Leupold Freedom series scopes

I’m looking for a decent scope that won’t break the bank and stumbled across a Leupold Freedom 6-18×40. Does anyone have this series of Leupold?

BassinBill wrote:

I’m looking for a decent scope that won’t break the bank and stumbled across a Leupold Freedom 6-18×40. Does anyone have this series of Leupold?

Are you looking at long distances? I’d assume so since this has 18 power. If so, I’d suggest a first focal plane then and learn how to use it.

Leupold makes some great scopes so I don’t want to steer you away but Vortex has great glass at great prices.

Here’s two that come to mind

https://www.sportoptics.com/vortex-hs-t-vhs-4325.aspx

https://www.sportoptics.com/vortex-diamondback-tactical-6-24×50-dbk-10028.aspx

I’m not necessarily set on Leupold. Really it’s between that one and the Vortex Viper 4-16. The only wildcard is a Crossfire 4-16. If it’s decent enough that would be my first option and I’d buy two and ditch my Diamondback that’s on my other rifle. Hoping to go look at the Vortex tomorrow but nobody has the Leupold instock.

Edit: Should add that I’m not looking for crazy long range shooting. I picked up a rifle more thinking for antelope and mule deer. The way I see it, the more magnification the better.

Rochester Scheels has some loopies in a showcase. Not certain on which series though.

BassinBill wrote:

Should add that I’m not looking for crazy long range shooting. I picked up a rifle more thinking for antelope and mule deer. The way I see it, the more magnification the better.

Disagree. More magnification will be more of a hindrance than anything in deer, and especially antelope, hunting. If 6x is the lowest you can go, you’re not going to give yourself hardly any opportunity at moving game. Not to mention, 6x is way too much magnification if you bump an animal in close. If you watch enough youtube they’ll tell you all about their 900 yard shot from yadda yadda. Not realistic for hunters like me, and I’d assume you as well. I urge you to do more research into 3-9x magnification scopes.

Vortex scopes have high ratings but in my limited experience with them, I’ve been very disappointed. When sighting in my Diamondback and adjusting the windage and elevation dials, the “ticks” would skip or double up. I couldn’t sight it in for sh!t because of this. Felt very low quality. Some inner lens broke at some point out of season and I know for certain it didn’t get hit or banged around much, if at all. I’ll most certainly be purchasing a leupold, with their warranty, before my next western hunting trip.

The higher the magnification,The more jittery it will be. Mine are all Leupold vari x IV. one is 4.5 – 14, other is 2.5 – 8. very seldom use the 4.5-14.

Very happy with the 4.5-27×50 Athalon I purchased a few weeks ago.

Big SWFA fan too.

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Never had Leupold but i know they make good glass. I use almost all vortex and have yet to be disappointed by them.

Thanks everyone. I’ll see what I come up with.

I have a Leupold VX3 2.5-8 36 mm on my .30-06. Ideal for me, dial down in the woods for whitetails, crank it up in the open spaces for antelope and deer. Bear Basin Outfitters has it for $400.

Skip the crossfire and new diamondback models from Vortex. The older Diamondback HP models are solid for a budget model, the new ones just don’t feel as well built to me. Viper HST is a good choice from vortex.

I have no experience with the freedom line from Leupold, but I love my VX-3I 3.5x/10x and it was only $360 on sale.

Well I ended up grabbing two Vortex Viper HS 4-16×50 from Scheels for $350 each. They aren’t the BDC like I would’ve liked but like for the price I just couldn’t pass them up.

tbro16 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>BassinBill wrote:</div>
Should add that I’m not looking for crazy long range shooting. I picked up a rifle more thinking for antelope and mule deer. The way I see it, the more magnification the better.

