I have a couple of Leupold 1.25 x 4 Patrol scopes, 30mm tube, and really like it.  Good clear glass, daylight visible red dot, nice looking reticle.  

So of course they discontinued it.  Looks like this one is the closest to the Patrol version:

https://www.leupold.com/scopes/rifle-scopes/vx-freedom-1-5-4x20-ar-firedot-30mm

Anyone know why the Patrol got the boot?  I like the reticle on that one better than the new one.  Any other differences people know of?

Thanks,

That 1.25 really throws me off

None of the 1-whatever have a true 1x, its just not possible. Lenses distort light

Stating 1.25 was leupolds way of trying to be honest. Same way their mark 8 is a 1.1-8

They have since given up on the being honest part purely because people like you see 1.25 and think its a hindrance.

The 1.5 is significant enough to be obviously noticed thus they kept that number but the vx6 went straight to 1-6 as did the mark 6

Lpvo are probably the most complicated lines of optics simply due to the 1x performance factor and the eye box at max magnification range.

On top of the price brackets driven down by Chinese and Japanese optionsl

My favorite scope.  super light and the glass is beautiful

I have one on an ADM mount and although I like the glass, I don't know if I can get used to it. I'll probably put it up in the EE shortly once I decide on a replacement. I've only had it to the range a couple times so I might give it one more go.

Good to know they discontinued them.

You can probably still find one on closeout.  Also, can find a Mark AR Mod 1 1.5-4x on closeout.  I have a vxr Patrol in 3-9 and a Mark ar Mod 1 in 4-12.  Both are great scopes for the money.   I hate to see them discontinued.

So, so wrong.

But no less then what I'd expect from a 19'er.

To the OP...

There are MANY LPVOs (Low Power Variable Optics) that offer true 1x magnificant on the low end and much higher then 4x on the top.  These facts helped make the 1.25-4x Leupolds far less popular.  But Leupold does make a couple of very nice 1-6x and even 1-8x optics.  You should check them out.  And of course, because of the improved magnification range (and other improvements), the prices will be higher.

If the scope had either locking or at least capped turrets and a non-retarded reticle, it would be a great scope. Weight was  best in class and glass is good.

Leupold loves their stupid reticles.

Because it's outdated AF.  Seriously.....a LPVO that doesn't go down to 1x and only goes up to 4x.....Outdated.  It was about time they discontinue them.

This. The part that kills me is that an upgrade to a true 1-5x and slapping some BDC hashes on there would make it a pretty decent choice as a low end multi-gun scope. But Leupold's product line-up has been an inexplicable series of missed opportunities for years now.

It's outdated. Pure and simple.

Why Leupold can’t build a 1-5/6 with daylight bright illumination, capped turrets and under 20 oz is beyond me. They come real close on a lot of product lines, but then fall short over something dumb.

You're fucking kidding right? They have a couple different ones. VX6 HD1-6 is 15 oz and daylight bright. And while not the latest and greatest or least expensive the MK6 is daylight bright and 17oz. You couldn't have done a simple Google search to arrive at a true answer? You should pose this question to VORTEX.

The VX-R is a FANTASTIC lightweight LPVO for a compact build.  It could usually be found <$500 and the glass punches well above it's price point.  I think the shake awake is good and the dot is definitely daylight bright.  Yeah, it's not true 1X and the max 4X is a bit dated, but it is an older optic.  There's always the VX6 if you want something lightweight with more magnification. Too bad it's literally almost 3X the cost as the VX-R.

Lots of rifle shooters do almost all (or all) of their shooting from static ranges in the middle of the day at high contrast targets. This leads to valuing spec sheet features over field performance and not caring much about scope weight. A heavy, cheap Chinese 1-6x or 1-8x is going to appeal to a lot of these shooters more than the VXR Patrol. Frankly, they might even work better for static shooting mid-day at high contrast targets. The market that's going to value the glass quality and light weight of the VXR Patrol enough to accept the magnification issues isn't big.

I've talked about it in a bit more detail before, but I suspect that many LPVOs actually are capable of true 1x, and possibly even some level of demagnification with diopter adjustment. The reason the sight picture doesn't perfectly conform to your peripheral vision is, I suspect, not because the scope is not capable of 1x magnification, but rather because the objective lens is seeing things at a different distance than your eye is.

A scope that's only capable of ~1.25x zoom on the low end is obviously not going to be any better about this. In that regard, the lack of true 1x is a handicap.

That one major flaw aside, the VXR Patrol is a pretty nifty optic for the money. There aren't many other LPVOs around that price point that also afford a combination of good image quality, daylight bright illumination, and long effective battery life. If Leupold could've just expanded the magnification range so it did go down to 1x, I think it would be a very serious competitor to the P4Xi.

