utm fk

32 G&A February 2020 | rifles & GlAss
WIND-PLEX RETICLE
and computers are much more capable
and economical than they were a
few years ago; So are the computercontrolled
machines in use by manufacturing
today. Leupold’s precision
manufacturing gets better every year,
so the turrets that they make today
are more precise than even the ones
they made just 5 years ago.
The result is a sub-$600 rifle scope
that tracks better than a $1,600 scope
made 10 years ago. Since tracking is a
scope’s ability to adjust in precise and repeatable increments,
this becomes a compelling feature for anyone that
wants to dial an elevation correction.
Not only do the turrets do an excellent job tracking, the
owner has a couple of options. Each of these scopes ships
with an exposed and locking elevation turret that adjusts in
.25-minute of angle (MOA) clicks. All that’s required to hit
(when using a good ballistic calculator) is a quick twist of
the turret. Once the shooter fires,
a quick spin of the turret will take
it back to the original zero where
it will stop and lock. I can’t think
of another scope that has a quality
zero stop and a zero lock that’s
anywhere near this price range.
The scope I’ve been hunting
with sits atop a .270 Winchester,
so I took advantage of the CDS
system and had Leupold make a
custom turret for it. Some information
is required to get an accurate
turret made, but it’s included in the
Leupold VX- 3i 4.5- 14x40mm
(30mm) Side Focus CDS
Power: 4.5X-14X
Objective: 40mm
Tube Diameter: 30mm
Elevation
Adjustment: .25 MOA per click
Windage: .25 MOA per click
Reticle: Wind-Plex
Length: 12.6 in.
Weight: 13 oz.
Eye Relief: 4 in.
MSRP: $845
Manufacturer: Leupold, 800-538-7653,
leupold.com
cost of the scope, and is worth the
effort.
To get an accurate CDS turret
made, the following information is
necessary: bullet weight, bullet brand,
bullet type, ballistic coefficient (BC),
muzzle velocity, temperature and elevation.
The temperature and elevation
will vary at your hunting location, but
as long as the actual conditions are
within 20 degrees in temperature and
2,000 feet of elevation, the custom
CDS turret will be accurate out to 600 yards or so.
The scope I hunted with was one of the first VX-3i models
that features the CDS turret. It was a great companion
to have on a hunting rifle because once Leupold has the
necessary information, they engrave a turret that allows
the shooter to dial the distance to the target. The resulting
elevation adjustment will be dead-on. There is no need to
mess with a ballistic calculator or a range card in the field,
which is nice because animals don’t
usually stand around so that you can
make the perfect shot. If the target
is 250 yards away, spin the turret to
“2.5” and let her fly.
As much as I think the CDS turret
is a great feature to have on any
hunting scope, Leupold’s Wind-Plex
reticle is equally important. The reticle
subtends along the horizontal axis in
1-MOA increments. From the center
of the reticle, there are 10 MOAs in
each direction.
Hunters in the West and Midwest