Anyone have 1st hand experience with this optic? I swore off Leupold but this ticks all the boxes for me. Going on a classic mauser in .308 for general NA use. Hard to find any 1 inch compact scopes these days it seems.

Set and forget...shots out to perhaps 300yds with paper punching on the menu

Hard to zero, does not maintain zero, fogs up, total pile of [bleep]!! Beware!!!

What he said and make sure you don't ever ever dial it.

It’s serious bidness, I’ve hauled mine from Idaho, Oregon, Montana, Washington and Alberta. Don’t ask me why??? 😂😂

33mm objective .. if I remember right, they went from 33 to 36 mm when they went from the rubber friction adjustment to click adjustment back around 1990. I had one of those older 33 mm objectives. Great scope. I bet I had 2 dozen different rifles under it over the years. One of the neat things about that scope is you could use Leupold's super low Ruger rings with it. The current 36mm objective won't quite clear. I mean it was LOW. .. I don't know if Leupold even offers those rings anymore that low.

For the last 31 years, yes. Vari-X III, VX-III, VX-3, VX-3i. Still have, and use for hunting, at least one example of each.

On a light mountain rifle it's still my fav--especially with the B&C reticle.

Also, as TOM noted, they have had a 36mm objective for decades.

I put a Vari X lll 2.5 x 8 on my m700 7mm rem mag with Redfield rings on a 1 piece Redfield junior base 43 years ago. I've check the zero before a hunt but have only rezero'ed it 6-7 times in 43 years. Yup I like it. MB

The last new Leupold I bought was a VX3i 2.5-8x36 a few years ago. It went on a very accurate .257 Roberts Ruger Hawkeye. I never bother bore sighting so just shot it at 25m to get on paper. It was about four inches left and a couple of inches low. So moved it 64 clicks right and 16 clicks up. The next shot at 25m was an inch below the target square. So moved out to 100 metres and fired two more shots. They landed 3/4 or an inch to the left and about 2 inches high. So clicked the adjustment three clicks right and let the barrel cool. The next three shots went into a group about half an inch, two inches dead above the square at 100m so I left it. Seven rounds to get the rifle sighted in without bore sighting. The scope tracked in beautifully right out of the box. I've never touched it since and the rifle still shoots the same a couple of years later. But I'm just about to fire the last of my 100gn Nosler Solid Bases so will have to sight in another load soon, probably 100gn Sciroccos.

I only have six 2.5-8 x 36mm's. They age from 98 up, including 3I's. No problems.

My oldest Leupys are from the 80's but they are 2-7's and 3x9's. I did have an 89 model get sticky on windage so I sent it back. One out of about 30 isn't bad performance.

I've run a couple of them on some ultralight rifles for several years and they have served me well.

my 2.5- 8 x35 works fine , have had it on 4 or 5 rifles now this scope is on a Savage 99 284 Win. seems to be just fine for holding accuracy ? they are a great little scope for what i have used them.

I have a couple 2.5-8x36s, one an older Vari-X III and one a newer VX-3i. The older scope has been beat up quite a bit, never lost zero. I haven't had the newer one long enough to evaluate that way, but sighting in was easy, clicks were positive and did what they were supposed to do.

I also have some other Leupold scopes: a couple of 1.5-5x20s (one Vari-X III and one VX-3i), and one 2x LER pistol scope. The former both work fine, and the latter has also been beat up quite a lot, ditto never lost zero.

I don't dial when hunting; can't be bothered... so can't comment on that part of it...

-Chris

For set and forget type hunting inside 400 yards or so it's the best combination of lightweight, decent magnification for any situation, and reliability that I have found.

Have a VX3 2.5-8x36 W/B&C on my Kimber Montana .223. Great scope in my opinion for a light hunting rifle.

My 7 lb 12 oz 416 ruger African is at least a half lb lighter than the clunky, clumsy 375 ruger alaskan I owned a decade ago.

Full snot 400 grain is downright ferocious, recoil wise. It is definitely the hardest kicking rifle I've ever owned. I don't understand how the walnut stock, nor the 2.5-8 vx 3i scope continues to hold together. I usually say uncle by the 20th round.

I have put 80 rounds of the old unbonded dgx through it. The scope is solid.

