Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Is Leupold VX3 4.5-14x40mm AO a desired scope by hunters?

I see folks cranking their scopes up too high for conditions all the time, that is a HUNTER problem, not a scope problem.

I have one 4.5-14 left, it is a LR version with the side focus- it also has a B&C reticle. I think it is a good scope.

I am not trying to sell you on the virtues of Leupold scopes. I have had my share go tits-up certainly. I think, however, at that price point it is a good scope. Some complain about the eye box on the 4.5--14 compared to the 3.5-10. I have both. Can't say that the eyebox bothers me on either one.

The first one I bought had the regular duplex- I thought it too fine in the 4.5-14 but perfect in the 3.5 version. A buddy wanted one so I ordered a heavy duplex for me and gave him mine. He was happy, I was happy.

My experience with variables is that I haven't found one yet that stands up to heavy recoil. I ruined 3 scopes in 2015 on 300 Win mags and one on a 340 Wby. But that's just me.

Looks like from the responses that you probably won't have any trouble selling it once you are done with it, but I personally don't have any interest in them. I've owned them in both the 1 inch and 30mm tube versions and they are both gone. After owning and using a Conquest in the same 4.5-14 range and seeing how much easier it was to get behind, I sold both Leupolds and replaced them with Conquests.

Responses were helpful

Went with the Leupold VX3 4.5-14 AO Fine Duplex because I want to be able to adjust parallax to 100 yards and use the fine reticle for target shooting and picking the best load with various rifles.

Natchez was out of these but one seller on eBay has a bunch on auction and they go for between $400 and $430

Thanks again.

I think someone would want it. I work with a guy who has one on both his deer rifles. A lot of people in the south are hunting long narrow strips like pipeline right of ways and have a tight window for acquiring their target analyzing whether or not to shoot and then taking the shot.
They would rather use their rifle scope for analyzing the animal instead of fiddling with Binoculars then switching to their rifle as the deer is stepping out of sight.

I sure don't want one. They are a pain to look through compared to other Leupies.

As in all things, to each his own.

We are too simply spoiled with options these days. That's not a bad thing, as we are not all just alike and what works best for some of us are not much appreciated by others. It does create a situation where there are possibly more goodies available than we can ever fully experience.

I believe a guy could pick any single one of the aforementioned scopes and do anything in the hunting world with it. I often think back to the days of old when there were very limited scope choices. The old timers got what was available if they could afford it and made it work. They probably thought it was miraculous.

I own dozens of scopes from a several different manufacturers and I don't dislike any of them. Each has it's niche. Some of the most enjoyable scopes I ever hunted with were ancient fixed power scopes on borrowed rifles in Africa. They were all that was available, and worked perfectly for me.

My biggest problem these days is my weak old eyesight!

This is why I went with the A.O.

Thanks again for all the responses.