Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics VX3 vs Mark 4: Reliability of reticle adjustments

NOTE: *** I tried this post on another forum and didn't get enough information so I'm trying it here ***

I'm about to order a 4.5-14x40 Leupold scope and am concerned about the difference between the VX3 scopes vs the Mark 4 scopes for reliability of reticle adjustments.

Anyone have any advice on either? This scope will be used for a lot of turret turning varmint types of shooting and I'm very particular on the reliability of reticle adjustments. I have one Mark 4 and it seems to be drop dead reliable for reticle adjustments.

I get frustrated when I move a reticle adjustment a few clicks up and my group moves left or right or doesn't respond correctly to the adjustment. GRRRRRRR!!!!

Please help....

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/7863344/4


dave

I would spend the money on the new Bushnell LRHS.
It has a little less magnification than you are looking at but this scope was built to spin the turrets.

I have two of these and really like the reticle, zero stop elev. turret, bold markings on the elevation turret.
For the money it is tough to find these features.
Great warranty as well.

Try it you will like it.

I can't say about the VX3 but I never had much luck with Mark 4's.
I have had 3 of them and sold them all. I know others that swear by them.
There maybe some of the available thru George Gardner at GAP of the SH Group Buy, $1,500 get you the scope and a $300 retail range finder for $50 cost.

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/8731961/1

http://youtu.be/erVo6qRExDU

Read the whole thread... Thanks... Great thread... Too much pissing but a lot of good info... Still not clear on how the VX-3 stacks up against the Mark 4 but my confidence level in the newer Leupy's came up a couple notches.

I also have a Nightforce NXS Zero Stop for serious work...

Bob

The VX3's, not the VXIII's use the same dual spring adjustment internals as do the Mk4's. The only real difference(s) are in the external knobs. Heck, you can even get the VX3's with M1 knobs just like the Mk.4's. Or you can get the much lower profile CDS knob. E

I've had more Leupolds go tits up on me than any other manufacture. That includes 1 VX3 3.5-10x40 with CDS I had. It totally lost adjustment and this is what I ended up with:



Not trying to stir the pot, just pointing out 1 of the problems I've had with Leupolds. Excellent CS, but I'd rather be using a scope I know I can depend on

Hard to say if the internals are the same between a VX-3 and MK4 unless we took both apart for evaluation... or someone with design knowledge chimed-in. Are the erector tubes, gimbal assemblies, springs, blah, blah, etc. the same? The MK4 has a 30mm tube, but IIRC the VX-3 can be 30mm or 1".

I had an arm load of the VX-3 4.5-14x when they went on close-out locally but couldn't stand the tunnel vision and returned them. Some have told me the 30mm and MK4 don't have this, but I stood at the Leupold facility in Beaverton with a MK4 in my hands that still tunneled badly. Some people don't notice it or care, so this isn't a deal breaker for many. I'm also not a FOV nut, but at 4.5x... its not much better than most 6x scopes. Some of the locals around here still argue with me that the 4.5-14x is better in the woods than a fixed 6x even though they have similar FOV

You may want to check with Formid and Frank at the 'Hide. One thing that has stuck with me is what Frank stated awhile back regarding variables... NF fails the least, Leupold fails the most, and S&B is somewhere in between. That said, I like the FX-3 scopes I have, but have more faith in fixed power scopes.

Jason

Here's something I've wondered about...

Its one thing when a scope goes tits-up, but its another when someone says, "such-n-such scope don't track." How do we know that the scope was mounted correctly, and not in a bind? I bet if you took an average scope and put it in a slight bind, it'll have some funky tracking. Actually, I know this from firsthand experience. Correct the bind, and it'll track.

Just makes it very difficult to weed through the internet reviews regarding tracking. All out failures are another thing though.

Just thinking out loud...

Jason

edit: that dang BSA can still shoot, even with a broken scope

I've only owned a few Leupolds before now and the only one that I got a lot of use from DID, in fact, fail me but Leupold fixed it so fast it almost got back to me before I sent it... I sold it and only recently started buying them again.

I have one Nightforce for a rifle I intend to shoot a BUNCH and can't afford the ticket on several of them. I guess my budget will barely support the Mark 4 scopes and that's about it.

From what I read they WILL track fairly reliably until they fail and I ALWAYS have another rifle and/or scope with me when I hunt so I guess I have enough info to make my decision.

Yes... I noticed the "tunnel vision" problem with the Leupy 4.5-14 scopes and have to put up with it I guess. For me they're either target scopes or long range varmint and long range big game hunting scopes.

I guess I'm gonna quit this thread before the pissing contest people find it and turn this into another many paged argument. LOL

It seems that a lot of people have nothing better to do than sit at their keyboards and insist that their opinions are the only correct ones.

Bob

First of all, any scope can fail out of the box. All of them have.
Second, it's been pointed out many times that the guys over on the tactical forum, FormD and Frank, lump all Leupolds with all Nightforce and SB when making their comments. They are simply not the same at all. There very significant differences in internal construction among Leupold rifle scopes, unlike the scopes made by Nightforce and S&B. Even there tactical line varies alot. I've got a leupold tactical scope called the Precison Rifleman. It is not, in any way, the same as a Mark4 scope. Mine is simply a VariXIII with a Mil-Dot reticle and a Leupold's target knobs. A setup that works well for guys like me, but simply aren't built for those that do alot of hard dial spinning out to the edges of the scope's adjustmet range. E

I had that exact scope in mark 4. it was the LRT model. It was the latest dual spring model. That scope gave me fits for a long time. I also put it on a rifle that was capable for .25 moa. believe me when you have a rifle truly capable of that it will expose scope flaws. The scope held zero just fine if you didn't crank the turrets, however everytime I rechecked zero after using the gun my zero would be off both windage and elevation. The scope even had a trip back to leupold to fix it.

for those that say leupold's are great and track just fine, go try a nightforce and get back to me. I will never trust another leupold on a long range setup. in fact when I get a tad more money my last leupold will be sold and upgraded to something else. If I needed a scope like your looking for I would get a vortex, if you swing more money maybe a huskemaw or even better nightforce.

You've got a rifle capable of .25 MOA? That's pretty cool. Never seen one of those.

Tanner

The only two scopes I've had actually fail were a Swaro A (Z3), and a Conquest 4.5-14 with target knobs, therefore, I will proclaim to all of the internet world that all Conquests and 1" Swaro's are unreliable....they suck.

Oh, I just remembered the S&B Summit I had...that had a razor thin wire duplex reticle (that I personally couldn't use), therefore all Summits suck too.

I love the optics forums.

....or just upgrade to a SWFA SS.

If you want a Leupold that will track reliably, buy a Mark 4 fixed power or a Mark 6. Other than those, I wouldn't trust a Leupold for dialing duty.

no NF thats what I did

U R welcome.
Sightron does pretty well for the casual duty stuff.
dave

Oh ? I wonder why the US Army use nothing but Leupolds ? Even the US Marines use some of them. Nightforce has yet to land a significant military contract with our military. But I do understand they are catching up with their six month backlog of busted scopes.
Onbe of the things that drives some nuts is that their mounts aren't straight on the reciever. When they crank the turrets, the zero goes right or left as well. E

Right. Upgrade a SWFA SS. According to you, they are made by Tasco. I'll stick with Leupold. E

The original SS was made by Tasco. SWFA SS version, I don't know nor does anyone else. If a person is looking for reliable adjustments and can't afford $1500+ the SWFA SS is the way to go. Leupold's record for (not) tracking is well documented here