Rifle Scopes So, what about Leupold Mark 5 ?

Someone please help, I am between a MK5 and a 525i.... should I bite the bullet and go with the Kahles? Looking at illuminated tremor 3 vs skmr3. PRS intended use.

Having owned a Mark 5 and currently shooting the K525i i'd say just get whichever reticle you prefer. I adore the skmr3, the Kahles glass is better, turrets are far better, eyebox is better, etc. It's the better optic is it $1000 better? Idk practically speaking...no. They both work really well. Mk5 is a great option for it's price range. I think the MK5 probably has better low light performance and is lighter. Those would be the advantages i'd give it. Everything else i'd give to the Kahles.
 
Someone please help, I am between a MK5 and a 525i.... should I bite the bullet and go with the Kahles? Looking at illuminated tremor 3 vs skmr3. PRS intended use.
Try to look at one first if you can because you might not like something about what ever scope you pick. Another one to think about is the pmii 5-25 dt p4f I’ve seen them on optics planet for $2600 & you can usually find 10% off codes which could get you a pmii for $2350 & a lot of people have won prs & fclass with that p4f reticle. I like my mk5 a lot it’s a very good scope & will complete with the best. Any of these top scopes I doubt you will be dissatisfied with. So pick the one with the reticle you like & best price you can find
 
I got behind a nf 7-35 tremor 3 at the range the other day & it was really nice. I was surprised how bright it was at 35x but I had to turn the power down, I’m not comfortable shooting at high mag
 
Try to look at one first if you can because you might not like something about what ever scope you pick. Another one to think about is the pmii 5-25 dt p4f I’ve seen them on optics planet for $2600 & you can usually find 10% off codes which could get you a pmii for $2350 & a lot of people have won prs & fclass with that p4f reticle. I like my mk5 a lot it’s a very good scope & will complete with the best. Any of these top scopes I doubt you will be dissatisfied with. So pick the one with the reticle you like & best price you can find


Thank you both^^ I’ve had the opportunity to get behind both, just not at the same time or for any length of time. It’s daunting, dropping that kind of coin mainly based on 3rd party reviews.
 
These spuhr leveling wedge kits work really good for scope rings if you want a simple way to level the scope. They are $30 & makes leveling easier
 

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...anyone have a pic of the Leupold Mk5 5-25x on their SCAR 20S?

I should have a picture of the SCAR 20S with the Leupold later this week.

I bought a Leupold Mark 5HD 5-25x56 with CCH this weekend at Fin Fur Feather and have a LuRue Tactical scope mount QD LT745 (20MOA/35mm) enroute.

I have the Arisaka optic leveler combo and just need to install once the mount arrives.

I plan on trying this scope out on the SCAR 20s and my DD5V1.

Eventually plan on getting a SPUHR 4602 and possibly a NF ATACR 4-16x42, NF 5-25x56 or a Kahles down the road and have a dedicated scope for each platform.

With the weather breaking just want to get to the range and get some time in with the SCAR 20S.
 
Just looking through one at a match is not enough time to make a good comparison. At first I kind of thought that too but I’ve had my mk5 25x next to my pmii & a friends tangent theta & others & it’s close optically. The pmii & TT are both better than razor or NF but I wouldn’t say it outclassed them or the mk5 & I’ve had a decent amount of time with these scopes together. The mk5 weak points are fov, parallax, & color saturation vs the others I mentioned. The mk5 has good resolution, brightness, distortion control, controls ca, it’s light, & a crystal clear view which is neutral in color where some of the others were slightly warmer giving them more saturation I think. So far this scope & the dmr2 pro are my favorite scopes that you can find anywhere from $1300-2200 & make it a really good value. I also have a vortex pst2, Nikon fx1000, & diamondback Tactical 24x, now those are definitely outclassed by others. My rank would be #1 TT, #2 pmii, #3 NF, #4 razor, & #5 mk5 but they are all close in performance & I doubt anyone would be disappointed in any of these scopes
 
