I am considering a Leupold VX-3 4.5-14x40 CDS for installation on my .223. Cabela's has them on sale for $549.99. I'm curious as to anyones experience with the customized dials and how accurate they are. Currently priced better than the same scope with either the B&C or Varmint reticles.

Anybody know of a better price?

I use several Leupold Mark 4 scopes with ballistic turrets which work in a similar fashion to the CDS system. I have a favorite 223 load and had a custom turret made by Leupold after providing them with information like bullet BC & muzzle velocity.

I've done limited testing of the turret. At 200 yards, the bullets were just a little low but not enough to matter on a shot at a raccoon. At 400 yards, the bullets landed right where they were supposed to.

Get the CDS dial engraved to your real world drop-chart instead of a ballistics program. At that point it has to work, because it already has.

After speaking with Sean Hunter at Leupold, I decided upon the VX-R 4-12x40 CDS. This scope has the illuminated Firedot Duplex reticle. As my eyes age, I have become a fan of the illuminated reticle for use on game in less than bright sunlight. According to Sean the VX-R optics are the same as the last generation VX-III, which was, and is still, a great scope.

While I have the Leupold VX-III 1.5-5x20 w/illuminated Circle-Dot reticle on my big bore african rifles, I did not like the looks of the VX-R Ballistic Firedot reticle - way to "BUSY" with the crosshair, circle, drop aiming points and the dot itself. They could have used a much better, cleaner design for a simple circle-dot reticle utilizing the firedog principle, IMO.

Mike, I saw those new VX-R scopes with the CDS. If/when you receive and use yours, please post back here if you get the chance. I'd like to hear more about one. Thanks.