Leupold mark 4
- Thread starter skipbo32
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C-grunt
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The Mark 4 encompasses many scopes in their line up. From what I believe they generally are the combat type scopes and any of them should be top quality.
I had one on a Savage I had a while back and it was a fantastic scope.
I had one on a Savage I had a while back and it was a fantastic scope.
eddism
Member
Top notch glass for a special target gun. It requires match grade bolt and chamber for such as an M40A1, etal.
Pictured below is an AR-15 Target rifle that I finished the build on in January. The scope is a Leupold Mark 4 LRT 4.5-14x40mm with a mil-dot reticle. LOVE the glass. The optics are clear and bright and the turrets are very repeatable. I can dial in windage and elevation corrections with absolute confidence that the scope will return to zero when I dial it back to zero.
The scope isn't really "calibrated" for any caliber. 1 click on the turret is 1/4" at 100 yards, 1/2" at 200, 1" at 400, etc. Calculate the exterior ballistics for the load you are using, range your target, and either dial in the correction with the turrets or hold over using your mil-dots (1 mil = 3.6" at 100 yards, 7.2" at 200 yards, 14.4" at 400 yards, etc.). So for example, I know my 69 grain SMK .223 load will drop about 35.2" at 400 yards. I can either hold ~2.5 mils over (14.4 + 14.4 + 7.2 = 36) or dial in 35 clicks of adjustment on the turret.
Build a range card for your rifle/load combination and you don't have to "do the math" in the field.
Hope this helps.
The scope isn't really "calibrated" for any caliber. 1 click on the turret is 1/4" at 100 yards, 1/2" at 200, 1" at 400, etc. Calculate the exterior ballistics for the load you are using, range your target, and either dial in the correction with the turrets or hold over using your mil-dots (1 mil = 3.6" at 100 yards, 7.2" at 200 yards, 14.4" at 400 yards, etc.). So for example, I know my 69 grain SMK .223 load will drop about 35.2" at 400 yards. I can either hold ~2.5 mils over (14.4 + 14.4 + 7.2 = 36) or dial in 35 clicks of adjustment on the turret.
Build a range card for your rifle/load combination and you don't have to "do the math" in the field.
Hope this helps.
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dubbleA
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Yes with M2 knobs you will get 1/2 moa adjustments and it's calibrated for the 7.62x51. It really depends on your intentions with said rifle.If you are wanting quick adjustments, it's great. It should be great from close quarters to the longer ranges. Just realize that with a mil reticle and moa adjustments things dont work as well when it comes to making adjustments.
If you are wanting more precision adjustments the M1 will give you finer 1/4 moa per click. While not available with the M3 knobs from the factory Leupold might offer them with their custom shop. It will have even courser 1moa adjustments.
I have several Mark 4's with M1 turrets and they are ok scopes. If/when Leupold offers their new M5(1/10 mil) turret as a retrofit, I'll be switching them over.
android
Member
Hey dubbleA, looks like you know quite a bit about this stuff. I just got a Mark AR 3-9 to play around with for my AR, but will be needing a more robust scope in the future when I get a Rem 700 in .308. From what I've read, I want a mil dials and mil reticles to really make things work out right, is that correct?
Suppose I mostly wanted to shoot from 100 - 500 yards, but maybe on rare occasions to a 1000 yards, which of the Mark 4's do you think would be most useful?
I was kind of leaning toward the 4.5-14x50mm... What do you think?
Suppose I mostly wanted to shoot from 100 - 500 yards, but maybe on rare occasions to a 1000 yards, which of the Mark 4's do you think would be most useful?
I was kind of leaning toward the 4.5-14x50mm... What do you think?
My brother runs the front focal plain 6.5-20 ERT on his 308 bolt gun. His only complaint is he can't find a range that is farther than 100y. On 20x the targets fill the scope. Though maybe not as good as a S&B, the glass is like looking through a magnified open window, crystal clear. Pricey but well worth it.
dubbleA said:
This is interesting news and I'd definitely consider the swap on at least a couple of my Mark 4s. I have a Mark 4 6.5-20x50mm M1 TMR (ill. ret) on my F-Class rifle and it's easy enough to measure the offset in mils with the scope on max setting and convert to moa. I have one of those Mil Dot Master cards and can do the conversion in all of 5 seconds. In this example, simply align to top of the card with the mil value and read off the moa value i.e. 2.2 mils = 7.5 moa ... easy!
To the OP, I would suggest the Tactical Milling Reticle (TMR) over the Mil Dot. As dubbleA mentioned, with the 2.5-8x scope you have a choice of M1 or M2 dials. I have a 3.5-10x40mm M3 and the BDC dial (168gr .308) works very well at 100, 200, 300 and 600 yards on my POF P-308. However, that rifle is sufficiently accurate that it deserves finer adjustments, so I moved the M3 scope to my FAL and mounted a Mark 4 3.5-10x40mm M1 FFP TMR. As for the 2.5-8x, it would be an excellent scope on an AR10, M1A or FAL. Like dubbleA I have a bunch of Mark 4 scopes and consider them to be very good scopes with few flaws. I've only had a problem with one of seven Mark 4s that I have and that was due to dust on the reticle. I sent it back to Leupold twice and it's been perfect ever since.
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