Leupold VX-Freedom Muzzleloader 3-9×40 Great UltimateSlam

Description

The Leupold VX-Freedom Muzzleloader is a scope built for muzzleloaders and slug guns, and until now this store was selling it under the title LEUPOLD SCOPE VX-FREEDOM with nothing else attached. That is worth correcting loudly, because the UltimateSlam reticle inside it is calibrated for muzzleloader and shotgun trajectories. Put it on a centrefire rifle and every holdover mark below the crosshair will be wrong.

The Leupold VX-Freedom Muzzleloader Listing Has Been Corrected

Barcode 030317018764 is Leupold item 174184. We confirmed it against Leupold own catalogue and against the item number embedded in the product photograph filename. It is the 3-9×40 Muzzleloader model. If you came here from a search for a general purpose deer scope, this is probably not the one you want, and we would rather tell you that on the product page than after you have shot a box of ammunition wondering why it will not group.

The Leupold VX-Freedom Muzzleloader UltimateSlam Reticle

UltimateSlam is a ballistic reticle with holdover marks spaced for the steep, fast dropping trajectory of a sabot slug or a muzzleloader bullet. Those projectiles lose velocity far more quickly than a centrefire rifle bullet, so the drop between 100 and 200 yards is dramatic rather than gradual. The reticle spacing reflects that.

Leupold designed UltimateSlam around specific muzzleloader and slug loads and publishes the reference velocities it was built for. Your gun and your load will not match those exactly, so treat the marks as a very good starting point and then confirm them on paper at each distance before you hunt with them.

Worth saying plainly: none of this makes the Leupold VX-Freedom Muzzleloader a worse scope. It is a very good scope for exactly one job. The problem was only ever the title, which told a buyer nothing about what that job is.

The reticle is second focal plane, so its apparent size does not change as you zoom. The holdover values are only correct at one magnification, printed on the card in the box. Set the Leupold VX-Freedom Muzzleloader to that power and leave it there if you intend to use the marks.

Leupold VX-Freedom Muzzleloader Optics

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. Eye relief is 4.2 inches at 3x and 3.7 at 9x, which matters here more than on most scopes: a heavy slug gun or a magnum muzzleloader recoils hard and a short eye relief scope will find your eyebrow.

Weight is 12.2 ounces over 12.49 inches. Leupold rates the scope 100 percent waterproof and fogproof, which on a muzzleloader is not a luxury given that the season is usually cold, wet and long after the leaves have gone.

A 40mm objective is the right size here. Muzzleloader seasons run late and shots come at dawn and dusk, so light gathering matters; but a 50mm objective would force taller rings and lift your cheek off a stock that was never designed for it. The Leupold VX-Freedom Muzzleloader strikes that balance sensibly.

Leupold VX-Freedom Muzzleloader Turrets

Both turrets are finger click at a quarter MOA, with 60 MOA of travel in elevation and 60 in windage, and 15 MOA per revolution. Parallax is fixed and set parallax free at 150 yards. The scope carries Leupold lifetime guarantee and is built in Oregon.

Leupold does not publish a finish colour or a lens coating name for this model in their own specification table, so we have left both out rather than repeat a retailer figure as manufacturer data.

Leupold VX-Freedom Muzzleloader Specifications

Buying from Mag5 Firearms

Mag5 Firearms is a family owned FFL dealer in Collegeville, Pennsylvania. Optics need no transfer, so this scope ships straight to your door. Full manufacturer detail is published on the Leupold product page.

If you want a 3-9×40 VX-Freedom for a centrefire rifle, we stock the Hunt-Plex, the plain duplex and the CDS versions and any of them is a better fit than the Leupold VX-Freedom Muzzleloader. Browse our optics selection or call us and tell us what you are actually mounting it on.