Leupold CDS riflescopes

[MasonG]

A little info first: I have a Winchester 70 in 300 WSM that I want to shoot 600-700 yards with. I'm putting it in a new stock, probably an HS Precision or Bell and Carlson but I haven't decided yet. It's stainless but I decided having a matching stainless scope isn't as important as my OCD tells me haha so going with black opens up a lot more options. Gun will be used for elk and mule deer.

I have 3 Leupolds now and love them. My coworker is a Leupokd fan as well, but is more of a Swarovski fan. I look at the Swarovskis but I'm not sure I can justify spending that kind of money on this gun. All 3 of my Leupolds are VX-3's so that's what I've been looking at for this gun, except with the CDS system. I'm also considering the VX-6's but they're almost as much as a Swarovski. Does anyone have experience with the CDS scopes for hunting? Please give me some tips and suggestions about them or any other scopes

 

[geo4061]

Forget the CDS system. Dialing moa is accurate under any conditions. Check out the Zeiss scopes. The glass is hard to beat and the price is less than the 6 or Swaro.

 

[FearNoWind]

Just a sharing of experience.

The Leupold C(ustom)D(ial)S(ystem) has some serious limitations in my opinion.
You work up a load, submit the data to Leupold and they engrave a custom dial to fit that load. Sounds good ... but what happens when you select another bullet or decide to try another powder? Now the "custom" isn`t valid.
Just sayin ..................

 

[el matador]

CDS has it's advantages. It's fantastic for dialing quickly out to 500-600 yards since atmospheric conditions don't affect your trajectory very much at those distances. For longer shots you should still consult a ballistic calculator. I have the VX-6 3-18 with TMOA reticle and it comes with taller turrets than most CDS scopes. This allows me to have regular MOA hash marks on the bottom and CDS numbers above.

You can also make or purchase turret labels that do the same thing as a CDS turret.

All CDS scopes will come with an elevation turret engraved with standard MOA hash marks. You order your custom turret from Leupold once you have your data. So if you change loads or whatever you can always slap the original turret back on.

The VX-6 is as close to a perfect hunting scope as I've found. I love the glass, it's fairly light, turrets are perfect size, good reticle. It can be a pain to mount with the very long objective bell however. A rail is pretty much a necessity. Here's a write-up of the turrets I put on my scope. Haven't ordered my custom turret yet since I'm still finalizing my load.

http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f18/leupold-vx-6-tac-dials-162172/

 

[PGJPJ]

All CDS scopes will come with an elevation turret engraved with standard MOA hash marks. You order your custom turret from Leupold once you have your data. So if you change loads or whatever you can always slap the original turret back on.
http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f18/leupold-vx-6-tac-dials-162172/

I have a VX3 3.5-10 CDS. I'm just keeping the MOA dial on it, I never ordered the CDS. It's been working out just fine for me, but I don't dial a lot. I think the VX3 CDS dials may not be durable enough if you are the type to be spinning those dials all the time.

Not that I've ever had a problem the CDS dial, I just worry about it a bit. The VX6 looks pretty sweet, that would be a likely candidate if I upgrade.

 

[Garycrow]

You don't have to have the CDS dial made with your load data. You can have them make it in MOA and it'll function the same as any other MOA turret. The one that comes on there is in MOA already but it doesn't have the zero stop and the hash marks aren't optimal in my opinion. On my 4.5-14 I had them make me a dial in MOA but with better markings and with the zero stop installed. Combine it with a drop chart like any other turret and you can change loads at will.

 

[257scramjet]

I have the VX6 firedot windplex setup with the engraved turret and it is awesome. Super easy to use with the leupold rangefinder. Great combo. And yes if you want MOA clicks the scope comes with that turret when you buy it so you are good to go with either. Plus you get 1 free engraved turret when you purchase the scope.

A little info first: I have a Winchester 70 in 300 WSM that I want to shoot 600-700 yards with. I'm putting it in a new stock, probably an HS Precision or Bell and Carlson but I haven't decided yet. It's stainless but I decided having a matching stainless scope isn't as important as my OCD tells me haha so going with black opens up a lot more options. Gun will be used for elk and mule deer.

I have 3 Leupolds now and love them. My coworker is a Leupokd fan as well, but is more of a Swarovski fan. I look at the Swarovskis but I'm not sure I can justify spending that kind of money on this gun. All 3 of my Leupolds are VX-3's so that's what I've been looking at for this gun, except with the CDS system. I'm also considering the VX-6's but they're almost as much as a Swarovski. Does anyone have experience with the CDS scopes for hunting? Please give me some tips and suggestions about them or any other scopes

 

[dok7mm]

MasonG, If your budget will allow it, I would strongly recommend the 3-18x44 or the 4-24x52 in VX-6 CDS. I have several that track perfectly and have excellent glass. Go with the TMOA reticle and you can hold your windage. I am not crazy about the capped elevation dial, but thanks to the excellent posts by Timber338 and el matador, I used my free dials to go with the Long Range Target dials in MOA for elevation. They have enough space to put the yardage indicator labels above the MOA markings. They also have a great zero stop that allows full use of available elevation. This setup gives you the best of both options, dial yardage on label or dial MOA if hunting conditions don't match your label.

 

[Gurn]

Just put one on my Savage, 3 to 18, glass looks great. See how it goes

 

[azsugarbear]

I bought a CDS for a super-light carry rifle of mine and it worked just fine for me with their standard MOA turret that comes with the scope. One caution flag: if you go the CDS route, avoid the CDS models that come without the parallax knob. You can't shoot what you can't bring into focus.

 

[MasonG]

Thanks for all the info guys! From what I'm reading it sounds like the CDS scope is a good buy, but to use it smartly and switch to MOA. I'll get the taker turrets so I can have MOA and the yardage markings. Budget for the scope is under $1500, but I don't wanna spend it unless it's gonna be exactly right for me

But can someone explain why I need the TMOA reticle? How does that interact with the dials? I'm one of those guys that hates reticles except the standard duplex, I'm not afraid to switch I just wanna make sure that's what I need.

 

[el matador]

Only the TMOA scopes come with the taller adjustments installed. If you read my post here: http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f18/leupold-vx-6-tac-dials-162172/#post1136775 you'll see the quote from the guys at Leupold explaining it. If you get the duplex reticle and send it to Leupold they can install the taller turrets on there but they will charge you for it. Probably around $90 per turret.

They will make you a custom turret using any knob that fits your scope. Here is what the standard CDS knob looks like on a TMOA scope (posted by Timber338):

He got 2 rows of yardage numbers for dialing beyond one full revolution (20 moa) You could choose to have MOA hash marks on the bottom and yardage marks on top. The elevation knob that comes with the scope when you buy it looks just like the windage knob in the picture above.

Here is what the TAC dials look like (elevation and windage, no CDS numbers yet):

The size and function of both knobs is about the same. The standard CDS knob allows you to use the turret cap if you want to. The TAC knobs look a little cleaner but they cannot be used with the cap.

 

[MasonG]

Thanks for the clarification el matador, I did read and like your write up. I think I'd rather go with the duplex reticle the buy the TAC knobs. I like those knobs but I'm not a big fan of the TMOA reticle. That's a personal opinion though.

 

[rafterfp]

Do the VX 6 CDs scopes have a locking elevation turret?