THF folks,

Have you noticed a decline in the quality of reticle adjustment dials in Leupold in the current line up?
Seems like VX3-5 series scopes in the prior 3-10 years had more precise feeling and audible click adjusters.

With that said, what would you recommend for a light weight, high quality optic 3x9 to say 3-12 range.
This would go on an Kimber 84L which is pretty light and trim.

My preference is US made optics which narrows the field.
I'm running some Zeiss Conquest scopes on other rifles which were assembled in US with Japanese glass.

Let's see what THF can suggest. Budget would be under $1K, preferably around 500-600.

Thanks
Cajun in Texas

Leupold bad tracking is quite normal. This was two days ago. Hand loaded, match perfect ammo, with an ES of 12 fps. Leupold VX5-HD



I will not own Leupold, Vortex, Swarovski, and Zeiss rifle scopes. They do not track. They do not hold zero.

Money saver REALLY GOOD scope.

https://www.eurooptic.com/C557-NF-Nightforce-SHV-4-14x50-F1-1-MIL--illuminated-Mil-R-r.aspx

I’d normally recommend the SWFA 3-9 but I’m not sure when they will be in stock. It is not USA made but is made in Japan and SWFA is a Texas company.


https://swfa.com/swfa-3-9x42-ss-hd-mil-quad-reticle-30mm-tube-1-mil-clicks-ffp/

Trijicon is another good option. Also made in Japan.

https://www.eurooptic.com/Trijicon-...on-Tree-30mm-Matte-Black-Riflescope.aspx

Both are fairly light but not as light as Leupolds.

Trijicon AccuPoint.

Trijcon crede
maven RS1.2 - 2.5-15X44 FFP(. It’s a very usable full range reticle)
NF SHV

Leupold came in No1 this year….seems like it was Vortex last year.
https://precisionrifleblog.com/2024/06/10/best-long-range-scope-reticle-what-the-pros-use/

Interesting.

It's always good to do some type of box test on your scope. The easiest way we've found is to secure your rifle and scope. I use my Tipton gun vise as it allows me to tighten down the rear stock where it won't move, We'll draw out usually a 25MOA box on a couple pieces of poster board taped together with has marks at 10/15 & 20 MOA. Using a weighted plumb line we make sure the vertical line on the target is plumb and horizontal line is perfectly level at 100 yards. Getting it lined up on the target may take a bit of work, You can easily do a 20 moa box test or what ever increment you want and check the tracking. Much more accurate that shooting a box test if the rifle/scope are truly secure. This will check two aspects, one, how well does the scope track and does it come back to the zero. Two, is the vertical reticle canting as the move up. Cant has a big effect shooting long distances. It's worked really well for me.

A really interesting article. Thanks for posting it. It’s nice to know what the serious folk are using.

Which LEUPOLD did you have this issue with and did it track and hold zero? The audible click and feel wouldn’t necessarily lead to performance issues.

I haven’t noticed the characteristic you discuss. I have two VX5-HD’s. One purchased 7 years ago and one a year old. They aren’t any different than a VX6 that is 12 years old. They both are great hunting scopes. I dial them all year long with no issues. My first in the line up has been dialed from a 100 yard zero to kill a coyote at 550 yards, months later to a 370 yard kill and many 300 yard verification shots on steel in the year. Over it’s 7 year life it’s been dialed 100’s of times and always been money, returned to and held zero.

X2

They both beat ZCO and NF so you have to wonder how much of that is sponsor driven. I don’t know. I know when I upgraded from my Mk5 to the ZCO I didn’t regret one penny of it.

Me -2- Vx5 HD and vx3 (luppy replaced one HD 5 and the vx 3)
cousin-2 mark 5’s

PRS= paid to shoot and they are all shooting Mark 5’s, I doubt any PRS shooters are shooting sub $1000 scopes also.

PRS rifle are also not hunting rifles, while they are used a lot over all rifle weights and recoil reduction systems are well above most hunting rifles.

I’m done with glass quality I need highest probability of reliability, tried of sending scopes back.

PRS has turned into exhibition shooting to me. Their rifles are benchrest rifles with arca rails and bipods (some even weigh more than some benchrest rifles)...seems like I saw an article recently their weights were averaging 20lb+ rifles.

Looks like NRL is the old PRS...without 6mm's.

That wasn't a knock on PRS shooters...those guys winning PRS matches would very likely win NRL or any other rifle game they decided to play. Also, one thing I've noticed over the years...PRS shooters are loyal to their sponsors. I bet over the last few years the NF presence on the prize tables have went down and the Leupy has increased. Nothing wrong with that...take care of the hand that feeds you.

Those articles I read and are interested in but not something I put much weight on...

A long time customer of mine asked me two months ago about replacing his VX-5 HD. He said it was always losing zero. And his elevation corrections always varied. He's been a Leupold guy for 30 years.

I told him Night Force NX8. He bought one, and got it bore sighted and zeroed. Then shot with it for a couple of weeks. He called again and said what a great scope it is, he's done with Leupold forever, selling the ones he has, and will be buying another NX8.

We are also forgetting not a scope being used in that class that meets the OP’s pricing, out side of maybe a Burris .

OP if you are a vet or first responder most the scope companies have great programs. Most use Guidefitter or Expert voice, few are direct like leupold

Is he a member here? I’d be interested in buying one of them. I’ve put a few of my hunting partners on VX5-HD’s, all hunting great with them.

All that chart says is more people shoot LP than the others. TT had four of the top 10, LP and NF had two each.

I have a VX5-HD 3-15 fire dot with aluminum scope capes. $800

Yep. Looks to me like some are not paying close attention to what the chart is telling us, which is more Tangent Theta users were in the top 10 than users of any other brand. Nightforce did well too.

Regardless, OP is shopping for a scope to put on a Kimber 84L, not a competition rig. I doubt he's wanting a 40-ounce scope, and I get the impression he just wants something with turrets that generally work. I'd suggest looking for one of the older Weaver Super Slams or the Grand Slams (either version). They have good glass and the turrets work well, and weight is very reasonable for a hunting rifle.

Notice I haven't put a recommendation out either I have not a single clue on a $5-600 scope that would be worth a crap. If I did, I'd have a safe full of them Instead I have a safe full of $750-800 when we could buy them for that...

Valid point.

Think you can get there with NF SHV but barely and Trijicon is just above

SHV glass is meee but reliable

He’s gonna hunt with the scope, not shoot competition. He’ll do perfectly fine with a Leupold VX3 or VX5. I also have an Athlon Midas 2.5-15 that is pretty nice for what I use it for. Next scope, if there is one, might be a Trijicon, just because I’d like to see how good it is. Zeiss would be fine.

The Athlon Midas hits his price ideas, and the clicks are sharp. Some of you guys are pushing him toward Porsche level, when all he needs is Toyota level.

Oh and I have a Zeiss 4-16 for sale also