Leupold VXIII 4.5-14x40mm Adj. Obj. scope

[FubbyFifi]

Ok everyone, I know I've asked a lot about scopes that will take the punishment of a Barrett M99 and I finally got a Leupold VXIII 4.5-14x40mm adjustable objective scope with a fine reticle for my rifle. I talked to Leupold and they said it would hold up and I was wondering if I could get a second opinion from anyone. I would have liked to get a Schmidt and Bender for it but I just can't afford it.I got the Leupold for a killer deal ( given to me for free from a good friend of mine) so I couldn't pass it up. Anyways what does everyone think about the durability of the scope? I also see a lot of people posting ads about ammo for .50 caliber ammo and have tried to contact some people about getting some so if anyone has any they have for sale please send me a pm and let me know what you have. I'm also interested in reloading equipment as well.
Thanks,
Lary

[neolithic hunter]

don't worry if it breaks Leupold will fix it for the price of shipping it to them. if it was free then its just the right scope for your 50 right now anyway. so go for it.

[TLB017]

As for the scope I agree with NH, they will fix any problem you have with that scope should anything break.

As far as ammo I got a tip on here from soutdere a place to order it and it was fairly decent priced with once fired brass. Check out this site http://50bmgsupply.com/. The more in bulk you can purchase the cheaper the cost. Plus they have just about any type of ammo you would like to shoot, just be careful with it because (hasnt happened to me) but a couple of the guys I talked to caught stuff on fire with the incendiary rounds.

As with anything with the 50 BMG it is expense, to get set up to reload can range from $500-1000, because none of your presses will accept the dies. I would recommend you stay away from the lee press (IMO). I use lee dies for just about everything I reload and the ram just did not seem to have enough to push those large shells into the dies. I had much better luck with the RCBS set up. One other thing to consider is a very good case trimmer, I purchase the hand trimmer and attached it to my drill, worked fairly well unless you plan to reload alot them. I have the Giraud Power Trimmer and it works great. Do some research and I am sure you will find everything you need/want.

Well I hope this helps some and happy shooting.
TLB

[Rich Z]

Leupold makes good scopes. Make sure the eye relief is sufficient, however, as the scope will be easier to fix than your eyebrow if the scope bangs up against it from recoil.

If the scope DOES break, either use it for another gun or trade it up for a better one for your .50. Free scope repair doesn't include the cost of the ammo (and time) when you have to re-sight the rifle/scope after getting it back from being repaired.

[FubbyFifi]

How should I go about trading it in if I decide to go that way? I don't have any plans on doing so but if it can't handle the recoil then I might look into doing that.
Lary

[Rich Z]

Some scope dealers will take scopes in trade. A while back I traded in my Swarovski 10x fixed towards a Nighforce variable. Used Leupolds hold their value very well, so you shouldn't have any trouble at all getting someone interested.

[FubbyFifi]

Thanks for the help everyone. Since I got the scope secondhand it did not come with any instructions. Do you guys know where I might be able to download instructions for the scope or can I get them from leupold?
Thanks,
Lary

[Rich Z]

Leupold has excellent customer service. Certainly they will help you out.

[soutdere]

The scope on my armalite .50 cal is a Leupold Mark IV 8-25x with a mil-dot reticle. Fantastic clarity and is holding up very well. What RichZ is saying about eye releif is critical. Our scope has already split eyebrows. Ouch!

[FubbyFifi]

The eye relief is pretty good at low power and at 14x it's about 3.75 inches from what the specs say. I'd like to get a higher power scope but a free leupold is a free leupold and I can just use that for the time being. How's the eye relief on 25x on your scope?

[soutdere]

Right now I am working out of town so I don't have the rifle right here to measure, but if I remember right, at 25x the eye relief hovers somewhere around 1.5-2.0 inches. That is enough for me because of the large muzzle brake on the end of the barrel.

