Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Leupold cds ZL question

Just purchased a vx3hd with the cds zl. The cds dial came set at zero with 14.5 moa up elevation travel(58 clicks). It will not adjust down. So if I’m relatively centered once sighting in I only have roughly 7 moa elevation left? Leupold lists the elevation range as 70 moa.

I have a CDS-ZL, I've never had to dial down so I zero the rifle, set the dial at "0" and go up from there, the most would be just over 3 moa. My zero is typically a 200 yard zero and I really don't have to touch the dial unless the target is beyond 300 yards.

The 70 MOA you refer to is the mechanical range in the erector system when it's centered, you may or may not have that much left after zeroing the rifle, but the dial is meant for one turn only.

If I were to engage in shooting beyond 400 or so yards or had to make multiple turns on the elevation dial, I would suggest looking at something in the NF or SWFA line, their erectors are much better suited for vigorous and extensive dialing. The Leupold is geared more towards an individual who would make the occasional 300+ yard shot, or that's how I've interpreted it and used them. In that context they've worked good for me.

Thats not really my concern. I bought it to put on a Remington 600. Wanted a good light weight scope to replace a 1.75 x 6 older vx3. So I bought the 2.5-8 vx3hd. Not getting the cds zl was not an option. With the rail on the 600 its mounted high and I ‘m not sure it will go low enough to zero. The current scope has plenty of adjustment. Roughly 15 moa either direction from center.

You can loosen the dial with a .050" hex key and turn the dial down if you need to. Shoot it, and for example, let's say your group was 6" too high. If the initial group was fired at 50 yards, you could loosen and set the dial to 12 or 13 moa, tighten it and dial it down, reshoot and readjust.

Groups fired at 100 yards would roughly mean 6" high needs a 6 moa adjustment. Roughly. Get it zeroed and then zero the dials. There is a way to set the windage on zero, too.

When you say loosen the dial are you talking about the cap or the actual turret? Right now its bottomed out mechanically it wont go any lower and a rough boresight looks like its still going to be high.

Yea, loosen the cap on the dial so you can work in the direction you want. Take another crank at it. Repeat if needed.

When you say bottomed out mechanically, do you mean within the one turn allowed by the cap or actual erector bottoming?

WEL, loosen up the 3 screws good on the dial and remove it from the turret. Now sight in the scope as if it did not have the dial on it. Once you get it zeroed, reinstall the dial with the zero stop set at your zero point. RJ

The scope came set at zero on the cap. With the cap on or off it only moves one rotation up not down. So 56 clicks up. My other scopes zeroed close to center with 56 clicks or one turn in either direction.

Every one I've had functioned normally, the CDS before the ZL function could be zero'd without loosening the cap. There was not any way to reference how many turns, though.

You may have a problem.

Sooo it seems the leupold manual is somewhat vague but heres the deal. The zero lock will not let the turret move past zero. . You have to take the cap off rotate it 180 degrees and put it back on. Now it will go down further. Once you zero it you put the cap back at zero and it wont dial further down past zero. Duh.

Correct. They assume that once sighted in, there would be no need to go "below zero" as far as elevation is concerned, which is most likely the case, unless you are using a longer zero range. But, if you have a CDS dial, there would be no real need to use a longer zero range.

You could however, still sight in at 200 or 300 yards. Just set the 200 or 300 mark as your "zero" point on the dial, and then you can still back down to 100 for closer shots. This would be the most accurate way to get a longer shot, than relying on the ballistics factors built in to the dial and your load. But, for most practical purposes, not necessary.

Or sight in and zero for 100, then check at 200 or 300 .


However, you will have to have Leupold build you a custom dial for your gun and load. They will do that for free.