Leupold Mk4HD 2.5-10 review

[AZ_Hunter]

This is long.

Background:

At the end of summer I decided to put together a light weight bolt rifle for an upcoming CO cow elk hunt. I usually hunt with AR based systems in AZ, but have also hunted with a semi-custom tikka in 30-06 with a Maven 1.2 (see 1st pic). I did not want to bring an AR on this trip nor use my current tikka as my primary because it is just shy of 10lbs.

As a tikka fan (before I even joined this forum) I quickly went into action since my time to complete the build by the hunt was very limited. I grabbed a SS super light in 6.5CM, had the barrel chopped to 16” and threaded. Sent the bolt to Kampfeld for fluting, added an OMR handle/knob, and put the rifle into a Stockys stock I bought on the classifieds here (see pic)

Optic choice:

I am a fan of the Maven 1.2 and had a second one to use for this rifle, but I wanted something lighter, more compact, that would sit lower on the rifle since I am using a sporter style stock. I read Form’s review of the Mk4HD 2.5-10 and his not so well findings, but decided to take a risk and bought one with the illuminated FFP TMR.

I mounted the scope in UM low tikka rings, and that worked out great, having the optic very low and just high enough to allow for an AADland flip up cap.

Initial impressions were all positive. Scope met all the criteria I had from a form-factor standpoint. Glass is pretty damn good, reticle is totally useable, etc. For a lightweight rifle (7.5lbs complete with optic and can) that I intended to shoot 500 yards and in, it fit.

Mounting:

As mentioned I used UM low tikka rings. These rings are the best rings I have used. Just robust as can be when pinned and using the tikka dovetail. I see zero reason to ever use a pic rail again on a tikka. I followed the proper mounting protocol of first checking alignment, then degrease, thread locker and proper torque, then nail polish the bolt heads and paint pen witness marks. However, I have always done one more step, which is the use of rosin inside the rings, both bottom and top, for added friction. This is an old school trick I adopted after having continual slippage issues on a big bore AR project.


Experience/real world use:

By the time I had the rifle put together, I was running super short on time (as in two weekends before I leave) to do load dev, field testing etc. I whipped up a quick load ladder with Staball 6.5 and 130gr TMK. Every charge shot great right out of the brand new barrel. I don’t do barrel break in, never believed in it, even before Form. There is no logic behind it. I ended up choosing the 45.5gr load at 2750fps, loaded up 50, hit the desert the Sunday before I left and made final adjustments put 4 shots into the bulls. (Pic; shots with sticks in them was some factory Hornady ammo I tried for fun and it sucked, with super high ES)

I did not follow the 10-shot group best practices in this case. Time and resource short, as I would not have time to make more ammo.

I also did not have time to validate dope properly, instead I lazed a rock at 480, dialed and smoked it, then called it good.

My other tikka accompanied me for the trip as my back up rifle. That rifle has been thoroughly vetted, shot to 1k, and has three kills on it. I have a lot of time/rounds on it.

The mk4HD equipped rifle spent 14 hours in a trailer for the drive there. I arrived one day before opener, so I hit the local range real quick. It was packed, so I got in and fired 5 shots at 100yds. Each shot landed exactly where I broke the shot, not the best shooting cause I was strung out and had braked rifles going off around me. But shots in bulls or just out of. Good to go.

I spent 9 days in the bush, and did over 800 miles in a jeep off-roading with the rifle mostly outside of the case bouncing and banging into other crap (see pics of stock banged up and scope/turret cap). The rifle spent MILES a day being carried in hand, slung over shoulder or in the backpack carrier.

It was snowed on, rained on and while not dropped directly, it took a nice slam when I ate shit in the snow and banged up my knee.

After many elk sightings, a couple unsuccessful stalks, I ambushed a small herd who were crossing a field about 20 mins before sundown. They all stopped in this little bordering clearing surrounded by timber, milling around with some staring our way.

