Leupold VX-3HD CDS-ZL 3.5-10x40mm Rifle Scope: Elevating Your Precision and Performance

Are you a dedicated hunter seeking an edge in challenging conditions? Do you demand unwavering clarity and precision from your optics, whether you're stalking game at dawn or dialing in shots at the range? The Leupold VX-3HD CDS-ZL 3.5-10x40mm Rifle Scope is engineered to meet these rigorous demands, providing legendary performance and extreme clarity in a remarkably tough, lightweight package. This advanced optic, identified by its MPN 180627, stands as a testament to Leupold's commitment to excellence, making it an indispensable tool for serious shooters and hunters alike.

This scope is specifically designed for those who require versatile magnification for close to mid-range engagements, combined with the assurance of cutting-edge technology. It's an ideal choice for hunters pursuing whitetail in dense timber, elk in open country, or engaging targets across varied distances. With its intuitive features and robust construction, the VX-3HD helps solve common challenges faced by outdoor enthusiasts: ensuring accurate shot placement in fleeting moments, adapting quickly to changing distances, and maintaining optical performance in adverse weather.

Unrivaled Optical Performance: The Leupold Twilight Max Light Management System

What makes the Leupold VX-3HD stand out in terms of visual fidelity, especially when light fades or conditions are less than ideal? The answer lies in Leupold's proprietary Twilight Max Light Management System. This isn't just a fancy name; it's a meticulously engineered optical system designed to address the critical challenge of low-light visibility, which is paramount during the prime hunting hours of dawn and dusk.

The Twilight Max System achieves several crucial objectives:

• Enhanced Light Transmission: It actively boosts light transmission across the entire visible spectrum, particularly in the blue and red wavelengths that dominate low-light environments. This means more usable light reaches your eye, providing a brighter, clearer image when other scopes turn dark and fuzzy.
• Superior Glare Reduction: Stray light and glare can obscure your target and cause eye fatigue. Twilight Max effectively reduces glare by up to 80% compared to competing systems, ensuring a crisp sight picture even when facing direct sunlight or shooting near reflective surfaces like water or snow.
• Unmatched Contrast and Resolution: Beyond just brightness, the system optimizes contrast and resolution, allowing you to discern fine details in challenging light. This is critical for identifying game, differentiating between antlers and branches, or accurately placing crosshairs on a distant target.
• True-to-Life Color Fidelity: Many scopes sacrifice true color reproduction in low light. The Twilight Max system maintains vibrant, accurate colors, helping you differentiate between targets and backgrounds with greater confidence and less eye strain.

For the hunter, this translates directly into extended hunting opportunities and more confident shots during those crucial first and last minutes of legal shooting light. It’s the difference between seeing a deer’s silhouette and clearly identifying its rack, or confidently placing a shot on a pig in deep shadows.

Effortless Precision: The CDS-ZL (Custom Dial System ZeroLock)

One of the most highly anticipated and impactful features of the VX-3HD is its Custom Dial System ZeroLock (CDS-ZL) turret. For shooters who understand the importance of precise elevation adjustments based on ballistic data, the CDS-ZL is a game-changer.

Here’s how the CDS-ZL enhances your shooting experience:

• Customization: Leupold offers a service to create a custom ballistic dial for your specific rifle, ammunition, and environmental conditions. This dial replaces the standard MOA or MIL click-value turret with one marked in yards or meters, allowing you to simply range your target and dial the corresponding distance. No more complex calculations or holdovers in the field.
• ZeroLock Feature: The "ZL" in CDS-ZL stands for ZeroLock. This innovative mechanism ensures that your elevation dial is locked at zero unless you intentionally press a button to make an adjustment. This prevents accidental rotation when you're moving through rugged terrain, ensuring your scope remains zeroed until you decide to change it.
• Simplified Adjustment: When an adjustment is needed, the large, tactile dial offers crisp, audible clicks at .25 MOA increments, providing precise feedback. The ZeroLock mechanism allows for quick, positive return to your zero setting with no guesswork.
• Versatility: While often utilized by hunters for quick long-range shots, the CDS-ZL is equally valuable for target shooters who frequently engage at varying distances, allowing for rapid and repeatable adjustments.

