Leupold VX Freedom 1.5-4x20

Jeff H

NW Ohio
Not the most amazing scope I've ever owned, but "good enough." I think. For $172, accounting for inflation, I think it's reasonably in line with stuff I've bought new for around $100 ten, twenty and thirty years ago. Actually, I bought a new Japanese Sightron S1 about a year ago for $100 and this Leupold is very close in comparison when looking through it, but the Sightron instills much more confidence when turning the turret dials.

I don't have a picture, nor do I even have this thing mounted on my rifle yet, but I've handled it a lot in the past couple weeks. I pick it up several times a day and glance through it, change the power and look again, lay it back down and move on. I keep looking through my other scopes at the same time to compare how things look through the new Leupold. Things have been ridiculously busy and I'd hoped to have mounted it and put some holes in some paper with it by now.

I've needed another scope for some time now and finally had a chance to get one. I started looking several weeks ago and that got old really quick; between all the new companies and all their new catchy but vague line and model names, and, oh, man, the PRICES these days, it was bewildering. I looked here specifically to get an idea of what was today's best bet and still couldn't make up my mind. I needed a good, cheap scope. Yeah, I know, but I've had a few and I was hoping there was still a "sleeper" out there in today's market.

Now, I used to get to shoot a lot and now that I don't get to shoot a lot, I realize that I used to be a pretty darned good shot - at least compared to how much effort it takes me to shoot well these days compared to then. Still, as good as I feel I can be, I don't need the very best of anything, including a scope. It's not that I have low standards either, but there's a practical limit from which any of us can benefit - in reality. As a datum point, a used Japanese Tasco World Class from the late eighties is good enough for me, but I've had/have better. OLDER Redfields, B&L Balvar, Bushnell Scopechiefs, Leupold Vari-X II, a Japanese Sightron S1 - that's my speed and they all work well for me. The Sightron is at the low end of my scale and the B&L at the high end. My VX-II is close to my B&L Balvar.

When I first got this Leupold VX-Freedom 1.5-4x20, I was repulsed. The name, with absolutely no implication as to quality level or functionality, irked me. The aesthetic changes irked me, like the blocky turret and bulky turret caps. It's not a knock-your-socks-off bright and clear scope, but it's OK. I think for the $172 (to my door) price is in line with the general quality and functionality levels. That amount seems about in line with the $100 scopes I bought (mostly Japanese) a couple decades ago - almost.

It's bright enough, clear enough, has more distortion around the edges than I'd expect, but the reticle is just a reticle and useful for most applications. The 1/4 minute "clicks," well, there's a big disappointment. No coin needed - finger-adjustable, but the clicks are very ill-defined and I have to rock the turret dial back and forth to reassure myself that I'm in a detent and not halfway between. If I'd tried it out before paying for it, I'd have left it on the shelf and kept looking. Construction seems good and the guarantee is Leupold's famous guarantee, ,so we'll see.

Some reviewers complain about the power ring being bulky and ugly - "tactical-looking." I've no complaint there even though I hate over-sized occular bells and power rings. This one is small enough to not be severely limiting in mounting options, but big enough to get a grip on and turn. I have a VX-II I've had for about thirty years and it's a bear to turn, especially when it's cold out.

I've read that the "Freedom" has "VX-2 glass," which doesn't meant much to me because I've never had one. The glass is pretty decent, but I can't complain because, as I've said, I don't need the best of the best. It does not compare to "vintage" Japanese glass I own/have owned, but it's really good/very-close/close enough. I think the very best glass I've had has been "pre-Elite" Bushnell Scopechiefs and B&L Balvar - for comparison's sake. I've had some nice Japanese Weavers too. Oddly, I have a Korean Swift 1.5 - 4.5 x 20 that is as clear as looking through clean, fresh air. Maybe I should poke a finger through it to see if there's glass in that one at all? It went fuzzy on me on a rifle once so I don't trust putting it back on anything.

