Not the most amazing scope I've ever owned, but "good enough." I think. For $172, accounting for inflation, I think it's reasonably in line with stuff I've bought new for around $100 ten, twenty and thirty years ago. Actually, I bought a new Japanese Sightron S1 about a year ago for $100 and this Leupold is very close in comparison when looking through it, but the Sightron instills much more confidence when turning the turret dials.
I don't have a picture, nor do I even have this thing mounted on my rifle yet, but I've handled it a lot in the past couple weeks. I pick it up several times a day and glance through it, change the power and look again, lay it back down and move on. I keep looking through my other scopes at the same time to compare how things look through the new Leupold. Things have been ridiculously busy and I'd hoped to have mounted it and put some holes in some paper with it by now.
I've needed another scope for some time now and finally had a chance to get one. I started looking several weeks ago and that got old really quick; between all the new companies and all their new catchy but vague line and model names, and, oh, man, the PRICES these days, it was bewildering. I looked here specifically to get an idea of what was today's best bet and still couldn't make up my mind. I needed a good, cheap scope. Yeah, I know, but I've had a few and I was hoping there was still a "sleeper" out there in today's market.
Now, I used to get to shoot a lot and now that I don't get to shoot a lot, I realize that I used to be a pretty darned good shot - at least compared to how much effort it takes me to shoot well these days compared to then. Still, as good as I feel I can be, I don't need the very best of anything, including a scope. It's not that I have low standards either, but there's a practical limit from which any of us can benefit - in reality. As a datum point, a used Japanese Tasco World Class from the late eighties is good enough for me, but I've had/have better. OLDER Redfields, B&L Balvar, Bushnell Scopechiefs, Leupold Vari-X II, a Japanese Sightron S1 - that's my speed and they all work well for me. The Sightron is at the low end of my scale and the B&L at the high end. My VX-II is close to my B&L Balvar.
When I first got this Leupold VX-Freedom 1.5-4x20, I was repulsed. The name, with absolutely no implication as to quality level or functionality, irked me. The aesthetic changes irked me, like the blocky turret and bulky turret caps. It's not a knock-your-socks-off bright and clear scope, but it's OK. I think for the $172 (to my door) price is in line with the general quality and functionality levels. That amount seems about in line with the $100 scopes I bought (mostly Japanese) a couple decades ago - almost.
It's bright enough, clear enough, has more distortion around the edges than I'd expect, but the reticle is just a reticle and useful for most applications. The 1/4 minute "clicks," well, there's a big disappointment. No coin needed - finger-adjustable, but the clicks are very ill-defined and I have to rock the turret dial back and forth to reassure myself that I'm in a detent and not halfway between. If I'd tried it out before paying for it, I'd have left it on the shelf and kept looking. Construction seems good and the guarantee is Leupold's famous guarantee, ,so we'll see.
Some reviewers complain about the power ring being bulky and ugly - "tactical-looking." I've no complaint there even though I hate over-sized occular bells and power rings. This one is small enough to not be severely limiting in mounting options, but big enough to get a grip on and turn. I have a VX-II I've had for about thirty years and it's a bear to turn, especially when it's cold out.
I've read that the "Freedom" has "VX-2 glass," which doesn't meant much to me because I've never had one. The glass is pretty decent, but I can't complain because, as I've said, I don't need the best of the best. It does not compare to "vintage" Japanese glass I own/have owned, but it's really good/very-close/close enough. I think the very best glass I've had has been "pre-Elite" Bushnell Scopechiefs and B&L Balvar - for comparison's sake. I've had some nice Japanese Weavers too. Oddly, I have a Korean Swift 1.5 - 4.5 x 20 that is as clear as looking through clean, fresh air. Maybe I should poke a finger through it to see if there's glass in that one at all? It went fuzzy on me on a rifle once so I don't trust putting it back on anything.
I've read up on the VX-Freedom and the one thing that bothers me is that they (Leupold) make a big deal about "USA Designed, Machined, Assembled." Big enough a deal that they may as well come out and just say that they've put outsourced parts in it. I'm sort of OK with that to a degree. After all, I have had a lot of Japanese scopes that have been excellent, and a couple Korean ones that weren't bad. Chinese scopes? I've had one and will never own another. Philippine scopes? I hear good things about some of them but the one (Sightron S1) I bought was the absolute worst piece of crap for a scope I'd ever looked through and I will not take another chance, period. What bothers me is that the "clicks" are so ill-defined and cheap-feeling that I wonder if that part of the scope (an important part, no?) came from China or the Philippines. We'll see. Leupold stuck their guarantee on it, so I'll trust them for now and see if the scope holds up.
I might mention too that finding a "good, cheap" low-powered variable scope is not easy. Finding a scope that isn't power-rated to pick up passing satellites, doesn't have a "tactical" or AR-cartridge-specific reticle, gigantic/extra knobs and other do-dads on it is even tougher. Overall, I think Leupold is doing a service to rifle users who've been neglected for a few years now. Every low-power variable I've seen has features I don't want or need or is in the high-end lines of scopes which are way beyond my budget. They have a 2 - 7 x 33 also, and I'd buy one just to have another inexpensive ($176) low-powered variable handy, but I'm not comfortable with the way the turret dials feel yet, so I'll wait until I've used this one for a while.
Anyone who has any further info on the Leupold VX-Freedom, feel free to contribute, add value, correct, etc. I'm just giving my immediate impressions on mine based solely on handling it and looking through it for a week or so - so far. I'm no scope expert and I probably couldn't discern objective differences between a $3k scope and a $300 scope by looking through it. "Good enough" is good enough and my standard is based on many scopes which have been durable, useful and functional over a period of half a century of use.
