Leupold CQBSS 1.1-8X

Tactical Gear Optics & Mounts
1

I had the opportunity to handle/shoot/discuss the CQBSS the last two days with Leupold Tactical Division. We shot it on our 16" 7.62mm.

Leupy has some pics of it being shot at the range, but not sure of the quality of those pics. It rained pretty hard until the night shoot, so pictures where of a low priority.

We shot it in our 34mm mount (like the SASS mount but 34mm).

Off the bench the scope did really well, though this one was in mrads and my mrad math sucks so zeroing took more time and ammo than I would like to admitt. We ended up settling for a zero that was about 3/4" Left as the rain came in pretty heavy making the target hard to see at best.

As far as the design of the scope goes.
The locking turrets are outstanding and pretty self educating. Nice and beefy and easy to use gloved or no gloves.

Illumination was impressive, but Leupold stresses they are still tweaking a few bit on it, and the next evolution should be much more user friendly in terms of visible area for the dot, or illuminated reticle (depending on model).

Looking through it into our NV was the biggest eye opener that this in not the Leupold of old. I would say S&B clarity if not more in the glass, but that is just my eye, and not any light transfer hard data.

The combo is not light, and this was unsuppressed, however I’m not the biggest guy in the world and was easily able to move it around onto targets with ease.

With the projected pricing (not for public consumption yet) I don’t see this as a scope for most people, however it really feels the need for a scope on a 16" 7.62mm NATO gun. With the different reticle options the price can come down some as well, but I think the Dot and H27 reticle will be the primary interest.

Leupold is really listening to the End User, and the formation of the Leupold Tactical Division will be making a lot of optics companies get sickly sweats…

For those that know me as a die hard Short Dot fan, I have a slightly (ahem) used Short Dot that survived several years in Afghan and Iraq, in a Larue 1.93 QD mount for sale, so I can get a CQBSS for a personal SR-25 EM Carbine that I oh so need (not - but I like to feel like I need it…)

2

Looks promising no doubt w/ tremendous variable range.

Seems ideal for 7.62 etc.

Price point will be shock to most. (approx. MSRP $ 2,800.00 -2,900.00 USD)

Look for other manufactures to follow suit this year etc.

3

That’s a combo that I would love to get my hands on!

When I saw this at SHOT I really liked it, but I thought it would be much for a 5.56/.223 gun. I’m not sure the solution should be that I buy a 7.62 NATO gun to go with it.

Does anyone know if that high $2000 price everyone has been throwing around on the Internet includes that huge mount that Leupold developed for it?

4

I’ve heard a bunch of pricing info from $2,400-3,500 MSRP.

Consider a Short Dot 1.1-4x is around $2,500 MSRP currently - I would say even the $3,500 price tag would be reasonable.

Leupold designed this for a Military customer, and the number of these that will be sold will not allow them to re-coup a lot of the R&D $.

5

Out of curiousity, what was the weight of the optic?

Seems like these folks are pricing themselves above the Swarovski. That is a pretty high bar but the Z6 weighs the least of any of the Short Dot class optics.

6

What contract are all of these companies fighting for with the 1.1-8X scopes, does anyone know?

7

:wink:

Thats about all one can say.

8

Approx. 23 oz.

Also here is some more information about it.

9

Thanks for that link. Nice pics.

That optic looks like it would double as a club. Nicely built but the weight is up there.

10

I’m extremely excited about this optic. I have used the Horus reticle in their line of scopes. I think this may be quite a great pairing. Leupold makes good optics and the Horus reticle, while busy, is one of the quickest on the market for Target range and windage estimation. The die hard snipers I have worked with prefer the simplicity of the mil-dot reticle, but I prefer the ease of the Horus reticle.

SOS

11

I’ll take a stab at that question…Sr25’s maybe…seems a reasonable guess…1.1 for up close, then 8x to get eyes on…just a guess though

12

I would say the SPR more than anything else. They already have the contract for their 2.5-8 MRT. This one is a much better choice. I would like to see it without the Horus though.

13

to much money!

14

A .308 MRP, or a Rifle MRP/ACR Rifle with 18" Barrel.

My argument on the huge price is that for folks who would probably end up buying 2+ uppers for the same job, each with their own decent glass, you could get by with a pair of uppers - something 16" or longer with a CQBSS, and something shorter with a T-1.

15

Wasn’t S&B also coming out with a 1x - 8x this year or not?

16

The weight gets me more than the price. It seems that scopes lately are taking on the same proportions as Americans. :frowning:

17

Good glass is heavy. No way around it. Compare a Canon professional “L” lens to a consumer grade lens of the same focal length and you will feel a big difference.

18

I have the spec sheet on the sight but right now it is not for public release, I will see when it can be released.

19

Has anything changed from the ones that they were handing out at SHOT?

20

No idea, I did not get one at SHOT, and they emailed me one last week with a admonishment not to make it public yet.

They have made a number of end user requested changes since the SHOT demo’s.

I am supposed to have a new one very soon.