Leupold VX-4HD 4-16×50 Wind-Plex Great 65 MOA Optic

Description

The Leupold VX-4HD 4-16×50 Wind-Plex is the non illuminated version of Leupold 4-16×50 hunting and target scope, with a Wind-Plex reticle, precision side focus and a locking CDS-ZL2 custom dial on a 30mm tube. Its near twin on this site is illuminated and costs more, so it is worth knowing which is which. Mag5 Firearms ships optics direct with no FFL transfer.

The Leupold VX-4HD 4-16×50 Wind-Plex Is Not Illuminated

Barcode 030317041687 is Leupold item 185458. It has a Wind-Plex reticle and no illumination at all: no battery, no brightness settings, no motion sensor. The other 4-16×50 VX-4HD on this site, item 185457, has an illuminated FireDot Twilight Hunter reticle, weighs 0.3 ounces more and focuses down to 50 yards rather than 30.

If you do not shoot in the last minutes of light, the Leupold VX-4HD 4-16×50 Wind-Plex is the better buy. Fewer things to fail, nothing to switch on, no battery to remember, and a 30 yard minimum focus that is closer than the illuminated version manages.

Both scopes are otherwise the same body: same magnification, same 50mm objective, same 30mm tube, same eye relief and field of view, same CDS-ZL2 dial. The Leupold VX-4HD 4-16×50 Wind-Plex simply leaves the illumination module out, which is where the weight and the cost difference come from.

The Leupold VX-4HD 4-16×50 Wind-Plex Reticle

Wind-Plex is a duplex with windage references added to the horizontal crosshair. It gives you hold off points for a crosswind without a ladder of elevation holdovers, which is the right division of labour on a scope with a custom dial: you dial elevation, you hold for wind, because wind is the variable you rarely have time to dial for.

The reticle is second focal plane, so the wind subtensions are only true at one magnification, printed on the card in the box. Set the Leupold VX-4HD 4-16×50 Wind-Plex there before you rely on the marks.

Leupold VX-4HD 4-16×50 Wind-Plex Side Focus and Turrets

Precision side focus takes the parallax out from 30 yards to infinity. On a scope that reaches sixteen power that is not a luxury: fixed parallax is a reasonable compromise at nine power and a visible one at sixteen. Thirty yards is also close enough to be useful on a rimfire or an airgun setup.

Elevation is a CDS-ZL2 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. Windage is a pop up rezero turret. Both move a quarter MOA per click with 20 MOA per revolution.

Travel figures are not symmetrical: 65 MOA of elevation and 50 MOA of windage. That is what Leupold publish and it is worth checking against your base if you expect to need a lot of windage correction. Fifty MOA is plenty for a properly aligned mount and tight for a badly machined one.

Leupold VX-4HD 4-16×50 Wind-Plex 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, and eye relief is 4.0 inches low and 3.9 high, which is unusually consistent across the range. The scope weighs 20.5 ounces and measures 13.3 inches.

A 50mm objective needs taller rings than a 40mm and that lifts the scope off the comb. On a modern stock cut for optics it is fine; on an older rifle check your cheek weld first, because a floating cheek costs more accuracy than a bright image gains.

At 20.5 ounces the Leupold VX-4HD 4-16×50 Wind-Plex is not a lightweight, but it is the lighter of the two 4-16x50s we stock precisely because there is no illumination assembly inside it. On a rifle that gets carried rather than driven to the bench, that matters more than the feature you are giving up.

Leupold VX-4HD 4-16×50 Wind-Plex Specifications

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 Wind-Plex 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 illuminated version sits alongside this one in our optics selection. Call us and tell us when you actually shoot, because that is the only question that decides between them.