Spiral Horn
New member
- Joined
- Feb 26, 2026
- Messages
- 2
Like a lot of folks posting here I was first attracted to Leupold many years ago as they were viewed by the old-timers as solidly reliable. Then later on it was the very attractive military/LE discounts - I still applaud them for their support of our troops. They are also very light weight for their configuration.
Have owned several in the VX-6 and VX-6 HD II series - however, none of them still sits on any of my rifles. My experience mirrors many here = 1) challenging to zero as they tend to wander until settling in; 2) once settled in they seem to hold zero very well until the unexplainably don't - then the re-zero challenge begins anew; 3) tracking leaves a lot to be desired - I just cannot trust their erector system on long range shots. What finally made me give up was taking one on a Bezoar Ibex Hunt and the zero shifted considerably while in transit (robust Pelican case with foam insert) - I was able to sufficiently re-zero but lost all confidence in the scope. The last thing I want to be thinking about at the moment-of-truth is whether my scope is holding zero.
I then switched to Swarovski Z5 with a BRH reticle and no cranking turret. This worked very well, light, and crystal-clear. Took quite a few critters with this scope and it worked reliably for several years - then began to struggle with holding zero. Swarovski fixed it but charged me a good $ for the repair.
Then Swarovski came out with the new Z5+ series. It is an improvement in every way over the old Z5 - still lightweight, but more solidly built, with a much more robust erector system and the clearest optics I've ever seen in a riflescope. Used it extensively over the past year both at the range and in the field. Took it on a Yukon Sheep and Asian Ibex Hunt - both very hard on gear and it performed flawlessly - very long shots on both and animals are at my taxidermist. This scope was easy to zero, so far solidly holds zero, and tracks perfectly - saw a shooting school video where they intentionally worked the elevation turret to death and it still tracked perfectly. Anyway, it is my new go-to scope.
Was at a Sportsmen's Show recently where the Nightforce guys were trying to hard-sell me on their scopes. While they are very robust I just find them far too heavy for my applications as I currently mostly focused on hunting mountain game. After all, it isn't about what we can bring ourselves to lug out of camp but more about what it feels like after carrying it for 8-10 hours in the mountains.
My 2 cents
Have owned several in the VX-6 and VX-6 HD II series - however, none of them still sits on any of my rifles. My experience mirrors many here = 1) challenging to zero as they tend to wander until settling in; 2) once settled in they seem to hold zero very well until the unexplainably don't - then the re-zero challenge begins anew; 3) tracking leaves a lot to be desired - I just cannot trust their erector system on long range shots. What finally made me give up was taking one on a Bezoar Ibex Hunt and the zero shifted considerably while in transit (robust Pelican case with foam insert) - I was able to sufficiently re-zero but lost all confidence in the scope. The last thing I want to be thinking about at the moment-of-truth is whether my scope is holding zero.
I then switched to Swarovski Z5 with a BRH reticle and no cranking turret. This worked very well, light, and crystal-clear. Took quite a few critters with this scope and it worked reliably for several years - then began to struggle with holding zero. Swarovski fixed it but charged me a good $ for the repair.
Then Swarovski came out with the new Z5+ series. It is an improvement in every way over the old Z5 - still lightweight, but more solidly built, with a much more robust erector system and the clearest optics I've ever seen in a riflescope. Used it extensively over the past year both at the range and in the field. Took it on a Yukon Sheep and Asian Ibex Hunt - both very hard on gear and it performed flawlessly - very long shots on both and animals are at my taxidermist. This scope was easy to zero, so far solidly holds zero, and tracks perfectly - saw a shooting school video where they intentionally worked the elevation turret to death and it still tracked perfectly. Anyway, it is my new go-to scope.
Was at a Sportsmen's Show recently where the Nightforce guys were trying to hard-sell me on their scopes. While they are very robust I just find them far too heavy for my applications as I currently mostly focused on hunting mountain game. After all, it isn't about what we can bring ourselves to lug out of camp but more about what it feels like after carrying it for 8-10 hours in the mountains.
My 2 cents
