Leupold Mk5 initial impression
My Leupold Mk5 came in. 5-25x56 with the PR1 reticle. I went back and forth about going with a tree reticle with his scope but I dont compete and I really like the Mil-C reticle in my ATACR which is similar.
I have surgery coming up in a week and a half so Im out of commission until September. But that okay since the rifle this is going on isn't supposed to be ready until around that time as well. That's only if Alamo Precision Rifles meets their estimate, which during these days Im not holding my breathe on.
I cant do a real side by side comparison right now with my 7-35 ATACR since I dont have anything to put this. However I have shot a 7-35 Mk5 alongside my ATACR and this Mk5 appears to be in line with the other one. Id say the glass quality is slightly behind the ATACR but not bad in any way. But I am comparing a 2000 dollar scope to a 3200 dollar scope, so Id expect a little bit of difference. But scoping out mountain tops around my house anywhere from 900 yards to 1900 yards the clarity and color it great. You arent going to miss anything because of the glass quality.
The turret feel is good. The clicks are tactile and audible. The clicks feel different than my ATACR. Deciding which one is better would be pure personal preference. I really like the zero lock feature. The offset windage marking is odd but not a deal breaker. I hold for wind anyways, so it will only be used for zeroing.
The magnification ring is stiff but smooth. Im going to keep the supplied nub on as it doesnt get in the way and works well. The nub is a 7 oclock at 5 power and 1 oclock at 25. The parallax knob is smooth and easy to use. I have been to the range with it yet so I dont know how well the yardage marks line up. The scope also comes with a sun shade which I probably wont use and a set of nice Leupold branded lens caps. The lens caps arent as nice as the Tenebraex caps on the ATACR, but Im not looking to replace them at this time.
Aesthetically the scope just looks good to me. It has kind of the classic "tactical" scope look. I really like the long sweeping front bell and the turret housing area is overly clunky looking.
For rings Im trying out the American Rifle Company M10 hinged rings. They seem to be very well made and very easy to get the scope clamped in as it only uses a single large screw per ring.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...4df78a55_o.jpg20210626_124958 by chase, on Flickr