[FubbyFifi]

Jeez you must be a beast to handle the recoil of a .50 with that kind of eye relief. What kind of .50 do you have? I have a Barrett M99 and the scope that it came with was a Bushnell elite 3200 10x40mm which had an eye relief of 3.5 inches. I scoped myself the first time I shot it but after that I was fine. The leupold is 3.7 inches on the highest setting so I should be ok with that but I couldn't even imagine 1.5 to 2 inches of eye relief. I would hate to see you in a dark alley! I still don't understand how military snipers can shoot such amazing shots with 10x scopes and recently moved to 12x.

[DaRkWoLf]

Jeez you must be a beast to handle the recoil of a .50 with that kind of eye relief. What kind of .50 do you have? I have a Barrett M99 and the scope that it came with was a Bushnell elite 3200 10x40mm which had an eye relief of 3.5 inches. I scoped myself the first time I shot it but after that I was fine. The leupold is 3.7 inches on the highest setting so I should be ok with that but I couldn't even imagine 1.5 to 2 inches of eye relief. I would hate to see you in a dark alley! I still don't understand how military snipers can shoot such amazing shots with 10x scopes and recently moved to 12x.

There are a few different ways people absorb recoil. I'm unsure if its based on technique or body type.

As for 10 and 12x it is very important in tactical situations to see the big picture. I keep my optics in that range unless it's an extremely long range shot or I'm about to hit a single object. It's also easier to see the bullet's trace when your FOV is not very constricted, and at long range that can give you an idea of what variables you may not have initially seen so that you may apply them to that shot and shorter ones.

[soutdere]

As much as I would like to be, I am not what you may percieve me as. I do almost no shooting at that high of a power. FOV is very limited at that magnification. I normally shoot at between 15 and 18 powers. To answer your question, I shoot the Armalite .50.

[FubbyFifi]

Well you definitely have some good technique down for absorbing recoil. What kind of scope do you use? I would have figured the nicer scopes would have better eye relief for higher powers, not saying you have a cheap scope at all. It just seems to make sense that the farther your rifle can shoot the more recoil it would have so the optics manufacturers should take that into account. Then again I don't design scopes and have no idea about the technology that is available to the optics gurus.
Lary

[soutdere]

I have a Leupold Mark 4 8.5 - 25x 50mm with the mil-dot reticle. Very clear optics. I bought the rifle new and the scope was already mounted on it. The invoice put the scope right at $1200.00 USD. The Armalite AR-50 is a single shot bolt action rifle with a 31" barrel. This rifle alone [without bipod and scope setup] weighs in at just over 33 pounds. As I understand it, this barrel is longer than most of the semi-auto 'carbine' models of the .50 cal [like what Barrett makes], and also heavier. The close eye relief is what you get when you shoot a rifle like that. If you can't do it in one shot, than why are you shooting the .50?

[FubbyFifi]

That's exactly why I bought my single shot Barrett. One shot should be one kill. Especially at the prices that ammo is going for these days. Mine only weighs 25 pounds without the scope and just over 26 with the scope. I really appreciate all your help with my questions about scopes on a .50 caliber. By the way my barrel is 33" so mine is bigger then yours lol! Just being a clown of course. I would have to say I like all .50 calibers and if I had the money I would spend it on more. Some people like cars, jewelry, and stereos, but I just like firearms.

[Rich Z]

One technique I have found helpful is to "weld" your cheek to the stock when you are firing a .50. That way your head moves with the gun and helps reduce the risk of "scope-eye". Basically your head and shoulder are all moving along WITH the gun so you can get away with smaller eye relief.

But if your attention lapses and you forget the cheek/stock weld, the gun WILL remind you of your lapse......

The Armalite is a pretty heavy gun with a BIG effective muzzle brake. But even so, that 1.5 inch eye relief would make me REAL nervous.....

If you can get it to fit your gun, the Caldwell Lead Sled would probably help quite a bit with reducing the recoil movement of the gun on the bench.....