Laying prone on some dirt in a slightly elevated position, using a spartan bipod, and my bino harness as a rear bag, I lazed my target cow at 302 yards. I dialed the turret 1.2 mils and shot. At 10x I was able to stay in the scope. I saw my impact and her rear legs drop and her slide down a little snowy hill she was on. Without any hesitation, bolt was cycled and another round was put in her lungs. Her front legs were kicking around a bit and her head was up so I move my reticle to center line of her neck and shot. Instant limp.

The bold lines of the reticle and floating center dot made shooting fast and precise. While not as nice as the 1.2 reticle, it is much preferred to a standard duplex or a cluttered x-mas tree. Very intuitive. The glass in the low light was more than adequate, and dare I say good. Happy camper I was.

With Form’s review on my mind, after the 14 hour return trip home, the next weekend I took the rifle out to the desert just to see where it shot; if there was in fact any loss of zero after all this use. I was quail hunting with my wife and kids, so was under a time crunch to get my testing done, then go kill some birds. After adjusting the scope back to zero (it was still at 1.2 from shooting the elk) I shot two three round groups at 100. See pics. Looks good to me, especially being jacked up on coffee with no food, and the pressure of everyone wanting me to hurry the hell up…

Conclusion:

While not an exhaustive test, I am satisfied so far. I need to load more rounds, shoot 10 round groups, take it to distance etc. and I will. But I feel very confident in it with my experience so far. The size, weight, reticle is good and with the abuse it took on this trip and not showing signs of zero shift, if this trend continues, I will be getting another for sure.

 

[AZ_Hunter]

Final shots (can only post 10 pics at a time)

Edit:

Sorry the pics for some reason didn’t go through in the order I uploaded them. It would make more sense if they did…

 

[_S_R_]

Thank you for awesome write up.

 

[amassi]

How’s the reticle on the low end in the 2-10?
I had a few tmr reticle mark 5 hd and they were only useable for my eyes at 6x or greater. Not a huge issue as that’s where my scopes live 99% of the time


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[AZ_Hunter]

How’s the reticle on the low end in the 2-10?
I had a few tmr reticle mark 5 hd and they were only useable for my eyes at 6x or greater. Not a huge issue as that’s where my scopes live 99% of the time


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Useable. The stadia are pretty thick which can be good and bad of course. It’s definitely not a precision scope, but practical.

 

[AZ_Hunter]

Went out shooting today with it. Rifle was in (as always) a cheesy cheap plastic case, think wal mart special. It rode in the bed of my Power Wagon while hauling ass on rocky desert trails, bouncing around plenty. I set up my folding table and folding chair and got to work.

I started with dry firing a couple times to feel good, then got to shooting. I shot a few rounds and felt like I was muscling the rifle a bit and the gun wanted to sleep low, right where it was hitting. So I repositioned the bags and continued to shoot and settled in way better.

Load mag, shoot, repeat. I had some mirage from the can but shot any way.

Good enough for me. With the low recoil I can call the shots. Every shot landed where the dot in the reticle was when the trigger broke. This is a stock trigger, not adjusted or using the reduced power spring. My folding table set up is not ideal for ultimate precision of course, and the 7.5lb rifle moves easily.

I will continue to bring it out every trip and see what happens. But so far, so good.

 

[Formidilosus]

Went out shooting today with it. Rifle was in (as always) a cheesy cheap plastic case, think wal mart special. It rode in the bed of my Power Wagon while hauling ass on rocky desert trails, bouncing around plenty. I set up my folding table and folding chair and got to work.

I started with dry firing a couple times to feel good, then got to shooting. I shot a few rounds and felt like I was muscling the rifle a bit and the gun wanted to sleep low, right where it was hitting. So I repositioned the bags and continued to shoot and settled in way better.

Load mag, shoot, repeat. I had some mirage from the can but shot any way.

Good enough for me. With the low recoil I can call the shots. Every shot landed where the dot in the reticle was when the trigger broke. This is a stock trigger, not adjusted or using the reduced power spring. My folding table set up is not ideal for ultimate precision of course, and the 7.5lb rifle moves easily.

I will continue to bring it out every trip and see what happens. But so far, so good.

Walk me through your thought process. Your other targets have all shots centered on elevation. This target you are clearly low- looks like .2’ish mils. But you are calling that good?



