Leupold VX-Freedom 3-9×40 Rimfire Great 60 Yard Parallax

Description

The Leupold VX-Freedom 3-9×40 Rimfire is a rimfire specific scope, and the thing that makes it rimfire specific is not the reticle. It is the parallax setting. Leupold sets this one parallax free at 60 yards instead of the 150 yards used on every centrefire VX-Freedom, and on a .22 that single change is worth more than any other spec on the sheet. Mag5 Firearms ships scopes direct with no FFL transfer.

Why 60 Yard Parallax Matters

Parallax error is the apparent movement of the reticle against the target when your eye is not perfectly centred behind the scope. It is worst at short range on a scope set for long range. A centrefire scope parallax free at 150 yards shooting a squirrel at 25 yards can throw the point of impact enough to miss the head.

Set the parallax free point at 60 yards instead and the error across realistic rimfire distances, say 15 to 100 yards, shrinks to something you can ignore. That is the entire argument for buying a rimfire scope rather than putting a cheap centrefire one on a .22, and it is why the Leupold VX-Freedom 3-9×40 Rimfire exists as its own model.

The Leupold VX-Freedom 3-9×40 Rimfire MOA Reticle

The reticle is Leupold Rimfire MOA, a second focal plane design with holdover and windage marks spaced in minutes of angle rather than in yards. Because .22 LR drops steeply and every bullet weight drops differently, MOA marks let you build your own dope rather than trusting a reticle calibrated for a load you may not shoot.

Second focal plane means the reticle size stays constant through the zoom range, so the MOA subtensions are only true at one magnification. Leupold prints that power on the card in the box. Set it there, shoot your ladder, write the numbers on tape, and the Leupold VX-Freedom 3-9×40 Rimfire becomes a genuinely useful small game tool out to a hundred yards.

Leupold VX-Freedom 3-9×40 Rimfire Optics and Handling

Magnification is 3x to 9x through a 40mm objective on a one inch tube. Field of view at 100 yards is 33.1 feet at 3x and 13.6 feet at 9x, and eye relief runs 4.2 inches down to 3.7. On a .22 with no recoil that eye relief is more comfort than necessity, but it means the scope moves happily onto a centrefire rifle later if you want it to.

Weight is 12.2 ounces over 12.49 inches. On a light bolt action .22 that is noticeable, so check your rings and your balance before committing to a heavier scope than the rifle wants.

One more thing the Leupold VX-Freedom 3-9×40 Rimfire does that a centrefire scope does not: it focuses down close. A scope set for 150 yards can look soft at 20 yards in a way that is hard to put your finger on until you shoot one set for 60 alongside it. On a squirrel rifle, that clarity at short range is the difference between a head shot and a guess.

Leupold VX-Freedom 3-9×40 Rimfire Turrets and Build

Both turrets are finger click at a quarter MOA, with 60 MOA of travel in elevation and 60 in windage. A quarter MOA is a quarter inch at 100 yards, which on a rimfire is fine enough resolution for anything you will ask of it. Leupold rates the scope 100 percent waterproof and fogproof and backs it with their lifetime guarantee.

Sixty MOA of elevation is far more than a rimfire needs. Worth knowing anyway: if you later move the Leupold VX-Freedom 3-9×40 Rimfire onto a centrefire rifle, you have plenty of adjustment, though you would be shooting it with the parallax set 90 yards closer than that rifle wants.

Leupold does not publish a finish colour or a lens coating name for this model on their own site. The store title says matte and the photography shows matte black, but we are not going to list it as a manufacturer specification when Leupold has not published it as one.

Leupold VX-Freedom 3-9×40 Rimfire Specifications

Buying from Mag5 Firearms

Mag5 Firearms is a family owned FFL dealer in Collegeville, Pennsylvania. Optics need no transfer, so the Leupold VX-Freedom 3-9×40 Rimfire ships straight to your door. Full manufacturer detail is published on the Leupold product page.

If your .22 is a plinker rather than a small game rifle, a fixed 4x or a cheaper variable may serve you just as well, and we will say so. Browse our optics selection or call us and tell us what the rifle is actually for.