Leupold Vari-X III for long range?

J

jimmy917

New member
Hi guys, First, I want to say thanks for all the GREAT info Ive collected from all of you. You have all been very helpful.

I own a Leupold Vari-X III from the mid 90s. Its a 4.5x-14x mil-dot reticle. It sits on a Remington 700 Sendero 300 Win Mag. I am going to a class this summer for long range precision shooting. My question is, does the Vari-X III track good enough for such a task? I am a big Leupold fan, but realize that everything has its limitations. I'm just trying to remove as many variables as possible. If its questionable, I'll go ahead and replace it before I go. Thanks again!
 
1000- 1700 yards. I forgot to mention that I have no issues with the scope thus far, but was asking more as a general consensus of the product. I know the only way to really know is to try, but once I'm there, its too late.
 
Shouldn't be a problem.
Make sure you have enough internal adjustment to get to the max distance. You may have to get a sloped base or get a sloped base that has more MOA than your current one.
Turrets are MOA while your reticle in MIL.
If you get get your numbers figured out between both systems, you can also dial off of your dots as well...This will get you further as well.
What bullet/MV do you have?
Originally Posted By: jimmy9171000- 1700 yards. I forgot to mention that I have no issues with the scope thus far, but was asking more as a general consensus of the product. I know the only way to really know is to try, but once I'm there, its too late.
 
It has a sloped base, so I should be good to go there. I bought this gun used several years ago, but have only shot it a few times, and at a 100 yard range. It's obviously set up for long distances. It came with a target marked 400 yards, and was sub moa. So how far it was shot, I have no idea, other than 400. Unfortunately in northeast Ohio, there aren't many ranges longer than 100 yards. 200 max., unless you can find your way into a private club. As far as a load, I'm going to start working one up soon, but with 1-200 yards to work with, not sure how thorough a "vetting" I can do.
Thanks for the reply.j
 
That set-up is likely to beat you up at a LR shooting school where most of your shooting will be prone (guessing on the prone part).
When you keep getting smacked it tends to cause bad habits or make the bad habits you already have worse.
I would recommend a good solid bottomed brake.
Holland's Radial Baffle is my favorite
 
Which version of the Vari-X III do you have? 1" tube or the 30mm tube "Long Range" version with side parallax? Which dials does it have? Target turrets have more availabe adjustment than the M1 turrets in the Vari-X III scopes. With your scope zeroed at 100 yards, how much elevation can you dial up?

I have two 300 Win Mags setup for long range. One uses Berger 230gr Hybrids at 2,810 fps avg @ 78°F, 22 feet alt., @ 96% humidity, bar= 30.29 in/Hg and depending on field conditions (biggest is wind!) I have to come up between 65.1 MOA and 67.4 MOA typically for 1,700 yards. I'm running a Leupold VX-3 6.5-20x50mm Long Range 30mm Side parallax with M1 turrets and a 35 MOA base. This scope has 74.5 MOA of internal elevation adjustment of which I can use 70.75 MOA with the 35 MOA base. I have nearly no windage adjustment when dialed this high and can only shoot 1,700 on calm days or with a tail wind with this rifle, without having to add the mil-dots. Adding mil-dots into a MOA solution at varying ranges in a second focal plane scope especially if you have to use multiple power setting to deal with mirrage, makes for a lot of additional math for your firing solutions!

My second long range 300 Win Mag likes the Berger 215gr Hybrids at 2,740 fps avg. under the same conditions listed above. It sports a VX-3 Long Range 4.5-14X50mm with target knobs and has 122 MOA actual internal elevation. With the Badger 45 MOA base on it it has plenty of come-ups! I've just recently put this rifle together and developed the load for it. I've yet to shoot this rifle past 1,200 yards, but so far it is showing great promise.

I have a Nightforce NXS 5.5-22X56mm MOAR with ZeroStop on my 338 Lapua Mag and can tell you that it definitely tracks better than any of my Leupolds, but you can get by at long range with some of the newer Leupold VX-3 Long Range scopes that have the twin erector springs, as most of mine do.
 