Just looking through one at a match is not enough time to make a good comparison. At first I kind of thought that too but I’ve had my mk5 25x next to my pmii & a friends tangent theta & others & it’s close optically. The pmii & TT are both better than razor or NF but I wouldn’t say it outclassed them or the mk5 & I’ve had a decent amount of time with these scopes together. The mk5 weak points are fov, parallax, & color saturation vs the others I mentioned. The mk5 has good resolution, brightness, distortion control, controls ca, it’s light, & a crystal clear view which is neutral in color where some of the others were slightly warmer giving them more saturation I think. So far this scope & the dmr2 pro are my favorite scopes that you can find anywhere from $1300-2200 & make it a really good value. I also have a vortex pst2, Nikon fx1000, & diamondback Tactical 24x, now those are definitely outclassed by others. My rank would be #1 TT, #2 pmii, #3 NF, #4 razor, & #5 mk5 but they are all close in performance & I doubt anyone would be disappointed in any of these scopes

They really are pretty good for the $...
I have not had a chance to check out the DMR II Pro, in your opinion how does it stack up? I have shot the DMR a LOT back when they were fairly new and honestly loved them for the $ back then.
 
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They really are pretty good for the $...
I have not had a chance to check out the DMR II Pro, in your opinion how does it stack up? I have shot the DMR a LOT back when they were fairly new and honestly loved them for the $ back then.
My friend has the xrs2 & the dmr pro. We both think they are almost the same scope with different mag range. They compare very well to the mk5. I think the pro is better than the 44mm mk5 & right there with the 56mm. I would put the dmr2 pro just under the razor & the mk5 but really close, so close that next time there’s a another sale, I will get one. There are several sites selling the pro for around $1550 regular price & $1300 or just under for the sale price which makes it hard to beat for the $$$. I wouldn’t trade my mk5 56mm for it if I had to pick 1. The mk5 is light, very bright in cloudy conditions, & a good value for non illumination sale price. To me the razor, xrs2, dmr2 pro, & mk5 are best scopes for the money & they are so close in performance that price & features would be the reason to pick 1 vs another. Some people need illumination but don’t care about weight than the razor or xrs2 makes sense & if weights a big issue than the mk5 or amg would be good & dmr2 pro for least costing best scope
 
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These spuhr leveling wedge kits work really good for scope rings if you want a simple way to level the scope. They are $30 & makes leveling easier
That's cool, so is Spuhr selling those separately now vs. the leveling tool when you buy their mounts? One should also note that not all scopes have perfectly perpendicular reticles to the flat of the scope, they should be but you should verify with a plumb or level after. Also, I prefer to mount my scopes so the reticle is perpendicular (the vertical stadia to the horizon) with my natural hold (I tend to cant straight stocks to the left slightly) and so mounting my scope in such a way provides for much less adjustment when settling in behind the rifle - this tool will not work for those situations.
 
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That's cool, so is Spuhr selling those separately now vs. the leveling tool when you buy their mounts? One should also note that not all scopes have perfectly perpendicular reticles to the flat of the scope, they should be but you should verify with a plumb or level after. Also, I prefer to mount my scopes so the reticle is perpendicular (the vertical stadia to the horizon) with my natural hold (I tend to cant straight stocks to the left slightly) and so mounting my scope in such a way provides for much less adjustment when settling in behind the rifle - this tool will not work for those situations.
I always plumb & check the tracking when mounting, the level usually puts me right on or very close to perpendicular. It makes things a little easier to dial in
 
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That's cool, so is Spuhr selling those separately now vs. the leveling tool when you buy their mounts? One should also note that not all scopes have perfectly perpendicular reticles to the flat of the scope, they should be but you should verify with a plumb or level after. Also, I prefer to mount my scopes so the reticle is perpendicular (the vertical stadia to the horizon) with my natural hold (I tend to cant straight stocks to the left slightly) and so mounting my scope in such a way provides for much less adjustment when settling in behind the rifle - this tool will not work for those situations.
Yeah the spuhr leveling kit is separate from the 1 piece mount designed for separate rings using the rail between the rings. There’s also the arisaka level which can be used for other 1 piece mounts, it has a flat bottom, slides between the mount & scope with a wedge
 
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I heard through the grape vine that Sunday night they are loading the website with 7x35 and Monday morning we should be able to order online. And pricing is just a few hundo over the 5x25. Illumination is still a ridiculous upcharge though...
 
