The author installed the VX-7 2.5-10x45mm on his custom .264 Winchester Magnum from Serengeti Rifles. The left-hand group is the test target; the right-hand group is his first group from this rifle--both about a half-inch.

The Leupold VX-7 made its appearance in 2007, which happened to be the centennial year of "America's Optics Authority." Personally, I don't have a problem with Leupold's long-standing Vari-X I, II or III lines, nor with the VX-L, and I sure didn't have a problem with the excellent 30mm LPS scopes that the VX-7 has supplanted.

However, if Leupold wished to make a splash with its 100th anniversary, the company made a very big one with the VX-7. It's one helluva riflescope!

I can say that with some confidence, because I've now used VX-7 scopes on several different rifles, in heat and cold and from desert floors to mountaintops. The VX-7 is a premium 30mm scope, very much the top of the extensive Leupold lineup. There are currently five different models: 1.5-6x24mm, 2.5-10x45mm, 3.5-14x50mm, 3.5-14x56mm and 4.5-18x56mm. Clearly, this covers the full spectrum, from varmint hunting and big game in the most open country all the way to dangerous game at close quarters. The two models I have had the chance to use are the 1.5-6x24mm and the 2.5-10x45mm. I've now used multiples of each, and across the board the brightness and resolution were just plain spectacular.

I used the 1.5-6X on two different .375s: the new Kimber Caprivi .375 H&H in Namibia in June 2007 and on my Model 77 .375 Ruger in Tanzania in October. This scope maintains Leupold's tradition of offering enough eye relief for heavy-recoiling rifles (minimum: nearly four inches). It also has a new reticle among several choices.

The XT Duplex (currently a VX-7 exclusive) has some very sensible features. The thick portions of the crosshairs are thicker than the standard Duplex but also farther apart. In the field this made precise aiming at smaller targets a bit easier, but I also found it extremely fast. For instance, I used the reticle on small antelope like springbok and steenbok at considerable range, and it was just fine. But it was equally fine on elephant and buffalo at close range . . . and extremely fast and visible on a leopard at 50 yards.

No more lost turret caps: The VX-7's SpeeDial is a clever turret that slides up to allow access to the quarter-minute adjustments, then slides back down and screws in

The 2.5-10x45mm is a more versatile, general-purpose scope. This model carries the same excellent eye relief and is offered with either the XT Duplex reticle or the Boone & Crocket Big Game Reticle with additional stadia lines for shooting at longer ranges.

In Tanzania I used hunting partner Tom Fruechtel's .30-06 with a 2.5-10X, and I was impressed enough that I bought one for a custom .264 Winchester Magnum just built for me by Serengeti Rifles. My scope has the B&C reticle. I've tried it on other Leupold scopes, and it's visible and above all simple to understand and use.

A .264? Well, I had one when I was a kid and loved it, and I've been threatening to get another one for decades. (Now I have one, and it's a beauty. I'll write about it later this year, after I've done some hunting with it.) As of now it's made just one trip to the range, but it looks promising. With the VX-7 2.5-10X and 140-grain Winchester factory loads, its first group measured right at a half-inch. With a starting point like that, it should be fun to work up some good loads.