Leupold LCO Pro F2 — The Return of a Cult Classic, Better Than Before
October 14, 2026
Gun Talk Staff
When Leupold discontinued the original LCO, the people who had been running it were not happy about it. The LCO had developed a devoted following among serious shooters who appreciated its optical clarity, its wide window, and its overall build quality. Leupold heard the feedback, rebuilt the platform with improved electronics and new features, and brought it back as the LCO Pro F2.
What Is It?
The LCO Pro F2 is Leupold's premium carbine red dot, designed for shooters who want optical performance that rivals the best holographic sights without the limitations that come with holographic technology. The Gen 1 LCO had legendary glass clarity — the kind of clear, undistorted view that makes you feel like you're not looking through anything at all — and the F2 builds on that foundation with an improved electronics package, better battery life, and new features that the original never had.
Ben Van Raden, who runs the Red Dot division for Leupold, describes the F2 as taking the best attributes of the original and making them better. That's an accurate summary, but the specific improvements are worth understanding.
The New Electronics Package
The F2 adds multiple reticle selections and a 20-setting brightness dial that makes quick adjustments genuinely fast. Rather than clicking through brightness settings one at a time, the dial lets you wind quickly to a dramatically different brightness level — useful when you move from a dark indoor environment to bright daylight or vice versa. Night vision settings are also included, making the F2 compatible with the growing number of shooters running NODs.
The low battery indicator is a practical addition that addresses one of the common frustrations with any battery-powered optic. Knowing your battery is getting low before it dies during a match or in the field is straightforwardly useful.
The Reticles
Four reticle options are available on the F2, covering dot-only, circle-only, compass points with dot, and the full circle dot combination. The circle dot is Chris Cerino's personal preference for the combination of speed and precision it offers — the circle for fast target acquisition, the one MOA dot for precision aiming. He noted that he'd be swapping batteries on his birthday every year to account for the slightly higher power consumption of the circle dot versus simpler reticle options.
The circle for fast target acquisition, the one MOA dot for precision aiming.
The ability to choose your reticle based on application — circle dot for fast work, dot only for precision — makes the F2 more versatile than a single-reticle red dot.
The Mount
The Picatinny mount on the F2 takes three rail slots and provides a consistent return to zero when the optic is removed and remounted. For shooters who take their optic off for cleaning, storage, or travel, that consistent return-to-zero is a meaningful practical advantage. You're not re-zeroing every time you reinstall the optic.
On the Range
Chris ran the F2 at Hornady's Heartland Public Shooting Facility in Grand Island, Nebraska — a world-class shooting venue that provided a legitimate testing environment. His assessment after spending time with it was straightforward: the big window gives you a wide, forgiving field of view that makes target acquisition fast. The dial brightness control works exactly as described. The circle dot reticle is genuinely fun to shoot with.
He also demonstrated a zeroing tip: dial the brightness to the lowest perceptible setting for a finer sight picture during the zeroing process. It's a practical technique that applies to any red dot, but it works especially well with the F2's wide range of brightness settings.
Final Thoughts
The Leupold LCO Pro F2 is a premium red dot that earns its price tag with optical performance, build quality, and features that make a real difference in practical use. The return of the LCO platform with meaningful improvements makes it worth the attention of anyone who was a fan of the original and anyone who is shopping for a top-tier carbine optic.
Leupold made something great, discontinued it, listened to the people who loved it, and brought it back better. That's a story worth supporting.
