Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics leopold vx-5hd

Have been thinking about upgrading to the vx-5, curious as to what peoples experience/opinion is on them, thanks.

markak338fed,

I purchased a VX-5 3-15X56 to compare with what I already have. The most important thing to me was its low light performance. It lasted six minutes longer on the deer antlers 131 yards away in the woods than the Leupold VX-6 4-24X52, Bushnell 6500 4 1/2-30X50, and Swarovski z5 5-25X52. When set on 15X it was about as good as the z5 with it set on 15X.

I bought one in 2-10x42 to compare with My Z3's and Vx-3i scopes and to my eye's found zero difference in lowlight performance, My Z3's are a little better optically. I sold the VX-5hd to a buddy who is a huge Leupold man, he loves it!.......Good luck.....Hb

You saved me some money. I would have thought they were as good as Z3's

I had the 2-10x42 with wide duplex and fire dot feature for 2 years. The glass is very good, the reticle choices are lousy. You can have a Fire Dot Wide Duplex or a Wide Duplex. I did not do my home work and thought I would be able to change the reticle for a Fire Dot #4, no such luck.

I just sold it to a friend and I am in the market for a VXR 3-9x50 with a Fire Dot #4 reticle. I may add the CDS turret later. This scope will sit on my .338 Winny, which is my "gitterdone" moose rifle.

Not to my eye's but i am far from a professional id say the VX5 is a solid/tough scope but optically it did not compare well with my Z3's....I would really like to get ahold of a Nightforce SHV 3-10x42 and compare it to My Z3's........Hb

That is where I am heading and a Conquest V4 for my 300 mangleum.

I’ve been going back and forth for a while between a VX5 and a Conquest V4. Both have amazing images, generous eye boxes and plenty of eye relief. The biggest concern has been whether or not the Leupold would track since it’s going on a rifle that I intend to dial with. Decided on the V4 even though it’s a little heavier than the VX5.

I have the 2-10 and the 3-15, with the 3-15 I shot an elk at 677 yards dialing the CDS, week later I shot a 180" Mule deer in the Kaibab with holdover at 417 yards on 3 power. The scope still worked after re-zero!

It is a a really nice scope for the money. The 2-10 is amazing, just a great eyebox or whatever from 2 all the way to 10. Only shot one elk at 100 yards or so, hardly a test.

These have a different system then the vx2 and 3 CDS dials, you can tell by looking at them even though some on this site will tell you hey are identical, especially the guys that never owned them.

The 3-9 Freedom worked great this morning on a calf elk at 25 yards on a 308 with 155 Scenar too. That exit wound was a cavern! Arizona

I will be looking forward to your thoughts on the Nightforce SHV..👍......Hb

I replaced the Tract Tekoa on my Fieldcraft out for the VX-5 2-10 I won from Camera Land. While I think the Tract may be better in some respects, the reticle in particular, the Leupold is notably easier to get behind, especially on the top end, and looks much better to boot. It's bit lighter, and shorter, so it balances much better and feels better in my hands. Yesterday, when I took it to the range to sight in, my bore-sighting put me three inches down and four left. Dialed in the correction, and the next shot was spot-on. How well it will hold up in set-and-forget mode remains to be seen, but so far, so good. As I mentioned elswhere, in low light the "new" duplex, though kinda wide and kinda thin, remains quite visible, so I can't fault it there either.

On the downside, while focusing the reticle, I noticed some tiny fuzzy stuff here and there on the crosswires, almost like lint. I've had this thing for a year, and never noticed it while it was on my .308, and didn't while I was shooting it yesterday. Not going to worry about it now, I want to see how it does in other respects. If it craps, I'll add that to my list when I send it back.

Had the NF had at least a 5.6 mounting tube it would have been a no brainer for starters. 5.1 Really?

I have a couple of em and am impressed so far

I had a VX-5 HD 2-10x42 for a short while. I too compared it with several of my European scopes including a Swaro Z3 & Z5. I wasn't overly impressed with it and especially didn't like the wide duplex reticle.

You'd have liked it more better if it'd been free, like mine! Not sure if they're worth much more than the VX-3i if I'm paying.

I own both, and the VX-5 has better resolution and clarity and is better in low light than the VX-3i. Not a ton better, but noticeably (at least to my eyes) better. I also think the adjustments are better, and much prefer the diopter quick adjustments on the VX-5. I think the VX-3i has a better reticle, but the VX-5 duplex holds up in low light better than I thought it would so this may be a non-issue as I use it more.

I got a screaming deal on my VX-5, so for me it was well worth the money I paid. Given the sale prices on VX-3i lately (I paid $237 shipped for mine a couple months ago) they are one of the best bargain scopes on the market.

I just took two rifles to Nebraska for a few days of coyote hunting; an AR-15 with a Hawke WA30 in 1-4, and a 6x47 Lapua (defiance) with a VX5 in 3-15. Both scopes were outstanding. The VX5 seems to track well so far. The eye box is as easy to get behind as any scope I have used. It is optically noticeably better than my VX3 and VX3i scopes but not hugely so. Will it hold up? time will tell.

The Hawke continues to impress everyone who uses it or even looks through it. Although only a 4X it has a small illuminated dot in the middle of the X-hair that makes it easy to use on targets. I shot several 1/2" groups with it by centering the dot in a diamond.

The reticle on the VX5 isn't great but it is certainly good enough and with illumination, it is a very functional scope. I was able to use both rifles in all the conditions we encountered.

I also own both, and that is also my impression. I like the VX-5HD. I have the 2-10X42 version, and my main complaint is that at close range there seems to be more parallax present than with a couple of other scopes, but they also have parallax correction, so I'm a little spoiled by that.

If you don't mind its rather large size, the 2-10X42 is an excellent woods scope with plenty of field of view.