Rifle Scopes Older Leupold Mk4-M1’s&M3’s

[DrDeath]

Compared to today’s offerings what do you guys think of the older fixed power Leupold Mk4 M1 & M3 scopes in 6x,10x&16x? Are they pretty bright? Is the glass as good as anything out there now??

 

[nn8734]

Had a 10x Mk4 for a while last year and always thought it was clear and bright relative to today’s scopes at a similar price point. Adjustments were spot on and everything functioned as it should.

I sold it to fund a rifle build.

 

[FrankinND]

Has quite a few of the 16x . Even ran one on a 50bmg. For the day they all worked really well and didn’t really know any different right? If I still had
One and wanted to run a fixed power I would definitely be running one. I liked
the glass and tracked good. If I found a good deal on one I would pick one up also because they make good back up scopes.

 

[Rookie]

I have the Mk4 10x. Great glass. Adjustments are backward though which always confuses me.

 

[redneckbmxer24]

They’re tough AF and have great glass but lack features. If you can snag used ones for $500-$600 they’re great as there’s nothing in that price range that gives reliability that’s even close and reliability is more important than features.

For what they cost new though, you can do way better. You can get a Mark 5 from Liberty for what one would run you new.

 

[ACK]

I have two of them. Rugged, repeatable. Super tall towers with 140 MOA of elevation. It looks dated however it does the job. At the range someone asked if it was a FFP. then
One is mounted on a 16" 308 POF. No issues.

 

[Deleted member 113831]

I have an old M3A 10x40 on my 16" 308 gas gun. Mil reticle w/ MOA turrets. I've never done a tracking test on it, but it has been zero'd for about 10 years now and has never lost zero. I don't twist turrets on it much. I just use hold overs to 700 yards, which is about the furthest I shoot it. I could probably use it as a hammer without it loosing zero.

 

[6.5 GUY]

I still use a 3.5-10 M3 and so far has never gone rogue on me in over 20 years. I've switched caps on various rifles and still can't find a issue for shooting game animals. 1 moa turrets are not for fine tuning paper target shots, but it's not like I miss either. I've been using the 300WM 190 gr. cap for a 6.5 WSM using 140-142 SGK, SMK's just fine since 2011.

 

[Kells81]

I have a couple of MK4's that are solid and are my shake out scopes and the scopes on loaner guns. They were the gold standard before the fancy shit came along. Damn kids and your zero stops with FFP's ruin everything.

 

[Harv24]

Yeah, I purchased a 10x MK4 with a Premier Mil dot reticle back in 94. cost me $1200.
Shot it for many years... finally sold it to fund a newer Mil scope.

For it's time, it was a great scope.

 

[diving dave]

I have an Ultra M1 16x that’s been mounted on a 50BMG since the mid 90’s... haven’t shot it in quite awhile but the scope has held up for many many rounds.

 

[smoothy8500]

I still have a couple Mk 4's on two rifles. Considering the current Mk 4 price of 500-600 and you compare the glass quality of a new scope at similar price, the Mk 4 wins-Less CA and better clarity. However, as Kells81 points out, the new scopes have features not found on the Mk 4 such as higher zoom ratio, FFP, etc.

If you want a fixed scope, for the price the MK 4's can hold a good value.