I've read up on the VX-Freedom and the one thing that bothers me is that they (Leupold) make a big deal about "USA Designed, Machined, Assembled." Big enough a deal that they may as well come out and just say that they've put outsourced parts in it. I'm sort of OK with that to a degree. After all, I have had a lot of Japanese scopes that have been excellent, and a couple Korean ones that weren't bad. Chinese scopes? I've had one and will never own another. Philippine scopes? I hear good things about some of them but the one (Sightron S1) I bought was the absolute worst piece of crap for a scope I'd ever looked through and I will not take another chance, period. What bothers me is that the "clicks" are so ill-defined and cheap-feeling that I wonder if that part of the scope (an important part, no?) came from China or the Philippines. We'll see. Leupold stuck their guarantee on it, so I'll trust them for now and see if the scope holds up.

I might mention too that finding a "good, cheap" low-powered variable scope is not easy. Finding a scope that isn't power-rated to pick up passing satellites, doesn't have a "tactical" or AR-cartridge-specific reticle, gigantic/extra knobs and other do-dads on it is even tougher. Overall, I think Leupold is doing a service to rifle users who've been neglected for a few years now. Every low-power variable I've seen has features I don't want or need or is in the high-end lines of scopes which are way beyond my budget. They have a 2 - 7 x 33 also, and I'd buy one just to have another inexpensive ($176) low-powered variable handy, but I'm not comfortable with the way the turret dials feel yet, so I'll wait until I've used this one for a while.

Anyone who has any further info on the Leupold VX-Freedom, feel free to contribute, add value, correct, etc. I'm just giving my immediate impressions on mine based solely on handling it and looking through it for a week or so - so far. I'm no scope expert and I probably couldn't discern objective differences between a $3k scope and a $300 scope by looking through it. "Good enough" is good enough and my standard is based on many scopes which have been durable, useful and functional over a period of half a century of use.
 

Chris

Well-Known Member
Thanks for an excellent review. Been scope shopping and have actually taken a hard look at this one.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
I just got one of their freedom 4X12's.
it really compares favorably to the older 3x9 sportsman scope I got back in the 90's.
[which doesn't even use clicks, it just points to MOA hash marks]
maybe a little more plastic type stuff now, than they used then, but the glass is a lot clearer and the eye relief is about 4-1/2"s.
I was actually starting to worry I couldn't get the scope mounted far enough ahead on the rifle.

like you I still haven't shot the combination and fully sighted the scope in so I don't have an opinion on the clicks yet.
the 4x12 is right at 300 so it and a set of rings was 350 [ish] OTD.
if I needed a good scope for something like my Ruger American or the like I wouldn't hesitate.
 

Jeff H

NW Ohio
...........which doesn't even use clicks, it just points to MOA hash marks..............eye relief is about 4-1/2"s.
I was actually starting to worry I couldn't get the scope mounted far enough ahead on the rifle................................

I have an older Refield with no "clicks" and I get along fine with it. It stays where I set it and I don't twiddle dials after sighting in. The "cheap" feel is my concern with the Freedom, but may be unfounded.

I forgot to mention eye relief! Thanks, Fiver. On the 1.5 - 4 x20, it's 4 or 4.5 inches on 4x and 6 to 6.5 inches on 1.5x. That's alright with me, but when you've gotten used to setting up bases and rings to accommodate annoyingly short eye relief, with really short lengths of "tube" to put rings on, having something with more eye relief is suddenly a challenge. Mine is going onto a 357 Mag Contender Carbine with a bull barrel, so I can drill some more holes in the base/barrel and push it out if I need to. The long eye relief at 1.5 is pretty forgiving too, so I can position the scope at 4x and it will still be fine at 1.5x.

Yeah, I wazzagonna do iron sights on that one but the front sight is too close to my eye at the end of an 18" barrel to focus on with my bifocals. I "glued" the sights on with RTV to spot the holes and found out I should have ordered a 24" barrel - just so I could focus the front sight.