I got my hands on a 7-35 with the CCH reticle last night and first impression is this thing is going to be sweet!!! I've been running a 5-25 TMR for quite a while now and love it so don't expect anything different from the 7-35. First impressions on the turret were that it had louder and more tactile 'clicks'. Didn't pull out my 5-25 to really compare though. Also, the turret numbers lined up perfectly with the hash marks every time. Should have my rings in today so I can hopefully play with this over the weekend.
 
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I got my hands on a 7-35 with the CCH reticle last night and first impression is this thing is going to be sweet!!! I've been running a 5-25 TMR for quite a while now and love it so don't expect anything different from the 7-35. First impressions on the turret were that it had louder and more tactile 'clicks'. Didn't pull out my 5-25 to really compare though. Also, the turret numbers lined up perfectly with the hash marks every time. Should have my rings in today so I can hopefully play with this over the weekend.


Where were you able to find it ? Looking for two of these...
 
Where were you able to find it ? Looking for two of these...
Thankfully I've got double secret inside connections. I did have a buddy who ordered one directly through Leupold a few months ago on a discount certificate he'd received somehow and he got his about a week before I did. So I'm guessing they're getting ready to stock their retailers really soon.
 
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Looking at the mark 5hd but really have no experience with scopes to make a good decision. What would you guys recommend in regards to reticle and which zoom? It will be used on a Recce rifle. Also would it be optimal to use something like a delta point as well for cqb?
 
Looking at the mark 5hd but really have no experience with scopes to make a good decision. What would you guys recommend in regards to reticle and which zoom? It will be used on a Recce rifle. Also would it be optimal to use something like a delta point as well for cqb?

Lets put it this way, JJ Rock has been using the Mark 5's on their 2-mile guns and winning. They just sealed the deal with Leupold for sponsorship. Choosing Leupold over NF... Talked to John last night, they love these scopes. I will be changing from NF and USO to all Mark 5 7-35 TREMOR 3

7055176
 
Lets put it this way, JJ Rock has been using the Mark 5's on their 2-mile guns and winning. They just sealed the deal with Leupold for sponsorship. Choosing Leupold over NF... Talked to John last night, they love these scopes. I will be changing from NF and USO to all Mark 5 7-35 TREMOR 3

View attachment 7055176


Why did you pick tremor 3 over the h59 or the cch? Also do you guys think the 3.6-18x is enough for Recce/SPR/DMR?
 
Why did you pick tremor 3 over the h59 or the cch? Also do you guys think the 3.6-18x is enough for Recce/SPR/DMR?


I use TREMOR 3 just because I am used to it. It just makes sense to me. JJ Rock and most likely other 2 mile shooters use the thinnest lined reticle available, shooting out 2 miles the target gets small.
 
I use TREMOR 3 just because I am used to it. It just makes sense to me. JJ Rock and most likely other 2 mile shooters use the thinnest lined reticle available, shooting out 2 miles the target gets small.
It’s personal preference, the h59 (0.039) has slightly thinner horizontal lines than tremor 3 (0.05) & tremor 3 (0.05) has slightly thinner vertical lines than the h59 (0.055). They all have .2 mil open centers so that’s 24 inches of open target at 2 miles. I like the thinners horintal lines of the h59 better for xlr vs tremor 3. On the tremor 3 the bottom grid has 0.025 thick horizontal lines which might be an advantage for holdover if you don’t have enough elevation to dial. I’ve only shot out to 2k yards with the h59 & 2 miles is a different ballgame
 
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It’s personal preference, the h59 (0.039) has slightly thinner horizontal lines than tremor 3 (0.05) & tremor 3 (0.05) has slightly thinner vertical lines than the h59 (0.055). They all have .2 mil open centers so that’s 24 inches of open target at 2 miles. I like the thinners horintal lines of the h59 better for xlr vs tremor 3. On the tremor 3 the bottom grid has 0.025 thick horizontal lines which might be an advantage for holdover if you don’t have enough elevation to dial. I’ve only shot out to 2k yards with the h59 & 2 miles is a different ballgame

To add to this, it looks like the CCH has a 0.040 horizontal lines along with the same .2 mil open center.
 
