Leupold selection help

[maximini14 223]

Question:
Is paying the $200-250 more for a leupold vx5 over a vx3i worth the money for a dedicated deer gun .

Built a 6.5 Grendel on an AR15 platform over the winter . Aero Precison upper and lower, Lilja barrel.
Trying to get the glass on this thing before fall.
Hunt middle TN farm land for deer. Big timber and rolling hill pasture land.
Longest shot would be 400-450 yards but I have never had that opportunity. Usually 50-200 yards.
Looking at
leupold VX-5hd 3-15x44 with the illumated reticle.
Leupold VX3i 4.5x14x50

Is the extra money worth it for a dedicated deer gun . The illumated reticle is a plus and if I go up to the VX-5 I would pay the extra for it
Have hunted with a tikka t3x with a VX-3i 3.5x10 for the last few years and have been pleased with the early morning clarity of the VX3
I have had good luck with the CDS on the tikka so I think I would like to stick with one or the other of these.

Opinions please!!

Depends on your hunting style. I prefer to be in the big woods "still hunting" where ranges are short so having a low power with wider field of view is imperative to be able to find the target.
On the other hand as I move thru the woods and come across powrr lines or logged out area where shots can be long its nice to be able to crank up the power. As you indicate you hunt farmland which indicates long-range shots opt for more scope power. I also like an illuminated reticle....in low light conditions when game is moving it can be difficult to pick up the reticle against the animals body.

 

[jbo829]

I would spend the extra but then again u could run into something like this and be happy for a Tennessee hunting rifle

 

[Gar Guru]

To original poster, I was in exactly the same situation you are about 2 months ago and I ended up buying the Vx5 3-15x44 firedot reticle. Have mounted it on my 700 in .300RSAUM and been practicing for an upcoming muley hunt where I am told I could get a 600-700 yard shot. I ended up buying the Leupold one piece lightweight mounts, Backcountry I think is the name, and love the scope and rings. Zeroed it at 200 and using a ballistic program and chronograph figured out the MOA chart and it is easy peasy hitting a 12 inch steel plate from 100 out to 600 using turret. I have to find a longer range now to see if I can take it to 1000. What I have determined in this whole experience is that my factory trigger is garbage. Ordered a Timney replacement last night.

 

[NDAR15MAN]

Man that is a heck of scope price on that Leupold VXl- 3.5-10x40 =164.00. A guy could dress up a lot of older guns with that scope and price. Marty

 

[tooth doc]

Question:
Is paying the $200-250 more for a leupold vx5 over a vx3i worth the money for a dedicated deer gun .

Built a 6.5 Grendel on an AR15 platform over the winter . Aero Precison upper and lower, Lilja barrel.
Trying to get the glass on this thing before fall.
Hunt middle TN farm land for deer. Big timber and rolling hill pasture land.
Longest shot would be 400-450 yards but I have never had that opportunity. Usually 50-200 yards.
Looking at
leupold VX-5hd 3-15x44 with the illumated reticle.
Leupold VX3i 4.5x14x50

Is the extra money worth it for a dedicated deer gun . The illumated reticle is a plus and if I go up to the VX-5 I would pay the extra for it
Have hunted with a tikka t3x with a VX-3i 3.5x10 for the last few years and have been pleased with the early morning clarity of the VX3
I have had good luck with the CDS on the tikka so I think I would like to stick with one or the other of these.

Opinions please!!

In this case with this gun amd the intended use i would not spend the extra $. The vx3 will serve you very well. You dont need the extra size and weight and greater magnification dor your intended use. I have abiut every good scope there is including vx3's and i have 2 mk5 3,6 - 18. Love them both but i wouldnt spend the extra on the ar platform for 500 yd shooting. Just my 2 cents

 

[jaclthr]

Hello Guys,

Food for thought , EuroOptics is having a clearance sale on Vortex Strike Eagle scopes in 6 x 24 x 50 and 3 x 18 x 44 for 299.99 plus 9.99 shipping. The 3 x 18 is a bit shorter than regular scopes for a little bit compact on a hunting rifle plus they have lit reticles and the reticles are hash marks for quick hold off shots. Good scopes for the money I believe. Of course with all, each to their own.

$.02 Worth

jaclthr

 

[308win]

I have VX3i with 30mm tube. Dials up to 32 MOA and tracks true...not sure why they told you there is only one revolution on turret? Regularly shoot steel out to 1000 with it (6.5x55) and shot deer out to 520 without any problems. The only thing I dislike about it is the low turrets.