I don't usually get in on the ground floor of anything, in fact, I'm usually a day late/dollar short. All the same I think these are decent scopes if one is realistic in one's expectations. I think the price/quality=value formula makes it equitable at the prices they are going for as new/unproven products, but for MSRP - no way. Most people are selling this model for right at $200.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
I don't know if it was quite cheap, but it did feel like it has 'plastic' parts in there somewhere.
the lock ring for the eye piece, the tabs for the adjusters type places.
probably not an issue where it is used, but it does lighten the scope up some.
 

Ole_270

Well-Known Member
Just got a VX-II 2-7x33LR back from servicing. @nd time in 5 years it started loosing zero. I wouldn't say it had a hard life, couple years on a lightly used 338-06, then the last 6 years on a 243 M70 Classic Fwt.. It's been mounted in Burris Signature rings with the nylon inserts on both rifles so it's not like it's been torqued by mis-alignment. The repair ticket said they reworked the elevation erector and replaced the spring. I really like this size and weight scope, Leupold just needs to get better at making them reliable. Lots of folks unhappy around the web about leupy scope reliability.
 

Jeff H

NW Ohio
........Leupold just needs to get better at making them reliable. Lots of folks unhappy around the web about leupy scope reliability.

Aw, man, don't say that.:(

I'd trade a little of everything else for more reliability. That's kind of the bottom line for me. I've only ever had two scopes "go bad" on me; a Japanese Weaver Classic 6x got sticky and the reitcle wouldn't respond to the dials (for a while) and a Korean Swift that went all blurry while sighting in a 357 carbine. I may yet send the Weaver in even though it seems to be working now but the Swift was a used, $40 purchase and probably isn't worth the shipping both ways.

Fiver, maybe "cheap" is a little harsh in my description of how the dials feel when they move. The clicks are definitely not very definitive though. Can't say it means anything at this point either because I've not shot it. The dials are definitely plastic, but I don't think it matters. The focus locking ring feels like metal to me. I DO appreciate the light weight of this scope.
 

Ole_270

Well-Known Member
I've got about 6 of the Leupolds, from an old vari-x3 2.5-8, to a VXIII 2.5-8 with a few VXIIs in between. The old vari-x I bought used and it's been back once, the 2-7 VXII is the only other one to give trouble.
 

Rick H

Well-Known Member
Hah, I own a passle of Leupy's mostly VX11's and VX1's. I love the 1.5-4 and 2-7 shotgun/muzzleloader heavy duplex models. Lightweight, clear enough, bright enough and powerful enough for me. Most have friction adjustment and no clicks....that is just fine with me as long as they move the same amount in the same direction as the markings each time. I am not a "Tactical" long range shooter who winds turrets for extended range and windage between shots....I sight it in and leave it.

I have a highly touted Vortex scope that is miserable....it has "1/4 minute clicks". One click will move the POI 1/4" at 100yds. one time and 2" another. They tell me Vortex will stand behind it but it was such a pain to sight in I am afraid to take it off the rifle. I don't think it is as bright as my low end Leupolds and it is a damn sight heavier with the ubiquitous short eye relief.

I also purchased a Leu. Freedom 2-7 with "clicks". I have not mounted it as yet but so far it seems superior in every way to the Vortex 2-7 it will replace. It is clearer, lighter, with more generous eye relief....and the adjustments can't get worse. Yeah, I know but I'll not bother buying another Vortex.
 

Chris

Well-Known Member
Over the years I settled on Leupold fixed powers for what I do. 4 & 6 power, but lots of 2.5X compacts on woods rifles. I pick them up from time to time, bright enough, durable, and can shoot with both eyes open. Never given me any trouble.

I have a rifle I want to try a 1-4X on so I'm following this thread.
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
I own 2 of the 1.75-6X. Actually, make that 3 of them. Great on th 45-70 and 375 H&H and doing fine on the 300 BO too. I can get a wide field at 1.75 or use 6 for more precise work.

Great scopes.
 

