Leupold VX-3HD 3.5-10x40mm CDS-ZL Field Evaluation

[Formidilosus]

This is a field evaluation of a Leupold VX-3HD 3.5-10x40mm CDS-ZL scope. This scope was sent to Ryan Avery for an evaluation. The ammunition used was Hornady Black 168gr AMAX that was purchased by Ryan. The 20 round proof group was just over 1.3 MOA.




The scope and weight-








Turrets:

Elevation is single rotation, zero stop, push button lock at zero. Windage is capped.








Unlocked-




Reticle:
Straight duplex-






Zeroing:


Mounting as normal (and per manufacturer instructions)- 18 in-lbs on ring caps, 65 in-lbs on base.


Boresight, than 5 rounds. (No adjustments were made in between shots)



Used the reticle in spotter, adjusted Up 2.5, and Right 1.25 MOA, then ten rounds-




An adjustment of Up .25 MOA was made, then turrets slipped and reset to zero.


RTZ:

Next a standard return to zero check was completed. This involves 30-50 MOA dialed between each shot for ten shots.





The far left shot was shot number 4. The second from top was shot number 6. The top shot was shot number 7.

The results are as to be expected from seeing dozens of these scopes.


I wanted to check this scope before it takes any impacts. At round number 19, 21, and 22 it would have missed a deers vitals at 400’ish yards.


It is zeroed and on the eval rifle. I will check zero in the next few days. After that will be the drop evaluation.

 

[Formidilosus]

First thing today- check zero. The rifle and scope have been riding in the backseat of the truck for around 8-9 miles of standard forest service road. No abuse, nothing hard banging into the rifle or scope- nothing.



The first shot is the far left shot. The next 9 are the ones at 11 o’clock on the dot.


The line is showing from last shot yesterday, to first shot today




Time to rezero. Adjusted down .5 MOA, and right .25 MOA.




Drop Evaluation and “Tracking”



For an explanation see- Scope Field Eval Explanation and Standards


The “test” consists of three 18” drops on a mat- one left/right/top with a shot to check zero after each drop. Then the exact same thing repeated from 36”. Then three drops on all three sides for nine drops on the last part- 15 drops total. This is not “abuse”. The 18” drops are a joke really. The 36” start showing something. And when a scope make/model consistently goes through the whole thing without losing zero, failures in actual use are almost unheard of.

This one was conducted on soft unpacked dirt with two 1/2” padded mat on top of each other.

Shot #1-3 are from 18”, 4-6 are from 36”, and 7 is the 9x36” drops.





The very first left side 18” drop caused a significant shift left- about 2.5 MOA shift. The rest are as written.


Went to another target to confirm zero. Far left is first shot after drop eval. Adjusted right 1.5 moa. The next 5 kinds are on/around the dot. The orange dot is 1.5 inches.


After this I shot several more targets trying to get it to group again, it wouldn’t. The targets looked similar to that last one- 3-4 rounds in a “group” then randomly throw rounds way outside the group. This was consistent. The erector is busted.


I got it as best as I could, and then checked the “tracking”, that is adjustment value and consistency.

12.5 MOA is what was measured between dots-



Conclusions:


This Leupold failed hard. It failed at every task. It lost zero from a car ride, return to zero check was a fail and would have caused multiple misses or wounding shots on a deer at 400 yards; it significantly lost zero on the very first drop of 18”, and continued being erratic. After the drop eval when rezeroing it produces random shots way outside of the group- that is it will put a couple rounds close together, then randomly a round will be 1-2 MOA out of the group.




To be clear at rounds 19, 21, 22, and 23 with no drops it would have caused a miss or a gut shot on a deer at 350-400 yards. A single 18” drop (like leaned against a tree and it slides off) caused enough of a zero shift to miss a deer or gut shoot one at 250’ish yards.

The “I don’t use it very much” line doesn’t work. Scopes that don’t work- don’t work. They don’t just wear out if you spin the dial too much. They don’t work from the beginning.

 

[Formidilosus]

Received the scope an awhile ago from being serviced.

(On right)



Mounted it in the rifle, boresighted and fired a round. Adjusted, then fired the remaining 9 rounds at left for. The adjustment was correct and the group was as it should be, adjusted up .5 MOA and right .5 MOA, then shot two at the middle dot.





On to the drop evaluation.

Shot a confirmation shot before any drops (#1). Then as written. The left and right side 18” drops had no effect and I started to think maybe Leupold had actually done something. The top 18” drop (#4) however showed that not to be the case.



It failed totally.

Took this scope out of the rings and mounted the Trijicon Credo 3-9x in them. Torqued down, then zeroed.

Dropped it 5 times from 36”, and then once from chest height (top round).



Then immediately went to another dot and checked where the zero was-



The Trijicon Credo 3-9x is what most people think a normal huntings scope is. After 5x 36” drops and 1x 4+ foot drop the group opened up, however after dropping it was still zeroed and functional.




Conclusion:

Unfortunately this Leupold VX-3HD fared no better than the multiple dozen others that I have seen even after being “repaired”. They consistently have issues with zero retention in normal use such as vibrations from a vehicle, let alone actual field use. Tracking, adjustment, RTZ, etc are all heavily compromised.

It is off the rifle and will be sent back to the owner.