Description
The Leupold VX-6HD 3-18×56 is the biggest objective Leupold fits to the VX-6HD line, paired with the illuminated FireDot Twilight Hunter reticle. Fifty six millimetres of front lens on a scope that reaches eighteen power is a specific answer to a specific problem: shooting at distance in the half hour before and after legal light. Mag5 Firearms ships optics direct with no FFL transfer.
Why the Leupold VX-6HD 3-18×56 Uses a 56mm Objective
Exit pupil is objective diameter divided by magnification, and it decides whether an image is bright enough for a dark adapted eye. At eighteen power a 44mm objective gives 2.4mm; a 56mm gives 3.1mm. That sounds small but it is nearly a third more light at exactly the magnification and the hour when you have least of it.
Wind the Leupold VX-6HD 3-18×56 back to ten power and the exit pupil opens to 5.6mm, past what most eyes can use. In other words the big front lens is not there for daylight, it is there so that high magnification stays usable when the sun has gone.
That is worth understanding before you pay for it. If your shooting is mostly in daylight, or mostly at the bottom of the zoom range, a 44mm objective gives you the same image and saves you weight and ring height. The Leupold VX-6HD 3-18×56 is for the hunter whose best chances come in the last ten minutes.
What the Leupold VX-6HD 3-18×56 Front Lens Costs You
Two costs, and both are real. The Leupold VX-6HD 3-18×56 weighs 24.7 ounces, which is more than a pound and a half of scope before rings. And a 56mm objective needs tall rings, which lifts the scope well off the comb. On a stock cut for a scope that is fine; on an older rifle you may find your cheek floating, and a poor cheek weld costs more accuracy than a bright image gains.
Measure your comb height and handle the rifle mounted before the season rather than on opening morning. If the answer is no, the 3-18×44 version in our range does everything else this scope does at 22.1 ounces and with lower rings.
Six times zoom is what the VX-6HD name means, and across that range the Leupold VX-6HD 3-18×56 gives 36.8 feet of field at 3x down to 6.6 feet at 18x. Three power is wide enough to work in cover, eighteen is enough for a deliberate shot well past four hundred yards on a steady rest.
The Leupold VX-6HD 3-18×56 Twilight Hunter Reticle
Twilight Hunter is Leupold reticle built for failing light, with an illuminated centre. 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. It is second focal plane, so it holds the same apparent size right through the zoom range.
The illuminated centre does one job better than anything else: it separates your aiming point from an animal standing in deep shadow, where a black crosshair simply vanishes against a black body. That is the shot the Leupold VX-6HD 3-18×56 is built around.
Leupold VX-6HD 3-18×56 Turrets and Side Focus
Elevation is a CDS-SZL2 dial with Zero Lock 2: a custom turret engraved in yards for your load, locking at your zero so it cannot creep, with a revolution indicator and SpeedSet rezero. Windage is a Zero-Lock turret. Quarter MOA clicks, 20 MOA per revolution, 85 MOA of travel in both axes.
Precision side focus takes the parallax out from 35 yards to infinity, which is the closest minimum of any VX-6HD in our range. On a scope that reaches 18x, side focus is not optional: fixed parallax is a fair compromise at 9x and a visible one at 18x.
Leupold VX-6HD 3-18×56 Specifications
| Leupold Item Number | 183840 |
|---|---|
| UPC | 030317037031 |
| Magnification | 3-18x |
| Objective Diameter | 56 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 |
| Eye Relief | 3.7 in low, 3.8 in high |
| Field of View at 100 yd | 36.8 ft low, 6.6 ft high |
| Click Value | 1/4 MOA |
| Elevation Travel | 85 MOA |
| Windage Travel | 85 MOA |
| Per Revolution | 20 MOA |
| Parallax | Precision side focus from 35 yd |
| Elevation Turret | CDS-SZL2, locking, revolution indicator |
| Windage Turret | Zero-Lock |
| Rezero | SpeedSet |
| Weight | 24.7 oz |
| Length | 13.5 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-6HD 3-18×56 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.
Call us with your rifle and your comb height before ordering a 56mm scope, or browse the 44mm versions in our optics selection. We would rather talk you into a smaller objective than sell you one you cannot get behind properly.
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