First Look: Leupold VX-5HD Gen2 Rifle Scopes

Most insiders saw this coming. When Leupold introduced its tool-less replaceable custom elevation turret on its flagship VX-6HD line of rifle scopes back in January, many of us figured it was just a matter of time before the new tech was passed to the most popular Leupold scope line: the center-of-mass VX-5HD.

Today, Leupold will announce that the hunter-centric scope line, which carries pedigrees of Leupold’s groundbreaking VX-3 line of scopes, has some significant upgrades, to include the company’s snazzy new custom turret but also appreciably more internal reticle adjustment, competition-grade turrets, and excellent glare- and scratch-resisting coatings.

The new Gen2 series of VX-5HD scopes is available in six configurations: 1-5×24, 2-10×42, 3-15×44, 3-15×50, 3-15×56, and 4-20×52. All are priced in the upper middle of the premium rifle scope market, ranging from $1,399 to $1,999, depending on configuration and features.

Leupold VX-5HD Gen2 3-14×44 Specs

• 30mm main tube
• Waterproof and fog proof
• Guaranteed for life
• Weight: 19.9 ounces
• Eye Relief: 3.85 inches
• 85 MOA of elevation adjustment
• Also available in 1-5×24, 2-10×42, 3-15×50, 3-15×56, and 4-20×52
• Reticles: Duplex, Illuminated FireDot Duplex, TMOA, Illuminated FireDot Twilight Hunter, Illuminated FireDot 4 Fine, Wind-Plex, and HTMR
• Prices: $1,399.99 to $1,999.99

Leupold Scope Families Explained

Leupold has intentionally aligned its product families’ naming conventions around both its target audience and its feature set. The Mark series (Mark 3, Mark 4, Mark 5) leans toward tactical shooters with stepped-up price points and features, with the competition-grade Mark 5 offering a dizzying selection of first-plane reticles and precision-target controls with prices to match, from $2,000 to $3,000. The entry-level VX-Freedom line gives shooters and hunters the ability to enter the Leupold ecosystem without selling plasma. The VX series of scopes is geared toward hunters, with simple reticles, often in the second focal plane, and capped turrets.

The highest expression of the hunting orientation of the VX family is the VX-6HD Gen 2 line, which features Leupold’s best class of glass, velvety controls, and a massive 6-times magnification zoom range. But the VX-6HD Gen2 line also comes with an attention-getting price tag: most models retail for about $2,300.

Enter the VX-5HD line, which boasts only a slightly more modest 5-times zoom range and many of the other features of the VX-6HD line, minus a few reticles and configurations, for about $500 less on average. Notably, the Gen 2 series of VX-5 HD scopes introduced today also features Leupold’s new SpeedSet tool-less elevation turret dial, which can easily be customized to your specific caliber, bullet weight, ballistics, and hunting conditions.

More on the turret in a bit, but my takeaway after spending the last couple months with a prototype is that this scope is the modern equivalent of Leupold’s VX-3 of a generation ago, which established a new standard of a hunting scope, with precise controls, excellent glass, and a range of big-game-appropriate configurations.

The Custom Dial Difference

Yes, the CDS (Custom Dial System) SZL (Speed Set; no, I don’t know either how Speed Set doesn’t stand for Sizzle) alphabet soup is a little too cute, but the system works well paired with a second-plane reticle. The idea for most of the VX-5HD Gen2 scopes is that users want simple second-plane reticles with enough windage references to hold off for wind and enough hold-over references to either hold or dial for distance.

To me, a Western hunter who hopes for a slow, considered shot at a mid-distant animal but who often has to make hasty snap shots at animals from point-blank to way-out-there ranges, the reticle and turret configuration of the VX-5HD Gen2 line is just right. 

Here’s where the CDS-SZL2 custom turret gives hunters a third option. Instead of simply holding over a distant target, or using generic MIL or MOA reticle hashes, the load-specific custom elevation turret enables a hunter to range a target and then dial as much as two revolutions of elevation to the specific yardage with bullet drop tailored to their specific load.

It sounds better in theory than in practice.

