Leupold 10x50 (tactical) Binoculars with Mildot Reticle

[Tommo]

I have a pair of 8x30 Steiner binos which are excellent and very durable. But, as part of the ageing process, I was finding it more and more difficult to maintain clear focus through varying distances - the Steiners being a sport focus type. So I began some research and, after much deliberating, I settled on these Leupolds.

To be honest I hate the over-use of the word/phrase 'tactical'; to me it conveys something slightly Walt, slightly 'tacky' as it's clearly aimed (excuse the pun) at the civilian shooting fraternity. Anyway these Leupold are the 10x50 tactical and they have a mildot reticle in the left side.

First looks, on unpacking them, was... WOW...!! They come in an excellent Molle style case, well padded and sufficiently roomy for the binos and a notepad. It has a good quality zip top.

Clarity through the binos is amazing. Exceptionally clear edge to edge with stunning colour rendition. They have a central focusing knob which falls right under your fingers and therefore will be fumble-free. At the ocular end the eyecups rotate upwards and are nice and firm, excellent eye relief if wearing specs too. Adjusting the width of the eye pieces is easy with no feel of drag and certainly no slack.

Though you'll see the reticle in both eyes when using the binos it's actually mounted in the left side and does not in any way interfere with your view. It does however have a little trick up its sleeve.

The reticle can be adjusted in the verticle/horizontal plane so that regardless of who is using the binos and their interpupilary distance, the reticle can be rotated to be in the correct allignment. Neat eh.

Weight wise they are not going to break your neck carrying them all day but a harness type thingy would always be helpful. They come with a nice padded strap, strap for the case of course, cleaning cloth and rainguards. Now this is the only negative point I have. The caps on the objectives look like they came out of a luckybag...!! They look, and feel, cheap and there appears to be no way they can be attached to the binos to secure them from loss. They are plastic not rubber and I have to wonder if they would really keep out any serious dirt or moisture. Well they will be replaced ASAP. The ocular rainguard is of a split moveable design and are comfortably snug.

So these binos tick all the boxes for me across the usual spread of specs. The added bonus of course is being able to roughly range an object without having to resort to either scope or rangefinder (though the rangefinder will always be my last resort for accuracy..).

Very happy with these binos. They are on offer at SGC for around £300, though I got mine elsewhere. It's not so long ago they were selling for twice the price..

http://www.leupold.com/tactical/prod...50mm-military/


EDIT: I emailed Leupold to ask about the objective covers and this is the reply I received from Leupold Techincal Service.

"There is no trick to attaching the lens covers. The covers are really part of the packaging and not meant for field use".

[Tone]

Leupold is quality kit, you cant go far wrong. Nice review.

Tony