Thread: Leupold cds pros and cons

Hey team,

Quick question,.what are the pros and cons of the cds system?
Do temp and altitude factor o
In much, once you have a load you want to use?
Is there much variation in set altitude, plus or minus etc.
Any help would be much appreciated
Cheers bevan

How far are you planning to shoot with it?

They work bloody well if set up properly and used within reasonable ranges.
Regarding atmospherics just set it up according to where you hunt. Think mine is set to something like 800m ASL, 10 degrees Celsius? That way if I'm a bit lower or higher in altitude it still works well enough for big game. Mine works fine out to its max range which is 500m (1 revolution on my vx3).
Ensure you have an accurate muzzle velocity to base the turret on and will probably help if your range finder gives horizontal range to target as opposed to line of sight unless you want the hassle of calculating how angles will affect your point of impact.
Biggest con is that it will only work with that particular load/projectile but if you've found what works...

the cds "system" is just a dial that clicks

its not much of a system but it works, is light and tends to have okayish clicks that get better the more money you spend
altitude has a affect a tiny amount but you will need a rangefinder and ballistics app for your phone or dope chart if you are going analog

i dont like that they can get hit when you are walking around so usually I take them off unless Im planning to dial in
you can remove them and put the normal short finger adjustment cap back and the cap that covers it on easily enought without affecting zero

the zero stop is a ball bearing if you can call it a zero stop and even then its not included

Have a Kenton Industries cap (USA) on my old VX iii (3) scope and then I got a VX3i which I use on my .270. Bought a .308 Tikka and developed a load and fitted the newer scope to that to see how close the CDS worked. By zeroing 1" high at 100 yards with the .308 the POI is the same as on the .270 zeroed exactly at 100yards. I only shoot the .308 out to 300 yards so haven't tried it beyond that. The system works well from my experience just a case of range then dial. Fast and efficient.

if you actually measure your velocity with a chronograph its a good system, to many hunters though just use the stated box velocity because shooting at paper is foreign to them, they run into issues

Originally Posted by Bill999

the cds "system" is just a dial that clicks

its not much of a system but it works, is light and tends to have okayish clicks that get better the more money you spend
altitude has a affect a tiny amount but you will need a rangefinder and ballistics app for your phone or dope chart if you are going analog

i dont like that they can get hit when you are walking around so usually I take them off unless Im planning to dial in
you can remove them and put the normal short finger adjustment cap back and the cap that covers it on easily enought without affecting zero

the zero stop is a ball bearing if you can call it a zero stop and even then its not included

Not in all cases most dialable scopes have a lock or zero stop so once the range is dialed and the shot taken it's turned back to zero and locked there.

Sent from my CPH2145 using Tapatalk

don't see the benefit of CDS dial - its too specific to load/pill/BC/powder/alt/temp etc. And what do you do when you're shooting angle is 30 degrees ??
Just stick with moa or mils and run your ballistics calcs with inputs as needed. That way if & when you change your load or pill it still works.

Cheers, so I could possibly just use the factory dial as is once load is worked out? Without having to send it away for a specific load

Originally Posted by ocean-hunter

Cheers, so I could possibly just use the factory dial as is once load is worked out? Without having to send it away for a specific load

Yes. My brother in law has just recently gone through this. Ordered the cds dial based on the factory ammo he was using at time , then changed to another brand/weight ammo which meant Cds was out. I reckon unless you have a stockpile of particular ammo just stick with MOA/MIL.

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Originally Posted by Gibo

How far are you planning to shoot with it?

350 is my current limit, but want to push out to 500

I haven't used it but have been told by a mate who has that it isn't ideal for a long range tactical rifle by any means, but is a good system for hunting within reasonable distances - that is 400 to 500 depending on the calibre. I'm happy with a mil-dot or BDC style reticle, because I know that in the moment I will screw something up when there are moving parts!

I have it on my 308, on a vx3i. I set it up using 165gr hornady SF factory. On getting it back i discovered it worked quite well but was shooting a little high.
Maybe we used a cheap chron and got the speed slightly wrong but a simple adjustment (dialed it down 50m) it was shooting ok. Never really used it at long range thou.
Not that long ago i changed to 165gr Fed fusions, POI was nearly the same , only difference was it shot just a little lower which i was thinking put the CDS spot on.

Just recently went to the range with PENGY and after making sure it was still sighted good at 100 i tried the CDS at some gongs at 436m (477 yards).
Dialed it in at 450m and hit the bigger gong 2 out of 2 and tried the smaller gong and another direct hit.
No doubt the cds was great, hit spot on and dialed easy.

Did suit the Fed fuisions better but i did think the chron we used with the Hornady was abit out .
Still, with the hornady 165 if you were shooting at 300m you dialed it 50m down to 250m and it was good.
Now with the Feds it works pretty good at distance, quick and easy so im a fan.

I requested a zero stop and they put it on for me free of charge when i sent my CDS away when they set it up.

I have used it bush stalking mostly and thur some thick crap, had no problem of bumping the CDS dials out.

So i would consider it if you want to set it up for one round for longer range, works great.
I got my one set in metres, and use the range finder in metres as well. many prefer yards but it works for me

Originally Posted by chainsaw

don't see the benefit of CDS dial - its too specific to load/pill/BC/powder/alt/temp etc. And what do you do when you're shooting angle is 30 degrees ??
Just stick with moa or mils and run your ballistics calcs with inputs as needed. That way if & when you change your load or pill it still works.

yep, I can't see myself using the cds voucher. The zero stop dial works for any application.

Originally Posted by ocean-hunter

Cheers, so I could possibly just use the factory dial as is once load is worked out? Without having to send it away for a specific load

as soon as you are aiming up or down hill it all goes to shit anyway, the standard MOA turret is fine to use
you will need to plug in your data to a ballistic calculator after you have obtained your velocity with a chroni and found the BC of your bullet
do you currently have a range finder?
practice once you have your load sorted is critical to get it where you can get first round hits as the only constant with ballistics is constant change