 

[freddiej]

el Pollero, To answer your question whether the VX5 is worth the extra money over the VX3i, YES, it is. You described a gun that has the potential to put an accurate shot out to 700 yards but you are saying the longest might be 500 yards. The gun's potential is worth the extra money. My fave scope magnification range is 4.5-14 for standard 400 yards potential range on deer, elk, moose. If I am going out any farther then I want at least an 18 upper end magnification. some of my longest shots were deprivation tags on gnarly terrain. I was limited to 6.5-20 X 50MM Leupolds . I was very glad to have them. however my short shots were messed up by having a 6.5 magnification when all I needed was 3 to 4 X magnification. the versatility of a 5X magnification range is heaven sent. I have even been known to use 1-8 X32MM 3-gun AR scopes on my light pack rifles due to the versatile magnification range.
take care and have fun out there.

 

[tmmcampbell]

The tube size doesn't matter. It is the CDS dial on the VX3i that limits the travel. If you don't use the CDS dial you can dial the full range but will not have a zero stop.

No zero stop is a deal killer for me!

 

[coyotezapper]

Question:
Is paying the $200-250 more for a leupold vx5 over a vx3i worth the money for a dedicated deer gun .

Built a 6.5 Grendel on an AR15 platform over the winter . Aero Precison upper and lower, Lilja barrel.
Trying to get the glass on this thing before fall.
Hunt middle TN farm land for deer. Big timber and rolling hill pasture land.
Longest shot would be 400-450 yards but I have never had that opportunity. Usually 50-200 yards.
Looking at
leupold VX-5hd 3-15x44 with the illumated reticle.
Leupold VX3i 4.5x14x50

Is the extra money worth it for a dedicated deer gun . The illumated reticle is a plus and if I go up to the VX-5 I would pay the extra for it
Have hunted with a tikka t3x with a VX-3i 3.5x10 for the last few years and have been pleased with the early morning clarity of the VX3
I have had good luck with the CDS on the tikka so I think I would like to stick with one or the other of these.

Opinions please!!

HD glass and illumination will not make you a better hunter. The best hunter I know still uses a Leupold 3-9x33 compact scope that is over 20 years old.

If you have the budget and want to "invest" in a VX5 then I would say yes, do it.

I bought my first good set of binoculars back in the 90s - Swarovski SLCs. The salesman sold me on the idea that these would be a lifetime purchase and I would never need another pair again. Was he right? Yes and no. They were and are still very good glass and yes I could have used them very successfully the rest of my hunting career but as I got older the weight of all of my gear became more noticeable and so I wanted something lighter. The Razor HD and Mohave HD that I was looking at were a lot better image quality than the older SLC's but the SLC's still were excellent. I could still see the same amount of detail with all three. I ended up selling the SLC's and buying the Mohave HD's based on weight only and have not been disappointed. The Mohave's have been discontinued and there is even a better replacement now but there will always be something better with the way technology is.

 

[Flatbow]

Bullfrog is correct about the 3i.
I have one on my Mtn. Gun 6.5 and can dial to 1300 yrd but with the cds on it I can "only" dial to 700yrds. Plenty for all my big game hunting. However,
I run it without the cds dial do to the fact that there are Wolves every where I hunt and would not be happy if had the opportunity of a shot but could not dial for it!
Not a big deal once you have used the scope a bit and learned where zero is.

 

[greenejc]

Question:
Is paying the $200-250 more for a leupold vx5 over a vx3i worth the money for a dedicated deer gun .

Built a 6.5 Grendel on an AR15 platform over the winter . Aero Precison upper and lower, Lilja barrel.
Trying to get the glass on this thing before fall.
Hunt middle TN farm land for deer. Big timber and rolling hill pasture land.
Longest shot would be 400-450 yards but I have never had that opportunity. Usually 50-200 yards.
Looking at
leupold VX-5hd 3-15x44 with the illumated reticle.
Leupold VX3i 4.5x14x50

Is the extra money worth it for adedicated deer gun . The illumated reticle is a plus and if I go up to the VX-5 I would pay the extra for it
Have hunted with a tikka t3x with a VX-3i 3.5x10 for the last few years and have been pleased with the early morning clarity of the VX3
I have had good luck with the CDS on the tikka so I think I would like to stick with one or the other of these.

Opinions please!!

Check out Shepherd scopes. They aren't that expensive and they work for long shots without touching the turrets. The compensation is in the first reticle and very accurate in its bullet drop. https://shepherdscopes.com/ is the website. I use the P2 on 30-06's and my 35 Whelen. I have P1 and V1s on my 300 Winmags. They work well for hits out to 700 and 800 yards.

 

[Lahunter76]

I have shot the VX3 3.5-10x50, VX3 4.5-14x50 and have always loved them!!! Felt like the VX3 3.5-10x50 was the best deer hunting scope ever.....then I decided to build a rifle and decided to get the VX5HD 3-15x56.......and myself and my father can see a difference!!! It's a firedot! And I don't see me ever doing anything else if I can afford it!! My father said he was getting one also!

 

[IanCo]

I have a VX 6 on my custom and another rifle has the VX 3i. The 3i is ok but I really like the VX 6. I plan on replacing the 3xi with a 5 or someday.