Riflescopes

3 Best Leupold Scopes for 22lr Rifle » [Best Leupold 22lr Scope]

best leupold scope for 22lr rifle

Are you are looking for the best Leupold scope for 22lr rifle, in this post I will guide you on choosing the best 22lr Leupold scope in the market today.

In the previous posts, I have shared with you several remarkable Leupold scopes and in particular the Leupold VX 3i scopes, Leupold VX Freedom scopes and the best Leupold long range scope.

It helps to understand the requirements of the 22lr rimfire round just as I shared in the Best Vortex scope for 22lr post.

Which is the Best Leupold Scope for 22lr Rifle?

If you are looking for a quick answer to the question: what is the best Leupold scope for 22lr, I have three picks of the best Leupold 22lr scopes that include:

  1. Leupold VX-Freedom 3-9x40mm Riflescope, Rimfire MOA Reticle, Matte Finish
  2. Leupold VX-Freedom 2-7x33mm Riflescope, Rimfire MOA Reticle, Matte Finish
  3. Leupold FX-I Rimfire 4x28mm Fine Duplex

Each of these scopes present you with a unique magnification and objective lens but they are all good Leupold scopes for 22lr caliber.

I want us to quickly look at each of these scopes and find out why they are highly recommended as the best Leupold scopes for 22Lr.

Let us start with understanding the specifications of the 22lr rimfire caliber so that we can match it with the best Leupold scope in the market today.

22lr Long Rifle (.22 Caliber Rimfire Ammunition)

The 22lr caliber originated in United States and for over the years have been very popular here in the US and is uses in wide range of guns that include rifles, handguns, revolvers, shotguns and submachine guns.

It is fair to say it’s the most popular round in the US today since it has been around for the last 100 years. It is a good round for varmint hunting, small game hunting and tactical shooting too.

When used on a good 22lr rifle paired by the best Leupold scope for 22lr or best Vortex scope for 22lr you can expect stellar performance and great accuracy.  Now let us have a quick glimpse of the specifications of the 22lr rimfire round as tabulated in the next section.

22 Long Rifle Caliber Specifications

The following is a quick summary of facts about the 22lr rimfire cartridge:

22lr Caliber Specifications

.22 Long Rifle
 

Type:   Rimfire cartridge

Place of origin: United States

Designer: Union Metallic Cartridge

Designed: 1884

Parent case: .22 Long

Case type: Rimmed, straight

Bullet diameter:  0.223 in (5.7 mm) – 0.2255 in (5.73 mm)

Uses: Hunting small game & sport shooting

 

It is not clear on the basics of the 22lr round we can now focus on choosing the best Leupold s cope for 22lr that will not only work well but deliver highly accurate performance.

3 Best Leupold Scopes for 22LR Rifle 

As I mentioned in the introduction above, there are three picks for the best 22lr Leupold scopes and they include:

  1. Leupold VX-Freedom 3-9x40mm Riflescope, Rimfire MOA Reticle, Matte Finish
  2. Leupold VX-Freedom 2-7x33mm Riflescope, Rimfire MOA Reticle, Matte Finish
  3. Leupold FX-I Rimfire 4x28mm Fine Duplex

We will focus on each of these scopes to understand them in detail so that we can find out why they are highly recommended for the 22 long rifle rimfire round.

Best Leupold Scope for 22lr Comparison Table

This is a quick comparison table of the specifications of the three best Leupold scopes for 22lr:

 

Name

best leupold scope for 22lr rifle Best Leupold Scope for 22lr Leupold VX-Freedom 2-7x33mm Leupold FX-I Rimfire 4x28mm Fine Duplex Best Leupold Scope for 22lr
Leupold VX-Freedom 3-9x40mm Leupold VX-Freedom 2-7x33mm Leupold FX-I Rimfire 4x28mm
Objective  40mm 33mm 28mm
Magnification 3-9x 2-7x 4x
Reticle MOA reticle Rimfire-MOA reticle Fine Duplex
Eye relief 4.17- 3.66 (Low-High) 4.17 – 3.7(Low-High) 4.5 – 4.5(Low-High)
Weight 12.2 oz. 11.1 oz. 7.5 oz.
Length 12.39 in. 11.04 in. 9.2 in.
Tube Diameter  1 inch 1 inch 1 inch

 

Let us now look at the general features of these scopes that they all share in common and makes them the best picks for the 22lr rifle.