Honestly, this probably drives a lot of the market demand.

Said Chinese scope may also be cheaper, which is pretty important considering how many people are apparently willing to blow $2000 on 10 low quality scopes over a few months but claim they can't afford a single high end optic.

This right here... Leupold always has a way of fucking something up that should be a class leader.

Even if we assume 1.1 instead of true 1X, it has minimal shadowing versus 1.25X.

Leupold just won't put a decent reticle in something they don't want big money for. I feel like whoever signs off on their product designs is an avid hunter who probably hasn't shot anything but his 270 bolt gun for the past two decades.

Leupold is not reliable. I'm not calling out product reliability, I'm calling out product support reliability. They're so detached and impatient they dump products like a bipolar teenager with a Tinder account. No one in their right mind wants to buy something that will be irrelevant in two years just because the manufacturer didn't like it. This is made worse by their history of replacing them with less attractive models.

This one needs a time machine, but the "assembled in the USA" debacle years ago hurt. No one likes finding out that their optic is Chinese made, even if it's put together here. Especially with that verbiage and USA flags all over the box.

Well it's possible to get a lot closer that 1.25x.  

But maybe you haven't used a quality LPVO.

Leupy discontinued them because they are outdated, didn't sell well, and are really meh optics.  Crappy reticle, exposed turrets, 1.25x low end.  

Even at blowout pricing of $400, it was a pass for me.

I had one and got rid of it for these reasons.

It was nice and light but had its down falls. Switch to a pst gen2 1-6x and couldn't be happier.

Because the Leupold Patrol buyers are cheap as well, just not as cheap as the Chinese optic buyers you mention.  

Because plenty of us choose quality, higher dollar optics like the 1-8x NX8 (which is as 1x as you can get - along with a 1-6x Razor II or PST II if on the cheap). Or Kahles, Vortex, Swaros, etc.

Unlike many here, some of us see the value in an optic that costs as much or more than the rifle and laugh at the $100-200 optic in the $300 mount on the $1500 rifle.

I still like my VX-R Patrol 3-9x40 a lot, but I bought it used years ago - and even then it was starting to show its age compared the competition.  It's still a nice scope, but the modern sub $600 scope market has gotten a lot more crowded with quality options that make it hard to recommend when the same money can get you 1-6x, 1-8x, or even 1-10x options that are pretty dang good.  I think Leupold is sitting back & banking on their name recognition to sell scopes while the new players in the market are aggressively pushing products designed specifically for modern shooters' demands.

VX6 I looked through was not daylight brite. I don’t remember which reticle it was, but it was about $1200 at the local gun shop, and definitely not red dot brite. Not as bright as my VX-R patrol 3-9. And I am not a Vortex fan boi, so what does that matter?

ETA- maybe it was not the HD model?

The firedot reticles should be. I made the Vortex comment because it was a fact. Your comment is still irrellevant with the MK6

MK6 is like $2500 right? Not in 95% of consumers price range. So yes, maybe they offer something in that slot, but it doesn’t make it a good offering. Not even sure where I was with the original comment, but basically I wish Leupold built a true competitor to the Razor Gen II 1-6/ Kahles K16 at an affordable price point. Affordable being $1000-$1200. Maybe it can’t be done. I love Leupold scopes, I have several of them on sporting rifles. I can’t afford a Mk6 though.

Leupold has discontinued all the decent VX-6HD 1-6 models.  I will say Firedot illum, even green, is far better than Trijicon Accupower in terms of brightness.  At least the cheaper Mark AR 1.5-4x20 Firedot I owned briefly was.  But the pushbutton illum is kind of 'meh' and the whole reticle / turrets stupidity kills them.  

And of course they don't offer a non Mark6 optic in the 1-6 range anymore.

So it seems only cheap ass 1.25/1.5x low ends, hunting scopes, or MK5/6 from Leupold.  They seem to have vacated or never taken seriously the $600-1400 tactical shooter product area.  

But hey, 1.25 is good enough for someone, there are plenty of them out there on the used market.

And maybe when it comes to tactical scopes, they took a bit of the "Colt" mindset, resting on their laurels with Military sales of their older Mark 4s, then some of the Mark 6s.  Then they lost the 1-6 contract to SIG Tango 6.  Fire sales on Mark 4s / VX-R Patrols.  Oh shit, nobody wants this crappy rebranded 1.5-4x Freedom lineup....  Many of their tactical people left for SIG (not that SIG is much better with reticles / turrets / etc, at least in their first couple of go arounds and revisions, discontinued optics, etc).