Rifle Scopes So, what about Leupold Mark 5 ?

I've seen a few people mention they either sold their S&B for the Mark 5 or picked up the Mark 5 in favor of the competition. For those that had them both at the same time or have been able to experience both. What made you pick the Leupold over the Schmidts, NF's, Vortex's etc?

Comparing to the S&B's, did the 5-25x Leupold's have a better eyebox and eye relief flexibility?

Also, does anyone have any direct experience on how the 3-18x Mark 5 compares to the 4-16x Atacr F1?
 
Got out with the Mark 5 today! I was full on new scope zero'n, load test'n, tripod shoot'n maniac!! So, I was going back and forth from prone and tripod with the DTA and the Tikka (Kahles 624i) Although it was kind of a dark & blah day with T-storms in the area, the Mark 5 vs Kahles is so close I'm not sure theres a difference. Both are damn clear and sharp. Only got out to 600 today, mainly shooting multiple targets between 300 and 600 practicing holdovers to get the feel of the T3 reticle and get used to the focusing. Shot about 60rds plus some Load work at 100yds. Im really happy with this Leupy so far!
Some crappy cell pix..
IMG_5503.JPGIMG_5500.JPGIMG_5502.JPGIMG_5505.JPG
 
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There’s a nice article but Tom Beckstrand in the Guns & Ammo Sniper issue.


What, they put it in a Spuhr mount and not a Leupold mount, sacrilege! :D Interesting title there - "Leupold's New Beginning", it really seems that is the case with the Mark 5 as they seemed to miss the "Mark" with the Mark 6 and the Mark 8 was so overpriced that it kept it out of many hands even if it had some pretty amazing glass. The only downside's it would seem with the Mark 5 is the lack of a good Christmas tree reticle, the high price of admission for illumination and the strange windage zero location, if you don't need those things or aren't bothered by them it would appear Leupy finally has something worth mentioning in the precision community. Hopefully my 3.6-18x44 will arrive sooner than the 6 week estimate they gave me...
 
What, they put it in a Spuhr mount and not a Leupold mount, sacrilege! :D Interesting title there - "Leupold's New Beginning", it really seems that is the case with the Mark 5 as they seemed to miss the "Mark" with the Mark 6 and the Mark 8 was so overpriced that it kept it out of many hands even if it had some pretty amazing glass. The only downside's it would seem with the Mark 5 is the lack of a good Christmas tree reticle, the high price of admission for illumination and the strange windage zero location, if you don't need those things or aren't bothered by them it would appear Leupy finally has something worth mentioning in the precision community. Hopefully my 3.6-18x44 will arrive sooner than the 6 week estimate they gave me...


Yeah, the windage thing is odd for sure. It feels to me like I'm moving my head just as much as any other scope to reset windage. The reticle choices are pretty limited. The CCH just wasn't blowing my skirt up. I cant really explain it, just seems like they went with the first thought and never finished it. It's to bad they didn't get something like the SKMR2 or the EBR 7b. Oh well, the T3 is growing on me.
 
I think hell would freeze over if USO came out with an Ultra Short design, but sure would be nice even if it is wishful thinking. I actually think USO has a pretty good reticle lineup.

I’d love to see them field an ultra short.

Their reticle lineup is alright to me. I’m just tired of my GAP reticle at least in regard to its thickness
 
So far my initial impressions on the 3.6-18 tmr is really positive. sitting side by side with a gen2 pst 1-6 the weight is almost the same. after years with heavy glass I'm a bit nervous about breaking the Leupold, it's so light!

I'm not seeing any CA, but I'm not qualified to describe what I see regarding optics, just offering opinions. no tracking tests yet, waiting on the AR barrel this scope will reside on. the weight & size make me think the 3.6-18 will be a perfect gas gun optic.
 
... after years with heavy glass I'm a bit nervous about breaking the Leupold, it's so light!

...the weight & size make me think the 3.6-18 will be a perfect gas gun optic.

Carbon fiber is light too but very strong when used appropriately. With new manufacturing and materials I do not think scopes need to be as heavy as they used to be and still be as tough, but I hear what you are saying, we typically think heavy equals strong. And I agree, I think the 3.6-18x44 makes an ideal gas gun optic, but something that will also makes it's home on Covert's as well as other lighter weight rigs. Thanks for sharing your impressions, these scopes are definitely turning some heads.
 
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Just ordered a 5-25 CCH reticle and Badger rings from Jason @ EuroOptic for a great price. Thanks Jason. I can't wait to lay my hands on it.

What made you pick the CCH reticle? I'm ready to order a 3.6-18 mk5 for a AR in 6.5 Grendel, but the only thing holding me back is reticle choice. TMR seems lacking, but I don't want an overly busy Horus or Tremor3. So that left me thinking the CCH, but it doesent seem to popular, and the quarter/0.25 hash marks kinda left me wondering...
 
