Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats Leupold VX III 4.5x14x40

Im in the process of having a 280 Ackley Improved built and Im now on the hunt for a scope. All my guns have Leupold scopes, most are VX III 3.5x10x40, but on this gun Im thinking about a 4.5x14x40. Is a 40mm objective enough on a 14 power scope? I like the looks of a 40 mm but could do a VXL (assuming I can get a 4.5x14) So I need input. Does anyone have one currently? If so how do you like it? Or do I just stay with a 3.5x10.

Thanks in advance.

I hate the 4.5-14X(any/all variants),as compared to the 3.5-10x(any/all variants).

10x will getcha to 1K,easily and that's a fair poke..................

I have a 4.5-14X40 VX-III with a 30 mm tube. I like it as much as I do my 3.5-10s. Can't see any problem gathering light during the hours I hunt....

IMHO, the only good 4.5-14x40 is the louppie long range model, Or the better PR 4.5-14x40 with turrets and 30mm tube and side focus, which is basicly a better long range scope. I have a few, and like them alot.

I'd stay away from the 1" tube models, there crummy on 14 power.

I have two 4.5x14x40's Both are gloss 1" tube models and both work wonderfully for the applications intended. I would like to get my hands on at least one more but they are difficult to find in gloss finish these days. 40mm is plenty for the power range of this scope.

BigStick, whay is this? Have you had experance with the 4.5x14? More infor please. thanks

I've had 3 4.5-14x40's and all were replaced with 3.5-10x40's. In my experience, I could not use same cheek weld on the stock at all powers with the 4.5-14.

What does the non-AO 4.5-14 have a such a bad rap?

Thats my question too. Seem guys either love them or hate them?

I think that the newer ones w/out the AO are much better than the older ones, but can't so for sure. What I've read here from people who have had both, is that the older ones were not well focused beyond the 10x range, making the 14x basically unusable ... seems now, the newer ones have been engineered to correct the distortion at higher magnification, and work a lot better ...

what seems to remain the same, is that there is a slight difference in eye relief and critical eye position between the low end and high end of the magnification range with the 4.5-14x ... where the 3.5-10x is much more forgiving ...

of course, as most will tell you, you can set the scope up for the proper eye relief at 14x, and you'll likely be able to use it with pretty much the same cheek weld at lower powers ... but chances are, it will still require a very slight difference in the position of your eye behind the scope ...

again, that's just what I've heard from those who have had both for direct comparison ...

Thanks for the info WGM, just for clarification are we talking about last years non-AO version to current production non-AO?

Though I can't say if I'll ever need the higher magnification past 10x for my own hunting, it would be nice to have it handy just in case.

But just wondering if the higher magnification is worth sacrificing the eye relief and cheekweld/eye position.