• Leupold VX-III 4.5-14x40mm Long Range Rifle Scope Review

    Selecting the perfect rifle scope for a new rifle has become quite an arduous task. Thirty years ago that choice was fairly simple as you essentially had two major brands (Leupold and Weaver) and a limited selection of fixed and variable powered scopes. My how things have changed as today we have literally hundreds of options to choose from.Variable power scopes with power ranges stretching from 1x to 40x, a multitude of reticle options, illuminated or non-illuminated, standard or tall target-style turrets, 1-inch or 30mm main tubes, etc. Todays rifle scope offerings make for a proverbial smorgasbord of optical nirvana.

    Yet with such a vast sea of optics to choose from, a few select brands/models still always seem to rise to the top. The traditional 3-9 variable power scope is still the standard for hunting rifles. The fixed 4-power is still by far the most popular style of scope mounted atop 22-caliber rimfires, and a medium range variable is still one of the most popular choices for an all around, multi-purpose rifle.

    The Leupold VX-III 4.5-14x40mm Long Range (#55275) just happens to be one of those medium range variable scopes. This particular model features a 30mm main tube, index-matched lens system, -minute finger-adjustable low-profile turrets, side-focus parallax adjustment, and Leupolds Ballistic Aiming System in form of the Varmint Hunter reticle.

    Upon receiving and opening the box you will find the packaging to be of Leupolds typical high quality. Contents include the rifle scope, neoprene scope cover, a small lens cleaning cloth, warranty card, and owners instruction manual.

    At an overall length of 12.6-inches and weighing in at 15.4-ounces, the VX-III is neither a compact or large scope. Field-of-View (FOV) is rated at 7.3 yards at 100 yards at maximum magnification, eye relief is a generous 3.6-inches, and the turrets offer 100 minutes of both elevation and windage adjustment.

    One item of note here is the neoprene scope cover, as in the past Leupold simply included large lens cloth. While the lens cloth was nice, the lack of proper lens caps to keep dust from collecting on the lenses when mounted on a rifle provided no means to protect ones investment. The new neoprene cover offers an excellent solution as not only does it protect the lenses themselves, but also the whole body of the scope.

    We have covered Leupolds Varmint Hunter reticle in the past so I won't go into great detail on it here. It offers a fine lined German #4-style central aiming point (sighted-in at 200 yards in most cases) as well as cross-wire hold points calibrated to 300, 400, and 500 yards for most cartridges. 10 and 20 mph windage hold points at both the left and right ends of the 300, 400, and 500 yard cross-wire hold points, while the central aiming point has windage hold points for 10, 20 and 30 mph winds. The reticle can also be used as a prairie dog range estimator between the 500 yard and bottom vertical heavy post.

    For evaluation purposes I mounted the Leupold VX-III atop a Savage Model 14 American Classic chambered in .223 Remington using a DedNutz one-piece 30mm medium mounting system (#34200). This combination provided a very low mounting height while still retaining just enough objective-to-barrel clearance to install a Butler-Creek flip-up style lens cap if desired.

    Once the rifle was sighted in at 100 yards I proceeded to perform the obligatory box test to check the reliability and repeatability of the adjustment mechanism. This test consists of six shots:

    Shot 1: Zero Point
    Shot 2: Up 5 minutes and left 5 minutes
    Shot 3: Down 10 minutes
    Shot 4: Right 10 minutes
    Shot 5: Up 10 minutes
    Shot 6: Left 5 minutes and down 5 minutes (returning to original zero)

    As expected the VX-III performed flawlessly with each adjustment placing the point-of-impact (POI) at its intended mark. The first and sixth shots resulted in a two-shot group measuring a mere 0.196.

    Long Range Varmint reticle provides both elevation and windage hold-off's.At this point it was time to do a little side-by-side comparing to evaluate the quality of the lenses. For this portion of the test I compared the VX-III to a recently acquired Sightron SIII 6-24x50mm. The price point of both scopes is very close and both are top-end scopes from each manufacturer, so the comparison should provide some meaningful insight to how the lens systems in these two lines compare.

    In this portion of the evaluation I found that both the VX-III and SIII offered very similar optical performance, but each offered a slight advantage under certain conditions. Clarity and resolution was exceptionally good with both. Both offered a very bright sight picture under ideal lighting conditions, but the Leupold showed an ever so slight edge in contrast. In low-light conditions both offered sufficient brightness to hunt well beyond legal hunting light, but the Sightrons picture was noticeably brighter. This was to be expected given the Sightron has a larger 50mm objective, and for those looking for the optimal light gathering capability Leupold offers the same scope with a 50mm objective (#57170).

    Authors Note: Ive found that the only way to truly judge a scopes optical quality is to compare it directly to other scopes under field conditions. Only a true side-by-side comparison will let you distinguish the small differences in image quality such as those noted above.

    One pet-peeve Ive had regarding Leupolds side-focus models is their inherent inability to hold a parallax adjustment. Even using their recommended method of adjusting the parallax by going to infinity and dialing back I still find I need to reset the parallax after each shot. None of my non-Leupold side-focus scopes have this problem, and it becomes a real annoyance in situations where multiple consecutive shots are mandatory (in a match for example).

    Fit and finish on the VX-III was top notch as usual, and what Ive come to expect from Leupold. The turrets offered nice audible clicks and detents, and the magnification ring was smooth with no noticeable slop. Aside from the small complaint with the side-focus system I really cant find any faults with the VX-III.


    Additional Photos:

    #55275  Leupold VX-II 4.5-14x40mm Long Range Finger adjustable turrets provide for a compact package that won't get hung up on brush in the field.



    Leupold & Stevens, Inc.
    P.O. Box 688
    Beaverton, OR 97075-0688
    Phone: 1-800-LEU-POLD
    www.leupold.com