Imagine spotting a deer at an unfamiliar range. Instead of estimating holdover or fumbling with a ballistic chart, you simply range the animal, quickly dial that distance onto your custom turret, and take the shot with unmatched confidence. This system streamlines the shooting process, making precise long-range engagements simpler and faster.

Rapid Target Acquisition: The Illuminated FireDot Twilight Hunter Reticle

The Illuminated FireDot Twilight Hunter Reticle within the Leupold VX-3HD is meticulously designed for rapid target acquisition and optimal visibility in diverse lighting conditions. This second focal plane (SFP) reticle offers a distinct advantage for hunters and shooters who prioritize a clear, intuitive aiming point.

Key features and benefits of this reticle include:

• Illuminated Central Dot: The core of the FireDot reticle is a bright, precise illuminated dot. This dot can be adjusted for intensity, allowing you to fine-tune its brightness to perfectly contrast with your target and the ambient light, from bright daylight to the dimmest twilight. This virtually eliminates the "black reticle on dark target" problem common in non-illuminated scopes.
• FireDot Technology: Leupold's FireDot illumination provides a bright, crisp aiming point without distracting spillover illumination into the rest of the scope's field of view. This ensures a clean sight picture, free from distracting glares or halos.
• Twilight Hunter Design: The reticle itself is designed to be uncluttered yet effective. Its clean lines draw your eye naturally to the illuminated center, facilitating quick aiming. In low light, the illumination ensures the aiming point is always visible, even when the rest of the reticle might fade.
• Second Focal Plane (SFP) Advantage: As a second focal plane reticle, the reticle's size remains constant regardless of the magnification setting. This means your illuminated dot maintains its consistent size relative to your field of view, making it ideal for quick shots where the primary goal is rapid target acquisition and a consistent aiming point. For hunters, this is often preferred as it means the aiming point doesn't get thick and obscure the target at higher magnifications, nor does it disappear at lower magnifications.

Whether you're moving quickly through brush and need a lightning-fast shot opportunity, or patiently waiting for an animal to step into the open at dusk, the Illuminated FireDot Twilight Hunter Reticle provides the visibility and speed necessary for success.

Engineered for Extremes: Uncompromising Durability and Reliability

A high-performance optic is only as good as its ability to withstand the harshest environments. The Leupold VX-3HD is not just built for precision; it's constructed to endure. Made from aircraft-grade aluminum, this scope embodies rugged American craftsmanship and resilience.

Consider these aspects of its robust design:

• 30mm Main Tube: The 30mm maintube provides exceptional strength and structural integrity, contributing to the scope's overall durability and offering a wide range of internal adjustment for both windage and elevation (55 MOA for both). This larger tube diameter also often allows for more light gathering than smaller tubes, further enhancing the optical performance.
• Waterproof and Fogproof: Leupold's exclusive Argon/Krypton gas blend is used for sealing, making the VX-3HD absolutely waterproof and fogproof. This inert gas mixture resists thermal shock much better than standard nitrogen, virtually eliminating the effects of condensation inside the scope, ensuring a clear view in any weather – from torrential rain to freezing temperatures and high humidity.
• Shockproof: Each VX-3HD scope undergoes rigorous shock testing, simulating thousands of impacts, ensuring it can withstand the recoil of even the heaviest calibers and the inevitable bumps and drops encountered in the field.
• Guard-ion Lens Coating: The exterior lenses are treated with Leupold's Guard-ion coating. This incredibly tough, proprietary coating sheds dirt, water, and fingerprints, making the lenses easier to clean and protecting them from abrasions and scratches, preserving optical clarity over time.

This combination of superior materials and meticulous manufacturing means the VX-3HD is a scope you can trust implicitly, whether you're navigating dense forests, exposed to driving rain, or traversing rugged mountain terrain. It's a true workhorse, built to perform when it matters most.

