Description
Rifle Scope Product Details
Leupold VX-6HD 4-24x52mm Side Focus Riflescope
Rifle Scope Product Features
Model #179294 – VX-6HD 4-24x52mm Side Focus Riflescope with an Illum. FireDot Duplex CDS-ZL2 reticle and Matte finish
About the Leupold Company
Leupold is a premium company for long gun scopes, optics, mounting solutions, and other components used for firearms like rifles and long guns. They innovate and manufacture their products working with materials which are resilient and long lasting. This includes the Leupold VX-6HD 4-24x52mm Side Focus Riflescope by Leupold. For additional shooting products, visit their site.
Info Rifle Scopes
Rifle scopes enable you to precisely aim a rifle at different targets by aligning your eye with the target over a range. They do this through magnifying the target by utilizing a series of lenses within the scope. The scope’s positioning can be dialed in to account for many environmental things like wind and elevation increases or decreases to make up for bullet drop.
The scope’s purpose is to help shooters understand exactly where the bullet will land based upon the sight picture you are seeing using the scope as you align the scope’s crosshair or reticle with the target. The majority of modern-day rifle scopes and optics have around 11 parts which are located internally and on the exterior of the optic. These parts consist of the rifle scope’s body, lenses, windage turrets, objective focus rings, and other elements. See all eleven parts of a rifle optical system.
Rifle Glass Styles
Rifle scopes can be either “first focal plane” or “second focal plane” kind of scopes. The style of focal plane a scope has identifies where the reticle or crosshair lies in relation to the scopes magnification. It actually indicates the reticle is behind or in front of the magnifying lens of the scope. Selecting the most suitable kind of rifle scope depends upon what sort of shooting you intend on doing.
First Focal Plane Glass Facts
First focal plane glass (FFP) include the reticle ahead of the zoom lens. This induces the reticle to increase in size based upon the amount of zoom being used. The benefit is that the reticle measurements are the same at the enhanced range as they are at the non magnified range. As an example, one tick on a mil-dot reticle at one hundred yards without having “zoom” is still the very same tick at 100 yards with 5x “zoom”. These kinds of scopes work for:
- Quick acquisition, far away kinds of shooting
- Shooting scenarios where computations are marginal
- Experienced shooters who have an idea for their aim point “hold over” and “lead” correlations for their firearms
- Shooters who don’t mind the reticle is bigger and occupies more visual eyesight space than a SFP reticle
Second Focal Plane Scope Facts
Second focal plane optics (SFP) come with the reticle behind the magnification lens. In the FFP example with the SFP scope, the 5x “zoom” one hundred yard tick would be 1/5th of the non “zoom” tick reticle measurement.
- Long distance forms of shooting where shooters have more time to make ballistic calculations
- Shooting where most shots take place within much shorter spaces and ranges
- Shooters who want a clearer optic sight picture with less space used up by the larger sized FFP reticle
Magnification for Rifle Glass
The level of scope magnification you need on your scope depends upon the type of shooting you plan to do. Practically every type of rifle glass gives some amount of magnification. The level of zoom a scope provides is identified by the size, thickness, and curves of the lens glass within the rifle scope. The magnifying level of the optic is the “power” of the opic. This indicates what the shooter is observing through the scope is magnified times the power factor of what can normally be seen by human eyes.
Fixed Power Lens Glass
A single power rifle scope and optic comes with a magnification number designator like 4×32. This means the magnification power of the scope is 4x power while the objective lens is 32mm. The magnification of this type of optic can not change because it is a fixed power optic.
About Variable Power Lens Rifle Scopes
Variable power rifle scopes use variable power levels. The power adjustment is handled by using the power ring part of the scope near the rear of the scope by the eye bell.
The Power Level and Range of Optics
Here are some suggested scope powers and the distances where they can be effectively used. Bear in mind that higher magnification glass will not be as practical as lower powered scopes because increased magnification can be a negative thing in certain situations. The same applies to extended ranges where the shooter needs to have enough power to see precisely where to best aim the rifle at the target.
