Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Leupold: VX Freedom 2-7 or VX3-HD 2.5-8?

I'm setting up a Kimber Montana in .260 Remington. This rifle is going to be used on New England whitetails at ranges under 300 yards, with most shots in the 75-150 yard range. But--I do occasionally jump deer in the woods at very close range, so the ability to get a quick accurate shot off is also of importance. I'm pretty much set and forget as far as adjustments in the field, so the CDL turret is probably something I don't need (but never tried one so who knows?). I really like the VX3 1-75-6 and have had good experiences with older Leupold 2.5-8 models. Those scopes seem pretty much unobtainable now so I thought I'd go new with one of the scopes in the title. I like saving money, but Are the new Leupolds as good or possibly better than the discontinued versions? Anyone have experience or advice to offer?

I know you have those two listed specifically but you might want to look at a VX-3 1.5-5x20 great FOV and 5x will get you to 300 easily. I use the 1-4x20 Leupolds on four of my coyote rifles out here on the desert. I grew up hunting N. WI and the 1-4 was my goto scope on, even the 1-3x20 Weaver worked well in the forests up there.

Weaver V-3

Of those two, I can only speak to the VX-3HD 2-8X. I have one on a Browning X-Bolt .30-06, Winchester M70 Featherlight .308 and a Winchester M70 Alaskan .300 WM. It's bright, clear, and so far holds zero. There's plenty of light transmission in the morning and evenings. Time will tell since its a relatively new model. But it seems to be a good evolution of the VX-3 line. I also have a VX-3HD 3.5-10X40 on an X-Bolt in .270.

The only thing I don't like about it is having to screw the whole eyepiece to focus the reticle. Never minded when I was younger, but as my eyes have gotten older, I have to screw it pretty far out. I've been spoiled by the separate focus ring on Burris scopes and my VX-5HDs.

Also, the CDS-ZL is a wash for me. I can take it or leave it. I zero my rifle where I want it and leave it alone after that.

I see that you joined in February and have a low post count of 18. Allow me to join with others here and welcome you to the Campfire.
Living directly East of you I hunt the NE also. My Kimber Hunter 6.5 Creedmoor is scoped with VX2 3-9X40. My 22-250 Encore carries a VX III 2.5-8X36 and my 270 Kimber Montana carries a VX3i 3.5-10X40. So I have VXIII, VX2, VX3i. My favorite is the 2.5-8X36.
The Kimber Hunter 6.5 Creedmoor is very similar to your 260 Montana. It's a hunting rifle carried by an 81 year old. I'm giving serious consideration to switching scopes and mounting the VX III 2.5-8X36 on it.
I'm not you but if I had a new Montana 260 (great choice, great rifle) and about to mount a scope to hunt the NorthEast the VX-3HD 2.5-8x36mm would absolutely be my first choice.
I wish you good success in your choice.

Jim

Aside note: Except for the VXIII, the above rifles and scopes came through the Classifieds here on the Campfire.

Thank you, Rug3, for the welcome. There's a lot of knowledge and experience here, I'm glad to participate. I'm leaning towards the 2.5-8, the only thing holding me back is the CDL turret which I'll probably never use once I've got the scope zeroed at the range. I'm embarrassed to say that I find the zoom ring more than enough complication. The VX3 1-5X is one I never considered--I'd miss the higher magnification at the range but the trade off might be worth it.

I doubt you find it lacking at the range with a little time behind it.

300 yards with a combo gun that I use for coyotes.


the BRNO at work

[i
200 yards with my 1926 drilling


The old drilling at work


There are some really nice 1.5-6x40 scopes out there, and are one of my favorites on bolt action, I have them by Burris, Sightron, Bausch&Lomb, Meopta and Konus.

I have a Athlon 2-12x40 on a coyote rifle that makes a great rig for close and far. On my scopes I like to see a minimum of 40' FOV on tthe bottom end as that is where they stay until more X's are needed.

Athlon 2-12x40 at work

That's some nice shooting!

The few times I have grabbed the power ring and twisted it up for a quick, out there, whitetail shot. There wasn't enough time to gauge distance and analyze the specs. Saw moving buck out there at some longer distance, turner it up, aimed, fired and hit. I did check to where I had turned it after. Between 6 and 7 on each.
I'm sharing that to say a 5X would have been a little less than what I found ideal on those shots.
I doubt the BEST SCOPE is definable. Your 260 is a great rifle and is worthy of a great scope that you like. My thinking is you're on the right track.
Best to you.
Jim

I've got two VXIII 2.5-8x36 on a Kimber Montana 325wsm, and Remington 700 Mt rifle 7mm-08 and one 2-7 VXII on a muzzleloader. Both are great scopes but the 2.8-8x36 is a little better scope imo.

