Leupold VX-Freedom 3-9×40 CDS Duplex Great Custom Dial

Description

The Leupold VX-Freedom 3-9×40 CDS is the version of Leupold classic deer scope with a Custom Dial System elevation turret, paired with a plain duplex reticle. It reached our shelves titled only LEUPOLD SCOPE VX-FREEDOM, which is the name of a whole family rather than a product. Barcode 030317018788 identifies it as Leupold item 174182 and we have retitled it accordingly.

What the Leupold VX-Freedom 3-9×40 CDS Turret Actually Does

CDS stands for Custom Dial System. You send Leupold your cartridge, bullet, muzzle velocity and typical shooting conditions, and they machine you a dial engraved in yards rather than in clicks. You then range an animal, turn the dial to that number, and hold dead on. No counting clicks in the cold, no arithmetic, no holdover estimate.

The first custom dial is free with the scope. That is worth stating plainly because it is the single biggest reason to pay the difference between this and a capped turret model. Without the custom dial the Leupold VX-Freedom 3-9×40 CDS is simply a duplex scope with an exposed elevation turret, which is a fine thing but not what you are paying for.

Two honest caveats. A CDS dial is cut for one load. Change ammunition and the numbers stop being true, so you either shoot the same box every year or order another dial. And the dial assumes a density altitude; if you zero in Pennsylvania and hunt in Colorado, the drop will not match at distance.

Neither caveat is a reason to avoid the Leupold VX-Freedom 3-9×40 CDS. They are reasons to order the dial for the load you will actually hunt with, and to confirm it on paper at the distances you expect to shoot. A CDS dial that has been verified is the fastest and least error prone way to take a longer shot in the field.

The Leupold VX-Freedom 3-9×40 CDS Duplex Reticle

This model pairs the CDS turret with a plain duplex, and that pairing is deliberate. If you are dialling elevation you do not want a ladder of holdover marks cluttering the view, because you will never use them. A clean duplex gives you a thin centre for precision and heavy posts that pull your eye in when the light goes.

The reticle is second focal plane so it stays the same visual size through the zoom range. With a CDS dial doing the elevation work, focal plane matters far less here than it would on a holdover reticle.

Leupold VX-Freedom 3-9×40 CDS Optics

Magnification is 3x to 9x through a 40mm objective on a one inch tube. Field of view at 100 yards is 33.1 feet at 3x and 13.6 feet at 9x, and eye relief runs 4.2 inches down to 3.7. The scope weighs 12.2 ounces and measures 12.49 inches.

Twelve ounces on a one inch tube is the sweet spot for a working deer rifle. Lighter scopes exist and heavier ones gather more light, but this is the weight at which a scope stops being something you notice when you pick the rifle up.

Leupold VX-Freedom 3-9×40 CDS Turrets and Parallax

Elevation is the CDS dial. Windage is a finger click turret. Both move in quarter MOA increments with 60 MOA of total travel each. Parallax is fixed and set parallax free at 150 yards, so there is no side focus to manage while you are dialling.

Leupold rates the Leupold VX-Freedom 3-9×40 CDS 100 percent waterproof and fogproof and backs it with their lifetime guarantee. It is designed, machined and assembled in Oregon. Leupold does not publish a finish colour or a lens coating name for this model, so we have not listed either.

Leupold VX-Freedom 3-9×40 CDS Specifications

Buying from Mag5 Firearms

Mag5 Firearms is a family owned FFL dealer in Collegeville, Pennsylvania. Optics need no transfer, so the Leupold VX-Freedom 3-9×40 CDS ships straight to your door. Full manufacturer detail is published on the Leupold product page.

If you shoot inside 250 yards and never intend to dial, the Hunt-Plex version costs less and does that job better. Browse our optics selection or call us and we will tell you honestly which of the two suits how you hunt.