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Leupold CDS
#5786535
06/13/15 01:30 AM
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Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 41
257.Bob
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Hey guys, Got a new Leupold VX3 CDS on the way. This scope will sit on a rifle that will hopefully be used throughout the state. I'd love to use this scope from everything from right along the coast, to out in west Texas, to Northeast Texas, and out to the Panhandle. What would be the optimum elevation to tell the folks at Leupold that my elevation will be ? 1000ft?
Last edited by 257.Bob; 06/13/15 01:32 AM.
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Re: Leupold CDS
[Re: 257.Bob]
#5786560
06/13/15 01:50 AM
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Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 41,206
J.G.
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Sell it, get a Mil/ Mil scope and pay $9.95 for "Shooter" app. It will adjust for density altittude as needed.
Depending on your chambering, bullet BC and MV, and how far you plan to shoot it won't vary much from 500 yards and in. Texas has ASL from 0' to 4000', so I would avereage that at 2000'. Once cold weather sets in, your pre-made dials will have you impacting low since cold air is dense air and density altitude falls.
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Re: Leupold CDS
[Re: 257.Bob]
#5786570
06/13/15 01:58 AM
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Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 41
257.Bob
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Light Foot
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Fireman, so for a pure hunting scope (at normal hunting ranges), just go with a "normal" scope?
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Re: Leupold CDS
[Re: 257.Bob]
#5786589
06/13/15 02:22 AM
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Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 12,225
wp75169
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Without the custom turret it's simply a MOA turret. No need to sell it. You can apply the same ballistics in MOA as you can in MIL.
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Re: Leupold CDS
[Re: 257.Bob]
#5786619
06/13/15 02:40 AM
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 5,398
Pittstate
THF Trophy Hunter
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I have the VX6 CDS on my 300 Win Mag. I have the turret for 7500 feet for Elk hunting. If I am hunting any where else, I can use my ballistics app to tell me how many clicks I need for elevation and windage based distance, elevation, temp, humidity, wind, etc. It is very hard to beat a Leupold during last 10 minutes of legal. And, I don't know of a tougher scope that doesn't lose zero after falling from the side of a truck.
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Re: Leupold CDS
[Re: 257.Bob]
#5786632
06/13/15 02:55 AM
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Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 41
257.Bob
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Light Foot
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Out of curiosity, what do y'all think of the Zeiss OPMOD? Is it the same scope as the original Zeiss Conquest?
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Re: Leupold CDS
[Re: 257.Bob]
#5786651
06/13/15 03:11 AM
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 5,398
Pittstate
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Haven't used a OPMOD, but I use to have a Conquest and thought it was the bees knees until I got my Swarovski and Leupold VX6. Not even close to same glass IMO (last 10 minutes of daylight). I have a Zeiss Terra on my daughter's rifle and it is ok, but not as good as the Conquest.
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Re: Leupold CDS
[Re: 257.Bob]
#5786670
06/13/15 03:25 AM
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Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 41
257.Bob
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I certainly can't afford a Swaro or VX6. I'm an educator and don't have the funds for a scope that is of that quality. Alas, anything else to look at in the Zeiss OPMOD or Leupold VX3 range of scopes and quality?
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Re: Leupold CDS
[Re: 257.Bob]
#5786690
06/13/15 03:37 AM
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 5,398
Pittstate
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I have a Nikon monarch 3 that is very, very clear. My $225 Nikon bushmasters actually looks clearer than my Zeiss terra
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Re: Leupold CDS
[Re: 257.Bob]
#5786888
06/13/15 12:41 PM
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Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 41,206
J.G.
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Re: Leupold CDS
[Re: 257.Bob]
#5786894
06/13/15 12:46 PM
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Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 41
257.Bob
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Light Foot
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Re: Leupold CDS
[Re: 257.Bob]
#5786900
06/13/15 12:53 PM
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Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 41,206
J.G.
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Also, how far were you planning on taking shots?
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Re: Leupold CDS
[Re: 257.Bob]
#5786906
06/13/15 12:56 PM
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Joined: Jul 2012
Posts: 15,739
603Country
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Bob, I think you got a fine scope that will work for you very well. You could buy better and you could buy worse, but I'd be happy with the one you chose. If you find yourself hunting at altitude, just be aware of the trajectory differences. A good app will tell you what you need to know beforehand.
Just think of the decades past and the hunters that had 'plain ol scopes' without anything other than crosshairs. Are the mountains covered with the bones of those guys that starved to death? No.
Not my monkeys, not my circus...
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Re: Leupold CDS
[Re: 257.Bob]
#5786919
06/13/15 01:07 PM
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Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 41
257.Bob
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Distance: Probably no more than 350 (at a game animal). Mitch
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Re: Leupold CDS
[Re: 257.Bob]
#5786946
06/13/15 01:32 PM
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Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 41,206
J.G.
