Description
Rifle Scope Product Details
Leupold VX-5HD 7-35x56mm Riflescope
Built for shooters and hunters alike, the 7-35x brings extended capabilities into the VX-5HD family. Its CDS T-ZL3 elevation adjustment takes target style adjustments to a new level with a push-button locking feature and an easy-to-read revolution indicator. Combined with our intuitive Impact ” 14 reticle, this scope will help you push your long range shooting to new limits.
Rifle Scope Product Features
Leupold Model #173221 – VX-5HD 7-35x56mm with Impact-14 MOA reticle and Matte finish
100% Waterproof, fog proof, & shockproof
Zero Lock CDS-ZL2 (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
A powerful 5: 1 zoom ratio delivers a wide magnification range for excellent versatility in multiple environments
Side Focus Parallax Adjustment – Fast, easy parallax focusing from any shooting position
Guard-Ion Hydrophobic Lens Coating – Extremely durable, scratch resistant and sheds water, dirt, and fingerprints
Designed, machined, and assembled in the USA
VX-5HD 7-35x56mm
Magnification Range: 7x-35x
Weight: 26.1 oz.
Length: 15.6 in.
Maintube Diameter: 34mm
Eye Relief (in) – Low: 3.7
Eye Relief (in) – High: 3.8
Linear FOV (ft/100 yd) – Low: 16.3
Linear FOV (ft/100 yd) – High: 3
Leupold VX-5HD
Relentless Performance
Built for shooters and hunters alike, the 7-35x brings extended capabilities into the VX-5HD family. Its CDS T-ZL3 elevation adjustment takes target style adjustments to a new level with a push-button locking feature and an easy-to-read revolution indicator. Combined with our intuitive Impact ” 14 reticle, this scope will help you push your long range shooting to new limits.
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 Brand
Leupold is a premium manufacturer for rifle scopes, optics, mounting solutions, and other components used for firearms like rifles and long guns. They innovate and manufacture their scopes, mounts, and related products working with materials which are resilient and long lasting. This includes the Leupold VX-5HD 7-35x56mm Riflescope by Leupold. For additional shooting goods, visit their website.
Scope Facts
Rifle scopes allow you to exactly align a rifle at different targets by aligning your eye with the target at range. They accomplish this through zoom using a series of lenses within the scope. The scope’s alignment can be adjusted to account for different natural considerations like wind and elevation increases to make up for bullet drop.
The scope’s function is to help the shooter understand precisely where the bullet will land based on the sight picture you are seeing via the optic as you align the scope’s crosshair or reticle with the intended point of impact. Most modern rifle scopes have about eleven parts which are found within and on the exterior of the scope. These scope parts include the rifle scope’s body, lenses, windage turrets, focus rings, and other parts. Learn about the eleven parts of rifle scopes.
About Scope Types
Rifle scopes can be either “first focal plane” or “second focal plane” type of scopes. Deciding upon the best type of rifle optic depends on what type of shooting you plan to do.
First Focal Plane Glass Details
Focal plane scopes (FFP) include the reticle in front of the zoom lens. These kinds of scopes are useful for:
- Quick acquisition, far away kinds of shooting
- Shooting situations where calculations are small
- Experienced shooters who have an idea for their aim point “hold over” plus “lead” ratios for their long guns
- Shooters who do not mind the reticle is bigger and takes up more visual sight room than a SFP reticle
Second Focal Plane Optics
Second focal plane optics (SFP) include the reticle behind the magnification lens. In the FFP example with the SFP scope, the 5x “zoom” 100 yard tick measurement would be 1/5th of the non “zoom” tick measurement.
- Long distance styles of shooting where shooters have additional time to make ballistic computations
- Shooting where most shots happen within much shorter spaces and ranges
- Shooters who desire a clearer optic sight picture with less area taken up by the larger sized FFP reticle
Magnification for Rifle Optics
The amount of scope zoom you need on your optic is based on the style of shooting you choose to do. Practically every kind of rifle optic offers some amount of magnification. The quantity of zoom a scope provides is identified by the size, density, and curves of the lens glass inside of the rifle optic. The magnifying level of the optic is the “power” of the opic. This signifies what the shooter is checking out through the scope is amplified times the power factor of what can typically be seen by human eyes.
Single Power Lens Glass
A single power rifle optic comes with a magnification number designator like 4×32. This implies the zoom power of the scope is 4x power while the objective lens is 32mm. The magnification of this type of optic can not adjust since it is a set power scope.
Variable Power Lens Rifle Scope Facts
Variable power rifle scopes have adjustable power. It will note the zoom level in a format like 2-10×32. These numbers imply the magnification of the scope could be set in between 2x and 10x power. This always utilizes the powers in-between 2 and 10. The power manipulation is achieved by making use of the power ring component of the scope near the rear of the scope by the eye bell piece.
