Thread: Leupold M8 6x42 Scope Review

Hi team,

Thought I'd do a review of my recently acquired Leupold M8 6x42 Scope for those of you thinking of getting one (or the 4x32) yourself.

I compared it side by side with the following scopes:
- Weaver K4 4x38
- Leupold VX1 3-9x40
- Nikon Prostaff 3-9x40
- Bushnell Elite 3200 3-9x40
- Weaver Grand Slam 3-12x42
- Nikon Monarch 3 4-16x50

I bought the scope from a shop for $300. It was in very good condition as you can see in the photos.

First impression is the build quality is excellent. The scope feels rugged yet light compared to other brands of a similar configuration. It is also streamlined and classy, elegant looking.

I took it to a 400m range for testing on my 308. I would have preferred click adjustments, but the friction adjustments were just fine. There was no detectable interference between the windage and elevation adjustments. Once zero it stayed zero after 60 shots. The adjustment caps were very low and perfect for a hunting rifle setup.
Eye relief was more than adequate on the Browning A Bolt 308. The eye box was generous too, maintaining a full view through the scope while allowing plenty of back and forth movement of the head position.

The M8 had a similar eye box to the Weaver K4, bearing in mind the Weaver is 4x, so that is impressive.
The M8 had minimal tunnel vision, unlike the Nikon scopes.
The M8 had a noticeably wider field of view compared to the 3-9x40 VX1 set at 6x.

Now onto optical quality.

During daylight hours, the M8 was noticeably blurrier compared to the likes of K4, Prostaff and Elite 3200. The colours also seem to be quite faint and do not pop as nicely as the other scopes. Compared to Leupold's own VX1, M8 is still slightly worse in resolution.

During low light, this is where things start to completely fall apart for the M8. Compared to the Monarch and Grand Slam, the M8 was so much dimmer that I thought there was fog on the lens, however I expected that prior due to the price difference. But even when compared to the K4, Prostaff and Elite 3200, the M8 is a significant step down in brightness and resolution, much more so than during day light hours. The second dimmest scope was clearly Leupold's own 3-9x40 VX1.

Out of all the other scopes I've owned in this price bracket, there are some differences in low light performance, but I never felt that difference would be big enough to impede general hunting. The M8 is the first scope in this price bracket that I think its performance during low light hunting situations would be seriously compromised. I've always had the impression that a fixed power scope would be brighter and clearer than a similar variable scope. This did not turn out to be the case for the M8.

So here is a summary of my thoughts on the Leupold M8 6x42:

Pros:
- Solid build quality
- Lightweight
- Streamlined allowing for plenty of bolt clearance
- Precise adjustments
- Generous eye box
- Generous field of view
- Minimal tunnel vision
- High resale value
- Leupold's warranty

Cons:
- Expensive compared to competing brands.
- Below average optics in day light, poor optics in low light conditions.

This seems to be true for most of Leupold's low end scopes.

Thoughts welcomed.

Interesting observations. I’ve owned a couple of older leupolds of about the same vintage as your M8, these were my impressions
-3-9x40 Vari-x iic: I found this old girl pretty good to be fair, decent clarity and low light performance was ok as well. I recall it was comparable to a more modern weaver grand slam that I owned at the time. The power ring was stiff so that sucked
-4x28 rimfire: not a bad little scope but more blurry at the edges than most modern scopes. The Nikon prostaff rimfire I also had at the time smoked it for clarity and light gathering
-fxII 6x36: awesome little scope, great clarity and light gathering. But considerably newer than your M8 so not a fair comparison

It's interesting, how scope makers have forgotten the value of a small diameter ocular and low profile turret caps. - those ROCK !

Friction adjustments are just fine. I don't know why you'd want clicks unless it was an open turret for dial shooting. Clicks are pseudo target fashion for capped turret scopes.

My VX-1 2-7 is certainly faint, yellow and blurry compared to high end newer scopes. But they were honest rugged reliable scopes with 100% warranty and probably still the best value at entry "first scope" level. I expect their successors are the same. Crisp imager quality isn't the most important feature you need.

