Estimated reading time: 9 minutes
In June 2024, I attended the Western States Sniper Symposium in Sun Valley, Idaho. This is a week-long training course for law enforcement snipers from across the western U.S. There they train, hone, and test their skills against each other. Each year, they also invite a few retired special forces members. The mix of different teams, jurisdictions, and backgrounds makes for a highly educational and competitive experience.
The week before I left for training, someone asked me if I wanted to use the new Leupold Mark 4 6-24×52 with the FFP PR3-MIL reticle. The scope I had been issued and had been using for my department was a Leupold VX-3 6x20x50 with the TMOA reticle. Before anyone could change their minds, I had the Mark 4 mounted on my rifle. I was off to Sun Valley.
Table of contents
Western States Sniper Symposium
The symposium requires snipers to make shots from various distances, angles, positions, and stress levels. They are in teams of two. Ranges spanned from 10 yards to over 1,000, with scores recorded up to 700 yards. They score shots based on hits on steel silhouettes, steel plates ranging from 12 to 4 inches, and paper targets well under an inch in size.
Introducing the Leupold Mark 4HD
I had seen that Leupold had introduced their Mark 4 line, so I was excited to try one out. For years, I have asked my agency to buy a Mark 5 but was told it was out of our budget. I was hopeful that the Mark 4 would fill the gap between performance and value. I had heard claims that it was 90 percent of a Mark 5 at 60 percent of the cost.
Glass Quality
I’ve had the pleasure of shooting and looking through a wide range of optics throughout my life, including Swarovski, Leica, Zeiss, and Nightforce, to name a few. The Mark 4 is optically very pleasing. Edge-to-edge definition is good, and clarity is sharp. The large objective lens and good glass let in a lot of light and provide an excellent field of view. Most importantly, it passed my personal test of what looking through good glass means to me—I didn’t get headaches after spending hours behind it. I’m sure there are more technical ways to test an optic’s clarity. For someone who might spend an entire work shift looking through a scope, this is the most important factor for me.
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The scope isn’t overly large or heavy, with a length of 14.6 inches and a weight of 27.5 oz. It fit onto my Tikka Compact Tactical rifle with a set of low rings.
Turrets
The vertical turret is what Leupold calls their M5C3. It has an uncapped locking zero and clicks in 1/10 MIL increments. The numbers are easy to read, and it’s not too tall, staying out of the way. It has a good feel with positive feedback for each click. There’s no second-guessing whether you made one or two clicks. I also found it tracked flawlessly. After setting my zero, I never needed to adjust it again. I prefer to dial for all my elevation holds. After shooting hundreds of targets throughout the week, I am 100 percent confident in the Mark 4HD’s ability to return to zero every time.
The turret locks at zero and cannot be moved unless the shooter depresses a button to allow the turret to turn, a feature Leupold calls ZeroLock. This feature gives me confidence that the rifle is locked at zero. The M5C3 provides three rotations of travel (around 36 MILs), more than enough for any shot a shooter might face.
Locking Zero System On the Mark 4HD
The horizontal turret on this Mark 4 model also has an uncapped locking zero system with clicks in 1/10 MIL increments. I’ve always used a capped horizontal turret, setting my zero, capping the turret, and using the horizontal plane in the reticle for wind holds. However, if the turret locks, I’m not necessarily against using an exposed horizontal turret.
The only negative feature I found with this particular Mark 4 was that the horizontal turret would not lock. I could move the turret left or right without depressing the button for the lock. While it didn’t move during the week of abuse, it was constantly on my mind, and I found myself checking it before nearly every shot. While this is manageable in daylight, it becomes a hassle in the dark. Leupold is well known for its customer service, and I am confident they will replace the turret free of charge. At the time of this writing, I haven’t contacted them about it yet, but I most certainly will.
Dialing It In
The parallax adjustment on the scope is on the left side. I dialed it without any issues. It has yardage markers from 35 yards out to 1,000. I found that when my target came into focus, the dial was very close to the actual range of the target. In one drill, shooters had to make hits on 1-inch circles from 50 yards to 10 yards in 10-yard increments. The Mark 4 was able to focus down to 20 yards, and I still managed to hit the target at 10 yards with a slightly fuzzy sight picture.
The power selector on the Mark 4HD is equipped with a throw lever. Adjusting the power takes some effort, but it’s certainly not too difficult, and it won’t move unless you want it to.
Reticle
Now for the reticle. The PR3-MIL FFP reticle is an absolute home run, and I’m so glad Leupold offers it in a first focal plane. I asked about a dozen shooters and instructors at the class to look through the scope and give me feedback. The most common description I heard was that it’s a very clean reticle. It doesn’t obstruct your field of view, and it is incredibly precise.
In the center of the reticle is a small dot that Leupold claims is .05 MIL in diameter, with the vertical and horizontal planes starting a quarter of a MIL away on all four sides. It’s perfect for precision shooting. The vertical plane extends down from the dot to the bottom of the scope and goes half a MIL above the dot, leaving the entire top half of the scope open. The horizontal planes extend to the edges of the scope. This design makes viewing and spotting targets much easier for the shooter, eliminating my need for a spotting scope. The reticle also includes several different measurements, including .25 MIL and .1 MIL references if needed. Not having to worry about wind or elevation holds being accurate regardless of magnification is a huge plus. If given a choice, I will always use a FFP scope.
A Few Thoughts On The Mark 4HD
During the week, I didn’t encounter a shooting scenario where the PR3 reticle didn’t excel. At the end of the week we had a competition for the tightest 3-shot group at 100 yards within a one-minute time frame—I won. There was also a speed shooting competition with targets set at 198, 300, and 460 yards. Shooters went head-to-head, hitting targets 1, 2, 3, 2, 1.
The fastest shooter to make hits on all five targets moved on to the next round in a double-elimination format. I set my power to 8, dialed the dope for the middle target, and used the vertical plane for holdover and the horizontal for wind—I won that too. These two contests couldn’t have been more different: one focused on precision, the other on speed, yet the PR3 worked flawlessly for both.
Conclusion
While I prefer to dial, holdovers were easy. Movers, once their speed was verified, were also easy. This reticle is very user-friendly, and I now find myself wanting to replace all my personal scopes with the PR3-MIL FFP reticle—it’s that good. Illlumination would be my one request.
The Leupold Mark 4 with its new FFP reticle options is a scope that can be used in any shooting environment a law enforcement sniper might encounter and excel. It would also be an excellent choice for PRS shooters or anyone who enjoys long-range precision shooting.
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The MSRP for the model I used is $1,499.99. This scope is an absolute steal for the money. I was able to place second in the individual category, competing against scopes that cost twice as much or more. Leupold also offers a generous 30 percent discount to law enforcement agencies as well as active law enforcement and military members.
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