Description
Rifle Scope Product Details
Leupold VX-5HD 3-15x44mm Side Focus Riflescope
Rifle Scope Product Features
About this item
Model #171715 – VX-5HD 3-15x44mm with Wind-Plex CDS reticle and Matte finish
100% Waterproof, fogproof, and shockproof.
ZeroLock CDS (Custom Dial System) – Simplifies longer shots by eliminating the need for holdovers or ballistic calculations by using a dial that is customized to your rifle and ammo.
Twilight Max HD Light Management system – Adds up to 30 minutes of shooting light, best in class glare reduction, and edge to edge HD lens clarity.
Side Focus Parallax Adjustment – Fast, easy parallax focusing from any shooting position.
VX-5HD 3-15x44mm
Magnification Range: 3x-15x
Weight: 19.2 oz.
Length: 13.53 in.
Maintube Diameter: 30mm
Eye Relief (in) – Low: 3.7
Eye Relief (in) – High: 3.82
Linear FOV (ft/100 yd) – Low: 38.3
Linear FOV (ft/100 yd) – High: 7.7
Leupold VX-5HD
Relentless Performance
This scope is made for anything and everything. Its 3-15 magnification range lets you take full advantage of any situation. Crank the power down to three for thick timber hunting, ratchet it up to 15 for your trek across the open plains, or go anywhere in-between during your range days. The VX-5HD 3-15×44 has the versatility to dominate them all.
Lightweight, rugged performance
Unparalleled low light performance
Designed, machined, & assembled in the USA
Twilight Max HD Light Management System
Representing the pinnacle of our in-house lens design, the Twilight Max HD systemis built to deliver unbelieveable image quality in the harshest of lighting conditions.
Twilight Max HD Light Management System
Free CDS Elevation Dial
Designed, Machined, & Assembled in the USA
Rugged Reliability
Proprietary gas blend and seals are tested by us to a 33-foot depth and a multitude of pressure changes.
Every Leupold riflescope is designed to survive a minimum of 5,000 impacts on the Punisher, Leupold’s recoil simulation machine. The force of each impact is 3x the recoil of a .308 rifle.
All Leupold riflescopes are tested by us to perform from -40F to 160F.
VX-Freedom VX-R VX-3i VX-5HD VX-6HD
Light Management System Twilight Twilight Twilight Max Twilight Max HD Twilight Max HD
Maintube Size 1 inch 30mm 1 inch, 30mm 30mm, 34mm 30mm, 34mm
Zoom Ratio 3:1 3:1 3:1 5:1 6:1
HD Glass No No No Yes Yes
About the Leupold Company
Leupold is a premium maker for rifle scopes, optics, mounts, and other add-ons used for guns like rifles and long guns. They innovate and make their mounts, scopes, and related products using building materials which are long lasting and resilient. This includes the Leupold VX-5HD 3-15x44mm Side Focus Riflescope by Leupold. For more shooting goods, visit their site.
Glass Details
Rifle scopes permit you to precisely aim a rifle at various targets by aligning your eye with the target over a distance. They accomplish this through magnifying the target by using a set of lenses inside the scope. The scope’s positioning can be adapted to account for varied natural things like wind and elevation increases to make up for bullet drop.
The scope’s purpose is to understand precisely where the bullet will land based on the sight picture you are viewing using the optic as you align the scope’s crosshair or reticle with the intended point of impact. Most contemporary rifle optics have about eleven parts which are found inside and externally on the scope. These parts consist of the rifle scope’s body, lenses, elevation turrets or dials, focus rings, and other elements. See all eleven parts of an optic.
Rifle Scope Varieties
Rifle scopes can be either “first focal plane” or “second focal plane” type of scopes. Picking the optimal type of rifle optic is based around what type of shooting you plan to do.
Info About First Focal Plane Scopes
Focal plane scopes (FFP) include the reticle in front of the zoom lens. These types of scopes are helpful for:
- Quick acquisition, far away types of shooting
- Shooting situations where estimations are minor
- Experienced shooters who know their aim point “hold over” as well as “lead” correlations for their long guns
- Shooters who don’t mind the reticle is bigger and requires more visual sight area than a SFP reticle
Info About Second Focal Plane Scopes
Second focal plane optics (SFP) come with the reticle to the rear of the zoom lens. This induces the reticle to stay at the very same dimensions relative to the amount of zoom being used. The result is that the reticle dimensions alter based upon the zoom employed to shoot over longer distances considering the markings represent distinct increments which vary with the zoom. In the FFP example with the SFP scope, the 5x “zoom” 100 yard tick measurement would be 1/5th of the non “zoom” tick. These types of glass are beneficial for:
- Far away forms of shooting where shooters have increased time to make ballistic computations
- Shooting where most shots take place within much shorter spaces and ranges
- Shooters who like a clearer optic picture with less space taken up by the larger size FFP reticle
Rifle Optic Zoom
The quantity of magnification a scope supplies is identified by the size, density, and curvatures of the lenses inside of the rifle scope. The magnification of the scope is the “power” of the scope.