I have half a dozen VariX-III and VX-3 2.5-8x scopes that I've used on a number of rifles over the last 20 years or so. I've never had any problems with them except sometimes the tracking is not exactly correct when zeroing. They have held zero well once it's established. Overall I've been very happy with them. I don't have any VX-3i's in 2.5-8x although I do have one in 3.5-10x that has worked fine for me.

I have one on a Howa LW, great scope for the woods on low but with enough on the top end to shoot a little distance.

Zeroed with no problems and holding it.

I have a 2.5-8x36 on all of my rifles I hunt. This VX111 worked flawlessly again this morning.

I have owned more Leupold 2.5-8x36 scopes in vari-x III, VX3 and VX3i versions than any other scope. My 2.5-8x36 scopes have been swapped around on more rifles than I could possibly recall and not one has ever let me down, optics are good (not great) and they dont track as precise as some of My other scopes but once you get them set they are a great little set and forget scope for the money 👍...Good luck...Hb

I recently replaced a Leupold VX3i 2.5-8x36 that I had on my hog hunting 308 bolt gun.

My assessment is that it’s a good hunting scope for no more than 100 yards. It was a great fit for me for hunting in dense woods.
The good: I never had any problems with holding zero. Close quarters performance was excellent. At low magnification- it had great field-of-view (34.5’), excellent eye relief (4.6”), easy eyebox to get behind, and very clear.
The bad: At magnification greater than 6x, eye relief reduced to 3.6”, eyebox narrowed noticeably, and clarity was poor. The magnification adjustment knob was also hard to turn so a throw lever was a necessity.

I replaced it with a Tract Toric 2-10x42 which also gives me great close quarters performance but it has constant eye relief of 4” at all magnifications, eyebox is always easy and clarity is great at all magnifications. Only time will tell how it holds up but I have no complaints

Everyone's eyes are different, and likely each scope is too......I would send a scope in for repair or replacement if not clear at a given power.

Re: 3.6" ER, many scope are 3.5 and many happy users of various B&L and Bushnell Elite's which were 3.3" - Though I have enjoyed one unicorn in the lineup in a 3-10x40 compact with 3.7" - and that difference was appreciated. If 3.6" is not working, perhaps it needs to be mounted a bit further back on a given rifle for a given shooter. Just a thought.

I am always interested in the long term durability of new brands and hope that Tract works out well.

I’ve got three of the VX3i - two of the 2.5x10 and one of the 4.5x14 models.
Two of them are perfect - adjustments are precise and correct, one just went back to Leopold for repair / replace after two shooting sessions. Elevation adjustment on that unit might move impact .250.....or 6.250...and might throw in about 3 inches of windage to boot.
Other two get shot every week or two and been just fine so far.

Good grief, you can’t be serious.........

I had a B&C 2.5 X 8 Leupold that would not adjust properly sent it back and the same. Have a older 2.5 X 8 Leupold on my 9.3 X 62 that works great and still holds zero.

Some folks haven't had much luck but I have had a great experience with Leupolds from the 70's up till today. Had a reticle snap once on a scout scope and it was repaired with a heavier reticle at no charge and quickly. My own vx3i 2.5-8x has a B&C reticle and has been flawless and survived a fair bit of recoil on a number of rifles.

Have never seen one of any vintage,track,hold zero or repeat...but LOTS of folks have tried.

Hint................

Have had them for years with zero issues.

No experience with 33mm objective. However, have had several 36mm objectives. Picture below is my current "go to" Rem KS rifle with 2.5x8x36 mounted in Talley Extra lows. Required a minor bit of relief and chamfer on the bases to make it fit. However, the lowest overall mount setup that I could cobble together for a LA Rem 700. I don't do the traveling that some of the others do. However, no issues holding zero. And no issue with tracking for the little bit of knob spinning that I do...

I hear these stories and wonder if " fail to hold zero" is the scope, mounts or rifle at fault. I own different brands of scopes and enjoy the Leupold bashing here on the Fire. Not a dailer, so this scope fills the bill on 3 of my LW rifles. Something is wrong with your scope , or eyes if clarity is bad @ 6X, usually set mine at 6X when hunting. 3.4" is plenty of relief for most calibers. If magnification adjuustment is hard to turn you may have the rear ring "farmer tight".