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Your trajectory won't vary much within 400 yards all year and various elevations. I'm still a propnent of Mil reticle Mil turrets. You can even go without turrets if you learn how to use the reticle. The dividing line of easy and difficult is correcting for wind. Having the ability to hold correctly for wind is what seperates wanna be distance shooters from competent distance shooters. Run whatcha got, or... http://swfa.com/SWFA-SS-HD-3-9x42-Tactical-30mm-Riflescope-P50716.aspx
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Re: Leupold CDS
[Re: 257.Bob]
#5787018
06/13/15 02:42 PM
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Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 35,138
Brother in-law
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Good scope, you will like the CDS feature. If you set it up right it will work great. I like my vx3 much better than the pst. I'll have to look but I think I used an average altitude. The turret came back in about a week
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Re: Leupold CDS
[Re: 257.Bob]
#5787059
06/13/15 03:27 PM
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Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 35,138
Brother in-law
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I used 1600 ' on my creedmoor. If I remember correctly I just went to 3 places in west TX that I have hunted and took an average. The scope has been pretty gun to me. On a couple of occasions I did the increments out to 600 yards with pretty good success. There are a lot of decent scopes out there. The CDs aspect makes it easy if set up right.
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Re: Leupold CDS
[Re: 257.Bob]
#5787120
06/13/15 04:15 PM
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 5,398
Pittstate
THF Trophy Hunter
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If you set up your rifle to shoot the same ammo, you should love your CDS out to 500 yards easy. I have the CDS on the VX6, the XR Turret on the Monarch 3 and the BT Turret on my Swarovski and all three track awesome out to 300 yards. I don't have a place where I currently am to go past 300 yards. With any of these custom dialed scopes, I would zero my gun at 100 to start and then start turning the turrets a few clicks and check to see if they "track" correctly. If the scope says that 4 clicks equals 1 MOA at 100 yards and you zero at 100 and try to click it 6 times to the right, if it isn't 1.5MOA impact to right, it is not tracking. Believe it or not, even the most expensive scopes out there sometimes fail at this simple feature. If they fail, call their customer service and get it exchanged. Once you have a scope that tracks, the CDS (or what ever the company of your scope calls it) will work awesome.
Not a lot of difference between 1000 feet of altitude and 1500 feet, but there is a bigger difference between having a turret set for 800 feet and then bringing the same rifle to 8000 feet in Colorado and shooting at 800 yard target. The great thing about the turrets is that you can get an additional turret that is calibrated for 8000 feet if you want (and a different round of ammo).
Next, you might ask which dial system do I like the best. I don't have enough time behind each one to give a great answer. I do like the 4 plex type reticles on my shorter range guns that I will only shoot out to 350 yards..these guns I only shoot in areas with little wind. On my 300 win mag I use for Elk, I have the T-MOA reticle, so I can dial for distance and use the app for windage holdover. I like this reticle because it isn't very busy. This gun is set up to shoot out to 600 yards, but I am not equipped to shoot that far yet.
All this advice is coming from a hunter and not a shooter. If you want to bang steel out past 300 yards, there is a lot better info on this forum from others that are into that activity and I would suggest talking/listening from them.
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Re: Leupold CDS
[Re: 257.Bob]
#5787216
06/13/15 05:39 PM
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Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 41
257.Bob
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Light Foot
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Pitt, I won't send the CDS info into Leupold until I find the ammo my rifle loves. Sounds like it's a pretty good system. Thanks for your info.
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Re: Leupold CDS
[Re: Pittstate]
#5787235
06/13/15 05:55 PM
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Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 41,206
J.G.
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I really don't understand the disconnect some people have with practicing on vitals sized steel and translating that into hunting.
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Re: Leupold CDS
[Re: 257.Bob]
#5787247
06/13/15 06:07 PM
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Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 41
257.Bob
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Fireman, I personally don't have the luxury of long range shooting (i.e., I don't have the ability to shoot out to distances of the wild blue yonder).
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Re: Leupold CDS
[Re: 257.Bob]
#5787287
06/13/15 06:51 PM
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Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 6,219
dee
THF Trophy Hunter
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Fireman, I personally don't have the luxury of long range shooting (i.e., I don't have the ability to shoot out to distances of the wild blue yonder). What he means is to use vital size targets at the distances you will shoot. The last thing you need to do is just shoot at 100 and assume the rest is good.
"A vote is like a rifle; it's usefulness depends on the character of the user" Theodore Roosevelt
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Re: Leupold CDS
[Re: dee]
#5787367
06/13/15 08:20 PM
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Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 41,206
J.G.
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Fireman, I personally don't have the luxury of long range shooting (i.e., I don't have the ability to shoot out to distances of the wild blue yonder). What he means is to use vital size targets at the distances you will shoot. The last thing you need to do is just shoot at 100 and assume the rest is good. Exactly. If you plan to hunt at 350 yards, practice to 350 yards in various weather conditions on targets the soze of your game's vitals, and from the poistion you will be shooting from in the field.
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