Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Leupold CDS or LR Duplex

I just purchased a Tikka T3 Lite, 270Win; the rifle will be used for whitetail and hopefully mule deer and Elk. For whitetail and Mulie, I'll use a 120 or 130gr pill; Elk will be 150gr Accubonds.

I've narrowed the scope choices down between two: VX2 3-9x40mm CDS or VX2 3-9x40mm LR Duplex, with the CDS system costing $28.00 more. Based upon reading alone, it's my thought the CDS would be the more logical choice for shots greater than 300yds.

For those of you that are actually using or have used the above systems/reticles; what is your recommendation?

Please feel free to elaborate on the pros/cons of either prospective scope.

The problem with multiple loads and CDS is that you have to send in your load specifics to have the CDS built. If you go that route, I would say you're better off picking a 140 gr pill that will handle all your game so the dial will be on. I don't think that's much of a stretch with today bullets.

Also, 140 is the largest AB they make. The 150 LR AB is a different animal. I would not personally choose that for a close elk load.

I would go with 140 AB or a 150 partition and call it a day (if they shoot in your tube).

I can't recall using a less helpful reticle than the LR from Leupold. I'm not much on their CDS either, but would prefer the CDS to the LR by a substantial margin. I'd much rather by a used Leupold, send it to Beaverton, OR and have an M1 elevation turret installed. It'd be a much better system.

Either way would work.

I think the dot's or some type of Christmas tree reticle is the way to go on hunting rig out to 500yds.

The subtensions of the LRD will only work on max power. You could change your subtensions with the power ring but that's pretty complicated for hunting. With a 150 at 2850fps you can zero at 200 and the dots will be basically dead on at 300, 400 and the post at 500. A 120 or 130 moving faster would be something like 310, 420 and 520.

I have a couple of scopes with CDS. The zero stop is a must, it is absolute junk without it. I also just get them in moa and make a chart or use my phone for drops, much more versitile. That said I'm losing confidence in them I've had one go down twice. And the return to zero just is not reliable.

I find the LRD to be great for the sort of shooting I do in the field.

Dial-turning isn't something I see myself doing in the field, while dots offer a quick reference for "close enough" shots on game out to 400.

YMMV

For me, the various dots and hashes are useless in poor light, or up against dark cluttered backgrounds. The CDS is almost cheating when the wind cooperates. If you don't like the specific yardage dial concept, just have leupold make a CDS dial in MOA with a zero stop and use ballistic drop charts you can generate online. One dial will do it all in this instance.

I just put a LRV duplex into a VXII 6-18 and mounted it on my .222 Sako. I think the result was excellent. I killed ground squirrels out to 420 yards with it and anything I could guess the distance to correctly inside that was pretty much dead meat. I wouldn't hesitate to put the LR-D on a big game rifle. I am not a fan of the CDS knobs from the tactile standpoint. They just don't seem robust or positive to me and I don't have confidence in them. Doesn't mean they are crap but that is my experience with them. A B&C might be more useful with the windage hashes, but it is also busier and not available on the VX2.

They do a CDS MOA dial so you don't have to worry so much about changing bullets. Chronograph, ballistics software, and a little range time will do the rest pretty easy. Seems a no brainer to me to just run that dial for everything.

If you're going to run a dial, just get the M1. You won't regret it.

If you figure your shots are only out to 500 or so, the hashes/dotz are easy enough.

And for sure, I would go with one single load--the 140 Accubond is a winner in the 270.

The Leupold 6x42 LR works well. My only hunting load for my '06 is regulated to 300yds first dot, slightly less than 400yds for the second dot and ~480yds for the post. I prefer it to dials in the field as it is faster and i am looking at the target when making decisions on range. Besides, 500 yds is a very long shot in field conditions.

Any factory 180 gr. 30-06 loads that will match THE LR Duplex out to 500 yards?

Over CDS any day.

I prefer the LR reticle.

I sight-in a bit differently than Leupold's instructions.

Since the reticle is only exactly correct for one BC and velocity, I sight-in at the longest distance I can, and let the error come back to the shorter distance instead of sighting in at 200 yards and having the error at the longer distance.

My pet .30/06 "beanfield" load with a 200 yard zero is:
-9" @300yds
-24" @400Yds
-48" @500yds
whereas the LR Duplex subtends
6.57" @300yds
19.2" @400Yds
39.1" @500yds

With the 400 yard dot sighted in exactly, I am:
2.4" high @200yds with the crosshairs
zeroed @250yds with the crosshairs
1.8" high @300yds with the first dot
zeroed @400yds with the second dot
-3.5" @500yds with the post

I would much rather deal with a couple inches of error at the shorter distances than 5-9" of error at the longer range.

Michael

I prefer the CDS. I have two VX-III 3.5-10's with it and have had very good luck with them and will be getting several more for other rifles. They have played a helpful role in killing 2 elk and several deer in the last 3 years. My first one I put on a model 70 Supergrade in 300 Win Mag before my first elk hunt and ordered the dial for my load with 200 gr gamekings and it worked flawlessly out to 700 yards which is the most I could get out of 1 revolution of the turret. I then pulled it off that rifle and put it on a 700 titanium 30-06 shooting 180 gamekings and had a dial made for that load for my elk hunt this last year and again it was spot on. I just put one on a Paul Jaeger rifle that I bought recently and as soon as I get a load worked up for it I will be ordering another dial. Midway has the VX-III 3.5-10 CDS on sale right now and would be a nice step up from the VX-II for not much more.

Here's the link.
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/13...al-system-cds-matte?cm_vc=ProductFinding

Why is it so many guys can't figure out how to use an LR reticle with their (any???) chosen load?

Enter the data with your zero into a trajectory program, hit calculate, and see at what distances you are 2.2, 4.8 and 7.8 moa low. With a typical 270 - 30-06 load a 250 yard zero puts the dots on at about 350 and 450 yards, and the post at roughly 550.

Depending on you elevation, a 180 Accubond at factory velocity will come pretty close.
At sea level,that load drops about 1/2 moa more than the LR Duplex calls for (2.0 at 300, 4.9 at 400, and 8.3 at 500) and at 10,000' it's about 1/2 moa flatter than the reticle would give (1.6 at 300, 4.3 at 400 and 7.2 at 500)

The dots are uber simple.

With a new rifle I get zero'd at 200 yards and then while I'm doing load work up at 400 yards zero the bottom dot.

Just use a 2'x2' target board with a 6" round dot in the center.

Re-check top dot(should be close at 300 yards), recheck duplex(should be close at 200 yards). You're all set to go hunting.

Past 400-450 yards a turret would be the way to go but that's farther than I shoot when hunting so I'm not worried about it.

Next thing you know you'll be suggesting a LR duplex w/ an M1 turrett...

David

I almost ordered one to try but figured it would be overload for my memory.

Fixed 6x and dots is the only way to go for us simpletons!

I just received my FX-3 6-42 w/ LR reticle, M1 Turret and 200yd parallax setting....

David