Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Leupold Scope Choice

Looking for opinions or experience in choosing a scope, with very specific criteria.

• Must be a Leupold product
• Host rifle is a 6.5x55 Tikka T3x Forest
• Primarily for whitetail, east of the Mississippi, out to 500 yds.
• Typical low light, dusk/dawn conditions
• No budget constraint
  

My first thought: VX5HD 3-15x44 with Firedot Duplex (illuminated)

Your first thought is a very good one.

I own three and they are working great for me.

One on my Tikka .260, my whitetail rifle.

Yep, you picked a good one. Or the VX-6HD version of the same. That is a 3-18x44. If you like the included alumina caps and electronic leveling

Interesting concept. Why does it have to be a Leupold? When I set out to acquire something, my goal is to get the best I can find within my budget. In scopes, that might be a Leupold I suppose, certainly at one time they were my first choice, but it’s a big wide market out there now, and there are a lot of players.

If you don’t care to explain, that’s fine, just curious. Wouldn’t mind seeing a pic of that rifle since Tikkas are rare critters hereabouts, especially that model.

Good luck.

But it's got to be a Leupold pappy!! Strict guidelines here.

I like mine but if I were buying another one tomorrow, I’d probably get the 56mm.

Lost some faith in Leupy newer ones any way bought a vx5 he 3x15x56 wouldn’t hold zero or tract correctly Sent it back Came back with two new erectors....... has been fine since But dang get it right the first time

What’s wrong with that?

I'll explain it this way: I have an opportunity to buy from a Leupold distributor at an unbeatable price.

Here's the best pic I have at the moment with the current Vortex Diamondback mounted.

Nothing at all. It's his choice. Like Pappy said though, there are many choices out there. Leupold has more failure rates than anything I've ever seen though. Even the high dollar ones.

Well, if it just has to be Leupy, seems as though you were done with the OP. Under $1k I would look for a used Bushy LRHSi or LRTSi 3-12X44 myself, distributor price or no.

Nice rifle, by the way. I love Tikkas.

What, and where, are you you going to hunt with this Tikka/Leupy combo, anyway? It might help narrow down some suggestions.

A Meopta Meopro 4.5-14X44, HTR or regular, would stomp that Diamondback all day long, too, at an attractive price and weight. And, I think, keep up with or surpass the VX5 in glass and tracking departments.

VX-6. Heavier reticle. I have a VX5 2-10 w/ firedot, it's nice, but it would be nicer with a heavier reticle.

Primarily for whitetail, east of the Mississippi, out to 500 yds.

Saw that in the OP, hur, hur, hur.

My set and forget Leupy would be a 6X w/Dotz for ~ 500 yds.

Dialing, Bushy Elite 3-12X44 of your fave flave.

10-4. It’s a strange development with Leupold. They were the quintessential American made scope that was the benchmark for good rifle optics but almost overnight they fell out of favor. I’ve used Leupold for years as well as various other brands. I figured that with certain programs Leupold offers the OP had the opportunity to buy a Leupold for a heavy discount and can’t say I’d blame him.

I have 3 Leupold VX5HD 3-15x44 Firedot Duplex scopes and 1 VX-6HD 3-18X44 Firedot Duplex.
All on tikka T3x's They are very good scopes for the money and make a great combo with the T3x. If you have to have a Luppy your on the right track. Yes, there are better scopes available. But they will cost you more than you can get the Luppy for with your deal. I think the VX5HD 3-15x44 with Firedot Duplex is probably the best bang for the buck when it comes to Leupold

Makes sense to me. You’re playing with their money, so to speak. FWIW, the VX-3 and above scopes I’ve had worked fine for me, and had the typical good eyebox and nice view. Since price is not an issue, go long!

The VX-3 is my normal bang/buck shopping range with Leupold, Vortex, and Nikon (no more) the brands I own. I've not had issues with Leupold (Vari-X I, VX-1, VX-3, VX-Freedom) and still believe the American value is there considering the warranty.

I did have a MeoPro 3-9x40 mounted on a beautiful turkish walnut CZ550 (also 6.5x55) but, I decided to let the next person enjoy it since I had the Tikka. Side by side with the T3x/Vortex, the Czech combo was heavy (but dang those Czech's make great gear!).

So even if you're not a Leupold fan, would you turn down an $1100 MSRP scope for 1/2 price? I'm sure some might. Not me.