I got my hands on a 7-35 with the CCH reticle last night and first impression is this thing is going to be sweet!!! I've been running a 5-25 TMR for quite a while now and love it so don't expect anything different from the 7-35. First impressions on the turret were that it had louder and more tactile 'clicks'. Didn't pull out my 5-25 to really compare though. Also, the turret numbers lined up perfectly with the hash marks every time. Should have my rings in today so I can hopefully play with this over the weekend.
Post pictures when you can ?
 
So just to sanity check, my new mk5 5-25, the adjustment screw under the elevation turret is used to set your zero?
Whats everyone using for rings/mounts? I had ARC M10’s on my AT. Just got a Cadex CDX-30 with a flat top and wondered if there is another good mount outside of Spuhr.

Using a 3.6-18x44 version

I’m using mk4 high rings on my LRP Bergara XLR 6 mm creed
 

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So just to sanity check, my new mk5 5-25, the adjustment screw under the elevation turret is used to set your zero?


I’m using mk4 high rings on my LRP Bergara XLR 6 mm creed

All you have to do, in regards to the turret hash marks lining up, is loosen the set screws, line up the hash marks, and tighten down the turret set screws. Mine line up perfectly.
 

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Ya, removing the turret is not necessary. You adjust to your observed zero (say 2.3 mils), loosen the set screws, turn back to zero (locks in place), tighten the screws.

Ahhh...got it! Really impressed with the MK5 HD. I see the higher magnification model is out now. Looks impressive! I wonder what the set screws on the parallax are for?
 
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Ahhh...got it! Really impressed with the MK5 HD. I see the higher magnification model is out now. Looks impressive! I wonder what the set screws on the parallax are for?

Setting the parallax. Mine for instance was closer to 75yds on the dial, when shooting at 100yds. Loosen the set screw, set to 100yds and tighten again. Now 100=100 on the dial.
 
Setting the parallax. Mine for instance was closer to 75yds on the dial, when shooting at 100yds. Loosen the set screw, set to 100yds and tighten again. Now 100=100 on the dial.


Ok...I didn’t know you could identify what your parallax was. I set mine to bottom out at 75, the infinity setting goes way past the mark.
 
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Just a heads up, tried to pick an instock CCH reticle 7x35 Monday and they are under a "new product hold" for QC. The sales rep told me they check each scope before they send them out... but that they have "no idea" when they will actually hit the mail... bummer. I am at 50 days waiting on my Nightforce Mil-XT so now its just a race to see what gets here first.
 
May have missed it when reading through the 25 pages of comments, but has anyone done a tracking test on the 5-25? Seems like that's been a common gripe historically, understandable, curious how the Mk5 HD scopes are performing now.

Thanks!
 
May have missed it when reading through the 25 pages of comments, but has anyone done a tracking test on the 5-25? Seems like that's been a common gripe historically, understandable, curious how the Mk5 HD scopes are performing now.

Thanks!

Not a test per say, but I have ran mine in 2 matches thus far and lots of practice, and I am fully confident in the tracking. It matches up with my data perfectly, every time. It has also returned to zero each time. I honestly have full confidence in it, just like I had when I was running an ATACR. It's nice to see a legacy company like Leupold finally bring out a product like this.
 