Jeff H

NW Ohio
I own 2 of the 1.75-6X. Actually, make that 3 of them. Great on th 45-70 and 375 H&H and doing fine on the 300 BO too. I can get a wide field at 1.75 or use 6 for more precise work.

Great scopes.

I would put one of my B&L Balvar 1.5 - 6 x 32s on every rifle I own if I could find enough of them. It's as much magnification as I need at the high end and very useful at the low end. 3 - 9s don't do me much good on either end. I like 2 - 7s but if I can get a 1.5 (or 1.75) for the low, I'd take that over the 2x low on the 2 - 7s.

It looks like I'm in good company, or at least like company on a number of points. Low power variable, fixed 4s and 6s, clear enough, bright enough....

I really, really hope to get this 1.5 - 4 x 20 mounted this weekend. Things have been nuts and this is a BUSY weekend, but I'm still going to try.
 
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Jeff H

NW Ohio
A little update today. I got (stole) a little time yesterday evening and installed the scope on my Contender Carbine.

I was initially put off by the large turret boss on this scope because it looked funny, but now I have a valid functional reason to dislike this unnecessary excess of bulk. I use low rings almost exclusively, and I use Weaver standard rings almost exclusively, even though they're a pain to tighten and keep the cross-hairs straight - they are very low, light and very unobtrusive.

Well, that big knot growing in the middle of the scope tube interferes with the scope base with low rings, so I had to file out a clearance notch - in the base, not the scope. Don't worry, I didn't make it ugly. I wasn't going up in height to (or waiting for) medium rings because I don't want the scope any higher. I may have to shift the scope forward a slot though because as someone else mentioned - there's PLENTY of eye relief, I and it really could be moved forward to come to shoulder/eye better. I would have to file another notch in the base then to clear the power adjustment ring at the back. I wanted to cut off the "springboard" at the front of the Weaver Contender base, but I think I'll have to use the notch out there. If I take the scope off, and have time, I may just remove the base, flip it around and spot two more holes in the barrel. I just haven't figured out how to do the holes in the base to match. I don'[t have a mill, so if it's not a convoluted process of making do with the wrong tools, I don't know how to do it....... yet.

Outdoors, this scope is very bright and clear. I can't complain about that at all. Very nice in that respect.

Low, light, compact*, clear, bright and a nice reticle. So far, so good.

*the bulbous turret boss is a problem and the turret caps are overly large and sharp-edged protrusions that are completely unnecessary and always in the way. If they'd not gone overboard with that part of the scope, it would be very compact.

The finish sucks. Everything that touches it leaves a residue of itself on the finish. With what little handling it had in firing thirty rounds, i looked like it had been drug around a primitive campsite for a week by an oaf.

I could live with all that, but I doubt I'd buy another VX-Freedom. When zeroing the scope, POI did not correspond consistently to how much change I imparted on the dials. Starting at 25 yards, I needed to go left and up one inch. These are 1/4" clicks, so I split it and went eight up and eight left just to see how far it would really go. NOWHERE. Eight more each way - nothing. I shot a three-shot cloverleaf at 25 yards while moving 16 clicks up and left. Shot the fourth round and it went an inch high and an inch right from POA. Moved to fifty yards. Shots five and six overlapped shot four. I chased the POI all over a two inch square trying to get it zeroed and ran out of cartridges. Included is a shot of the last three I shot with no scope change between shots.

My last three Shots at Fifty Yards. It seems to hold zero, but getting the center of the group where I want it has been elusive. I got tired of chasing the POI and shot the last three without making a change. I shot a few groups like this though with as much as eight clicks' change between shots. That's disturbing. This is a light load - 4.5 grains of Unique with a LEE 158 RFN, and recoil didn't seem to be enough to jar things loose between adjustments. Maybe they should have included a rubber mallet as an accessory?

VX-Freedom-002.jpg

The finish sucks. It hasn't been tossed around - anything that touches it leaves marks. They wipe off but it is ugly.

