Has Leupold went downhill?

Are you having issues with a Leupold Freedom Line scope?

Leupolds have a pretty broad price range and have owned Leupolds for decades. I recently bought a VH3-3HD. It's a very nice scope.

Axis II said:

Debating on changing all the deer rifles from Nikon pro staff to VX freedoms.

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I doubt that a VX Freedom is better in any way than the Nikon. The only thing that you are gaining is the rock solid Leupold warranty vs. no warranty. If you're not going to spring for a VX-3HD or something better why not just wait until the Nikon breaks and get the VX Freedom then?

I can't comment on the lower end models, but the Mk5 is an awesome scope. I've also heard very good things about the VX5 and VX6 line.

The VX6hd’s are my favorite scopes out there, but they are $$$.

I have one freedom scope and for the price and features I think it’s a good value.

I put a 2x7 VX Feedom on my Henry 44 and it's a nice scope for the price and for that application. Having said that I have not put anything less than VX3s on my other rifles.

I've used Leupold scopes for years. They are always more than adequate. However, many other scope makers have - to me anyway - appeared suddenly with excellent quality, excellent warranties, attractive pricing and a particular model that suits my needs more. My biggest complaint with 'new' scopes is few it seems are fixed power or lower power suitable for 300 yards and less.

When you look at the bottom of the barrel budget stuff offered by any manufacturer of any product, you probably won’t be as impressed as if you were to look at their top of the line products. Then again their goal is to be able to sell stuff to those than can’t or won’t pay for their best products, not offer the same thing for a fraction of the price.

Bought a Leupold VX Freedom 4-12x50 last year. Liked it so much I bought another this year. Outstanding scopes! Better than my Nikon Pro Staff? Yes.

JDeere said:

I put a 2x7 VX Feedom on my Henry 44 and it's a nice scope for the price and for that application. Having said that I have not put anything less than VX3s on my other rifles.

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I put a VX1 2-7x33 shotgun scope on my Henry .45 Colt. Seems to work very well. Don't believe I've ever owned a Nikon scope, so, can't compare.

I have an old Leupold VX-II Rifle Scope 3-9x40mm on my Model 70. The turrets are friction, no clicks, but it has been a good reliable scope that has seen some hard use.
I also have a slightly newer Leupold Mark 4 CQ/T 1-3x 14mm on my 3-gun AR. That has seen quite a bit of use although 556 on a 20-inch HBAR as not hard on it.
The last Leupold I bought was a VX-3i LRP 6.5-20x50mm (recently discontinued) on my 6mm CM chassis gun. Unfortunately I have not use this much since I bought it. I put my chassis gun together just before Covid hit with the intent to shoot some PRS with it but have not had much of a chance to get into PRS that way I hoped.

Not a scope but last year I splurged and bought myself BX-4 Pro Guide HD 10X42mm Binoculars for use at NRL22 matches and for hunting. Compared to the old Bushnell 10x50 and Cannon Compact 10x25mm I was using these are pretty amazing. I have seen things in the woods that I certainly would have missed with the nake eye and probably missed with the other binocs due to clarity and low light capabilities of the Leupolds.

My experience with the above and a few other relatively new Leupold scopes by brother bought for his sons inline muzzle loaders I can't say Leupold had change much. They have turned over a lot of models recently but their quality has seem pretty consistant to me and the optics from them I have used.

I still consider my 2 scopes very nice, but haven't brought a new one in a while

BreechFace said:

The VX6hd’s are my favorite scopes out there, but they are $$$.

I have one freedom scope and for the price and features I think it’s a good value.

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I've got 3 of the VX6HDs, positively my favorite hunting scope. IF I could afford it, I'd replace the rest of my line-up with them. I've also got:

VX3HDs (2)
VX3I
VXIII
MK4
MK3HD
BX5 Bino's

I like the Leupold for their combination of magnification and weight. I've never had an issue with one of their scopes.

For hunting scopes my choices are Swarovski and Leupold. For target scopes I like the Vortex Razors and PSTs.

@Chuck R.

Same for me, I’ve got three of them on my most used rifles for hunting and target. Over time I may replace others with them if the gun is getting good use.

Burris would be my other brand that I put on rifles of lessor use. On the lower end Leupold scopes of past with the friction turrets, I was not a fan. Loved the glass and weight but for a rifle that I want to utilize the turrets at a lower cost I would go with Burris.

It seems that Leupold actually stepped up their turrets on the lower end scopes such as their freedom line as they feel better to me than their lower end models before. And with the new VX3hd line, that’s probably the best value out there in scopes right now. With the HD coatings and zero stop turrets for the price they are going for, great value.

Archie said:

I've used Leupold scopes for years. They are always more than adequate. However, many other scope makers have - to me anyway - appeared suddenly with excellent quality, excellent warranties, attractive pricing and a particular model that suits my needs more. My biggest complaint with 'new' scopes is few it seems are fixed power or lower power suitable for 300 yards and less.

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I don't know how well they'd work on a bolt gun, but some of the new fixed power prism scopes are quite nice.

I've got a Primary Arms 3x micro prism and am very impressed with it. With the lowest mount (it ships with about a dozen mounting possibilities) it might work well on a bolt action. The eye box is petty forgiving.