Features of Best Leupold Scope for 22lr

  • With each of these scopes you can be assured they are designed as lightweight, and each delivers a rugged performance.
  • They are made of high quality optics that are excellent for low light performance
  • They are designed, machined, and assembled in the USA which guarantees you of the high standard and quality of these 22lr Leupold scopes.
  • They utilize the Twilight Light Management system that is designed to deliver high brightness and clarity by reducing the glare and balancing the light transmitted.
  • These best Leupold 22lr scopes are extremely tested and assured they deliver 100% waterproof performance, fog proof and shock proof.
  • They are tested to withstand up to 5000 impacts and they can comfortably take of the 22lr recoil since they are designed to withstand up to 3 times the recoil of .308 round.

Although each of these three best Leupold 22lr scopes have their unique pros and cons, they collectively share the following pros and cons

Pros 

  • Specifically designed for the rimfire round and works seamlessly with 22lr
  • Excellent reticle choice that improve the accuracy of the 22lr round
  • Easily compatible and lightweight design makes the scopes less bulky.
  • High clarity of the glass and good light transmission system.
  • American made scope with the best warranty.
  • Good eye relief that is perfect for the 22lr round.

Cons

  • Expensive in comparison with other scopes of the same category from other brands.

Similar Best Scopes for 22lr 

For quick comparison with other brands it may be helpful to quickly list the other scopes you can consider as the best scopes for 22lr.

These are other scopes from different brands that should be considered as the best 22lr scopes:

  1. Vortex Optics Diamondback 2-7×35 Rimfire V-Plex (MOA) Rifle Scope
  2. Vortex Crossfire II 2-7×32 Rimfire, Second Focal Plane, 1-inch Tube Riflescope – V-Plex Reticle
  3. Nikon Prostaff Rimfire II 3-9×40 BDC 150 Reticle Rifle Scope
  4. Nikon Prostaff Rimfire II 4-12×40 BDC 150 Reticle Rifle Scope
  5. Nikon Prostaff Target EFR 3-9×40 AO Matte Precision Reticle Rifle Scope
  6. TASCO Rimfire Series 3-9x 32mm 30/30 Reticle .22 Rifle Scope
  7. Bushnell AR Optics 2-7×32 Drop Zone-22 BDC Rimfire Reticle Rifle Scope
  8. Simmons Truplex .22 Mag Rifle Scope
  9. BARSKA 3-9×32 Plinker-22 Rifle Scope
  10. Primary Arms 6×32 Non-Illuminated ACSS 22LR Reticle Rifle Scope
  11. BARSKA 4×32 Plinker-22 Rifle Scope
  12. BSA Sweet .22 3-9x40mm Rifle Scope
  13. Burris Droptine 2-7x35mm Ballistic Plex .22 Reticle Rifle Scope
  14. Bushnell Rimfire Optics 6-18×40 Rifle Scope

Verdict

In this post, we have carefully picked the best Leupold scope for 22lr and the obvious winner among the three scope is Leupold VX-Freedom 3-9x40mm Riflescope, Rimfire MOA Reticle. Its larger objective lens and the Rimfire MOA reticle make it the best Leupold for the 22lr.  The other two mentioned above have good qualities and are highly recommended as good Leupold scopes for 22lr as well. If you want to buy the best Leupold scope for 22lr you cannot go wrong with Leupold VX-Freedom 3-9x40mm Riflescope, Rimfire MOA Reticle.