The Power Level and Range Correlation of Rifle Optics
Here are some recommended scope power levels and the ranges where they could be successfully used. Highly magnified rifle scope glass will not be as beneficial as lower magnification level optics given that too much magnification can be a negative aspect depending on your shooting distance. The same concept applies to longer ranges where the shooter needs adequate power to see exactly where to best aim the rifle.
Lens Finishing for Rifle Scopes
All contemporary rifle scope and optic lenses are layered. There are various types and qualities of coatings. Lens finish is an essential aspect of a rifle when contemplating high end rifle optics and targeting units. The lenses are among the most important parts of the optic considering they are what your eye sees through while sighting a rifle in on the target. The finishing on the lenses offers protection to the lens surface area as well as improves anti glare from excess direct sunlight and color profiles.
ED Versus HD Rifle Glass
Some rifle glass producers also use “HD” or high-definition glass coatings that apply various processes, aspects, polarizations, and chemicals to extract a wide range of colors and viewable target visibility through the lens. This HD finishing is often used with more costly high density glass which lowers light’s chance to refract through the lens glass. Some scope producers use “HD” to refer to “ED” suggesting extra-low dispersion glass. ED handles how certain colors are represented on the chromatic spectrum and the chromatic aberration or difference which is also called color distortion or fringing. Chromatic aberration may be obvious over objects with defined shapes as light hits the item from various angles.
Single Coating Versus Multi-Coating for Rifle Scopes
Different optic lenses can also have different coverings applied to them. All lenses generally have at least some kind of treatment or coating applied to them prior to being used in a rifle scope or optic assembly. Since the lens isn’t simply a raw piece of glass, they require performance enhancing coatings. It becomes part of the carefully tuned optic. It requires a coating to be applied to it so that the lens will be optimally usable in many types of environments, degrees of sunshine (full light VS shade), and other shooting conditions.
This lens treatment can protect the lens from scratches while lowering glare and other less useful 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 manufacturers also make it a point to specify if their optic lenses are layered or “multi” covered. Being “much better” depends on the maker’s lens treatment technology and the quality of materials used in developing the rifle scope.
Anti-water Lens Coating
Water on a scope’s lens does not support preserving a clear sight picture through an optic whatsoever. Numerous top of the line and high-end scope manufacturers will coat their lenses with a hydrophilic or hydrophobic finishing. The Steiner Optics Nano-Protection is a good example of this sort of treatment. It provides protection for the surface of the Steiner optic lens so the H2O molecules can not bind to it or create surface tension. The outcome is that the water beads sheet off of the scope to preserve a clear, water free sight picture.
Rifle Scope Installation Alternatives
Installing solutions for scopes come in a few options. There are the basic scope rings which are separately installed to the scope and one-piece mounts which cradle the scope. These various types of mounts also generally can be found in quick release variations which use throw levers which allow rifle operators to rapidly install and remove the scopes.
Rifle Glass Mounting Solutions with Hex Key Rings
Standard, clamp design 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 a couple of different rings to support the optic, and are often made from 7075 T6 billet aluminum which is created for long distance precision shooting. This type of scope mount is fine for rifles which need a long lasting, sound mount which will not move no matter how much the scope is moved or abused.
Rifle Optic Mounting Solutions with Quick-Release Cantilever Rings
These types of quick-release rifle scope mounts can be used to quickly connect and detach a scope from a rifle. If they all use a comparable design mount, a number of scopes can often be switched out on the range. The quick detach mount style is CNC machined 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, removed from the rifle, and remounted back on the rifle while maintaining precision. These kinds of mounts are useful and practical for shooting platforms which are carried a lot, to take off the glass from the rifle for protection, or for scopes which are utilized between several rifles. An example of this mount type is the 30mm mount from Vortex Optics. It usually costs around $250 USD
What to Know About Glass Tube Sealing and Gas Purging
Wetness inside your rifle optic can wreck a day of shooting and your pricey optic by causing fogging and making residue inside of the scope tube. Many optics protect against moisture from getting in the optical tube with a system of sealing O-rings which are waterproof. Normally, these optics can be immersed under 20 or 30 feet of water before the water pressure can push moisture past the O-rings. This should be more than enough wetness prevention for conventional use rifles for hunting and sporting purposes, unless you plan on taking your rifle aboard a watercraft and are concerned about the scope still functioning if it is submerged in water and you can still find the rifle.
Glass Gas Purging
Another component of preventing the accumulation of wetness inside of the rifle optic’s tube is filling the tube with a gas like nitrogen. Because this area is already occupied by the gas, the scope is less affected by condition changes and pressure differences from the outdoor environment which may possibly 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 seek out.
