Leupold VX-3HD 2.5-8x36mm CDS-ZL Field Evaluation

[Formidilosus]

This is a field evaluation of a Leupold VX-3HD 2.5-8x36mm CDS-ZL scope. This scope was sent to Ryan Avery for an evaluation. The ammunition used was 175gr SMK from Winchester that was personally purchased. The 20 round proof group was just over 1.3 MOA.




The scope and weight-






Turrets:

Elevation is single rotation, zero stop, push button lock at zero. Windage is capped.





Reticle:
Straight duplex-




Zeroing:


Mounting as normal (and per manufacturer instructions)- 18 in-lbs on ring caps, 65 in-lbs on base.


Boresight, than 1 round. Went to spotting scope and used the reticle to measure offset. Made the adjustments and then went to left dot and fired the remaining 9 rounds.




Came up 1 MOA (should have been .5 or .75’ish) and shot 5 at the center dot. Center was high, so down .5 MOA. Then to the drop eval.



Drop Evaluation and “Tracking”
For an explanation see- Scope Field Eval Explanation and Standards


The “test” consists of three 18” drops on a mat- one left/right/top with a shot to check zero after each drop. Then the exact same thing repeated from 36”. Then three drops on all three sides for nine drops on the last part- 15 drops total. This is not “abuse”. The 18” drops are a joke really. The 36” start showing something. And when a scope make/model consistently goes through the whole thing without losing zero, failures in actual use are almost unheard of.

This one was conducted on soft, muddy unpacked dirt with a 1/2” padded mat on top.

Shot #1 is a pre drop confirmer. 2-4 are from 18”, 5-7 are from 36”, and 8 is the 9x36” drops.

It failed. Lost zero on the first drop.





Went back to the zero target and made an adjustment based on the last shot from the drop portion- down 2 MOA, and right 2.75 MOA. Shot five. Came up .5 MOA and right .25 MOA, and went to RTZ.






RTZ:

Next a standard return to zero check was completed. This involves 30- 50 MOA dialed between each shot for ten shots. No real issues.






Adjustment value (tracking):

Due to the rotation limited elevation turret, I had to move the dots closer together. They measured 12.3 MOA between centers, I dialed 12.25 MOA. No major issues, though the zero seems to be trending low for some reason.





Conclusions:

This Leupold failed the drop eval immediately. 18” drops on soft soil onto a pad caused 1-2 MOA shifts in zero. It does seem to be adjusting generally correctly, and RTZ seems fine so far. It is zeroed and will ride in the truck to check zero retention.

 

[Formidilosus]

 

[Formidilosus]

About 50 road miles and 10 trail miles.

Shifted down between .5 and .75 MOA.

 

[Formidilosus]

About 300 highway miles, and 50’ish forest service road miles sitting like this-




No drops, nothing hit it. Nothing but a padded seat. Zero check today.



Has lost zero by nearly 2 MOA.


Shot the next five into the prior target-




So it lost zero during the drop eval, and the just riding in the back seat it lost zero at round 47-56 of nearly .75 MOA, and now between rounds 57-66 it has shifted again and again .75 MOA or over down.

Three other rifles and scopes sitting right beside this one did not have any shift from the ride.


It went from this-



To this in in 3 days from riding in the truck-




Conclusion:

This scope failed to hold zero with even 18” drops, lost/shifted zero both times it was checked in 3 days from riding in a truck.

It has been removed and will go back to the owner.