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One08dragon's Review of Leupold Freedom 1x34mm Reflex Red Dot Sight
I purchased the 180093 model. I largely agree with BDC's assessment of this sight. I jumped at purchasing this, before COMPLETELY inspecting it, because it is a Leupold, and it appeared to have filled my mission requirements of it. That said, the reflective coating on the objective is negative impact for tactical use. This SHOULD have COME with a Tenabraex Killflash, screw in objective cover, for that reason. Second; The 34mm objective bell makes you believe it has a much larger field of view than it actually has. This wasn't a deal breaker for me, because I was taught to use the Bindon Eye Concept, almost exclusively. However, if you elect to implement a flip up magnifier with this sight, it may become an issue, if you are forced to shoot with only your scope eye. Third; I only read HERE that this sight is advertised as a "hunting sight". So, the tactical options were not implemented on this sight for that reason. The problem is that this would be an AWESOME combat/tactical/competition sight, if it had those options. Fourth; it would have been nice if the AR mount had been designed with throw lever QD. Fifth; The reticle lighting system IS a pain in the a$$ to cycle through. Sixth; "shake awake" would have been a nice addition to this sight, as well. The optics and glass are as clean as my IOR Valdada Pitbull, and Schmidt and Bender glass.. as expected for a Leupold product. All things being equal, if you've got good enough eyes, this sight would be (IMHO) better than Leupold's CQ/T, for combat/tactical/competition use. It took all this for me to drop my rating to four stars. But, had Leupold implemented all the features for tactical use, that are missing, I'd imagine this sight being $1k more, in price.
Pros:
- No parallax, infinite eye relief
- This sight IS light, for it's size.
- This sight is tough as nails. ..only second to an ACOG, Reflex II, or EOtech holographic, in that regard.
- Incredibly clear/clean glass, for a sight in this price range.
- Very easy for me to zero.
- The Mk4 style rings and mount are rock solid.
- Leupold is legendary for standing behind their products
- I was told that any of the flip up magnifiers on the market, would work with this sight.
Cons:
- The mirrored objective lense coating was not a good thing.
- Should have come with both, the Tenabraex Killflash, AND dust covers. Doesn't matter how tough the glass is, it'll still scratch and attract dust/dirt.
- The reticle lighting controls should be redesigned for expedient use, and "shake awake".
- Need to add the throw lever QD system to the already rock solid Mk4 style mount.
- A glass etched circle dot reticle would have been a better choice for this sight. But alas, it wasn't purpose designed for tactical/competition use.
Best Used for:
- None of my druthers with this sight would necessarily keep me from using it for tactical/home defense. But, there ARE better choices out there for that application.
Would Recommend:
Yes
10 of 10
found the following review helpful.