Leupold VX-3HD 3.5-10×50 FireDot Great 30mm Illuminated

Description

The Leupold VX-3HD 3.5-10×50 FireDot is the thirty millimetre tube, illuminated version of Leupold mid range 3.5-10×50, with a FireDot Twilight Hunter reticle and a locking CDS-ZL dial. This store lists two different scopes as VX-3HD 3.5-10×50 and they take different rings, so read the next section before ordering either.

Which Scope the Leupold VX-3HD 3.5-10×50 FireDot Actually Is

Barcode 030317028510 is Leupold item 180628: a THIRTY MILLIMETRE main tube, an illuminated FireDot Twilight Hunter reticle, 17.7 ounces, 75 MOA of elevation and 60 of windage. The other listing on this site with the same name is item 180618, a ONE INCH tube with a plain non illuminated duplex, 14.9 ounces.

Tube diameter is the difference that costs money, because one inch rings will not hold a 30mm scope. If you already own rings, check them before you choose, and call us if you are not certain what you have. We have retitled both listings so the difference shows on the shop page rather than three clicks deep.

Both are good scopes and neither is a downgrade of the other. They are aimed at different rifles and different budgets. The only reason to confuse them is that the manufacturer feed we receive gives both the same short name.

The Leupold VX-3HD 3.5-10×50 FireDot Reticle

Twilight Hunter is Leupold reticle designed for the last and first half hour of legal light, with an illuminated centre dot. Eight brightness settings, daylight bright at the top so it is still visible in sun, on a CR2032 giving roughly 1600 hours low, 1000 medium and 300 high.

Illumination earns its keep in one specific situation: an animal standing in deep shadow where a black crosshair simply disappears against a black body. That is the shot the Leupold VX-3HD 3.5-10×50 FireDot exists to let you take, and it is why this version costs more than the plain duplex.

The reticle is second focal plane, so it keeps the same apparent size through the zoom range. Elevation is handled by the dial rather than by holdover marks.

Why the Leupold VX-3HD 3.5-10×50 FireDot Suits Low Light

Exit pupil is objective diameter divided by magnification, and it decides whether a scope is bright at dusk. At ten power a 50mm objective gives a 5mm exit pupil, right at the limit of what a dark adapted eye can use. Pair that with an illuminated reticle and the Leupold VX-3HD 3.5-10×50 FireDot is about as capable as a hunting scope gets in failing light without going to a much larger objective.

A 50mm objective on the Leupold VX-3HD 3.5-10×50 FireDot does need taller rings than a 40mm, and taller rings lift the scope off the comb. On a modern hunting stock that is fine; on an older rifle cut for iron sights, check your cheek weld before you commit, because a floating cheek costs more accuracy than a bright image gains.

Leupold VX-3HD 3.5-10×50 FireDot Turrets and Adjustment

Elevation is a CDS-ZL dial with a locking zero: order a turret engraved in yards for your load and you range, turn and hold centre, and the dial cannot creep back past your zero in a scabbard. Windage is a plain finger click. Both move a quarter MOA per click, 15 MOA per revolution.

Note the travel figures are not symmetrical. Leupold publish 75 MOA of elevation but only 60 MOA of windage on this model. That is unusual and it is what they state. If you are mounting on a base that needs a lot of windage correction, 60 is the number to check against.

Parallax is fixed and set parallax free at 150 yards, so there is no side focus knob. The Leupold VX-3HD 3.5-10×50 FireDot weighs 17.7 ounces and measures 12.33 inches. Leupold rate it waterproof, fogproof and shockproof and guarantee it for life. They publish no finish colour and no lens coating name for this model, so we have not listed either.

Leupold VX-3HD 3.5-10×50 FireDot Specifications

Buying from Mag5 Firearms

Mag5 Firearms is a family owned FFL dealer in Collegeville, Pennsylvania. Optics need no transfer, so the Leupold VX-3HD 3.5-10×50 FireDot ships straight to your door. Full manufacturer detail is published on the Leupold product page.

If you do not need illumination and you already own one inch rings, the plain duplex version is lighter and cheaper and it is in our optics selection. Call us with the rifle and the rings and we will tell you which one to buy.