I started to get the Tremor 3 but decided it was to busy for me . I will be using the scope for local club matches and hunting so I picked the reticle that I felt I would be comfortable using for both. I've been using a Burris Xtr II with the G2B reticle and felt lacking for matches and liked it for hunting. Maybe I can get along with this reticle. I'll let you know.
 
I started to get the Tremor 3 but decided it was to busy for me . I will be using the scope for local club matches and hunting so I picked the reticle that I felt I would be comfortable using for both. I've been using a Burris Xtr II with the G2B reticle and felt lacking for matches and liked it for hunting. Maybe I can get along with this reticle. I'll let you know.

I've got several Tremor 3 equipped optics and one CCH (LRP). The Tremor 3 is no more busy than the CCH. Both have a lot going on and I promise you won't notice it when actually in use and not comparing photos with a white background. The difference is that the Tremor 3 gets you .2 mil hashes and the wind dot system too.
 
It has hashes on top for hold-under, slightly cleaned up, and no Horus upcharge.

Chevrons are for wind; they're at 1.6 and 3.2 so you can think in miles instead of MRAD, borrowing a little from the Tremor line.
 
How close in can the parralax adjust down? 25 yards?
Was thinking about one of these for dual purpose with one use being NRL 22 matches.
Officially, Leupold states the Mark 5HD 3.6-18x44 can parallax down to 75 yards, when I tested one I was able to get it to focus below the 75y tick on the parallax, what I don't know is whether or not parallax will be correct, but the fact it focuses below 75 is encouraging as the Bushnell DMR II definitely does not, everything becomes a big blur under 75 yards pretty quick on the Bushnell.
 
Does anyone know where leupold sources their glass from?
https://www.leupold.com/service-support/resources/faqs#whereGetGlass


  • Where does Leupold get its glass?

At this time, there are no American manufacturers that can supply enough high quality lenses to support our Golden Ring Optics production. Our lens systems are designed at Leupold, by American optical engineers, in our state-of -the-art optics labs. The glass is then procured from vendors who must meet stringent quality standards. Incoming parts are carefully inspected in our testing facility before they are accepted into the build process.

All major optics producers acquire some or all of their glass from the same sources as Leupold. Some of these sources are located domestically, some are European, and some are Asian. The source of the base material is not nearly as important as the optical design. Our glass is so much clearer due to our proprietary lens coatings, how we engineer the prescription of the lenses, and the construction of the optic itself.
 
Had a chance to play with my Mark 5 5-25 CCH that came in today. The glass is better than I expected. Very little CA, and the clarity and low light performance beat out the gen 2 razor, which surprised me. The eye box is very good, but field of view was slightly smaller than the xrs 2 and a good bit smaller than the razor 2. If there's any weakness, that's the only one I could find.

The turrets are nice. The overall package is really well done. The cch reticle is going to get a lot of peoples attention.

No idea if it tracks yet, but I have a tall target ready to go this week...
 
The CCH has heavy lines, so its great in low light and low magnification. It does however clutter up the sight picture more than other simpler reticles like the Skmr3, ebr2c, g3, etc.
 
My Mark 5HD 3.6-18x44 is on the UPS truck for delivery today and my S&B US 3-20 should arrive Monday, I'm really looking forward to seeing how the two compare. I do not expect the Mark 5 to match the Schmidt in color, clarity and resolution but I'm hoping it will be a match to something like the LRHS/LRTS in glass.

I should also mention I ordered the Mark 5 with the Tremor3 reticle, this is my first adventure with a Horus reticle so I'll be curious if it feels too busy or is something I could find myself appreciating more and more over time.

Edit: a few minutes after my post and look what arrived, and with my Sig a day early
image.jpg
 
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Well just playing around at the house I can already tell I'm going to like the Mark 5. Without having it mounted on the rifle I can already tell it has a forgiving eyebox and the glass seems to be very sharp so I expect it to do well in resolution tests. Can't wait to get this scope to the range. Also, was comparing the Tremor3 to my other Christmas tree rets and didn't feel like it was too bad, the big test will be when shooting, but like others upon initial review it's pretty impressive for the price (for non-illuminated model).
 
Well just playing around at the house I can already tell I'm going to like the Mark 5. Without having it mounted on the rifle I can already tell it has a forgiving eyebox and the glass seems to be very sharp so I expect it to do well in resolution tests. Can't wait to get this scope to the range. Also, was comparing the Tremor3 to my other Christmas tree rets and didn't feel like it was too bad, the big test will be when shooting, but like others upon initial review it's pretty impressive for the price (for non-illuminated model).


You will "appreciate" the wind dots of the TReMoR3