Check Today's Price

Pros - Inexpensive scope with Leupold quality - Almost perfect magnification range for deer hunting - Generous eye relief - Rugged, yet lightweight Cons - Optics are only fully coated, not fully multicoated - No rings included

Welcome to our review of the Leupold Rifleman 3-9x50mm Riflescope. Leupold is known for making some excellent optics, and they have recently begun manufacturing scopes that even the most budget-conscious hunter will enjoy. The question is, are these bargain-bin scopes worth the money? Let’s have a look at this one and see how it shapes up.

What Are the Scope’s Dimensions?

This scope won’t weigh your kit down much at all. It weighs in at only 14.5 ounces, less than a pound. The overall length of the scope is just 12.4 inches, allowing it to mount easily to just about any rifle. The 50mm objective lens is large enough for plenty of light to enter, but still small enough that you should be able to mount it with standard scope rings.

What you’ll really enjoy is the scope’s eye relief. It’s a generous 4.2 inches, making it easy to mount the scope far enough forward that recoil doesn’t drive the accessory into your forward when you fire your rifle.

How Much Magnification Do I Get From the Rifleman 3-9x50mm Riflescope?

This particular scope is a variable zoom model, providing you with 3X to 9X magnification. The zoom wheel moves smoothly, but with enough friction to prevent you from inadvertently changing your power when you don’t want to.

The reticle is a standard wide-duplex variant, without any fancy bells or whistles. Unfortunately, there aren’t any distance markers on the reticle, so you can’t adjust your elevation of shot based on distance with this particular scope.

How is the Optics Quality on the Riflescope?

This is where Leupold has skimped a bit to cut down on production costs. The scope is only fully coated, not multicoated or fully multicoated. This has the effect of lowering the ability of the scope to gather light, unfortunately. Still, you’ll barely notice, thanks to the 50mm objective lens.

What’s the Light Gathering Capability Like on the Scope?

With its 50mm objective lens and fully coated optics, the Leupold Rifleman offers fairly decent transmittance. The only thing that would make it better would be fully multicoating the optics.

How Wide is the Field of View?

As for field of view, this scope is good but not great. You’ll see from 13.1 feet at maximum magnification to 33 feet at the lowest power setting, from 1,000 yards.

How Easy is the Scope to Mount?

When it comes to mounting your scope, the Leupold Rifleman makes this fairly easy. Unfortunately, it doesn’t come with rings, so I’d recommend buying a set along with the scope. For best results, use Leupold’s rings, but any standard riflescope rings will work in a pinch.

Any Tricks or Tips About Mounting the Scope?

This is a very straightforward scope to mount, as long as you have a set of rings. The only tip or trick I can tell you is to remember to have the scope as far forward as possible to still provide you with a full field of view through the eyepiece.

How Easy is the Leupold Rifleman 3-9x50mm Riflescope to Sight In?

Once you’ve got your accessory mounted, it’ll be time to move on to the process of sighting in your scope. Leupold makes this relatively easy, with 1/2-MOA clicks. The only thing that would make the job even easier would be finger-turn elevation and windage controls, instead of the coin-turn that the manufacturer has used. Make sure, though, that you use a laser bore-sighting tool first. It speeds up the process of sighting in your scope and saves you a ton of ammunition.

Once sighted in, your scope should remain zeroed in for several seasons of hunting, as long as you leave it mounted. If you unmount and then remount the scope, however, you may have to make some slight adjustments.

How Durable is the Scope?

This scope is made from aircraft-grade aluminum, and it’s quite durable. The lenses are O-ring sealed, and the optics chamber is nitrogen-purged, making the whole setup both waterproof and fogproof. It’s also backed by a lifetime warranty, and Leupold stands firmly behind all of its products.