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My first instinct is to suggest that you get a first focal plane scope with matching turrets/reticle for your class. It doesn't matter whether it's mil/mil or MOA/MOA so long they match and you are proficient with the system you choose. There are several good first focal plane scopes out there but a huge majority of the top 100 long range precision shooters are now using the Vortex Razors. I do not have one, yet! (Big ambitions on a micro budget... It's gonna be a while!)

I have been using a couple of the Primary Arms PA4-14XFFP scopes out to 1,200 yards and they have tracked incredibly well. They are first focal plane mil/mil 4-14X44mm scopes. The glass is not great but, is good enough. The side parallax adjustment hits the mechanical limit at an actual range of 100 yards in both scopes. But, they do shoot nice groups at 1,200 yards especially considering that they only cost $229.99 with free shipping. They both correctly measure a yardstick at 1,000 yards and I've run box tests on both at various ranges, various temperatures and varying degree of adjustments many times and they track spot on! They are available on eBay directly from Primary Arms and shipping on both of mine was less than a week each time.
 
I also have that Primary Arms optic (R-Grid reticle) and love it...on a 22. It passes all my optics tests pretty well. and has performed terrifically on the 22 I have it on.
 
As someone already stated the main issue you will run into is that the reticle is in mils and turrets are in MOA. Similar to a monkey nailing a football. The luepold scopes are incredible glass with great CS, but as far as affordable offerings for the LR guys with options, they have fallen behind. The most important thing you want in LR glass is something that tracks flawlessly. That is top priority. I am not sure what kind of budget you have, but the best bang for your buck is the Bushnell DMR 3.5x21 G2. you can find these used for between $900-$1,150 if you look hard enough. MIL/MIl turrets and reticle. Dead balls tracking, FFP. They are flat out battle tanks. other options are good tracking on a budget are the SS scopes. You can find these used all over for under $1k.

Lots of guys spend all kinds of money on nice rifles and a good load, then chit the bed when it comes to glass. You can stick a good scope on a marginal rifle and out shoot a great rifle with junk scope at distance. once you break past 300yds or so the scope is most important tool you will have. The BEST advice I can give you is to go to a match and see what everyone else is shooting. Most of these guys are good guys. They will let you get behind their glass and see what works for you. You can see what the difference in prices get you. Scopes are expensive, but buy once cry once.
 
Wow. Thanks for all of the great tips and advice. The scope is the 30mm model with side parallax. Not sure which turrets. I'll look into it. My concern with the scope was that the "clicks" aren't as crisp as is like to feel for a LR scope. Not like it's broken, but just a little too soft IMO. I never understood why Leupold would make such a scope w/ moa turrets. I guess I'll look into replacing it with FFP scope designed specifically for LR. Thanks again guys.
 
Check out what is out there in person first. Quality scopes can be expensive. You have a quality scope, it just not be set up ideal. If you do have moa turrets (which I'd suspect, but could be wrong), you could use it to get started. Just have to be mindful that your reticle and turret adjustments are different. I have used a vx3 with duplex reticle for match once. Turrets worked perfect, just couldn't read misses or hold my wind. Which was pain. If you have a mil/mil or moa/moa reticle/turret set up you can read your misses through reticle and make exact adjustments.
 
If the purchase price is decent, you can have the turrets changed at Leupold to match the reticle, even the reticle changed to something that suits you a little better.
 
I would also consider a bushnell LRHS, they're ~$950 for the 3-12 and ~$1100 for the 4.5-18. That is ALOT of utility for your dollar.
 
Originally Posted By: jakellyI would also consider a bushnell LRHS, they're ~$950 for the 3-12 and ~$1100 for the 4.5-18. That is ALOT of utility for your dollar.

I've got one of these for sale in the classifieds. Very nice scope.
 
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