Leupold Ultralight EFR XX II 3-9 X33

[NeilB]

I bought this scope last autumn to go on my Pro Sport. I was looking for a lightweight scope, with good depth of field for HFT.

It is 11 inches long, so leaves plenty of room to access the loading port, but is only 11 oz in weight, and I think lighter scopes work better on springers.
In its original form it came with a Duplex reticlue. It is also one of a very few Leupolds that will parallex down to 10m (less in fact). Front objective parallex adjustment 10m to infinity (and beyond)

In terms of comparison, my other rifles are fitted with, an EB sniper, a Bushnell 4200 Elite 6-24, and a Bushnell 3200 10X40. Of these three scopes the 4200 walks all over the others for clarirty, and depth of field.

My only problem with the Leupold was the reticlue, I found it very difficult to consistently judge holdover or windage, having been use to mildots.

So a few weeks ago I sent it back to the Leupold custom shop and had a mildot ret fitted. I was a little anxious in that the pictures of their mildot rets on their web site look to have very large dots and I thought this would obscure the kill zones, still worth a gamble as I couldn't use the duplex.

The ret they fitted has small mil dots, oval shape rather than dot shape. They work very well especially when lining up on 40 -45yrd shots. With a small objective lens the Leup can be mounted nice and low, which helps.

Of the scopes I own I believe this to be the best suited to HFT, the clarity and DOF make it ideal. Its clarity brightness is on a par with the 4200 and well surpasses the quality of my other two scopes.
The glass is excellent ,so even in woodland it is plenty bright enough. (etter than the EB, and close to the 4200)

It cost just over $500 for scope, reticule replacement, and postage before customs.
I have just ordered another one for my Pro Elite, so in a few weeks time there will be a Bushnell 10 X40 for sale.

Having read many good reviews on this site, I thought it was time to have a go, I hope you find it intersting. Once folks look at this scope I think we will see alot more on the HFT circuit.

Regards Neil B

[R. P. McMurphy]

Interesting read Mr B,can Leupold fit other reticules too this scope???

[NeilB]

Dave,
There is a limit on which reticule Leupold will fit to any given model. I did enquire about the tactical mil reticule, which has a series of lines on the reticlue axis, (marked off in full mils and 1/2 mils) unfortunately this was not an option for this scope. They fir it to their VX III models which I think includes the 6.5-20 X 40 EFR model, (serious $$)

If you give them a ring at the custom shop they are really helpfull. I also found out if you want a new scope fitted with a custom ret, then they can sell you the scope as well, so makes it easy! Their prices are little different to the US dealers.

Regards Neil

[Jochen L.]

Hi,

What's IMO very important on a scope for HFT-Purpose is the Parallax-error on the short ranges.

If its set to 25yrd how much does the reticule shift on a 10yrd-Target before you see a shade appearing, if you use the optimal distance between ocular and eye ?

Cheers Jochen

[NeilB]

Jochen,

It does not seem to shift, I have no problems in taking 8 or 10m shots with this scope and then to take 45m, eye relief is important, and that comes down to the individual as well.

Neil

[R. P. McMurphy]

I bought this scope last autumn to go on my Pro Sport. I was looking for a lightweight scope, with good depth of field for HFT.

It is 11 inches long, so leaves plenty of room to access the loading port, but is only 11 oz in weight, and I think lighter scopes work better on springers.
In its original form it came with a Duplex reticlue. It is also one of a very few Leupolds that will parallex down to 10m (less in fact). Front objective parallex adjustment 10m to infinity (and beyond)

In terms of comparison, my other rifles are fitted with, an EB sniper, a Bushnell 4200 Elite 6-24, and a Bushnell 3200 10X40. Of these three scopes the 4200 walks all over the others for clarirty, and depth of field.

My only problem with the Leupold was the reticlue, I found it very difficult to consistently judge holdover or windage, having been use to mildots.

So a few weeks ago I sent it back to the Leupold custom shop and had a mildot ret fitted. I was a little anxious in that the pictures of their mildot rets on their web site look to have very large dots and I thought this would obscure the kill zones, still worth a gamble as I couldn't use the duplex.

The ret they fitted has small mil dots, oval shape rather than dot shape. They work very well especially when lining up on 40 -45yrd shots. With a small objective lens the Leup can be mounted nice and low, which helps.

Of the scopes I own I believe this to be the best suited to HFT, the clarity and DOF make it ideal. Its clarity brightness is on a par with the 4200 and well surpasses the quality of my other two scopes.
The glass is excellent ,so even in woodland it is plenty bright enough. (etter than the EB, and close to the 4200)

It cost just over $500 for scope, reticule replacement, and postage before customs.
I have just ordered another one for my Pro Elite, so in a few weeks time there will be a Bushnell 10 X40 for sale.

Having read many good reviews on this site, I thought it was time to have a go, I hope you find it intersting. Once folks look at this scope I think we will see alot more on the HFT circuit.

Regards Neil B

Thanks for that Mr B.Any pics of it mounted on your rifle???

[simona]

I have a very similar Leupold, a vx-111 2.5-8x36. Unfortunately also very expensive, I have this mounted on an s400 which at some point I would like to hft with. It has a number 15 reticule, which with a main 40 yard zero puts the top fat post virtually on the money from 15 to 35 yards. Depth of field is stunning, I re-focused the scope at about 28-30 yards and it's as clear as a bell from about 9 to 50 on 8x. Quality of image and adjustments almost goes without saying. It's a pleasure to look through, the image seems to almost burn my eyeball after groping about with 40 mag sidewheel monsters for so many years. I just hope I get a chance to use it in a comp, though FT may take the front seat this summer.

[Cooperman.22]

After having a look through Neils scope last weekend I have to totally agree with the write up he has provided. The depth of field is superb, crystal clear all the way from 10 to 45 yards with 8 yarders just a little out of focus, but you still could pick where you want the pellet to fall, P/A error is a thing of the past .
Although at the pricer end of the market, you certainly get what you pay for here, and a scope I would seriously consider next time I'm looking to buy one.

[derek austin]

Didn't have much luck ordering from the States, see below. Usual run-around, UK rip-off, and GMK don't put in orders sometimes for weeks/months at a time. Can't understand why Leupold won't deal with us direct - our import duties are our problem, not theirs, I guess they're just protecting the GMK middle man??

Derek


With your residence being inside the UK we are unable to directly do sales order scopes for you on an individual basis. The cost for import duties, as you know, is too high. This being the case, we direct customers inside the UK to contact GMK as they will put your order through and then when they receive the product, they will ship it directly to you. If you would like to still order the same model scope with the mil-dot reticle please let me know and I will get you price and also GMK’s contact number. Thank you.