In practice, there’s a lot of very specific ballistic dope that goes into a custom dial, and any hunter or shooter who enters the CDS-SZL2 ecosystem is wise to pay attention to the precise (and proven) details of muzzle velocity, ballistic coefficient, temperature, and elevation above sea level inputs, among other variables. A custom dial can produce impressive results inside 300 yards, but outside that distance, any small deviation in inputs will be amplified in increasingly wide misses at the real distances that custom dials are intended to solve.

I’ll give you a real-world example with my early 3-15×44 VX-5HD Gen2 scope with a simple plex second-plane reticle. I ordered a pair of custom dials, with crazy divergence between their intended use. On the near-distance side, I asked for a dial to match my Remington .22 rimfire load that I’ll be using for much of my Outdoor Life optics test scope evaluations next week.

That CDS-SZL2 dial was cut for a 40-grain bullet and a 25-yard zero. I wanted the .22 dial to be capable of use with a wide range of rimfire ammo, with muzzle velocities ranging from 1,150 to 1,280 feet per second. 

But I also wanted to test the VX-5HD scope on my Browning 6.8 Western, with a 200-yard zero and a 175-grain bullet.

I have plenty of load-specific dope on that 175-grain Sierra GameKing, but I was sorta guessing with the rimfire ballistics. Sure enough, at 100 yards, my hold was off by about 5 inches, and out to 200 yards the 40-grain .22 was 17 inches off the mark. On the other hand, my 6.8 Western hit a 5-inch circle from 100 to 700 yards with the CDS/SLS2 dial correct almost to the yard. For those hunters who want to hold for wind, Leupold’s WindPlex offers hash marks for 5 and 10mph right-angle winds.

By offering multiple CDS/SZL2 dials for a nominal fee, Leupold makes it easy to mix and match for various bullet weights, calibers, and hunting environments. The tool-less swapping of turrets really is a cinch, and makes the case that the VX-5HD Gen2 is the last hunting scope you need, since you can swap it between guns and simply trade out turrets as needed.

More VX-5HD Gen 2 Updates

You can read more about the SZL2 custom dial technology here, but while the turrets are the headliners of the Gen2 updates, there’s more to the scope than just dial-turning sizzle.

The new VX-5HD Gen2 has significantly more internal adjustment than the Gen1 scope. My “old” VX-5HD in 3-15×44 has 75 MOA of internal windage and elevation adjustment. The Gen2 version has 85 MOA of total internal adjustment.

What’s more, the old turrets allowed for just 20 MOA per revolution, with a total elevation turret travel of 38 MOA. The new version enables about 25 MOA per revolution, depending on your zero, with two revolutions per custom turret. For most hunting rifles without an angled rail, that means a modest zero distance of 100 or 200 yards will enable dialing out to as far as a second-plane reticle and most hunting loads can reach.

My 6.8 Western dial, tuned to the ballistics of the 175-grain Sierra MatchKing bullet, and with a 200-yard zero, has indexing out to 1,050 yards. Once I adjusted my zero distance to match the 40-grain .22 load, my rimfire was ringing steel reliably at 300 yards.

The additional turret tech doesn’t add much weight to the already trim build of the VX-5HD. While the Gen1 scopes weigh 19.7 ounces, the Gen2 version weighs in at 19.9 in the 3-15×44 configuration.

The scope also features enhanced scratch-resisting and image-boosting coatings. Leupold claims that the VX-5HD Gen2 has “competition-grade” turrets built off the Mark series of scopes. I can’t dispute that; the VX-5HD dials move with precision and pleasingly tactile clicks, evidence of the upgraded erector system that is also incorporated in the VX-6HD Gen2 scopes.

The push-button illumination is compact, reliable, and easy to use. The side focus turns with precision, and the overall handling of the scope is smooth, sure, and solid. And the image it delivers is bright, vibrant, and clear to the edges at all magnifications.

The Gen2 version of the VX-5HD will have all the second-plane reticles of the Gen1, including: Duplex, Illuminated FireDot 4 fine duplex, Illuminated FireDot Duplex, WindPlex, TMOA, HTMR hash reticle, and the Illuminated FireDot Twilight Hunter.

All configurations are built on 30mm tubes, with the exception of the 4-20×52 version, which has a 34mm tube.