Thanks for posting the review.
Can you show us the view through it and the reticle (for old times sake) ?

Originally Posted by Bagheera

It's interesting, how scope makers have forgotten the value of a small diameter ocular and low profile turret caps. - those ROCK !

Friction adjustments are just fine. I don't know why you'd want clicks unless it was an open turret for dial shooting. Clicks are pseudo target fashion for capped turret scopes.

My VX-1 2-7 is certainly faint, yellow and blurry compared to high end newer scopes. But they were honest rugged reliable scopes with 100% warranty and probably still the best value at entry "first scope" level. I expect their successors are the same. Crisp imager quality isn't the most important feature you need.

Thanks for posting the review.
Can you show us the view through it and the reticle (for old times sake) ?

Totally agree that low profile caps is the way to go for hunting.
Will get a photo through it this weekend at the range.

The m8 would be close to 40 years old now. It was a premium model in the 6x range, better than the x36 in light gathering, eye box, eye relief and more expensive.

About 15-20 years ago, there was a step Change in lenses coatings led by the Europeans. This and similar technology filtered through the industry.

I think this what you are seeing in the scopes you are comparing.

The old m8 are good reliable scopes. Newer Model 6x42’s have vx3 lense coatings BAT4? And click adjustments.

I have a 6 x 36 leupold of I suspect a similar vintage.
I used it for years and it was my favourite scope on my .223 , it did everything I needed without hassle.
The rifle was sold and the scope went into the cupboard until recently.
I dug it out a couple of weeks ago when I finally realised and admitted that my eyes have deteriorated to a point that I couldn’t use the iron sights on my .22 mag Ute rifle effectively anymore.
The 6 power leupold was the perfect solution because of its rugged simplicity.
During the setup faze it became apparent that scope technology has come along way , and the clarity and quality of the scope was seriously lacking compared to my other newer scopes .
I relegated it back to the cupboard and mounted another spare scope I have , Meopta 3-9 x 42 the difference is like night and day literally.

Good post, great to see no punches pulled review.

Great review. Exactly what I have found for these older leupold scopes.

I still have an M8 3x purchased new, mmmmm, long time ago. Not a true 3x more like 2 3/4x.
It was an excellent bush scope on my 308. It has good light gathering and huge FOV.
Maybe one con would be the friction adjustments rather than definative clicks not that worried me as it was never a "dial" scope.

Nice review by the way @Synthetic
Need more of these type of posts.
Mine has the classic Leupold Duplex reticle.
The serial number predates Leupold putting a prefix letter and now a suffix letter in the number. It has neither, just the number.
My 3x will go on my 375 when I get it (dream on).
Shite photo.
.

Interesting to read, good stuff! I somewhat foolishly bought a M8 8x AO from Ryan S a while back and sent it off to Leupold Australia for a service. Message was they no longer suport the friction adjust and would replace with click adjustments. Cool, so internals like new but pinged about $400 haha. Anyway, this glass resolution looks good to my eyes and as bright as or better than Vari X 1 or 2, 3-9 of which I have a few. But a pretty soecialised scope so I haven’t mounted it yet. If anyone wants a classic gloss period scope PM me!!?

interesting HandiH my brother is the origonal owner of that particular scope and tried to buy it back from Ryan,but you beat me to it...it ACTUALLY didnt belong to fella who sold it to Ryan.it was lent to "mate" who bought rifle and never given back...... we live n learn.

I have 3 M8 scopes all are 4x the first I got is the best...its 300ishmm long and rear eye box is larger than front...clarity is awesome as is light gathering...it was refurbed before I got it...also has post n rail...not seen on others.
the other two and shorter...one is very compact...they both nice scopes but not as good as the first.

Thanks for the write up. I have a good chuckle to myself when I see people buying a 20 year old VX-i on TM thinking its a VX-1 and paying basically the same price as new one.

Mmmmm to just clear up the Vari-X versus the VX and the VX-I versus the VX-1. Chart doesn't show the very latest series though. Seen the older scopes misrepresented on the likes or Tardme.