Opinions of Leupold VX-II 3-7X33mm

yorgi

yorgi

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I've decided to stop being a cheapskate and fork out the cash for a new scope. For years now, I've been using an old Bushnell Scopechief in 3-9X40 on my moose rifle, a Tikka 300 WM.

Most of the members of my group use Leupold VariX-III's in 3.5-10X40, excellent glass with great low-light performance.

I like the sleek look of the smaller objective on the 2-7, as well as the lower-end magnification, which BTW is actually 2.5 according to the company website. My only concern is how much I'll be losing in low-light performance, compared to a Leupy with a 40mm bell. Most of the moose I've seen, wander out of the bushline in the last 15-10 minutes of legal shooting time.

I'd really appreciate it if someone who owns both a 33mm and 40mm Leupold can comment with regards to a low-light performance comparison.
 
If you want a smaller, low power scope, why not buy a VXIII in 2.5x8?

I have one of those as well as a Vari-X II in 2x7 and a VXII in 2x7 on the way. I have found that all are bright enough for shooting during legal hours.

The bigger scopes offer more cool factor, but I prefer a lighter/smaller scope for LW rifles.



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I use and love the VXIII 2.5-8X36's on three of my rifles. More compact than the 2-7 VXII, and a bigger OB (36mm vs 32mm) IMHO, it is damn near the perfect scope for a big game rifle. 2.5 is low enough for close work, and 8X is plenty for big game. If you have a shot where the difference between 8X and 10X magnification will mean a hit or miss....you probably shouldn't be taking that shot anyway ;)
 
Brightness ("exit pupil") is calculated by dividing the objective size by the scope magnification. The most light anyone can use is a 5mm exit pupil which would correspond to a say a 50mm objective and 10x magnification (50mm/10)

a 3.5 - 10 x 40 scope would have an exit pupil of 4mm at 10x and 5mm at 8x, etc,

So a 3-7 x33 scope at 7x would have an exit pupil of 33mm/7 = 4.7mm, which is actually brighter than the 3.5-10 x 40 at 10x magnification.
 
either would be more than adequate, the 2x7 is an excellent value and realistically the odds are, in a low light shooting situation you wont be using 7 power anyway if you have to crank it way up in low light you probably should not take the shot as you wont be sure what the tgt is, most low light shos never require more than 6x
 
Brightness ("exit pupil") is calculated by dividing the objective size by the scope magnification. The most light anyone can use is a 5mm exit pupil which would correspond to a say a 50mm objective and 10x magnification (50mm/10)

a 3.5 - 10 x 40 scope would have an exit pupil of 4mm at 10x and 5mm at 8x, etc,

So a 3-7 x33 scope at 7x would have an exit pupil of 33mm/7 = 4.7mm, which is actually brighter than the 3.5-10 x 40 at 10x magnification.
Click to expand...

Exit pupil is not in itself a good way to judge brightness.Lens coatings are a very large factor as far as brightness is concerned and a scope with better lens coatings can be brighter than another scope with a larger exit pupil but lesser quality lens coatings.
 
JohnC,

Stubblejumper is right that exit pupil size by itself isn't the last word on brightness. Another thing that I would point out is that plenty of human pupils open up to 7mm. Thats why 6x42s and 8x56s are so impressive. Large exit pupils also increase ease of use. I borrowed this from the Zeiss site if you are interested.



Exit pupil
The exit pupil (visible in the eyepiece of the binocular/riflescope as a bright disk) is important for twilight vision, as it is its size which determines the brightness of the image formed in your eye - provided the pupil of your eye is as large as the exit pupil or larger. The exit pupil is calculated by dividing the objective lens diameter by the magnification. In the 8x56 binocular, this results in an exit pupil diameter of 7 mm. Incidentally, this corresponds to the maximum pupil aperture of the human eye.Note: The exit pupil must always be circular and supply uniform brightness. If shadows are visible, this is an indicator of poor quality.
 
I had a VXIII 2.5-8X36 for 13 years and it was very good. One thing you didn't mention though was what is the max distance you shoot. That would help in deciding the max magnification needed as well. Note though that a bigger glass permits you better visibility in low light, but if hunting in legal light maybe okay with smaller. Do you know anybody who has any scopes you can try or check out?
 
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