I don't have a picture, nor do I even have this thing mounted on my rifle yet, but I've handled it a lot in the past couple weeks. I pick it up several times a day and glance through it, change the power and look again, lay it back down and move on. I keep looking through my other scopes at the same time to compare how things look through the new Leupold. Things have been ridiculously busy and I'd hoped to have mounted it and put some holes in some paper with it by now.
I've needed another scope for some time now and finally had a chance to get one. I started looking several weeks ago and that got old really quick; between all the new companies and all their new catchy but vague line and model names, and, oh, man, the PRICES these days, it was bewildering. I looked here specifically to get an idea of what was today's best bet and still couldn't make up my mind. I needed a good, cheap scope. Yeah, I know, but I've had a few and I was hoping there was still a "sleeper" out there in today's market.
Now, I used to get to shoot a lot and now that I don't get to shoot a lot, I realize that I used to be a pretty darned good shot - at least compared to how much effort it takes me to shoot well these days compared to then. Still, as good as I feel I can be, I don't need the very best of anything, including a scope. It's not that I have low standards either, but there's a practical limit from which any of us can benefit - in reality. As a datum point, a used Japanese Tasco World Class from the late eighties is good enough for me, but I've had/have better. OLDER Redfields, B&L Balvar, Bushnell Scopechiefs, Leupold Vari-X II, a Japanese Sightron S1 - that's my speed and they all work well for me. The Sightron is at the low end of my scale and the B&L at the high end. My VX-II is close to my B&L Balvar.
When I first got this Leupold VX-Freedom 1.5-4x20, I was repulsed. The name, with absolutely no implication as to quality level or functionality, irked me. The aesthetic changes irked me, like the blocky turret and bulky turret caps. It's not a knock-your-socks-off bright and clear scope, but it's OK. I think for the $172 (to my door) price is in line with the general quality and functionality levels. That amount seems about in line with the $100 scopes I bought (mostly Japanese) a couple decades ago - almost.
It's bright enough, clear enough, has more distortion around the edges than I'd expect, but the reticle is just a reticle and useful for most applications. The 1/4 minute "clicks," well, there's a big disappointment. No coin needed - finger-adjustable, but the clicks are very ill-defined and I have to rock the turret dial back and forth to reassure myself that I'm in a detent and not halfway between. If I'd tried it out before paying for it, I'd have left it on the shelf and kept looking. Construction seems good and the guarantee is Leupold's famous guarantee, ,so we'll see.
Some reviewers complain about the power ring being bulky and ugly - "tactical-looking." I've no complaint there even though I hate over-sized occular bells and power rings. This one is small enough to not be severely limiting in mounting options, but big enough to get a grip on and turn. I have a VX-II I've had for about thirty years and it's a bear to turn, especially when it's cold out.
I've read that the "Freedom" has "VX-2 glass," which doesn't meant much to me because I've never had one. The glass is pretty decent, but I can't complain because, as I've said, I don't need the best of the best. It does not compare to "vintage" Japanese glass I own/have owned, but it's really good/very-close/close enough. I think the very best glass I've had has been "pre-Elite" Bushnell Scopechiefs and B&L Balvar - for comparison's sake. I've had some nice Japanese Weavers too. Oddly, I have a Korean Swift 1.5 - 4.5 x 20 that is as clear as looking through clean, fresh air. Maybe I should poke a finger through it to see if there's glass in that one at all? It went fuzzy on me on a rifle once so I don't trust putting it back on anything.
I've read up on the VX-Freedom and the one thing that bothers me is that they (Leupold) make a big deal about "USA Designed, Machined, Assembled." Big enough a deal that they may as well come out and just say that they've put outsourced parts in it. I'm sort of OK with that to a degree. After all, I have had a lot of Japanese scopes that have been excellent, and a couple Korean ones that weren't bad. Chinese scopes? I've had one and will never own another. Philippine scopes? I hear good things about some of them but the one (Sightron S1) I bought was the absolute worst piece of crap for a scope I'd ever looked through and I will not take another chance, period. What bothers me is that the "clicks" are so ill-defined and cheap-feeling that I wonder if that part of the scope (an important part, no?) came from China or the Philippines. We'll see. Leupold stuck their guarantee on it, so I'll trust them for now and see if the scope holds up.
I might mention too that finding a "good, cheap" low-powered variable scope is not easy. Finding a scope that isn't power-rated to pick up passing satellites, doesn't have a "tactical" or AR-cartridge-specific reticle, gigantic/extra knobs and other do-dads on it is even tougher. Overall, I think Leupold is doing a service to rifle users who've been neglected for a few years now. Every low-power variable I've seen has features I don't want or need or is in the high-end lines of scopes which are way beyond my budget. They have a 2 - 7 x 33 also, and I'd buy one just to have another inexpensive ($176) low-powered variable handy, but I'm not comfortable with the way the turret dials feel yet, so I'll wait until I've used this one for a while.
Anyone who has any further info on the Leupold VX-Freedom, feel free to contribute, add value, correct, etc. I'm just giving my immediate impressions on mine based solely on handling it and looking through it for a week or so - so far. I'm no scope expert and I probably couldn't discern objective differences between a $3k scope and a $300 scope by looking through it. "Good enough" is good enough and my standard is based on many scopes which have been durable, useful and functional over a period of half a century of use.