Disagree. More magnification will be more of a hindrance than anything in deer, and especially antelope, hunting. If 6x is the lowest you can go, you’re not going to give yourself hardly any opportunity at moving game. Not to mention, 6x is way too much magnification if you bump an animal in close. If you watch enough youtube they’ll tell you all about their 900 yard shot from yadda yadda. Not realistic for hunters like me, and I’d assume you as well. I urge you to do more research into 3-9x magnification scopes.

Vortex scopes have high ratings but in my limited experience with them, I’ve been very disappointed. When sighting in my Diamondback and adjusting the windage and elevation dials, the “ticks” would skip or double up. I couldn’t sight it in for sh!t because of this. Felt very low quality. Some inner lens broke at some point out of season and I know for certain it didn’t get hit or banged around much, if at all. I’ll most certainly be purchasing a leupold, with their warranty, before my next western hunting trip.

Man, I just put a Diamondback 4-12×40 on my Tikka .270 last year and it has been great so far, but you’ve got me thinking about whether or not I should throw some other glass on there before I head to WY this fall. Fortunately, I’ve got at least a few range sessions in between now and then for load development, so we will see how it holds up. I wonder if I could convince my wife that I need a back-up rifle…

waldo9190 wrote:

Man, I just put a Diamondback 4-12×40 on my Tikka .270 last year and it has been great so far, but you’ve got me thinking about whether or not I should throw some other glass on there before I head to WY this fall.

If its works for you don’t just swap it out on my word! I’ve seen and heard so many great reviews on their glass. Maybe I just got unlucky with my purchase. I did, however, buy a pair of vortex binos before any of my issues with the scope began and I love them. Biggest complaint on that scope is trying to sight it in with the no clicks to all of a sudden 2 or 3 clicks with one little turn on the dial. Finally had it to where I wanted it and that inner lens broke so had to start over from scratch. Still haven’t gotten it re-sighted so that’s why I’ll be swapping to Leopold.

The Leupold 3.5 -10 is a great scope.

tbro16 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>waldo9190 wrote:</div>
Man, I just put a Diamondback 4-12×40 on my Tikka .270 last year and it has been great so far, but you’ve got me thinking about whether or not I should throw some other glass on there before I head to WY this fall.

If its works for you don’t just swap it out on my word! I’ve seen and heard so many great reviews on their glass. Maybe I just got unlucky with my purchase. I did, however, buy a pair of vortex binos before any of my issues with the scope began and I love them. Biggest complaint on that scope is trying to sight it in with the no clicks to all of a sudden 2 or 3 clicks with one little turn on the dial. Finally had it to where I wanted it and that inner lens broke so had to start over from scratch. Still haven’t gotten it re-sighted so that’s why I’ll be swapping to Leopold.

That is really interesting. I thought that the clicks on the turrets on my particular scope are great! Makes me wonder if they had a bad run on them for a while? We source a fair number of things from Asia for work, and it is definitely something I’ve seen before. Only time will tell I guess! With my luck I’ll make it all the way through load development this summer and then have it drop a biscuit while I’m out there

Only time will tell I guess! With my luck I’ll make it all the way through load development this summer and then have it drop a biscuit while I’m out there.

This is a chance with any piece of equipment. The good news is that unless you’re on a true pack-in wilderness, “3 days from anywhere” type of hunt, it’s amazing what you can fix or replace quickly and pretty easily these days thanks to the interweb and a trip to a local gun shop.

IMO, the best insurance for a busted scope is just to be sure to have enough of your preferred ammo available to do everything from a re-zero to a total scope replacement. Many outfitters advise bringing extra ammo for just this purpose.

On varmint trips where guns take a terrible beating, I also carry my laser bore sight in my field cleaning/repair kit. I know where the “dot” should appear on a wall 10 feet away, so if a gun gets dropped, I can instantly confirm if the zero has been disturbed significantly just by putting in the boresight, no need to even fire a shot if it checks out reasonably well with the boresight. No, the boresight is not precise enough to substitute for actual shooting, but it does a good job of quickly confirming if a scope has been knocked out of whack.

Grouse