Leupold vx3hd 4.5x14?

FOTIS

Range Officer
Staff member
Oct 30, 2004
23,811
1,980
Has anyone used one of these and had it go to crap??? Working on a friend's Bergara b14 HMR in 300 Winchester and can not get the thing to group. So far I have tried RL 22 and 180 ballistic tips and Sierra game Kings nothing will come together..... I will be trying different bullets and powders of course.
 

nhenry

Handloader
Feb 7, 2022
512
836
I love mine (1 inch tube). I haven't had any issues with it so far. That isn't to say there aren't bad apples in the bunch.
I've owned a few VX-3HDs and all of them were great scopes. Had to sell a couple when my family hit a rough time, though.
 

truck driver

Ammo Smith
Mar 11, 2013
7,082
537
Fotis if you have a spare scope laying around that you know is good to go give it a try on the rifle and see what happens.
I have no experience with the VX3 in that power range but do own one in 3-10 with wind plex reticle that works great.
When I want to test a rifle for accuracy, I use my Zeiss conquest 4-14 which is my most trusted scope. Wish I had bought more when they were on clearance sale at camera land.
 

xphunter

Handloader
Sep 15, 2005
848
1,417
Fotis if you have a spare scope laying around that you know is good to go give it a try on the rifle and see what happens.
I have no experience with the VX3 in that power range but do own one in 3-10 with wind plex reticle that works great.
When I want to test a rifle for accuracy, I use my Zeiss conquest 4-14 which is my most trusted scope. Wish I had bought more when they were on clearance sale at camera land.
THIS!
 

xphunter

Handloader
Sep 15, 2005
848
1,417
I have one, but have not used it yet.
On a different note, I love my VX5 HD's
 

Thebear_78

Handloader
Sep 30, 2004
3,036
623
Leupold has let me down too often in the last few years. It just hasn’t kept up with its competitors.

Before wasting any more components I would tear that rifle down. Check action screws and scope base screws to be sure they are not bottoming out, check the magazine box for binding, torque everything to spec and try a known scope.
 

FOTIS

Range Officer
Staff member
Oct 30, 2004
23,811
1,980
Leupold has let me down too often in the last few years. It just hasn’t kept up with its competitors.

Before wasting any more components I would tear that rifle down. Check action screws and scope base screws to be sure they are not bottoming out, check the magazine box for binding, torque everything to spec and try a known scope.
Yup doing so.
 

JD338

Range Officer
Staff member
Nov 4, 2004
23,242
4,462
Has anyone used one of these and had it go to crap??? Working on a friend's Bergara b14 HMR in 300 Winchester and can not get the thing to group. So far I have tried RL 22 and 180 ballistic tips and Sierra game Kings nothing will come together..... I will be trying different bullets and powders of course.
Fotis
Try the old standby load for the 300 WM,
75.0 grs RL22 and a 180 gr bullet. If this load doesn't go sub MOA, it's either the rifle or the scope.

JD338
 

FOTIS

Range Officer
Staff member
Oct 30, 2004
23,811
1,980
I did with 180 BT and Sierra GK Jim.... That is why I started with RL22. H 4831 is next
 

D21ALASKA

Handloader
Oct 29, 2013
261
237
I own approximately 15 leupolds, 2 of which are the 4.5-14's. I've never had an issue with them specifically. I had an older, probably 30 years old, vx3 1.5-5 go bad on me last year as it wouldn't hold zero. Sent it back to them and had it back in hand fully rebuilt about a month later. Has worked perfectly since.
 

salmonchaser

Handloader
Dec 13, 2013
4,144
2,657
Fotis I just sent a 6.5x20 off to the shop, same series, so perhaps similar problems. For what its worth I’ll let you know what I find out.
 

FOTIS

Range Officer
Staff member
Oct 30, 2004
23,811
1,980
Thanks I will be shooting it again this weekend. Same loads different scope.
 

Blkram

Handloader
Nov 25, 2013
2,269
1,242
Don't have any of the current model, but all of my older models in this magnification model have been flawless through the years.
 

grry10

Handloader
Dec 7, 2007
458
317
Or you can put the Leupold on a rifle with with a known good load and see if it shoots. I've been working with a friends Browning in 300WM. It is really finicky when it comes to loads. It did not like RL22 at all.
 

Bonz

Beginner
Jun 24, 2015
124
85
Yes, curious as well how it turned out. I mounted a VX3HD 3.5-10x40 CDS ZL a bit over a year ago on my 35 Whelen AI, been working well.

It replaced a VX-II that had been on there for a couple decades. I simply wanted to upgrade the glass and the CDS ZL is the only option you have with them nowadays.

My old Leupood's are bomb proof. I am reading enough around the Internet and see the newer ones (because they're trying to put dialing into the picture at the prices they sell for) aren't holding up as well. However, with respect to using it as a set it and forget it scope, I would suspect the newer CDS ZL scopes would do as well as the older ones.

When you start dialing like it's a target scope on a bench rest rifle I don't know that they can hit that dialing/zero retention reliability at that price point, despite it still being a good amount of money.

When I see complaints about the newer Leupolds not holding zero, I also sense guys are using them and dialing them like they're a military sniper and practicing as much as one. My feeling is on a hunting rifle that is used as such, I don't think those users are gonna see the issues. Pure speculation, but that's my thought anyway.
 
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