just can't say.

My 300WM did almost have a Swaro. I was working with a factory rep and it became "We have none, won't have them for a long time" etc.

The Leupold VX5 and VX6 are right on par. I can't say better. Wouldn't be fair to. However, is a Swaro or Leica for the amount more than a Leupold is, that much better? That might be a tough argument to make for 95% of hunters.

I haven’t seen the situation where we had the ability to judge an animal with binoculars but not shoot because of the scope in low light. Typically what I’ve seen is you will lose the ability to judge horns a good time before you lose the ability to shoot. Leupold has always been good for me. I like Swarovski too on rental rifles but I find the crosshairs very difficult to aim with on a dark animal without an illuminated reticle regardless how good the glass might be.

 

[375Fox]

It's your money and it's unfortunate that Leupold can't built it the way you want it.

What would be ideal is a non-CDL model through the Leupold Custom Shop, but according to the website that has been temporarily suspended, except for custom CDS dials of course.

I spoke with the Leupold rep at the euro optic booth about CDS. It was an interesting conversation because I originally thought he worked for euro optic, so I started off asking for an alternative to Leupold because how much I dislike CDS. He said it’s common feedback especially from hunters in the Northeast. I had a good discussion with him but sounds like this is the direction Leupold has chosen to go. I also sent a note to Leupold through their website that I’m a long time customer, but if there are no non-CDS options I’ll need to look elsewhere. I didn’t receive a reply. I’m not sure why they can’t make every scope with a simple screw on cap as an option. There is no change to the internals of the scope.

 

[HookMeUpII]

I haven’t seen the situation where we had the ability to judge an animal with binoculars but not shoot because of the scope in low light. Typically what I’ve seen is you will lose the ability to judge horns a good time before you lose the ability to shoot. Leupold has always been good for me. I like Swarovski too on rental rifles but I find the crosshairs very difficult to aim with on a dark animal without an illuminated reticle regardless how good the glass might be.

We were just at that point seeing what the light gathering of the scope was. We had already known it wasn't shooter. The PH was actually, genuinely curious how the firedot looked. I was impressed. I was actually unloaded at the time. Knowing I could have taken the shot, was pretty impressive.

Leupold does watch a lot of this feedback. I wouldn't be surprised if they responded with a screw-cap turret that can be ordered.

Very few companies give me a warm and fuzzy feeling about their customer service.

Leupold and Browning make me feel really comfortable about buying their products.

 

[Laniarius]

Leupold does watch a lot of this feedback. I wouldn't be surprised if they responded with a screw-cap turret that can be ordered.

Very few companies give me a warm and fuzzy feeling about their customer service.

Leupold and Browning make me feel really comfortable about buying their products.

That would be awesome. I would pay good money for one of those, recognizing it would cost a lot more than extra Allen keys to stash under the butt pad of the rifle, and in my range bag, backpack and moustache.

 

[Sideshow]

Mind if ask what’s wrong with the box-FREEDOM 1.5-4x20 PIG-PLEX if you don’t want the CDS system?

 

[Laniarius]

I like those. I had one and only sold it because I had purchased it used and was able to sell it for about the same I paid for it, and wanted the cash to fund something else at the time.

The Freedoms are good scopes. Nothing wrong with them, but the VX-3HD or higher have better glass.

 

[mauserhunter]

I picked up a 3.5-10x40 with the twilight hunter firedot this March for my birthday making use of the $100 off, put it on a pre-64 m70 3006 I put together in talley rings and I am very happy. I figured since we came shoot now 30 minutes before and after the sun and I always wanted to try the firedot. Dot is even daylight bright which is a bonus. Still haven't ordered a turret but some day I'll get a good load to stick to and order. Put it in low 30mm talley lightweights so it sits pretty low and doesn't feel to top heavy. Only thing I've run into I've only have about 6-7 moa of travel in the scope after zeroing at 100, shouldn't really affect anything but I like being centered if possible, I figure it's just that it's a old rifle and a forged receiver so things weren't the striaghtest back then. Someday maybe I'll put some qd talley classics on.