Optic Lens Finish
All modern-day rifle optic and scope lenses are layered. There are various types and qualities of glass finishings. Lens finish is an essential aspect of a rifle when thinking of luxury rifle optics and targeting units. The glass lenses are among the most significant pieces of the optic given that they are what your eye sees through while sighting a rifle in on the target. The coating on the lenses protects the lens exterior and even helps with anti glare from excess sunrays and color recognition.
HD Versus ED Lens Coatings
Some scope brands also use “HD” or high-definition lens finishes which use different processes, chemicals, polarizations, and elements to draw out a wide range of colors and viewable definition through the lens. Some scope manufacturers use “HD” to refer to “ED” to signify the lens has extra-low dispersion glass.
Single Optic Lens Coating Versus Multi-Coating
Different optic lenses can also have different finishings used to them. All lenses typically have at least some type of treatment or coating used to them prior to being used in a rifle scope or optic.
Single coated lenses have a treatment applied to them which is usually a protective and enhancing multi-purpose treatment. This lens treatment can safeguard the lens from scratches while decreasing glare and other less beneficial things experienced in the shooting environment while sighting in with the optic. The quality of a single coated lens depends upon the scope manufacturer and the amount you spent for it. The scope’s maker and cost are indications of the lens quality.
Some scope makers also make it a point to define if their optic lenses are layered or “multi” covered. This means the lens has had several treatments applied to the surfaces. If a lens receives multiple treatments, it can establish that a maker is taking multiple steps to fight various environmental aspects like an anti-glare coating, a scratch resistant anti-abrasion covering, followed by a hydrophilic finishing. This also does not necessarily indicate the multi-coated lens will perform much better than a single coated lens. Being “much better” hinges on the producer’s lens treatment innovation and the quality of products used in creating the rifle scope.
Hydrophobic Finish for Rifle Optics
Water on a lens does not assist with preserving a clear sight picture through a scope at all. Many top of the line and military grade scope makers will coat their lenses with a hydrophobic or hydrophilic coating which is water repellent.
Alternatives for Mounting Rifle Optics on Firearms
Installing approaches for scopes can be found in a couple of choices. There are the standard scope rings which are individually mounted to the optic and one-piece scope mounts which cradle the scope. These various types of mounts also normally come in quick release variations which use manual levers which enable rifle shooters to rapidly mount and remove the glass.
Hex Key Rifle Optic Rings
Normal, clamp design mounting scope rings use hex head screws to mount to the flattop style Picatinny scope mount rails on rifles. These types of scope mounts use a couple of separate rings to support the optic, and are often made from 7075 T6 billet aluminum which is designed for long distance accuracy shooting. This type of scope install is great for rifles which need a long lasting, sound mount which will not move no matter how much the scope is moved or abuse the rifle takes.
Quick-Release Cantilever Scope Ring Mounts
These types of quick-release rifle scope mounts can be used to quickly attach and take off a scope from a rifle. If they all use a similar design mount, several scopes can often be swapped out. The quick detach design is CNC crafted from anodized 6061 T6 aluminum and the mounting levers fasten solidly to a flat top type Picatinny rail. This enables the scope to be sighted in while on the rifle, removed from the rifle, and remounted while keeping precision. These types of mounts are useful and handy for rifles which are moved a lot, to remove the glass from the rifle for protection, or for optics which are utilized in between a number of rifles. An example of this mount style is the 30mm mount designed by Vortex Optics. It generally costs around $250 USD
Scope Tube Sealing and Gas Purging
Moisture inside your rifle scope can destroy a day of shooting and your highly-priced optic by inducing fogging and developing residue inside of the scope tube. The majority of scopes protect against humidity from entering the scope tube with a series of sealing O-rings which are water resistant. Usually, these scopes can be immersed underneath 20 or 30 feet of water before the water pressure can push moisture past the O-rings. This should be sufficient wetness avoidance for standard use rifles, unless you intend on taking your rifle aboard watercrafts and are concerned about the optic still performing if it goes overboard and you can still find the gun.
Details on Rifle Glass Tube Gas Purging
Another component of avoiding the buildup of wetness inside of the rifle scope tube is filling the tube with a gas like nitrogen. Since this area is already taken up by the gas, the glass is less influenced by condition shifts and pressure variations from the external environment which may potentially permit water vapor to permeate in around the seals to fill the void which would otherwise be there. These are good qualities of a good rifle scope to look for.