I have owned at least a dozen 2.5-8x36 Leupold scope models (VXIII , VX3, VX3i) every one has been bright, clear and held zero on multiple very light rifles chambered from .223 Rem to .300 WSM and everything in beteween with zero issues. The only fault I can say they have is that tracking aint so great but you said your looking for a set and forget type scope so tracking is a non-issue for you (like Me)...You are making an excellent choice for your rifle 👍👍...Good luck and good hunting....Hb

I have a Leupold VX3 2.5-8 CDS German #4 and a 2-7 VX2 CDS. Dialed them both with no issues. For lightweight guns they are by themselves.

Update: Purchased a lightly used VX3HD 2.5-8 here on the forum classifieds. As long as the turret locks securely, I think I'll be ok with the CDS concept, especially if it comes with improved optics. Time will tell.

I have several of the 2.5-8x36 leupolds, they are my favorite. Perfect for most hunting situations I’m in and I’ve never had one fail. The 2-7 is the only scope I’d get in the freedom line.

I also have the VX-3 and Vari-x-III 2.5-8x36 on several rifles and they have been very good. No problems with any of them and they are light and clear. I think they are a great choice.

And there are the rare FX-II 6x33.......and with an M1 like mine

I've run both the Freedom and various 2.5-8x with good results.

I bought a lightly used VX3-HD 2.5-8 from a member here on the forum. Very bright and sharp!

You want about 50' at 100 yard field of view and a substantial reticle for that. Most of the scopes mentioned are not optimal.

I have a VX3 1.75-6x with the grossly heavy duplex that works well though the reticle is a bit much. Vortex sells an 1.5-8x. The classic answer was 1.5-6x 40 with German #4. There are 2-10x scopes on the market. I would look in that direction.

If you want a substantial reticle and a wide field of view at close range, the VX-3HD 2.5-8x36 has it. 37.5 feet at 100 yards at 2.5X. That's pretty good. Plenty for close range, thick woods hunting. I usually leave my scopes set to 4X when I'm still hunting or stand hunting in thick woods.

As far as the reticle goes, the reticle on the VX-3HD 2.5-8x36 is better than the reticle on my VX-5HD 2-10Xs. The thin line portions of the reticle on the VX-3HD is much shorter than it is on the VX-5HD. The reticle on the VX-3HD has the appearance of a heavy reticle in comparison to the VX-5HD. In fact, I have four of the Leupold FX-II 2.5X Ultralight scopes with the wide-plex reticles that some people bitch about. The duplex reticle on the VX-5HD is even wider than the wide plex on the FX-IIs, yet it's not called a wide-plex on the VX-5HD.

If I had it to do over again, I probably wouldn't have bought the VX-5HD 2-10X. I have never killed anything with any scope at max magnification. And 10, and even 8, is more than I need. The VX-3HD 2.5-8x36 is just about perfect for my hunting needs. I wouldn't be handicapped by it even if I were hunting over a bean field or a clear cut. I especially like the reticle in comparison to cheaper, and even more expensive, Leupold scopes. To me, the glass is as clear on the VX-3HD as it is on the VX-5HD. And I like the 1" tube better than the 30mm tube, which I think it unnecessary.

The handicap with the VX-3HD 2.5-8x36 is that it's a short bodied scope. That is the scope that sits atop my Browning X-Bolt (the bottom rifle) in the 3rd post in this thread. (There is a VX-3HD 3.5-10x40 on the top rifle.) On the bottom rifle, a long action, notice how far forward the scope is compared to the top rifle. The ocular lens on the bottom rifle is ahead of the safety. The ocular lens on the top rifle is behind the safety. I took that picture when the rifle was new and I had just mounted the scope. I didn't think I would mind crawling the stock a bit to get a good sight picture, so I left it like that for awhile. But I actually took the scope off and flipped the front base around so I could mount the scope in the slots behind the ones where they are mounted in the picture. Now I have same cheek weld on both the top and bottom rifles.

Even on a short action, it's a short bodied scope. On my Winchester Model 70 Featherweight .308, I use a Talley extended front base to mount that scope. On my Winchester Model 70 Alaskan .300 Win Mag, I used a Talley double extended front base to mount it. If you are like me, you will need extended bases on your rifle to have enough room to adjust that scope back and forth to get the proper eye relief. For me, it's just too short to mount using standard bases and still have enough room to move it in the rings to where I want. I can't stand a scope mount where the rear ring is up against the adjustment, and the front ring is up against the bell, with no room for back and forth movement, and no way to move the rings to different base slots. So that's something to think about.

Here are some pics of Talley steel bases I use on my Win 70s with the VX-3HD 2.5-8x36.

Right: Standard. You can use these on a short action to mount this scope but you won't have a whole lot of room for adjustment of the scope inside the rings. You might be able to use them on a long action, with zero room for adjustment.
Middle: Extended. I use these on my short action Win 70 and it gives me plenty of room for adjustment.
Left: Double Extended. I use these on my long action Win 70 and it gives me plenty of room for adjustment. It does overhang the front of the ejection port by about 1/16" or so - I never measured it. But its not obtrusive and it in no way affects ejection.

Didn’t know about those. Very handy.

I'm hoping the VX3-HD 2.5-8 will fit on my Kimber 84m without extensions. Haven't had a chance to mount it yet.