Anybody familiar with Leupold w/CDS?

[need2hunt]

Was wondering if anybody has used the Leupold scopes that have the CDS installed on them. Got a new rifle for christmas 243 winchester and in need of a scope. Was thinking perhaps a Leupold VX2 with the CDS. I do not reload but tend to stick with one factory load once I find one that shoots well for my rifle(s). Does the CDS work, are they accurate, are they worth the money?

That or I was thinking of purchasing a Mark AR scope to put on my 223 remington and swap out the Leupold VX1 that I have on it...and put that on my new 243....decisions, decisions....

 

[flyingbrass]

I would like to know the same thing, maybe order one for my kids 7mm-08.
flyingbrass
cold dead hands
NRA Life Member

 

[WapitiBob]

They will work fine, depending on shot distances and conditions.

You can run your numbers thru an online ballistics calculator for "home" then change altitude and temp to see the variances you might encounter when you hunt different areas or times of the year. If they vary much, you will (should) need to use a different cds dial or keep the shot distance down to an acceptable level.

If you hunt the same area pretty much all the time, they kick ass. range, dial, shoot, pack him out....

 

[littlebighorn]

LAST EDITED ON Dec-28-12 AT 09:06PM (MST)[p]I have a leupold w/CDS and it works well with the dial I marked and developed on my own. For some reason the dial they build according to the ballistics I sent them is off. Since I wanted to hunt with it, as I mentioned, I developed a dial for myself. I have not yet tried to get them to build a new one...been too busy.
To have them develop your dial, you have to send them bullet weight/type, Bullet BC and velocity, etc. Then they build the dial and send it back. That is true with all turret scope companies that I am aware of.
I have no idea why the one they sent me was off.
As was mentioned above, temperature/altitude do make a difference.
I have always had good success with Leupold scopes and I have confidence in this one as well...just not their dial.
Perhaps with standard loads, you might have better luck than I did.

 

[WapitiBob]

I'm making my own and think that's the best route. Calipers, a printer and spreadsheet is all you need.
The engraving is off on my Greybull turret. It lines up at 0, 1/2 a line off at 10 moa, and back on at 20 moa. No excuse for that, just cutting costs on sub par laser equipment.

 

[IDBoneCollector]

i got my 257 weatherby set up this spring with the cds, Love it. got my gun zeroed at 200 yards then turned to the 700 yard target adjusted the turret and center punched it. although one thing i would say Get The Zero Stop. limits your distance but you cant get lost on it.

 

[need2hunt]

Awesome, this is exactly the kind feedback I was hoping to get...thanks.

So I take it the "zero stop" is what it sounds like? Stops the turret back at what you have your scope zeroed at....so that you don't over twist the turret in the field during real world hunting conditions? I mostly hunt one area but elevations can go from 1100' all the way up to over 6,000' and temps can range from 90 degrees plus to the single digits. I'll probably stick to one hunting load but will one CDS turret cover the elevation and temperature differences?

Is the zero stop available on all Leupold scopes with CDS or just on certain models (like not on VX 2 but available on VX 3)???

 

[WapitiBob]

one CDS probably won't cover it. You need to use an online calculator and put in the extremes for elevation and temp, then see the difference in bullet drop to know for sure. It free and only takes a few minutes.