Organized the gun safe trying to find more room and made a discovery that really surprised me. The majority of my airguns are heavy compared to my powder burners. One of the biggest culprits are these 2+ pound scopes. I've hunted for 55 years and never knew I needed them until PCP's came along. I've always been a fan of Leupold and all my powder burners wear one. Most a 6 power but a few 3.5x10. All of them weigh in under 12 oz. Now I see they have a VX-3i 4.5x14 that weighs in at a whopping 13oz. Anyone own one? Is this new Leopold glass as good as it was 40 years ago? Joe, your a Leopold guy. Whats your take?
scopes not worth the weight
- Thread starter Kitplanenut
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I have a number of Leupold scopes but only one I use on air guns. I mainly use hawke scopes on my air guns with a few swfa and weaver scopes mixed in. But the reason I don't move more of my Leupolds over to my air guns is only one has AO. But I agree some of my scopes are twice the weight. I think my fixed power swfa in 16 power is not as heavy.
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I use Leopold also on powder guns. The only problem is most only have a minimum of 50 yard parallax. I guess the custom shop can move it a bit. Even if they went down to 30 yards, it would pursued me to put them on my airguns. I have bought a few Sightron Slll's (heavy but 50X) because of the their minimum parallax.
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Yep I'm a Leupold Dude 
My fixed 12 power I think is like 12oz. I don't really notice it till I pick up like a SWFA or something .. And yes to me the new Leupolds are worth every penny .The VX1 and riflemen series don't really interest me...But from the VX2 on up they are really nice . Better as price increases of course .
But like Dirte said , most won't focus below 50 yards .
Probably my favorite all around scope is my VX2 4-12 with mildot . Focuses down to just under 25 yards , short , light , and crystal clear .
My fixed 12 power I think is like 12oz. I don't really notice it till I pick up like a SWFA or something .. And yes to me the new Leupolds are worth every penny .The VX1 and riflemen series don't really interest me...But from the VX2 on up they are really nice . Better as price increases of course . But like Dirte said , most won't focus below 50 yards .
Probably my favorite all around scope is my VX2 4-12 with mildot . Focuses down to just under 25 yards , short , light , and crystal clear .
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The only drawback to shortening the AO setting is like my 12 power....It'll focus down to 22 yards or so (parallax free) but max is now about 75 yards ...Perfect for my little 6ft. Lb . guns . But its not a scope that's as versatile anymore .
The custom shop 4-12 VX2 iis a bad ass , but it cost as much as a Weaver Tactical which is a better scope ....But its also heavy . I've found just from playing with my FWB rifles ( just my experience ) that the sledge system seems to work more smoothly with lighter scopes . Like I say , I've never read that anywhere ...Or heard it spoken about ....But its at least true for my rifle ..And others I've owned .
As a matter of fact ...I'm starting a thread in springers today asking guys about this
The custom shop 4-12 VX2 iis a bad ass , but it cost as much as a Weaver Tactical which is a better scope ....But its also heavy . I've found just from playing with my FWB rifles ( just my experience ) that the sledge system seems to work more smoothly with lighter scopes . Like I say , I've never read that anywhere ...Or heard it spoken about ....But its at least true for my rifle ..And others I've owned .
As a matter of fact ...I'm starting a thread in springers today asking guys about this
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Leupold still makes the 3-9 EFR for airguns. The fixed12x is big and the narrow focus range is a problem. The rep I talked to on the phone said all of the variable models have a wider focus range than the fixed, but couldn't give me specifics. You can adjust the parallax back yourself, on non EFR models, just remember the closer you set it the narrower the range will be. My favorite right now is the 6.5-20 EFR I got from Joe, I think they are still available from the custom shop.
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All my air rifle scopes, Athlon Midas, MTC Genesis and former Sightron SIII were a minimum of 25oz. These are all second focal plane too, less parts, lighter. 32oz on my powder .243...first focal plane Sig Sauer Tango6 3-18 44mm. Solid.
Little Redfield Revolution is nice and clear, super light, 9oz maybe?? Fixed parallax, not for air. All the extra features like side focus, first focal, tall turrents and illuminated tubes add ounces.
Little Redfield Revolution is nice and clear, super light, 9oz maybe?? Fixed parallax, not for air. All the extra features like side focus, first focal, tall turrents and illuminated tubes add ounces.
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I have mostly Leupolds on my rifles, the VX2 6-18 will focus down to 25yds, for me its the best value scope in the Leupold line, also have a couple of EFR 6•5-20's, brilliant scope once you get the hang of the AO. But if you want a heavy scope the Sightron SIII 10-50x60 is getting up there and my Nightforce BR 8-32 feels like it nearly doubled the weight of Royale 500, these big scopes make it hard to stack rifles in a safe.
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Thanks guys. Going to have to go to town and look at some of the Leupolds again. Another adventure. I love Leupold scopes but probably because that is what I grew up with. I just wish they would use a little more imagination with their reticle choices. Like the standard mil dot with more then 4 dots so common on 20.00 scopes. But then again, there isn't a shortage of reticles. There is a shortage of $
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