leupold VX-3i 4.5-14X40 questions

L

logstove

New member
I am contemplating buying one of these scopes for target shooting and hunting. The real reason for buying this is because of my aging eyes when testing out loads. I know in hunting situations you can be off by 2" and still kill something so a standard VXII 3-9 will do. I like to know I am hunting with a best load as I can get.

Here is what I am wondering. What is the difference between a VX-3i and a VX-3? Also a AO is going to add more to the cost so is this really necessary? Yes I have a scope with AO but when sighting in/target shooting I leave the AO on 100yds. And shooting target at 200 yards you can set the AO to that. But in a hunting situation at 200 yards there may not be all that difference. So it is advisable to buy a scope w/o a AO?
 
For a 3-9 you don't need a AO or sidefocus for the 4.5-14 you will want one/I would want one.
I can typically shoot sub MOA with a 9x scope if the rig is right.
If your max distance is in the 200-250 yard range, a 3-9 will do everything you want.
It comes down to what you want.
 
If I remember correctly the 4.5-14 model has a different actual magnification than is advertised.
It also had a longer set distance for parallax.
I had one without side focus and sold it for that reason, as it was not desirable at all ranges and magnifications.
I believe it was designed as a long range scope some time ago.
 
xphunter,

I would not want an AO or sidefocus on a 3-9 scope. Granted most of my hunting rifles have the 3-9 or 2-7 scopes and these work for a 200ish yard shot.

I am primarily looking for a scope that I can also target shoot to test out loads. For my case I really do not need an AO or side focus but want something in the 14x range to test out loads. If the off season I test loads more often obviously because hunting season is closed. So I have looked at the 4-12 and 4.5-14 Leupold scopes.
 
tripod3,

Are you saying that the 4.5-14 model is not set at 100 parallax? I thought they were set at 100 parallax and then if you had an AO scope you could set parallax based on the setting of the AO. Not sure if I want a scope that is designed as a long range scope since I hunt in the Eastern forest/fields and many fields are at or less than 200 yards. As I stated in the above post I am looking for a scope that has a parallax at 100 yards for testing loads. Even with parallax setting at 100 yards I can still shoot at 200 yards based on where my hits are set on the target like 1" above the aim points.

I guess what I am asking is...is it a waste of money for an AO/sidefocus when I do not shoot anything out to 400 yards.
 
For my purposes anything 12x and down, I don't need a parallax(side focus) adjustment with Leupold scopes.

I own several 4.5x14x50 Leupold VX-III, anytime I go above 12x towards the max, things start getting fuzzy and I start saying I wish this dang thing had side focus. It is really irritating when working up loads on the bench. I want that little dime sized red dot on the shoot-n-see target in focus, not all fuzzy and blurry. Yes, I am old and cranky, but the money I spend on all those Leupold scopes is good money, I want it my way.
 
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I am pretty sure the parallax on non AO model is set at 150 yds or more.
I had an issue sighting in at 100 on 14 power, then missed a shot before I noticed the parallax problem besides being not the clearest.
IMO it is a much better scope with the AO feature.
 
Logstove,
With what you have said, I would go with the 4.5-14 with the side focus, and enjoy your target shooting.
 
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