Icon Logo Gun Mart

Leupold Competition 45 x 56

Leupold Competition 45 x 56

It is interesting to see how things steadily move forward in Field Target shooting, and how names that at one point were dominant, slowly fade as new products or manufacturers find favour and take hold. Leupold are a perfect example of this, as at one time the Premier Reticles converted 20-50 was the scope to have, and for a long time it was seen at pretty much every shoot.

During this time, the Competition series quietly came into existence with a 45mm objective lens, and magnification fixed at 35, 40 or 45 mag. A few went to Premier and had the reticle changed from the bench rest crosshair or 1/8” dot, to something more FT-like, but most were bought in the UK and quietly pressed into service.

The 20-50 is gone but the Competition is still in full production and is still being used by some pretty competent FT shooters, so having spent a couple of hours trying Simon ‘Awesime’ Evans 45 mag version for another article, I thought I’d best get hold of one and take a proper look.

Typical loop

Even without the gold ring on the objective end of the scope, you can see that this is a Leupold from the outset! The matt black finish is flawless and apart from the gold ring on the objective lens there are no marking or embellishments on the scope at all. At the ocular lens end, the whole bell is moved to adjust the dioptre, with a neat little lock ring to keep it all in place. Forward of that we have erm, nothing until we get to the saddle, as you don’t have a magnification adjuster ring on a fixed mag scope!

Both the elevation and windage turrets are target-types with screw on covers. They are both in 1/8 MOA clicks, neatly engraved from 0 to 7 and with graduations in between, all coloured in a subdued gold. The detents are crisp and accurate with a slightly damped feel and without the harshness that says ‘rough machining’.

On the left of the saddle is the parallax adjustment. This is just a small 40mm knob, as the primary use for the Competition is bench rest and long range full bore shooting. But, even using the little wheel, adjustment is smooth. However, for FT we need something a little larger, so I have fitted a 100mm side wheel from AJP Engineering. In front of the saddle the tube expands from 30mm to 56mm and the 45mm ocular lens. The whole body has a smooth anodised finish, which I know from my own scopes lasts for years.

Eye aye

To anyone who has owned or used a Leupold, the sight picture when you lift this scope to your eye will be very familiar. The image is clear, sharp, has a lot of colour and detail and is generally very easy to live with. It also rewards correct alignment and eye relief and punishes any misalignment with blackness or at best a black crescent moon in the sight picture. The view is no exception to the Leupold rule with tiny, down-range details like pellet strikes, flaking paint, fixing screws, cobwebs etc all visible, sharp and bright.

story continues below...

The standard reticules are either a fine crosshair or the same but with a 1/8 MOA centre dot. I have used both of these in the past and despite online warnings of losing them in dark areas when looking at a target, I never experienced this. This particular Comp has what Leopold call a Non Standard reticle that is a Mil-Dot style, very useful for aiming off in FT. Whatever is fitted, by adjusting the ocular lens bell you will be able to get it sharp and clear.

Rangefinding is very good, with a depth of field at 25 yards of around a yard, stretching out a little at longer ranges. Which means you have to pay attention to what you are doing at around 50 to 55 yards, but it is still straightforward to get the correct range. On this example, the parallax adjusts from 11 to 65 yards. I am using a Leupold 50 foot adaptor to adjust down to 10 yards, but their Custom Shop does offer to set the scope up with a 10 yard minimum if requested!

In the woods

In use on the course, the Comp really comes into its own and rangefinding targets at all distances is pretty straightforward, bearing in mind what I said above. Checking targets at known distances I was pleased to look at the side wheel and each time find the scope was spot on. I know this is what we expect from a good FT scope, but we also know that this is not always the case!

In use, the 1/8” clicks are firm and there is no doubt that you have moved the turret and that it is not going to alter if you accidentally bump it. However, the turrets are relatively small in diameter and so you need to make sure you have a firm grip. They can of course be changed, either by Leupold, who can fit tactical-types, or by fitting a slightly bigger aftermarket design.

I know I have said the clarity and sight picture are good on the Competition, but my last experience with a high mag fixed scope was not that successful, I should not have worried. I took a couple of targets to get used to the Comp, but even in the darkest part of the course I could see everything I would normally be looking for and had absolutely no issues seeing the crosshair against the target. I was also able to acquire the targets pretty much every time and on the one or two occasions I didn’t, it was down as much to my poor position, as it was the fixed mag scope.

Conclusions

I think the Competition is worthy of the gold ring and is most definitely a Leupold. The finish is excellent, robust and highly understated. The side wheel operation is smooth and precise, rangefinding is good, repeatable and accurate, and as a bonus the scope is extremely light at just under 600 grams. If there is a negative, it is a little one and probably shrugged off by many, but I find the turrets just a little fiddly to use, then again as we are pressing the Comp into service in a discipline it was never designed for, I think I can forgive Leupold that one small point!

I suppose the big question for any reviewer is ‘would you use this scope?’ The answer in this case is most certainly yes! I will be shooting my next FT competition using the Comp and may well stick with it for the rest of the season, leaving my poor old 20-50 to gather dust.

 

  • Leupold Competition 45 x 56 - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

  • Leupold Competition 45 x 56 - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

  • Leupold Competition 45 x 56 - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

  • Leupold Competition 45 x 56 - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

  • Leupold Competition 45 x 56 - image {image:count}

    click on image to enlarge

gun
features

  • Name: Leupold Competition 45 x 56
  • Type: fixed power
  • Body tube: 30mm
  • Actual Magnification: 45.00 x (35 and 40x available)
  • Eye Relief : 3.18”
  • Elevation Adjustment : 38 MOA Range
  • Windage Adjustment : 38 MOA Range
  • Click values : 1/8 MOA
  • Length : 15.90”
  • Objective Diameter : 56 mm
  • Eyepiece Diameter : 1.60”
  • Weight : 20.40 oz
  • Price : £1,573
  • Contact : Viking Arms Ltd, 01423 780810, www.leupold.com
Arrow