Opinions on the Leupold Mark 4

[DL42]

[Klem]

So I realize Im late to the party, but up until the last couple years, any Leupold I liked was well outside my budget. Now I am seeing that midwayusa has some 4.5-14x50 Leupold Mark 4 scopes on clearance for $750. Does anyone have experience with this scope? I currently use a Vortex Viper HST 6-24x50. At 600yds (my local range’s max). I typically set it no higher than 18x because I like to see my own hits, and the glass starts getting a little hazy. I would eventually like to get out to 1000yds in the desert. My main questions are these: Is 14x enough magnification for steel targets at 1000? Is the glass that much better than the Vortex to warrant the expense?

Dl,

Have no experience with the 4.5-15 but I started out using a 6.5-20*50 Mk4 for 1,000yd F-Class. The 20x stated on the Leupold Mk4 is actually only 19x but they've rounded it up for marketing. It worked fine at long distance, very good repeatability and I could see my targets at 1,000 on 20x. I always had it cranked up to 20x as any less was useless so that gives me the impression that any less magnification is starting to be a handicap. Not the same as steel however when it's a giant F-Class target 2.4M wide x 1.8M tall with roundels that you can use the outer roundels to centre your scope on the target. Plus you have a TV screens or spotting disks to show you where the shots are going. With steel you get the paint splash but I am not sure you will be able to see it clearly at 14x. For paper targets at closer ranges you also won't be able to see holes at 600yd.

Our Fly shooters (500M paper targets) currently have a preference for the Nightforce Competition 15*55x52. March used to be the preference but it has taken a beating with issues such as clarity, quality control and high price. Nightforce scopes have gone up in price too but not the same as March and their quality has always been good. With the Competition you can easily see holes at 500, without which you have no chance of being competitive because there are no spotters, target splash or TV screens. If your steel target is close to the ground (they always are) then mirage on a warm day is going to play havoc trying to see splash on painted steel at distance. The NF Competition is as it says, exclusively good for range work given 15x at the low end is a difficult magnification to hunt with; too high. It then keeps the scope at 4x magnification ration which in turn keeps the price down, relatively speaking. The Competition is also a lighter scope than the equivalent NSX and older competition models called, 'Precision Bench Rest'. I know this is a higher priced scope than your Mk4 but you did say shooting 1,000yd. At that range you have to pay to play.

All Mk 4's have very good repeatability with the two springs holding the internal erector mechanism. I hear the Mk 1 - 3's only have one spring. The Mk4's were designed with the military in mind and for many years a restricted export. While the scope will have good repeatability I don't think the low range of 4.5-14 magnification will do your 1,000yd shooting justice.

[centerfire]

The MK4 scopes are a very dated design at this point; they are a relic of the 90's (Vari-X III Tactical) Almost all of them had turrets marked MOA that were actually IPHY. They had reliability issues as well as problematic QC (canted reticles). I always liked the glass but the rest of the scope is meh. I have a Mk4 M1 I had Leupold convert to M5 (MIL erector) that resolved the turret adjustment issues. It's a decent LW scope but in todays market I would probably not pay more than $500 for it new. Everything from glass, erector design, and matching reticle and turrets has changed/improved since Leupold released the Vari-X III / MK4.

The market is flooded with used Gen2 Bushnell Elite and new Gen2 Vipers in the same price range, which are all vastly superior scopes.