First Look at the New Leupold VX-6HD Gen 2

You can excuse shooters and hunters for a certain product fatigue when it comes to rifle scopes. With a dizzying number of brands, products, and features on the market, it’s hard to know if a scope is configured primarily for hunters or shooters, or manages to have attributes for both end users.

That crossover quality is tough to achieve. Hunters want a lightweight scope with minimal controls for durability and dependability. Shooters want repeatable turrets and rock-solid internal components. It’s hard to build a scope to meet both groups’ expectations, but the reality is that the line between shooters and hunters is blurring by the year. More hunters are opting for first-plane reticles and precise adjustments.

The rise of the Western scope, as I’ve come to call these hybrids, is now in every brand’s catalog. They’re built around relatively simple first-plane reticles that subtend at every magnification and feature exposed elevation turrets for hunters who expect to make long shots and who want to dial elevation. They have tons of internal elevation adjustment but are fairly light and compact to mate with lightweight hunting rifles.

While Leupold has some Western scopes in its catalog — the Mark 4HD 4.5-18×52 with PR2-MIL reticle is one, the Mark 3HD 4-12×40 with MIL-based TMR reticle is another — it’s generally enforced a certain brand rigidity with its two main families of riflescopes. The Mark series, often called the “Black Ring” line, is primarily configured for shooters, with first-plane precision reticles, three-revolution turrets, and durable internal components. The brand configures their “Gold Ring” scopes for hunters with lightweight builds, second-plane reticles, and either capped or exposed locking two-revolution turrets.

The new VX-6HD Gen 2 scopes feature all those standard Gold Ring features built around the precision adjustments that have made Mark 5HD Black Ring scopes successful in precision rifle competitions. The updated scope line’s main visible feature is a new tool-less turret dial. Customers will be able to request two free custom turrets when they buy a VX-6HD Gen 2, which is an appealing premium since these scopes retail between $1,999 and $2,699.

• Second focal plane
• Available in: 1-6×24, 2-12×42, 3-18×44, 3-18×50, 3-18×56, 4-24×52
• Weight (3-18×50): 23.5 ounces
• Reticles: FireDot Duplex, TMOA, FireDot Boone & Crockett, and FireDot Twilight Hunter
• MOA windage and elevation 
• Elevation Adjustment: 85 MOA (3-18×50)
• 30mm tubes for all except the 4-24×52, which uses a 34mm tube 
• Lifetime guarantee
• Price: $1,999 to $2,699

Asymmetric Turrets 

Most of the VX-6 HD Gen 2’s talents are hidden inside the tube, which is 30mm in diameter for the 1-6×24, 2-12×42, 3-18×44, and 3-18×50 iterations and 34mm for the 4-24×52 version. A close look at the tube actually reveals some of its attributes. Its elevation and windage turrets are asymmetric: The forward edge is squared off while the back end of the turret is rounded.

That asymmetric turret enables about 20 percent more internal adjustment than Gen 1 versions of the VX-6HD. It’s a design perfected in Leupold’s Mark 5HD scopes for shooters who want abundant internal adjustment to dial distant targets.

Elevation Adjustment and Durability 

You could argue that all that internal adjustment — 85 MOA in the 3-18×44 versions — is wasted. That’s because the VX6-HD Gen 2 scopes have two-revolution turrets. The travel is limited by what Leupold engineers call the “snail’s rail.” It’s a circular race on top of the adjustment that curls two revolutions around the post. A post in the turret cap travels this race, stopping at zero on the low end and after two full revolutions on the high end. This “snail’s rail” zero-stop allows three revolutions on Black Ring scopes, and only two revolutions on Gold Ring models.

In the VX-6HD Gen 2 model I tested, a 3-18×56 version, each revolution has 20 MOA of travel, giving the scope only 40 MOA of elevation and windage travel, or about half of the travel available in the tube.

But Tim Lesser, Leupold’s rifle scope product manager, says the adjustment limitation is intentional.

“This fairly small change in internal geometry of the scope gives you more overall adjustment, about 20 percent more than our Gen 1 VX-6HDs” says Lesser. “And the more overall adjustment, even if you don’t use it all, is a good thing because it increases the scope’s longevity.”

