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BX-4 McKinley HD, new version (1 Viewer)

C

cycleguy

Well-known member
Hey all,

I'm hearing the McKinley HD BX-4 is being updated for 2014. The so called improvements are: slimmer eyecups, lighter weight - shaved 1.5 ounces from the package, and center locking diopter adjustment.

Explains the close-out pricing and discontinued notations you are seeing from inet retailers.

Some other new items from Leupold: 32mm Mojave and Acadia, and an entry level roof around $140 referred to as the BX-1 McKenzie.

CG
 
CG,

Thanks for the information, Leupold has a picture of the new BX-4 on their website. I found nothing wrong with the old diopeter but maybe this new one will solve some of the eyecup related QC issues. I wonder what changes the new, slim eye cups will result in? Eye relief seems the same, so if must be something different?

Good birding,
Justin
 
Coin Hound said:
The box mine came with has it spelled "MOJAVE".

The website is different????

If companies want me to shell out $500+ and more, at least spell your product correctly.

Is this part of Leupold's 'quality control'?
Click to expand...

It looks to be correct (mojave) on the website from what I can see.

Edit: now I see it. It's on the new 32mm mojave page. They did spell
it wrong...pretty funny.
 
Last edited:
Annabeth2 said:
It looks to be correct (mojave) on the website from what I can see.

Edit: now I see it. It's on the new 32mm mojave page. They did spell
it wrong...pretty funny.
Click to expand...

I dont see it so they must have fixed it.

Ahh, found it, they have it spelled different on different parts of the site.
 
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My information direct from the man at Leopold is that the new McKinley will not be available until Feb 20-22.

It is and it is not new. It is new in that it has less armor, a little less weight, and they redesigned the eye cup and diopter arrangement to reduce the diameter of the eye cups. There were two seemingly major issues with the original McKinley. First obviously was the eye cup diameter. The second was they felt fatter than needed.

Otherwise it is the same glass and optical design as is the original. :t:

Edited: My original post said "...to reduce diameter of the oculars". I should have said eye cups, which I said in the edit.
 
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Not seeing them but reading reports it sounded more like an eyecup issue? So they changed the ep's making smaller occulars? To me the view would have to be somewhat different if they changed the ep design? Bryce...
 
stereotruckdriver said:
Not seeing them but reading reports it sounded more like an eyecup issue? So they changed the ep's making smaller occulars? To me the view would have to be somewhat different if they changed the ep design? Bryce...
Click to expand...

If you look closely, it is apparent that there is some room for the eye cup assembly to be made smaller with the existing ocular assembly. One of the ways they felt they could do this was to get rid of the right eye diopter. This let them slim the frame diameter as it reached its terminus at the eye cup. They evidently felt was that with a smaller eye cup on the end of a smaller diameter frame, they could further reduce the diamete. Those are simple enough to do without a complete redesign of the optical system. For all I know, there may be some tweaking of the ocular lens assembly, but if it is, it is a tweak of the existing design, not a redesign. No point in reinventing the wheel if a couple of simple fixes works.

People complained about the size of the eye cups. The eye cups were large in order to fit over the ocular assembly.
 
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Steve C said:
If you look closely, it is apparent that there is some room for the eye cup assembly to be made smaller. One of the ways they felt they could do this was to get rid of the right eye diopter. This let them slim the frame diameter as it reached its terminus at the eye cup. They evidently felt was that with a smaller eye cup on the end of a smaller diameter frame, they could further reduce the diameter a little. Those are simple enough to do without a complete redesign of the optical system. For all I know, there may be some tweaking of the ocular lens assembly, but if it is, it is a tweak of the existing design, not a redesign. No point in reinventing the wheel if a couple of simple fixes works.
Click to expand...

I got you now! Not so much the occulars but the eyecups themselves! Thanks, Bryce...
 
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Thanks for getting all the info Steve. It sounds like Leupold addressed the major concerns with the McKinley. I look forward to trying one of the newer versions when they debut to see if the eyecup redesign addressed previous concerns.
 
If there's a major price difference but optically identical, I rather buy the existing Mckinley which is on sale. Just rec'd my BX-4 and those previously mentioned matters are not an issue for me. The barrel is a bit too big for my Asian-sized hand but still quite comfortable & balance to hold. Optically they are excellent performer at their price. Bravo !

Andy
 
I handled the bx4 old version briefly at a store display counter. I didn't find any mojo in either the optics or ergonomics (maybe just a bad sample). I'm hoping this changes some with the new version.

CG
 
Last edited:
cycleguy said:
Hey all,

I'm hearing the McKinley HD BX-4 is being updated for 2014. The so called improvements are: slimmer eyecups, lighter weight - shaved 1.5 ounces from the package, and center locking diopter adjustment.

Explains the close-out pricing and discontinued notations you are seeing from inet retailers.

Some other new items from Leupold: 32mm Mojave and Acadia, and an entry level roof around $140 referred to as the BX-1 McKenzie.

CG
Click to expand...

Do you know the size of the new eyecups vs the size of the current eyecups ?
 
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