Worth a chit? Or are these the 'economy' line of Leupold items? Not sure I'd trust one on a .375HH but I'm interested in hearing from anyone who uses these. Any info's appreciated.

The only one I ever had was a 3-9X rimfire version and it was a hateful POS. There was no way to get the crosshairs focused at the same time the target was focused. It went away.

Tom

Well they are the first Leupolds I’ve ever seen that incorporate plastic. I’ve owned two for a couple of years. One was briefly mounted on an A-Bolt in 7mm-08, but both are currently in their boxes, if that tells you anything….

Got one on my 35Rem Marlin - so far so good. Seems clear enough and parallax is set st an honest 100yards.

The vertical adjustment allen head lockscrew for resetting the zero point is a sloppy fit with the key provided, and I don't have any other metric or imperial key that fits better - I don't expect to need to adjust often and it doesn't need to be all that tight, so should be okay.

First scope I bought that didn't come with caps.

I have a couple of them on cheaper rifles a 10/22 and I forget what the other one is on. For cheap set it and forget it scopes I’m happy with them. They’re at least assembled in the USA rather than China. I’m not sure that they’re the best at there price point but they seem to be about as good as any IMO.

I’m a gun collector not an optics collector. I have guns that rarely come out of the safes and can’t afford high end or midrange optics on all of them if they’re rarely used. I’d still rather avoid junk or the Made in China label. That’s kind of their sweet spot as a budget optic.

Big Stick will be along to tell you all that ain’t no damn Leupold worth a cshit or shineola

My wife has one I need to mount up for her. I didn’t buy it. We shall see how it holds up.

ETA: it was actually one of very few scopes with an actual duplex reticle in it. No 40” gaps.

Ive moved a 2-7x around a little.
Set and forget it does OK
Hasnt been on anything of recoil.

The Freedom line is supposed to be the equivalent of the VX II line.

I have 1.5-4x20 PigPlex on my pump shotgun for coyotes in the thick stuff where there are weapon/ammo restrictions, otherwise I use combo guns and drilings with VariX/VX series 1-4x20's, I don't see a lot of difference. They do the job and hold up to heavy shotgun loads.

I run a 2-7x33 on my model 70 in a 375H&H used that combo on my kodiak bear hunt couple yrs ago..

I bought my boy one for his 257 Roberts.
His is a 3-9 and seems to work pretty well. It’s clear and seems to adjust fine.
He’s smoked quite few deer with the combo.

Thanks all... Much appreciated.

Have a 2-7 on a Ruger American .450BM. Zero hasn't changed since sighted in.

I believe that that should be equivialant of VX 2 line. At least the lens quality is supposed to be, I have a couple of 3-9x40 VX 2 and a couple of VX Freedom 3-9x40 and there is no discernable difference in lens quality that I can see and I have pretty good eyes.

drover

I have a 2-7 and a 1 1/2 - 4 on Lever actions and they work just fine.

Does this line have click or friction adjustments? I thought when they first came out they had friction but have been told since they are click.

They are click adjustments, it has been a long time since Leupold made friction adjustment scopes.

drover

I believe the Freedom line to be about the best value to feature going right now. I have found them rather serviceable, with acceptable glass quality and adjustments work. I haven't tried a CDS version, but I think that a smaller amount of dialing should be fine. Otherwise, they're an easy set and forget scope for sure.

I find they split the difference between the now discontinued VX-1 and VX-2. Which ain't bad for the money.

IMHO this well test a scope
Hank

I have two 1.5-4X20s, one on a .45-70 and one on a .458 SOCOM, they haven't been beat up yet, hold zero, and I see animals well enough to kill them in legal hours.

Neither rifle is one I would dial. They're both more like mortars, so I keep shooting ranges under 200 yards.

Year before last I’d bought a pair of 700ADLs, a .223 and .243 for super extra double clearance at Walmart. Had a 3-9 Freedom NIB. Picked up a similarly powered Nikon on super extra double clearance at same time as rifles.

Sent them home with dad (my custom load shop, and he who runs interference hiding from my wife) and he mounted them up and started working loads.

