Leupold VX-5HD 2-10

[Lee Deming]

Have a real accurate .375 H&H. Put a 4-16x44 Vortex on it for a very specific long range elk hunt a few years ago. (That hunt ended with my pickup in the shop before I could get to my hunting area. It was only 50 miles further, suppose I could have walked.) Narrowed down my new scope to a VX-5HD 2-10 because I spend quite a bit of time ghosting through thick timber in South Central Montana but still have opportunities at reasonable distances. The 4 power is just a little too much magnification for the Doug Fir or Lodgepole Pine environments. First, is this a good choice? Second, is it worth having a gunsmith mount the scope for me and check alignment? I would not attempt to do this myself so someone would have to do it for me. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Andrew Massi]

Great scope, very bright and forgiving eyebox. If your not comfortable mounting it no reason not to have a gunsmith do it for you.

 

[Quintus]

^^^
Exactly what Andrew Massi said.

 

[Lee Deming]

Great scope, very bright and forgiving eyebox. If your not comfortable mounting it no reason not to have a gunsmith do it for you.

Thanks. Do I have to worry about alignment? My Father had an old Leupold 2-7 on his 30-06 from the early 70's. It was very good put to 300 yards at 4X. When I inherited it, I could not hit a box at 50 yards on 2X. Many people speculated that it was scope alignment.

 

[Andrew Massi]

Not anymore, rings and bases have come along way. Modern scopes have sufficient windage adjustment to not need adjustable bases

 

[Lee Deming]

Not anymore, rings and bases have come along way. Modern scopes have sufficient windage adjustment to not need adjustable bases

Understood. Thanks.

 

[vancewalker007]

Have a real accurate .375 H&H. Put a 4-16x44 Vortex on it for a very specific long range elk hunt a few years ago. (That hunt ended with my pickup in the shop before I could get to my hunting area. It was only 50 miles further, suppose I could have walked.) Narrowed down my new scope to a VX-5HD 2-10 because I spend quite a bit of time ghosting through thick timber in South Central Montana but still have opportunities at reasonable distances. The 4 power is just a little too much magnification for the Doug Fir or Lodgepole Pine environments. First, is this a good choice? Second, is it worth having a gunsmith mount the scope for me and check alignment? I would not attempt to do this myself so someone would have to do it for me. Any help would be appreciated.

A few years ago I hunted the Limpopo region thick thorn brush with a 2-12 VX6 and it was perfect. BTW - found the Firedot reticle very helpful in those moments where a fast off hand shot was required. You should be fine with a 2-10. On an elk you could easily make a 500 yard shot at 10 power.

 

[Lee Deming]

A few years ago I hunted the Limpopo region thick thorn brush with a 2-12 VX6 and it was perfect. BTW - found the Firedot reticle very helpful in those moments where a fast off hand shot was required. You should be fine with a 2-10. On an elk you could easily make a 500 yard shot at 10 power.

Thank you. I can only dream of hunting the Limpopo.

 

[vancewalker007]

Thank you. I can only dream of hunting the Limpopo.

It was like hunting south Texas. Very sandy, very thorny, but a ton of various game with close shots. The reason I mention it is the close quarters shots required which is similar to what you were talking about. You'd be surprised how affordable it actually is.

 

[Lee Deming]

I might look into your booking company if you have a link. Years ago I looked at a plains game hunt through Jack Atcheson and Sons from Butte, MT. Decided to build a house instead. Thanks.

 

[vancewalker007]

I might look into your booking company if you have a link. Years ago I looked at a plains game hunt through Jack Atcheson and Sons from Butte, MT. Decided to build a house instead. Thanks.

I have never used a booking company but I can give you some opinions on who we hinted with. We got lucky on our current trip as we bought a hunt at an auction. We got a $5500 hunt for $2000 for 2 people. Our airfare on United was more.

 

[Wedgy]

If you plan to shoot more than a couple hundred yards I would get a scope that has a parallax adjustment, also called side focus. The VX-5 2-10x is fixed at 150 yards and cannot be adjusted.

 

[Lee Deming]

I have never used a booking company but I can give you some opinions on who we hinted with. We got lucky on our current trip as we bought a hunt at an auction. We got a $5500 hunt for $2000 for 2 people. Our airfare on United was more.

If you don't mind, please let me know who you booked. Great job on the auction.

If you plan to shoot more than a couple hundred yards I would get a scope that has a parallax adjustment, also called side focus. The VX-5 2-10x is fixed at 150 yards and cannot be adjusted.

I have a parallax adjustment on my Vortex. Seems a little impractical for field use. But I am certainly no technition. I just like to hunt elk and shoot steel occasionally. What is the advantage of a parallax adjustment?

 

[Wedgy]

Parallax vs Focus

I hear the terms Focus and Parallax quite often when talking about rifle scopes. There is often some confusion about they these mean and what they do. Generally there is a mechanism to adjust focus and another mechanism to adjust parallax. To make the confusion worse, adjusting the parallax...

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