I’m asking, as the two Mark 4HD’s that I know of personally being used and tracked (the eval one I have and another) are consistently shifting .1 to .3 mils vertically. I pulled the one I have for the rest of the hunting season as it consistently was varying in elevation. Since the swap (1 month and several thousand miles in the truck not in a case) that rifles zero hasn’t moved at all.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

Went out shooting today with it. Rifle was in (as always) a cheesy cheap plastic case, think wal mart special. It rode in the bed of my Power Wagon while hauling ass on rocky desert trails, bouncing around plenty. I set up my folding table and folding chair and got to work.

I started with dry firing a couple times to feel good, then got to shooting. I shot a few rounds and felt like I was muscling the rifle a bit and the gun wanted to sleep low, right where it was hitting. So I repositioned the bags and continued to shoot and settled in way better.

Load mag, shoot, repeat. I had some mirage from the can but shot any way.

Good enough for me. With the low recoil I can call the shots. Every shot landed where the dot in the reticle was when the trigger broke. This is a stock trigger, not adjusted or using the reduced power spring. My folding table set up is not ideal for ultimate precision of course, and the 7.5lb rifle moves easily.

I will continue to bring it out every trip and see what happens. But so far, so good.

Where are you shooting? PM me, I’d like to check out this scope.

 

[AZ_Hunter]

Walk me through your thought process. Your other targets have all shots centered on elevation. This target you are clearly low- looks like .2’ish mils. But you are calling that good?



I’m asking, as the two Mark 4HD’s that I know of personally being used and tracked (the eval one I have and another) are consistently shifting .1 to .3 mils vertically. I pulled the one I have for the rest of the hunting season as it consistently was varying in elevation. Since the swap (1 month and several thousand miles in the truck not in a case) that rifles zero hasn’t moved at all.

I’m calling it good because the low shots is where the reticle was when those shots broke. How I was positioned on the bags was causing me to muscle the rifle/reticle a bit up; in other words, the rifle wasn’t going to sleep in the right spot. So I repositioned the bags a bit where the rifle’s natural point of aim was better, the proceeded to shoot more. And the shots landed much more centered.

 

[Jsmalls273]

Thanks for the write up! Hope to see more results!

Sent from my SM-S921U using Tapatalk

 

[Formidilosus]

I’m calling it good because the low shots is where the reticle was when those shots broke. How I was positioned on the bags was causing me to muscle the rifle/reticle a bit up; in other words, the rifle wasn’t going to sleep in the right spot. So I repositioned the bags a bit where the rifle’s natural point of aim was better, the proceeded to shoot more. And the shots landed much more centered.

I don’t mean this rudely and I do appreciate the tracking you are attempting to do, however when tracking zeros- ALL shots must count ALL the time. No “fliers”, no excuses. That is the only way to get truth out of it (somehow no one ever removes “pulled” shots that happen to land close to center…) Removing data that we don’t like is just lying to ourselves.

What’s shown is a target with 13 or 14 shots where only a single round hit above center- when previously all rounds were centered. The only reason I commented is because the target shown, did not match what was stated.

 

[AZ_Hunter]

If the reticle was held 2” right and bullets went 2” right, then I aimed at and shot the center, would you count the shots made to right? I wouldn’t count those.

It’s the same thing.

I was shooting the best I could, noticed that on my break my reticle was on the low side of the target. So I repositioned the bags so the natural point of aim was in the center, not below the center. Then shot the center.

 

[Formidilosus]

If the reticle was held 2” right and bullets went 2” right, then I shot at the center, would you count the shots made to right? I wouldn’t count those.

Yes I would, and do- 100%. Because people’s bias comes in, and they only “call” shots that they don’t like. If someone can’t hold a reticle on a target while shooting, they aren’t tracking a scopes zero- they’re still learning how to shoot.

It’s the same thing.

I was shooting the best I could, noticed that on my break my reticle was on the low side of the target. So I repositioned the bags to the natural point of aim was in the center, not below the center. Then shot the center.

I am not trying to sharp shoot you. I am trying to point out flaws that are extremely common.