About Fixed Power Lens Glass
A single power rifle scope and optic will have a zoom number designator like 4×32. This indicates the zoom power of the scope is 4x power while the objective lens is 32mm. The zoom of this type of scope can not change because it is set from the factory.
Variable Power Lens Scope Info
Variable power rifle scopes can be tweaked between magnified settings. The power adjustment is performed by using the power ring part of the scope near the rear of the scope by the eye bell.
Rifle Scope Power Level and Ranges
Here are some advised scope power settings and the distances where they can be successfully used. Keep in mind that high magnification optics and scopes will not be as practical as lower powered scopes due to the fact that increased magnification can be a bad thing. The same idea applies to extended ranges where the shooter needs to have enough power to see exactly where to properly aim the rifle.
Rifle Glass Lens Coating
All contemporary rifle optic and scope lenses are coated. Lens covering is a vital aspect of a rifle when buying high end rifle optics and scope equipment.
HD Versus ED Rifle Scope Lens Coatings
Some scope producers additionally use “HD” or high-def lens finishes which apply different processes, chemicals, elements, and polarizations to extract separate color ranges and viewable target visibility through lenses. This high-definition covering is normally used with higher density glass which reduces light’s potential to refract by means of the lens glass. Some scope makers use “HD” to describe “ED” implying extra-low dispersion glass. ED deals with how colors are presented on the chromatic spectrum and the chromatic deviance or aberration which is similarly called color distortion or fringing. Chromatic aberration may be noticeable around objects with hard outlines as light hits the object from certain angles.
Single Covering Versus Multi-Coating
Various scope lenses can even have various finishings applied to them. All lenses generally have at least some kind of treatment or finish applied to them prior to being used in a rifle scope or optic assembly. Due to the fact that the lens isn’t simply a raw piece of glass, they require performance enhancing coatings. It becomes part of the finely tuned optic. It requires a coating to be applied to it so that it will be efficiently functional in lots of kinds of environments, degrees of light (full light VS shade), and other shooting conditions.
This lens treatment can offer protection to the lens from scratches while decreasing glare and other less advantageous things experienced in the shooting environment while sighting in with the scope. The quality of a single covered lens depends on the scope maker and how much you paid for it.
Some scope producers also make it a point to define if their optic lenses are layered or “multi” covered. Being “much better” depends on the maker’s lens treatment innovation and the quality of products used in building the rifle scope.
Scope Lens Hydrophobic Covering
Water on a lens doesn’t assist with maintaining a clear sight picture through a scope at all. Lots of top of the line and high-end optic makers will coat their lenses with a hydrophilic or hydrophobic finishing.
Rifle Glass Installing Alternatives
Installing solutions for scopes can be found in a couple of options. There are the standard scope rings which are separately mounted to the scope and one-piece scope mounts which cradle the scope. These different types of mounts also typically come in quick release versions which use toss levers which allow rifle shooters to quickly install and remove the scope.
Rifle Optic Mounting Solutions with Hex Key Rings
Normal, clamp style mounting scope rings use hex head screws to mount to the flattop design Picatinny scope installation rails on rifles. These types of scope mounts use two different rings to support the optic, and are made from 7075 T6 billet aluminum which is developed for long range precision shooting. This type of scope mount is perfect for rifles which require a durable, sound mounting solution which will not move no matter how much the scope is moved or abused.
Scope Mounts with Quick-Release Cantilever Rings
These types of quick-release rifle scope mounts can be used to quickly remove a scope from a rifle and reattach it to a different rifle. If they all use a similar style mount, a number of scopes can also be swapped in the field. The quick detach mount style is CNC crafted from anodized 6061 T6 aluminum and the mounting levers fasten firmly to a flat top style Picatinny rail. This allows the scope to be sighted in while on the rifle, taken off of the rifle, and remounted while retaining accuracy. These types of mounts are useful and handy for rifles which are moved around a lot, to take off the optic from the rifle for protection, or for aiming systems which are employed between multiple rifles. An example of this mount style is the 30mm mount designed by the Vortex Optics manufacturer. It typically costs around $250 USD
Details on Optic Tube Sealing and Gas Purging
Wetness inside your rifle scope can destroy a day of shooting and your pricey optic by triggering fogging and producing residue inside of the scope tube. Most scopes protect against humidity from getting in the optical tube with a system of sealing O-rings which are water resistant. Usually, these scopes can be immersed within 20 or 30 feet of water before the water pressure can push moisture past the O-rings. This should be ample wetness avoidance for conventional use rifles, unless you intend on taking your rifle on a boat and are worried about the scope still functioning if it falls overboard and you can still salvage the firearm.
Info on Rifle Optic Tube Gas Purging
Another component of avoiding the accumulation of moisture within the rifle optic’s tube is filling the tube with a gas like nitrogen. Because this area is currently occupied by the gas, the optic is less influenced by temperature level shifts and pressure variations from the outside environment which may potentially permit water vapor to leak in around the seals to fill the vacuum which would otherwise exist. These are good qualities of a good rifle scope to look for.