Axis II said:

Is it me or does their freedom line seem not as good as the VX2 it replaced? Debating on changing all the deer rifles from Nikon pro staff to VX freedoms.

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I have a couple VX-Freedoms, and a few older Leupolds. Based on where they are in the lineup I think they are as good or better than what they are replacing. Sure a VX3 is better but it should be. The Freedoms IMO are much better to my eye that the entry level Vortex Diamondbacks and such.

All that said I'm not sure I'd take a perfectly working scope and replace it unless you have a reason to do so. Is the Nikon working or is something about it where you want better ? Wasn't the Pro-Staff line the entry level line of Nikon ? I would think the Freedoms would have better glass and be as good or better overall.

-Jeff

gotboostvr said:

I don't know how well they'd work on a bolt gun, but some of the new fixed power prism scopes are quite nice.

I've got a Primary Arms 3x micro prism and am very impressed with it. With the lowest mount (it ships with about a dozen mounting possibilities) it might work well on a bolt action. The eye box is petty forgiving.

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I looked at the website. Looks good. Fairly simple and low key. However, I am now full up on scopes and have no intention of spending more right now on scopes. But they do look good. A 1-6x scope would likely serve me well. Probably a fixed 6x... but I guess no one makes such a thing.

I'd have to think about the 'micro prism' line. Not sure about the mount. And I'm quite used to scopes that ... well, look like scopes.

Archie said:

Probably a fixed 6x... but I guess no one makes such a thing.

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Leupold FX-3 6-42mm
https://www.opticsplanet.com/leupold-fx-3-6x42mm-rifle-scope.html?sscid=c1k6_h6vwm

Archie said:

I looked at the website. Looks good. Fairly simple and low key. However, I am now full up on scopes and have no intention of spending more right now on scopes. But they do look good. A 1-6x scope would likely serve me well. Probably a fixed 6x... but I guess no one makes such a thing.

I'd have to think about the 'micro prism' line. Not sure about the mount. And I'm quite used to scopes that ... well, look like scopes.

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All fair, I've found out a few times the LPVO's and be just don't get along. I've used a few 1-4x's and even have a nice vortex 1-6x sitting in my scope pile currently.

But I do like that little 3x. Doesn't look too out of place on my AR, but I think I'd like to try it on a bolt action.

Axis II said:

Is it me or does their freedom line seem not as good as the VX2 it replaced? Debating on changing all the deer rifles from Nikon pro staff to VX freedoms.

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I think from my limited experience that Leupold is still a good scope with a good warranty. But, why remove the Nikons? They may out last you? What is trying to be achieved? I bought several Nikons on closeout and they are fine scopes for the money and screw the warranty. At the prices I got them, if they ever break (and that is a big if) I will replace them with a Leupold or Burris.

Axis II said:

Is it me or does their freedom line seem not as good as the VX2 it replaced? Debating on changing all the deer rifles from Nikon pro staff to VX freedoms.

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You're looking at the bottom of the barrel. There's no justification to replace an existing scope with a manufacturer's entry-level scope that is specified to appeal to a consumer who has no scope at all and cannot afford the better choices. To see an improvement over Nikon quality, I would expect it to come with the VX3-HD line that recently replaced the VX3i. However, if there is any improvement, it would be subtle. A move from Nikon to VX3 would be closer to a parallel move than a major upgrade. These level "3" scopes have not "gone downhill" but have kept consistent with Leupold's quality level for decades now.

One thing to note is that these scopes have since the Vari X-III adopted turrets suitable for "dialing" with laser rangefinders. The VX3i line had only some models equipped with the CDS-ZL turrets. With the VX3-HD line, the CDS turret is ubiquitous.

The "3" is indicative of the optical power ratio. For example, a traditional 3-9x40mm has a multiplier of 3. 3 times 3 is 9. As you know, riflescopes brought to market in the most recent decade have stretched those multipliers to 5x 6x 8x and even 10x or maybe more. So we have 3-10x50 and 1-8x25 etc.

You didn't mention what Prostaff models you have. Are they 3X variables? Do they have dialing turrets? Do you dial?

With relatively lightweight optics, SFP reticles, MOA-incremented CDS turrets, and magnifications suitable for game at typical distances, Leupold's VX5-HD and VX6-HD product lines are well suited for deer hunting and a scope in these lines would be a definite upgrade to an older Nikon. To be sure, in this price range, there are considerable alternatives from other brands.

The one scope that doesn't have much competition is the Leupold FX3 6x42. This fixed-power scope has outstanding optics that I do not believe can be beat with any other $400 scope or even any $800 scope. It's very light, not very long or bulky, and reasonably rugged. It's not an ultra long range scope or a combat optic, but if 6x is an appropriate magnification for where the hunting is done, and the hunter uses MPBR or simple hold-over, I think it's one of the best scopes under $1000.

NIKON has abandoned the firearms optic world, probably for political reasons.

I can't imagine LEUPOLD ever doing that.

I have some nice NIKON scopes, I hated to see them go.

I have:

(4) Leupold VXII scopes

(1) VX Freedom

(1) VX3-HD

All are excellent scopes. In fact I have owned Leupolds for so many years that I wouldn't even consider buying a different brand.