Description
The Leupold VX-4HD 4-16×50 FireDot is the illuminated version of Leupold 4-16×50, with a FireDot Twilight Hunter reticle, precision side focus and a locking CDS-ZL2 dial on a 30mm tube. Its non illuminated twin sits alongside it on this site, so it is worth understanding what the illumination costs and buys. Mag5 Firearms ships optics direct with no FFL transfer.
The Leupold VX-4HD 4-16×50 FireDot Versus Its Twin
Barcode 030317041632 is Leupold item 185457, the illuminated one. The other 4-16×50 VX-4HD on this site is item 185458, which has a Wind-Plex reticle and no illumination at all. Same body, same magnification, same 50mm objective, same 30mm tube, same eye relief, same field of view, same CDS-ZL2 dial.
Three published differences. The Leupold VX-4HD 4-16×50 FireDot weighs 20.8 ounces against 20.5. Its side focus bottoms out at 50 yards where the non illuminated one goes down to 30. And it carries Motion Sensor Technology, which the other does not, because there is nothing to switch off.
That 30 versus 50 yard difference is genuinely odd on two otherwise identical bodies, and it is what Leupold publish. If close focus matters to you, it is worth a call to us before you decide, because it is the kind of figure we would want confirmed rather than assumed.
Everything else is common to both. Neither is a downgrade of the other and the choice is genuinely about whether you shoot in low light, not about which is the better scope.
The Leupold VX-4HD 4-16×50 FireDot Reticle
Twilight Hunter is Leupold reticle built for failing light, with an illuminated centre. Eight brightness settings, daylight bright at the top so it stays visible in sun, on a CR2032 giving roughly 1600 hours low, 1000 medium and 300 high. Motion Sensor Technology switches it off when the rifle is still and back on the moment it moves.
Illumination on a hunting scope earns its money in one situation: an animal in deep shadow, where a black crosshair disappears against a black body. That is the shot the Leupold VX-4HD 4-16×50 FireDot exists to let you take. If you do not shoot at that hour, you are carrying a battery for nothing.
Leupold VX-4HD 4-16×50 FireDot Side Focus and Turrets
Precision side focus takes the parallax out from 50 yards to infinity. On a scope reaching sixteen power side focus is not optional: fixed parallax is a reasonable compromise at nine power and a visible one at sixteen.
Sixteen power is also about the practical ceiling for a 50mm objective before the image starts to dim. At 16x the Leupold VX-4HD 4-16×50 FireDot gives a 3.1mm exit pupil, which is still inside what a dark adapted eye can use. Push the same lens to 20x and it would not be.
Elevation is a CDS-ZL2 dial with a locking zero: order a turret engraved in yards for your load, then range, turn and hold centre, and the dial cannot creep past your zero in a scabbard. Windage is a pop up rezero turret. Both move a quarter MOA per click at 20 MOA per revolution.
Travel is 65 MOA in elevation and 50 MOA in windage. Those are not symmetrical and that is what Leupold publish. Fifty MOA of windage is plenty on a properly aligned mount and tight on a badly machined one, so it is the figure to check if your base is an unknown quantity.
Leupold VX-4HD 4-16×50 FireDot Optics and Weight
Four to sixteen power through a 50mm objective. Field of view at 100 yards is 25.1 feet at 4x and 6.3 feet at 16x, with eye relief of 4.0 inches low and 3.9 high, unusually consistent across the range. The scope weighs 20.8 ounces and measures 13.3 inches, and a 50mm objective needs tall rings, so check your comb height before committing.
Leupold VX-4HD 4-16×50 FireDot Specifications
| Leupold Item Number | 185457 |
|---|---|
| UPC | 030317041632 |
| Magnification | 4-16x |
| Objective Diameter | 50 mm |
| Main Tube | 30 mm |
| Reticle | Illuminated FireDot Twilight Hunter, second focal plane |
| Illumination | 8 settings, daylight bright, push button |
| Battery | CR2032 |
| Battery Life | 1600 h low, 1000 h medium, 300 h high |
| Auto Off | Motion Sensor Technology |
| Eye Relief | 4.0 in low, 3.9 in high |
| Field of View at 100 yd | 25.1 ft low, 6.3 ft high |
| Click Value | 1/4 MOA |
| Elevation Travel | 65 MOA |
| Windage Travel | 50 MOA |
| Parallax | Precision side focus from 50 yd |
| Elevation Turret | CDS-ZL2, locking, revolution indicator |
| Windage Turret | Pop up rezero |
| Weight | 20.8 oz |
| Length | 13.3 in |
| Warranty | Leupold lifetime guarantee |
Buying from Mag5 Firearms
Mag5 Firearms is a family owned FFL dealer in Collegeville, Pennsylvania. Optics need no transfer, so the Leupold VX-4HD 4-16×50 FireDot ships straight to your door. Full manufacturer detail is published on the Leupold product page. Leupold publish no finish colour or lens coating name for this model, so we have not listed either.
The non illuminated Wind-Plex version is in our optics selection and costs less. Call us and tell us when you actually shoot, because that is the only question that decides between them.
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