When picking between the 25x & 35x, the 35x sounds nice but if you live in a sunny warm area you probably won’t get to use it much. Where I live I have to use 16-20x usually & a 35x reticle will shrink more than the 25x at the 16-20x so the 25x is better for me. With 25x at 1000 yards your target will look like it’s 40 yards away vs 35x will look 28.5 yards, so the 35x will have 11.5 yard advantage when at 1000 yards & a 23 yard advantage at 2000 so it’s not a big difference. My uncle talked me into the cch reticle because the way the horizontal lines are. Every .25 mil has an opening & it’s nice for people who hold wind. I was always concerned with the center open with a floating dot but unless you dial wind you won’t use it much & I don’t dial wind I dial elevation. I really like the cch reticle the more I use it but I definitely don’t like the chevrons, I wish they would get rid of them
 
May have missed it when reading through the 25 pages of comments, but has anyone done a tracking test on the 5-25? Seems like that's been a common gripe historically, understandable, curious how the Mk5 HD scopes are performing now.

Thanks!
I checked mine on cardboard & was good. Then I took it out to 1000 yards dialing 10.3 mils with my 308 175 tmk hand loads hitting an moa target & removed the scope & put on my pmii dialed 10.3 mils & hit the same moa target. So it has been tracking well so far for me, I haven’t heard of any not tracking at my range or from my uncles gun shop customers who have a mk5hd
 
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May have missed it when reading through the 25 pages of comments, but has anyone done a tracking test on the 5-25? Seems like that's been a common gripe historically, understandable, curious how the Mk5 HD scopes are performing now.

Thanks!

I have a 3-18 & a 5-25 and have tested both at 100 yards a few times in various methods:
-first as with every scope I start at a measured 100 yards from the turret and test the actual adjustment vs impact shift in both the vertical and horizontal plane with both tracing as close to my level of shooting accuracy as can be (less than 1/2 of an inch) *I test up to 12 mil of vertical
-next I confirm the reticle is measuring correctly on several different magnifications
-after that I do standard box testing
-last I shoot groups while randomly spinning the turrets between each shot

I have done this a few times for both scopes to verify repeatability. Both of mine have been spot on. In addition to that I have compared both of the MK5's against my PMII and ATACR's there are obviously differences in all three but overall I prefer the MK5.
 
When picking between the 25x & 35x, the 35x sounds nice but if you live in a sunny warm area you probably won’t get to use it much. Where I live I have to use 16-20x usually & a 35x reticle will shrink more than the 25x at the 16-20x so the 25x is better for me. With 25x at 1000 yards your target will look like it’s 40 yards away vs 35x will look 28.5 yards, so the 35x will have 11.5 yard advantage when at 1000 yards & a 23 yard advantage at 2000 so it’s not a big difference. My uncle talked me into the cch reticle because the way the horizontal lines are. Every .25 mil has an opening & it’s nice for people who hold wind. I was always concerned with the center open with a floating dot but unless you dial wind you won’t use it much & I don’t dial wind I dial elevation. I really like the cch reticle the more I use it but I definitely don’t like the chevrons, I wish they would get rid of them

This makes me want to just get the 25x instead of the 35x now. 12 yard difference at 1,000yds is not what I was expecting. How do you calculate that?
 
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I have a 3-18 & a 5-25 and have tested both at 100 yards a few times in various methods:
-first as with every scope I start at a measured 100 yards from the turret and test the actual adjustment vs impact shift in both the vertical and horizontal plane with both tracing as close to my level of shooting accuracy as can be (less than 1/2 of an inch) *I test up to 12 mil of vertical
-next I confirm the reticle is measuring correctly on several different magnifications
-after that I do standard box testing
-last I shoot groups while randomly spinning the turrets between each shot

I have done this a few times for both scopes to verify repeatability. Both of mine have been spot on. In addition to that I have compared both of the MK5's against my PMII and ATACR's there are obviously differences in all three but overall I prefer the MK5.

Very nice process you have there. I’m trending to the same boat of preferring the mk5 over others. Personal preference like many other things, I had a 5-25 mk5 that I wish I had kept a while back. Now am really considering the 7-35, but some good points on here to stay 5-25.
 
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