Said the Nikon was no fuss, adjusted once and he was done.

The Freedom was all over the place with adjustments before finally settling in. When done it was shooting good groups, but adjustments were not repeatable/exoected results.

It’s Reupold, hint.

One of my younger hunting buddies has one on his 30-06 never been a fan of the image. On last year’s elk hunt he knocked it off zero gut shot a cow that I had to finish before she got to private.

I wouldn’t recommend one to a friend but do like the VX3.

I really liked Leupold’s VX-2 line ….I own 3 of them(2-7x33, 3-9x40 and a 4-12x40. Have never had an issue with any of them and all were bought secondhand.

The 2-7x33 is on a Thompson Center Triumph 50cal. muzzleloader. Can put 3 shots into 1.5” at a 100 yds and 3 into about 3” at 200yds with that rifle using BH-209 and 250gr Barnes T-EZ sabots.

The 4-12x40 sits on a LH Ruger M77- MKII in 7 mm Rem mag. That rifle drives tacks with that scope using handloads w/120gr & 140gr Barnes T-TSX at velocities of 3425fps and 3185fps respectively.(powder: Reloder 23).

The 3-9x40 was on my 7 mag above but is now sitting in the safe waiting for a 30.06 my SIL is saving up to purchase. Only reason it was taken off that rifle was to get the extra magnification I wanted and found in the 4-12x40.

All have been trouble free and have sighted in easily and held zero. The view through each of them is bright and clear to the edge. Is the VX-2 Swaro/Kahles clear?…No, but my Swarovski/Kahles scopes were 3 times the price!..they should be better optically for that price!
Never felt handicapped on a big game hunt with a Leupold VX-2.
I will never understand why Leupold discontinued this line. It’s was always touted as the best value between their VX-1 and VX-3 line.

Having said that I have handled the Freedom line in both 2-7x33 and 3-9x40. The glass seems comparable to my VX-2 scopes….bright and clear.
However, the plastic turret caps and mushy click adjustments just feel cheap to me…they are not the same as the adjustments in the VX-2 line.

No VX-Freedoms for me, I’m just not a fan of the cheapened rendition.

Glad I purchased the 3 VX-2s when I did. Never worried about purchasing them used….they’ve all been problem free.


Leftybolt

It’s really no better than most scopes at that price point.



Which is sad.

I've got three of the Rimfire 3-9s on some .22 rifles. I like them, but the crosshairs are awfully fine, and could easily get lost in the squirrel woods. I bought them before the Covid price hikes of 50%. I won't buy any more because of that outrageous price hike, though. I also have some Burris Droptine Rimfire scopes that are better suited for working the squirrel woods, with more coarse crosshairs, though they still aren't too thick for range use.

I think the Freedom replaced the VX2

Redneck: I have two, on a 300 Win Mag and on a 375 Win. no issues and they track well. Good value

They were a good value scope when they were $199 or less but not at $299. Have one that I bought when they first came out, 2-7, on a 300 blackout AR. It has held up well over past several years....Joe

Paid 215 for my 2-7x iirc

As I recall, and I could be wrong, the Freedom was a 'compromise' between the VX-1 and VZ-2. Between those two lines, Leupold had 100's of SKUs. In order to streamline production, decrease the # of SKUs, and put more product on the street, Leupold combined features of the VX-1 and VX-2 to come up with the 'price point' scope that the Freedom is.

I have a 1.5-4x and a 2-7x in detachable mounts on my 416 RM. Between the two I have over 300 rounds through the rifle with no issues. Held zero traveling to South Africa in May and shot a bunch of stuff including Buffalo. I contacted the custom shop before purchasing the scopes and was told there is no difference in recoil resistance between any of their scopes. The difference is in the lens coatings. I set them and leave them alone. Simple to just know and use holdover for the various ranges.

From a very reliable source at Leupold that's been a friend of mine for 15 yrs or so.

The freedom glass is better than the VX-2 and it uses the same coating as the VX-3i (superior low light performance)