Mid-long range hunting scope

[khesser]

I shoot PRS and NRL hunter and for my PRS rifles where weight is not a concern I use Nightforce 7-35 ATCR scopes and they are phenomenal but for hunting and shooting NRL Hunter series I have started using Leupold Mk4 HD scopes. For my 338 Lapua I have on it the Mk4 HD 6-24 and on my 7 PRC I have the Mk4 HD 4.5-18. I recently took both these rifles to South Africa and were effective on game out to 580 yards. The glass in the Mk4 HD line is the same as what’s in the Mk5 HDs and they cost a good amount less but are every bit as good a scope. Since you want something it sounds like for shooting long range and hunting since you say you plan to use 155gr Terminal Ascent bullets I’d look at the Mk4 HD line.

Now I highly recommend you forget about a custom dial and get a good range finder with a ballistic calculator. CDS dials only take into account a given bullet, velocity, and density altitude. If anything changes outside what you got that dial custom made for then it’s useless. You can program into range finding binoculars a gun profile then it’s good for wherever you plan to hunt and it will take into altitude and weather to make sure it gives you an accurate come up to dial your scope. And if you use a different lot of ammo or different type of ammo you can then chronograph that load and plug that data in and be good to go. CDS dials are good marketing but I personally would not rely on one out past 400 yards.

The Kudu was taken at 580 yards that I used Swarovski EL Range binoculars to range the animal and give me an accurate come up to dial my scope for an accurate shot.

 

[khesser]

I’ve had good luck with trijicon as well but they don’t zero lock their exposed turrets

Leupold Mk4 HD has locking turrets but I wouldn’t worry about locking turrets if your scope has a zero stop.

 

[KY Hunting Guy]

Never lost zero on the leupold?

I shot it for 4 years and never lost zero. I dialed it from 1000 yards back down numerous times and it would still keep 1/4-1/2 mos all day. Great scope and I would have gotten the more powerful one but I needed lower power than 8x for hunting here in KY. I used it to shot a nice deer at 75 yards 2 years ago.

 

[7MAG]

Leupold Mk4 HD has locking turrets but I wouldn’t worry about locking turrets if your scope has a zero stop.

I mean i don’t think the trijicon have zero stop

 

[khesser]

I wouldn’t use any scope I plan to dial without a zero stop. I would think Trijicon would have scopes with a zero stop but I have only ever used there red dot optics.

 

[7MAG]

View attachment 620956I shoot PRS and NRL hunter and for my PRS rifles where weight is not a concern I use Nightforce 7-35 ATCR scopes and they are phenomenal but for hunting and shooting NRL Hunter series I have started using Leupold Mk4 HD scopes. For my 338 Lapua I have on it the Mk4 HD 6-24 and on my 7 PRC I have the Mk4 HD 4.5-18. I recently took both these rifles to South Africa and were effective on game out to 580 yards. The glass in the Mk4 HD line is the same as what’s in the Mk5 HDs and they cost a good amount less but are every bit as good a scope. Since you want something it sounds like for shooting long range and hunting since you say you plan to use 155gr Terminal Ascent bullets I’d look at the Mk4 HD line.

Now I highly recommend you forget about a custom dial and get a good range finder with a ballistic calculator. CDS dials only take into account a given bullet, velocity, and density altitude. If anything changes outside what you got that dial custom made for then it’s useless. You can program into range finding binoculars a gun profile then it’s good for wherever you plan to hunt and it will take into altitude and weather to make sure it gives you an accurate come up to dial your scope. And if you use a different lot of ammo or different type of ammo you can then chronograph that load and plug that data in and be good to go. CDS dials are good marketing but I personally would not rely on one out past 400 yards.

The Kudu was taken at 580 yards that I used Swarovski EL Range binoculars to range the animal and give me an accurate come up to dial my scope for an accurate shot.

I have not heard good things about leupold holding zero or tracking, all leupold I’ve had were on close range rifles. He’s this tracking issue not been your experience?

 

[7MAG]

I wouldn’t use any scope I plan to dial without a zero stop. I would think Trijicon would have scopes with a zero stop but I have only ever used there red dot optics.

Their accupoint/power dialing scopes do not, I ended up selling it for this reason

 

[khesser]

I have not heard good things about leupold holding zero or tracking, all leupold I’ve had were on close range rifles. He’s this tracking issue not been your experience?

I have not had an issues but I always do a tracking test with all my new scopes and encourage anyone who plans to do any long range shooting to do the same. Now I have heard of people who said they have had a Mk5 HD fail in a competition but I have seen Nightforce, ZCO, Kahles, Leupold, Tangent Theta, Schmidt and Bender all have some kind of issue. PRS shooting will put a scope through abuse you won’t normally find when using them for hunting or recreational shooting.

