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This is a field evaluation of the Leupold VX5-HD 3-15x44mm scope. This scope was sent to Ryan Avery for an evaluation.
The scope:
Turrets: Leupold’s Zero-Lock elevation turret. The button must be pushed to move them off zero. The windage turret is capped a d Leupold’s standard resettable.
Reticle:
Wind-Plex . 1 MOA per tick at 15x. 10 MOA from center to thicker outer posts.
Drop Evaluation RTZ 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, and makes it through the high round count portion, failures in actual use are almost unheard of.
This one was conducted on soft soil, with a 1/2 rubber padded mat top.
The rings were degreased and installed with 65 in-lbs on base screws, and 20in-lbs on ring cap screws.
Note: the rings were not removed after the Revic scope eval, the scopes were just swapped in place.
Ammunition used was Federal 168gr Tru. The 20 round proof group with this ammo was 1.2 MOA.
Zeroing:
Bore sighted. Fired two rounds. Used reticle to measure, and went to the top left for. Fired two rounds- it over adjusted by more than 2 MOA. Adjusted right 2 MOA and fired 6 at the center dot- it only moved half of the dialed amount. Adjusted down .75moa, and right 1 MOA, then smacked/tapped the turrets. Fired 3 on the right dot, and went to drop portion.
Drop eval:
Total failure. It shifted POI with every drop. At the end, it was 7-8 inches high left.
At this point it was pulled off to test another scope. It may get remounted on a different rifle to check RTZ and Tracking, though it’s a waste of ammunition and time.
The scope:
Turrets: Leupold’s Zero-Lock elevation turret. The button must be pushed to move them off zero. The windage turret is capped a d Leupold’s standard resettable.
Reticle:
Wind-Plex . 1 MOA per tick at 15x. 10 MOA from center to thicker outer posts.
Drop Evaluation RTZ 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, and makes it through the high round count portion, failures in actual use are almost unheard of.
This one was conducted on soft soil, with a 1/2 rubber padded mat top.
The rings were degreased and installed with 65 in-lbs on base screws, and 20in-lbs on ring cap screws.
Note: the rings were not removed after the Revic scope eval, the scopes were just swapped in place.
Ammunition used was Federal 168gr Tru. The 20 round proof group with this ammo was 1.2 MOA.
Zeroing:
Bore sighted. Fired two rounds. Used reticle to measure, and went to the top left for. Fired two rounds- it over adjusted by more than 2 MOA. Adjusted right 2 MOA and fired 6 at the center dot- it only moved half of the dialed amount. Adjusted down .75moa, and right 1 MOA, then smacked/tapped the turrets. Fired 3 on the right dot, and went to drop portion.
Drop eval:
Total failure. It shifted POI with every drop. At the end, it was 7-8 inches high left.
At this point it was pulled off to test another scope. It may get remounted on a different rifle to check RTZ and Tracking, though it’s a waste of ammunition and time.
