Discovery LHD 8-32×56 FFP

by moondog on November 3, 2024 with No Comments

The Discovery LHD 8-32×56 is a surprisingly low priced 32x scope. Unlike previous long-range scopes from Discovery, my sample model did not come with scope rings. This may be a new direction from Discovery, hoping to move away from the perception that they are a “budget brand” that come with plethora of accessories. Leupold, Athlon, Vortex, Burris; none of the big name scope brands come with rings or mounts for their long range scopes.

The LHD appears made for long range Benchrest style shooting at over 2lbs (35.6 oz). It has tall, non-locking turrets which provide loud and tactile positive clicks. The elevation turret has a cog-and-tooth style zero stop which is solid and repeatable. In my range testing, the turret tracked precisely to my MIL grid target at 100yrds.

The magnification ring was stiff but thankfully it comes with metal throw lever, which it needs. The LHD uses relatively sharp HD glass which exhibits typical amounts of chromatic aberration (CA). This CA reduces contrast and sharpness at its highest magnification, which takes away from what on paper should be an impressive 32x.

The LHD has a FFP Christmas Tree reticle that is mostly skeletonized and thin to optimize visibility at higher magnification and longer distance objects. The illumination lights up the center 1/4 of of the cross hairs and is low-light/twilight bright. Helpful for black bullseye targets or shooting in early dawn or dusk but not “daylight bright”.

A disappointment in this scope for me is its tight eyebox. Most high magnification factor scopes suffer from this. Even at it widest setting of 8x the scope has an unforgiving eyebox that only gets tighter that higher you crank the magnification. For a Benchrest or F/class shooter this isn’t as much of an issue but would be very frustrating to a hunter and competing in PRS/NRL matches.

Overall performance and build quality reminds me a lot of the Arken SH4. The LHD offers similar performance at higher magnification for just under $250. While this scope won’t compete with premium +30x scopes like the Athlon Ares or Vortex Golden Eagle, the LHD outperforms anything close to its price class.