VX-Freedom-01.jpg
Just a crappy flip phone pic of the general form of the combination in question. I think it's right at 5# but I don't have a scale that goes over 3#. Next time I take it apart, I should weigh the pieces. It is not terribly handy because the balance point is RIGHT in front of the trigger guard. If I try to carry it in a cupped hand at my side, I have to grip it to keep the muzzle from tipping up. Minor point but still runs against the whole idea of being short light and handy. Not all that handy in this configuration.

VX-Freedom-003.jpg
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
I was wondering about that finish.
maybe after using it some on my varmint rig I might just shuffle it over to the old stainless Ruger boat paddle.

that not moving when clicked thing is gonna eat at me for a bit.
I have had a few scopes where I just zoomed the dials in the direction I wanted them to go,
maybe 20 clicks zipped off rapidly instead of 4, then come back from the other direction.
but it does kind of aggravate me when a group is consistently centered 1/2" to the right or left of the centerline.
 

Chris

Well-Known Member
I don't think that's the scope I'm looking for. Thanks for the review, well composed.
 

Ian

Notorious member
I have a highly touted Vortex scope that is miserable....it has "1/4 minute clicks". One click will move the POI 1/4" at 100yds. one time and 2" another. They tell me Vortex will stand behind it but it was such a pain to sight in I am afraid to take it off the rifle. I don't think it is as bright as my low end Leupolds and it is a damn sight heavier with the ubiquitous short eye relief.

Sounds like a Diamondback with the short eye relief. I have a 4-12x44 and have the same issues you describe, very stiff/jerky armature. I tried locking down the rifle and moving a 10-click box on target at 100 yards while watching the reticle move, it wasn't good. I'm a Vortex fanboi, finding most of their glass to be one price-point better than equivalent-cost Leupolds, but will stick with their Crossfire II and Viper lines.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
I think the crossfire's are an outstanding value.
you gotta go up from there.
I'm still using one of their 200$ wonders on my Bergara.
I keep thinking it needs an upgrade,,, but it keeps on doing it's job all over the mountain, and holds it's own on the bench.
 
F

freebullet

Guest
Never peered through a vortex, other than a red dot(sparc? A friend had, mucho starburst to my eye & lame battery life) I didn't care for at all. I took your word for it on some kinda viper for the attic rifle. Midway got me on the clearance email @half price.
 

Jeff H

NW Ohio
I looked at Vortex and didn't see what I needed - within my budget, and I wasn't sure if I could trust their budget line. When "budget lines" were made in Japan, you got a heck of a bargain. China, Philippines - I'm not seeing it. Even some of the earlier Korean scopes weren't bad - at least didn't exhibit the trouble I had with the VX-Freedom. Once a scope fails me I just can't trust it again. Probably because I can't get in there and fix it myself.

I'd been eyeballing a Weaver V3, 1 - 3 x 20 for a couple years and really wanted a bit higher power on the high end. I was ready to buy the Weaver when I saw this new Leupold and that cinched it with the 4X. I really feel like I should have spent a few more bucks on the Weaver and lived with the 3X. Lots of deals on 3 - 9 x 40s, but that's too high on the low end. I have a couple 3 - 9s but because they're usually cheaper than other power ranges. As far as the popular high power vairables found in abundance today, they don't do me a lot of good. Lots of choices (and sales) on those.

I'm going to give this one a few weeks and try it again. Not that anything mechanical internally will change, but it's tough finding a low powered variable. If it's still acting like this, I'll send it back to Leupold and sell whatever comes back repair/replacement and buy the Weaver for a few bucks more.

Fiver, about that finish, it's about like what you get with "chalkboard paint." I ran a couple patches of Ed's Red through the rifle bore and wiped the whole outside of the gun (scope too) with a "Rig Rag" (the old stuff) and the marks wiped off. I'm thinking that if it straightens up mechanically, the "tooth" of the finish will eventually wear down and not be so annoying, but I'm very untrusting of any scope that gives me any problem at all - ever. As much as I hate dealing with people and their warranties, and sending stuff back (at today's rates), I will be contacting Leupold and seeing what they can do, so I may not find out about the finish.