The reason is that the additional room keeps the springs and screws of the erector system well away from the interior walls of the tube where they sometimes break when they make contact under recoil. This design builds more durability into the new VX-6HD Gen 2, says Lesser. The greater adjustment range also solves mounting problems on rifles that have alignment issues between the action and barrel.

“We wanted to produce a scope that would mount on virtually any gun without going to tapered bases and still give users two full revolutions of elevation adjustment,” says Lesser. 

Read Next: The Best Hunting Scopes: 18 Modern and Versatile Options

Improved Tracking 

Leupold has been dinged in past years by the sloppy adjustments inside their hunting scopes. The company has responded by investing in quality adjustments in their Black Ring scopes, making them among the most popular competition scopes in rimfire and centerfire precision rifle circuits. Gold Ring scopes, meanwhile, developed a reputation as great optics, but only middling precision instruments. The new Gen 2 version of the VX-6HD should change that assessment.

“The story of the VX-6HD Gen 2 is that we’ve basically put the competition adjustments of the Mark V series in this new scope,” says Lesser. “The entire adjustment mechanism, from the springs and mechanisms to the lubricants we use to the optical design that ensures that whether you’re at the end of travel or in the very center of image, every single adjustment tracks consistently and precisely the first time and every time.”

The outcome is that customers should have the same confidence that the Gold Ring scope will track and return to zero that they have in the Black Ring series, says Lesser.

“It’s a whole bunch of stuff, which trickled down from military contracts through the precision-shooting world, that goes into a single invisible ball inside your scope,” says Lesser. “But it’s the heart of the scope, and it ensures that hunters, just like shooters, can be confident that every click is exact.”

Read Next: The Best Deer Hunting Rifles

Scratch Resistant Lenses 

While the optical path hasn’t been updated, the VX-6HD Gen 2 scopes have a more rugged and durable version of Leupold’s ionic coating on exterior lenses. Called “Guard-ion” the coating exceeds military specifications for scratch resistance. 

Illumination 

The new VX-6HD also has Leupold’s Motion Sensor Technology that turns on and off when the scope is deployed. The push-button illumination module also has an anti-cant indicator that can be turned on to aid in rifle scope mounting and activated in the field to ensure the reticle is level.

Reticles

Reticle choices for the first iteration of the new Gen2 line will be familiar to Leupold brand-loyalists. All are illuminated. The FireDot Duplex is in the lineup, along with TMOA, FireDot Boone & Crockett, and FireDot Twilight Hunter, which is basically a duplex without a bold upper stadia.

Whether Leupold will add reticles, including first-plane precision reticles, to the VX-6HD Gen 2 line in the coming years is an open question.

Turrets 

The biggest visible update of the VX-6 HD Gen 2 is its new tool-less turret dials on both elevation and windage posts. Called “SpeedSet Dial Technology,” the cap locks in place and turns with a push of the silver ZeroLock mechanism, same as Leupold has used on its CDS dial system for years. But on the front of the new turret cap (Leupold calls this its CD-SZL2 dial) is a small lever. Push the locking mechanism and lift with a fingertip and the lever unlocks the turret, allowing users to easily re-zero or replace caps with custom dials.

The SZL2 dial is a marvel of precision machining. Under the cap, you’ll notice two stainless steel rotors. These are the camming mechanisms that engage the stainless steel turret post when the cap is closed. A small set screw adjusts the appropriate amount of tension on the cams.

Lesser says customers will be able to order two custom SZL2 dials when they buy a new VX-6HD Gen 2 scope. Previously, Leupold has offered a single free custom dial to customers.

“We’re offering two with the new Gen 2 because we want to reduce the barrier to entry,” says Lesser. “We see people hesitant to use their single free dial until they are fully sure of what ammo and what conditions they’ll be hunting in. We want people using these suckers, so we think that if we offer two, customers can get started using a dial right away and seeing their value, then use their second custom turret for a specific load and condition. It’s more important to have a custom dial than to have a perfect one, so we hope by offering two they may see the value of the system earlier.”

Price

These are premium scopes, and their price reflects their market position. The 1-6×24 model will retail for $1,999. At the top end, the 4-24×52, built on a 34mm tube, will retail for $2,699.