Description
The Leupold VX-4HD 3-12×50 Side Focus is item 185454, and the thing that separates it from every other VX-4HD in this size class is the parallax adjustment. This one focuses down to 30 yards. Its 40 mm stablemate is fixed at 150.
Why the Leupold VX-4HD 3-12×50 Side Focus is the one with the dial on the side
Precision side focus means a third turret on the left of the housing that lets you remove parallax error at any distance from 30 yards out. On a fixed-parallax scope you get one sharp distance and live with the rest.
That matters more than most buyers expect at 12x. Small parallax errors that vanish at 4x become measurable misses at the top of the magnification range, especially if you cannot always get your head in exactly the same place behind the scope.
Reticle, glass and the honest trade
The reticle is a plain Duplex on an MOA scale, and it is not illuminated. There is no battery, no Motion Sensor Technology and no daylight-bright centre dot. If you hunt the last ten minutes of legal light, look at the illuminated FireDot models instead.
This is a second focal plane riflescope, so the Duplex holds its apparent size through the whole 3 to 12x range. Eye relief is 4.0 inches low and 3.9 high, and the field of view runs 33.5 feet at 3x down to 8.4 feet at 12x, per 100 yards.
The 50 mm objective gathers more light than a 40, and it also demands taller rings. Check your ring height and your comb before ordering, because a high mount changes your cheek weld.
Turrets and travel
Elevation on the Leupold VX-4HD 3-12×50 Side Focus is a CDS-ZL2 locking dial with a revolution indicator and a set-screw rezero. Windage is a pop-up rezero turret. Both move in 1/4 MOA clicks.
Total elevation travel is 90 MOA, which is 26.2 MIL or 262 cm at 100 metres, at 20 MOA per revolution with a 38 MOA dial travel limit. Windage gives 65 MOA, or 18.9 MIL, also at 20 MOA per turn.
No BDC dial is included. The turret is cut for a custom CDS dial matched to a specific load, which can be ordered later. Straight-wall dials are not included either.
Honest notes on the Leupold VX-4HD 3-12×50 Side Focus
This is the heavy one. At 20 ounces it sits more than four ounces above the 40 mm illuminated model and 12.9 inches long against 12.7. That weight is the price of the bigger objective and the side focus assembly. On a mountain rifle it is a real consideration.
The mounting space is also tighter: 5.2 inches usable, split 1.6 front and 1.6 rear, on a 12.9 inch tube with a 4.4 inch objective bell. Short-action receivers with forward-mounted bases can run out of room. Measure before you buy rings.
Leupold publishes no finish colour, no lens coating list and no light transmission percentage for this model. Retailers will show you all three. We are not going to print specifications the manufacturer does not state.
Who this scope suits
Open-country hunters and range shooters who want parallax control and a dialable elevation turret without stepping into a tactical optic. The Leupold VX-4HD 3-12×50 Side Focus is guaranteed to perform for life, and that guarantee follows the scope rather than the first buyer.
Skip it if you need illumination, if you are counting ounces, or if your rifle cannot take the ring height a 50 mm bell demands. The 3-12×40 FireDot covers the first of those and saves you the weight.
Leupold VX-4HD 3-12×50 Side Focus full specifications
- Item number: 185454
- Magnification: 3-12x variable
- Objective lens: 50 mm
- Main tube: 30 mm
- Reticle: Duplex, MOA scale, not illuminated
- Focal plane: Second focal plane
- Parallax: precision side focus, parallax-free from 30 yd
- Eye relief: 4.0 in low, 3.9 in high
- Field of view: 33.5 ft at 3x, 8.4 ft at 12x, per 100 yards
- Angular field of view: 6.4 degrees low, 1.6 degrees high
- Click value: 1/4 MOA elevation and windage
- Total elevation travel: 90 MOA (26.2 MIL), 20 MOA per revolution
- Elevation dial travel limit: 38 MOA
- Total windage travel: 65 MOA (18.9 MIL), 20 MOA per revolution
- Elevation turret: CDS-ZL2 locking dial with revolution indicator
- Windage turret: pop-up rezero
- BDC dial included: no; custom BDC dial compatible: yes
- Weight: 20 oz
- Total length: 12.9 in
- Total mounting space: 5.2 in (1.6 front, 1.6 rear)
- Objective length: 4.4 in; objective diameter: 2.3 in; eyepiece diameter: 1.7 in
- Battery: none, non-illuminated
- Warranty: lifetime guarantee
Manufacturer specifications are published by Leupold. Compare it against the rest of our optics range before you settle on an objective size.
Ships from our Collegeville, Pennsylvania shop, with no warranty card required and no time limit on the guarantee.
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