Review: Leupold VX-5HD 3-15x44 riflescope

Leupold’s VX-5HD 3-15×44 is a top-tier hunting scope that provides long-shot capability yet it is light and compact enough for a stalking rifle. It weighs 560gm, which is impressive for a scope that’s 34cm long, has a 44mm objective lens, and has a 30mm main tube providing a full 75 MOA adjustment for both elevation and windage.

The trade-off with lighter rifle and scope outfits for use in thick cover as well as to reasonable distances is finding the right magnification range. The 5:1 zoom ratio in this scope is close to perfect, and the eye relief stays consistent throughout, ranging from 94-97mm. The magnification ring and white markings allow for fast, smooth, precise adjustments.

Leupold VX-5HD 3-15x44 review — The VX-5’s tube is long enough for a long-action rifle but still sits well on a short action like this

The whole scope is made from high-quality aluminium, which keeps the weight down, but certainly makes it durable enough for hard-hitting rifles. The tube provides enough room to mount on long-action rifles but was still nicely balanced on the shorter 6.5 Creedmoor I used to test it.

The parallax knob on the left of the scope allows you to finely tune the focus, making sure the view is sharp at the distances you will be shooting. I found 15x more than enough for longer shots, but I only tested the scope out to around 400m or so. Experienced long-range shooters should be able to manage more than that without issue, in appropriate cartridges.

The features are exciting, but it needs to be mentioned that the quality of the glass in this scope is outstanding. Leupold’s proprietary Professional Grade Optical System utilises high-density (HD) glass for great performance. Leupold coats the lenses with calcium-fluoride that allows for maximum light transmission, and the exterior lenses have a Guard-ion hydroscopic coating that sheds dirt and water.

Further to this, Leupold has made this scope waterproof, fog proof, and sealed strongly to ensure it can withstand large variations in temperature and elevation, and shocks. Huge variations in elevation aren’t common in Australia but it’s worth noting that this scope was zeroed at 300m above sea level and I was shooting it at 1100m above, and everything was fine.

The icing on the cake for this scope is the option to have a CDS turret built by Leupold. The scope comes with a blank turret in the box and Leupold will etch ballistic marks for elevation on it for free in the first instance. Additional ones afterwards if you change a load or mount the scope on a different rifle will cost extra.

The service is provided in Australia by distributor NIOA, which has established the only Leupold custom shop outside the USA. This is an award-winning system that Leupold has developed, giving you control over how you wish to have your gear set up.

The CDS on my test scope had the data for Federal Premium 6.5 CM ammunition loaded with the Hornady 143gn ELD-X, with information about velocity, the elevation the scope was sighted in at, and elevation marks out to over 800m. Of course, if you wish to take full advantage of this system, it is your responsibility to provide the most accurate data possible, but with today’s quality chronographs and phone apps, it’s easy. I was confidently making shots out to medium range using this system and it was as simple and repeatable as one could hope.

The turret has two revolutions of adjustment and the further distances are marked on the higher section of the turret. The turret also has a zero-stop on it that ensures you don’t accidentally wind past your zero in the heat of the moment. A spring-loaded button allows you to move the turret quickly and easily, but it’s impossible to bump accidentally.

Leupold offers this scope with a range of reticles and the one I tested was a simple duplex, so I relied on the CDS for holdover. There are options to suit a variety of preferences.

Besides shooting to reasonable distances at the range, I hunted with this scope at between 20m and 250m. Some of the critters were in extremely thick cover and 3x gave me the field of view necessary to swing the rifle quickly and make confident shots. Others were in the open and I stretched the legs as far as I was able to at the time. I would have liked to have hunted a little further but the opportunities didn’t present, but given how well the scope performed at the range, I’m confident it would do just as well hunting at longer distances.

It’s hard to imagine a scope being more versatile than this Leupold VX-5HD in this magnification range. The capability of the CDS allows for extremely confident shooting, but having it on a scope of this quality alleviates any thoughts of it being a gimmick. Of course, you pay a decent price for something of this quality, but considering the capabilities of the CDS and service provided by Leupold, it’s well worth it.