Leupold VX-5HD 3-15×50 FireDot Duplex Riflescope, Reliable 30mm

Description

The Leupold VX-5HD 3-15×50 FireDot Duplex is item 183854, a Generation 2 hunting scope on a 30mm main tube. Two other VX-5HD Generation 2 scopes sit alongside it in this shop, and one of them is a 34 mm tube. Read that line again before you order rings.

Three VX-5HD Generation 2 scopes, two different tube sizes

This scope, item 183854, is a 3-15×50 on a 30mm tube. Item 183850 is a 3-15×44, also 30mm. Item 183858 is a 4-20×52 on a 34 MM tube. The store titles all read the same way, and rings do not cross between 30 and 34.

Against the 3-15×44, the objective is the only real difference: 50 mm against 44, and 21.3 ounces against 20.1. Same length, same travel, same reticle, same turrets, near-identical field of view. You are buying aperture and paying 1.2 ounces for it.

The Leupold VX-5HD 3-15×50 FireDot also wants taller rings than the 44 mm version. Check ring height and cheek weld together, because raising the scope changes where your face sits on the stock.

Reticle and illumination

The reticle is an illuminated FireDot Duplex: a plain hunting crosshair with a lit centre, no holdover stadia, nothing to interpret under pressure. Eight brightness settings run off a CR2032 through a push button, rated 1600 hours on low, 1000 on medium and 300 on high.

The illumination is rated daylight bright and is not night vision compatible. This is a second focal plane scope, so the duplex holds the same apparent thickness from 3x to 15x rather than thinning out at the bottom.

Field of view is 37.7 feet at 3x, narrowing to 7.8 feet at 15x, per 100 yards. Eye relief is 3.8 inches low and 3.9 high, so the eye box barely moves as you wind the power up.

Turrets and travel

Elevation on the Leupold VX-5HD 3-15×50 FireDot is the CDS-SZL2 locking dial with a revolution indicator and SpeedSet rezero. Windage is a pop-up rezero turret. Clicks are 1/4 MOA on both axes.

Total travel is 85 MOA each way, or 24.7 MIL, at 20 MOA per revolution with a 38 MOA dial travel limit. No BDC dial is included, but the turret is custom dial compatible and every VX-5HD Gen 2 is eligible for one free custom dial.

Parallax is published with a 50 yard minimum. A note on that below.

Honest notes on the Leupold VX-5HD 3-15×50 FireDot

Leupold sells this as a Side Focus model and its own product photograph is filed under a name ending in side focus, but the specification table on the product page carries no adjustable parallax row and no precision side focus row at all. Its siblings do. We are telling you what is and is not published rather than asserting a feature the spec sheet omits.

Mounting space is 5.3 inches, split 1.2 inches front and 2.3 rear. That 1.2 inch front section is short. On a receiver with forward-mounted bases the front ring can run out of room, so measure before ordering.

Illumination means a battery. The etched reticle stays fully usable with a dead cell; only the lit centre goes. And no finish colour, coating list or light transmission figure is published for this model, so we print none of the three.

Who this scope suits

Hunters who want one scope for timber and open country with maximum aperture on a 30mm tube, and anyone who prefers a clean crosshair with a lit centre to a holdover grid. The Leupold VX-5HD 3-15×50 FireDot is waterproof, fogproof, designed, machined and assembled in the USA, and backed by a lifetime guarantee.

Skip it if you want the extra elevation and magnification of the 34 mm 4-20×52, if you are counting ounces, or if you need first focal plane subtensions.

Leupold VX-5HD 3-15×50 FireDot full specifications

• Item number: 183854
• Generation: VX-5HD Gen 2
• Magnification: 3-15x variable
• Objective lens: 50 mm
• Main tube: 30 mm
• Reticle: Illuminated FireDot Duplex
• Focal plane: Second focal plane
• Illumination: 8 settings, push button, daylight bright, not night vision compatible
• Battery: CR2032, 1600 / 1000 / 300 hours low / medium / high
• Eye relief: 3.8 in low, 3.9 in high
• Field of view: 37.7 ft at 3x, 7.8 ft at 15x, per 100 yards
• Angular field of view: 7.2 degrees low, 1.5 degrees high
• Click value: 1/4 MOA elevation and windage
• Total elevation travel: 85 MOA (24.7 MIL), 20 MOA per revolution
• Elevation dial travel limit: 38 MOA
• Total windage travel: 85 MOA (24.7 MIL), 20 MOA per revolution
• Parallax: minimum parallax-free distance 50 yd. No adjustable parallax or side focus row is published for this item.
• Elevation turret: CDS-SZL2 locking, revolution indicator, SpeedSet rezero
• Windage turret: pop-up rezero
• BDC dial included: no; custom BDC dial compatible: yes; one free custom dial available
• Weight: 21.3 oz
• Total length: 13.5 in
• Total mounting space: 5.3 in (1.2 front, 2.3 rear)
• Objective length: 4.9 in; objective diameter: 2.3 in
• Warranty: lifetime guarantee

Manufacturer specifications are published by Leupold. Compare it against the rest of our optics range, and confirm your ring diameter against the 34 mm model.

Ships from our Collegeville, Pennsylvania shop with the Leupold lifetime guarantee.