 

[KMG Hunting Safaris]

Ordered a zeiss v4 conquest 4-16x44, was disappointed with the turret design and all the plastic so I returned it. Was considering the leupold vx5hd 3-15x44 but heard a bunch of bad reviews about poor tracking and return to zero. This made me dive into the rabbit hole and question if I should get a leupold mark 5 hd 3.6-18x44 or nightforce NX8 2.5-20x50. If I have to spend the extra $500 I will but I’d like real world experience or recommendations. This is a rifle out to 8-900yds, being able to have a custom dial is kind of a deal breaker whether I can get it from factory or a 3rd party. I want something I can dial elevation to the yardage and hold for elevation

I run the Nightforce NX8 2.5-20 x 50 on my 300Win. Extremely happy with it. Tracks well and returns to zero every time.

 

[7MAG]

I run the Nightforce NX8 2.5-20 x 50 on my 300Win. Extremely happy with it. Tracks well and returns to zero every time.

What rings/mount you using?

 

[7MAG]

View attachment 620956I shoot PRS and NRL hunter and for my PRS rifles where weight is not a concern I use Nightforce 7-35 ATCR scopes and they are phenomenal but for hunting and shooting NRL Hunter series I have started using Leupold Mk4 HD scopes. For my 338 Lapua I have on it the Mk4 HD 6-24 and on my 7 PRC I have the Mk4 HD 4.5-18. I recently took both these rifles to South Africa and were effective on game out to 580 yards. The glass in the Mk4 HD line is the same as what’s in the Mk5 HDs and they cost a good amount less but are every bit as good a scope. Since you want something it sounds like for shooting long range and hunting since you say you plan to use 155gr Terminal Ascent bullets I’d look at the Mk4 HD line.

Now I highly recommend you forget about a custom dial and get a good range finder with a ballistic calculator. CDS dials only take into account a given bullet, velocity, and density altitude. If anything changes outside what you got that dial custom made for then it’s useless. You can program into range finding binoculars a gun profile then it’s good for wherever you plan to hunt and it will take into altitude and weather to make sure it gives you an accurate come up to dial your scope. And if you use a different lot of ammo or different type of ammo you can then chronograph that load and plug that data in and be good to go. CDS dials are good marketing but I personally would not rely on one out past 400 yards.

The Kudu was taken at 580 yards that I used Swarovski EL Range binoculars to range the animal and give me an accurate come up to dial my scope for an accurate shot.

Your scope looks relatively low, what ring height are you running?

 

[KMG Hunting Safaris]

What rings/mount you using?

Talley

 

[khesser]

Your scope looks relatively low, what ring height are you running?

Hawkins rings. I think 1 inch height. Hawkins has the best lightweight rings for scopes with larger tubes. Mk4 HD line has 34mm tubes and the Mk5 HD has 35mm tubes.

 

[7MAG]

Went with nx8 and night force low rings, the bell is not touching the rail although it may look like it

 

[khesser]

Good choice and you went Mil on the turrets. What reticle did you go with? The Mil-C is my favorite reticle from Nightforce.

 

[7MAG]

Good choice and you went Mil on the turrets. What reticle did you go with? The Mil-C is my favorite reticle from Nightforce.

Mil cf2

 

[mdwest]

My 300 PRC sports a Zeiss conquest 3-15x with the Rapid Z reticle.. I’m comfortable with it to 400+ (that’s about as far as I would ever shoot at anything under any circumstances)…

 

[WAB]

I’m very happy with my Leupold MK5HD 3.6-18x44. It is mounted on a 6.5 PRC. I’m about 1,000 rounds in on this rifle and the scope has been utterly reliable.

 

[HookMeUpII]

I have 2x Leupold Vx5HD in 3-15x44 and have had zero problems with holding zero. Zeiss, Swaro, and Leica make great stuff...but so does Leupold.

The only criticisms that I've heard about Leupold is the BDS turret which you need an allen wrench to remove and set the hard zero. Not sure why someone needs to set a hard zero in the field, though.

I cannot say that the Leupold has better glass than the German/Euro optics but it's damn clear. Everything I shot in Africa was spot on and died really quick. They are also known to be tough as nails. Customer service has also been top notch.

German and Euro glass is great. I think discounting the Leupold is a huge miss though. They are quite a lot of scope for the money. Although, they've gone up in price.

 

[gbflyer]

I’ve returned a number of Leupolds over the years for failure to adjust. Generally higher powered variables. I have not owned any of the recent modern models.

The Nightforce line has a rugged track record. You might also consider Maven RS1.2. They are building a good following for a rugged scope.