Smart Power Management: Motion Sensor Technology (MST) and Thoughtful Ergonomics

Leupold understands that battery life is crucial for illuminated reticles, especially in the field. The inclusion of Motion Sensor Technology (MST) in the VX-3HD demonstrates a commitment to intelligent design and user convenience.

How MST benefits you:

• Extended Battery Life: MST automatically deactivates the illuminated reticle after 5 minutes of inactivity. The moment any motion is detected, the illumination instantly reactivates. This ingenious feature significantly conserves battery life, ensuring your illuminated reticle is ready when you need it, without the worry of a dead battery.
• Always Ready: You don't need to manually turn the illumination on and off. The scope does it for you, allowing you to focus on your hunt rather than managing your equipment.

Beyond MST, the VX-3HD is designed with user comfort and efficiency in mind:

• Generous Eye Relief: A critical factor for shooter comfort and safety, the VX-3HD offers ample eye relief, reducing the risk of "scope bite" from recoil and allowing for quick target acquisition, even with eyeglasses.
• Fast-Focus Eyepiece: The fast-focus eyepiece allows for quick and easy diopter adjustment, ensuring a crystal-clear image of the reticle for any user's eyesight.
• Tactile and Ergonomic Controls: The windage and elevation adjustments, along with the magnification ring, are designed for smooth, precise operation, even with gloved hands. The matte black finish reduces glare, helping you remain unnoticed in the field.
• Second Focal Plane Versatility: With its second focal plane design, the 3.5-10x magnification range is perfectly suited for a wide array of hunting and shooting scenarios. At 3.5x, you get a wide field of view (29 ft at 100 yds), ideal for quick shots in tight quarters. At 10x, you gain enough magnification for precise placement on smaller targets or at extended ranges, while maintaining an excellent exit pupil diameter for bright images (4.40 - 3.60mm).

Why Choose the Leupold VX-3HD 3.5-10x40mm?

When evaluating rifle scopes, several questions often arise:

• "What's the best scope for hunting in varied conditions?" The VX-3HD's combination of Twilight Max optics, durable construction, and versatile magnification makes it an excellent candidate for virtually any hunting scenario where mid-range precision is key.
• "How can I make my long-range shots more consistent?" The CDS-ZL system directly addresses this by simplifying ballistic compensation, allowing for rapid and accurate dialing to target distance.
• "Do I really need an illuminated reticle?" For many hunters, especially those operating at dawn or dusk, an illuminated reticle like the FireDot Twilight Hunter is not a luxury but a necessity for confident shot placement in low light.
• "Is this scope tough enough for real-world use?" With its aircraft-grade aluminum body, 30mm tube, and extreme waterproofing/fogproofing, the VX-3HD is engineered to withstand the most demanding environments, backed by Leupold's legendary lifetime guarantee.

The Leupold VX-3HD CDS-ZL 3.5-10x40mm is more than just a scope; it’s an investment in your hunting and shooting success. Its thoughtful design, robust construction, and industry-leading optical performance combine to provide an unparalleled user experience. This scope simplifies complex shooting challenges, enhances visibility in critical moments, and delivers the durability necessary for a lifetime of adventure. It’s a testament to Leupold’s heritage of crafting some of the finest optics available, ensuring you have the clarity, precision, and confidence to make every shot count.

Leupold VX-3HD 3.5-10x40mm Specifications

Feature	Detail
Brand	Leupold
Model	VX-3HD
MPN	180627
UPC	030317028503
Magnification	3.5-10x
Objective Lens	40mm
Tube Diameter	30mm
Reticle	Illuminated FireDot Twilight Hunter
Focal Plane	Second
Material	Aircraft-Grade Aluminum
Finish	Matte Black
Firearm Type	Rifle
Field of View	29-11 ft @ 100 yds
Adjustment Size	.25 MOA
Windage Adjustment	55 MOA
Elevation Adjustment	55 MOA
Parallax Adjustment	150 yds
Length	12.70"
Weight	15.80 oz
Exit Pupil Diameter	4.40 - 3.60mm
Special Features	CDS-ZL, Zero Stop, Zero Lock dial, Motion Sensor Technology (MST), Twilight Max Light Management System, Guard-ion Lens Coating