If you call shots that you don’t like- then you will call all shots that you don’t like. Then the entire exercise is nearly pointless.

 

[AZ_Hunter]

Totally disagree. How about this: if I shot off the paper purposely, would you count that?

I will explain this again:

I shot a few shots. Noticed my sight picture upon break wasn’t great, my reticle was consistently on the lower side of the target. So I Repositioned. Got better sight picture and shot more. Impacts correspond with where my reticle was as the shot broke, regardless of where the reticle was (low for the first few, not low after repositioning).

Why is this complicated?

Edit to add:
If I wasn’t lazy and switched targets after repositioning, Then we wouldn’t be having this conversation because it wouldn’t show the first group.

 

[Bluumoon]

It matters because you are trying to present your test/post as data. If we remove your comments and look at just the posted targets, the scope lost zero.

So while fun to read about your trip and your review, it is important to understand where the flaws in your “testing” are. Selfishly, if you take the feedback and do the test, in this case evaluation under use, we gain another data point for whatever is being tested

I too am still learning to shoot and keep groups on target when changing positions, even prone break position and back to prone.
It’s ok, just own it, don’t touch the scope “zero” and keep posting targets with the same lot of ammo.

 

[Yukon Cornelius]

Totally disagree. How about this: if I shot off the paper purposely, would you count that?

I will explain this again:

I shot a few shots. Noticed my sight picture upon break wasn’t great, my reticle was consistently on the lower side of the target. So I Repositioned. Got better sight picture and shot more. Impacts correspond with where my reticle was as the shot broke, regardless of where the reticle was (low for the first few, not low after repositioning).

Why is this complicated?

Edit to add:
If I wasn’t lazy and switched targets after repositioning, Then we wouldn’t be having this conversation because it wouldn’t show the first group.

It’s complicated because it challenges the opinion presented.

 

[Yukon Cornelius]

It matters because you are trying to present your test/post as data. If we remove your comments and look at just the posted targets, the scope lost zero.

So while fun to read about your trip and your review, it is important to understand where the flaws in your “testing” are. Selfishly, if you take the feedback and do the test, in this case evaluation under use, we gain another data point for whatever is being tested

I too am still learning to shoot and keep groups on target when changing positions, even prone break position and back to prone.
It’s ok, just own it, don’t touch the scope “zero” and keep posting targets with the same lot of ammo.

This makes sense too.

 

[AZ_Hunter]

It matters because you are trying to present your test/post as data. If we remove your comments and look at just the posted targets, the scope lost zero.

So while fun to read about your trip and your review, it is important to understand where the flaws in your “testing” are. Selfishly, if you take the feedback and do the test, in this case evaluation under use, we gain another data point for whatever is being tested

I too am still learning to shoot and keep groups on target when changing positions, even prone break position and back to prone.
It’s ok, just own it, don’t touch the scope “zero” and keep posting targets with the same lot of ammo.

I am owning it.

I will try again in simpler terms.

The bullets go where the reticle is when the shot breaks. That is what a zero is.

Is that better?

To make some feel better, here is the final group:

ETA: To clarify: I HAVE NOT ADJUSTED THE SCOPE

 

[T_Widdy]

I am owning it.

I will try again in simpler terms.

The bullets go where the reticle is when the shot breaks. That is what a zero is.

Is that better?

To make some feel better, here is the final group:

The rifle is moving before the bullet exits the barrel. How are you calling your shots?

What is reason you’re not holding the rifle steady and executing the shot with the crosshairs exactly on your aiming point?

 

[AZ_Hunter]

Inhale, slowly exhale, focus on sight alignment, trigger squeeze begins, time my trigger break with bottom of my exhale, shot goes off, small bump in sight picture, reticle after firing is low. Get sight alignment again, repeat. Realize the natural out of aim is low and I am forcing the rifle up by tightening my rear support hand.

Decide to reposition bags. Now rifle has a better natural point of aim. Reticle is staying centered without muscle tension. Repeat shooting sequence. Shots break, sight picture hops, lands back real close to the original plane. Barely have to shift body. Repeat shot sequence… etc etc

This is like arguing with Rain Man.