Leupold Ultra 10X M3A

[TOWGUN0352]

Just got this on a trade. Don’t know much about older Leupolds so if anyone could help identify I’d appreciate.
I’ve read so much about fakes it’s hard to decipher between real and fake. I’ve attached photos as reference.
thank you

 

[NateHaler]

The Leupold Ultra was the predecessor to the Mark 4 -- which was originally just available in fixed power variants. Then Leupold marketing people got involved and started calling some of their scopes Mark 4 Variables, blah blah.

Call Leupold and they can tell you, most importantly IMO, whether the scope you have was one of the batch they produced that was glued together. Some of these made their way into the mainstream, although were not supposed to. If you have a glued-together scope, it cannot be worked on. So call them and see what you have.

The M3 version has coarse adjustments, relatively speaking. If I remember right, it's 1/2 MOA elevation, and maybe 1 MOA for windage, but I'm guessing. The scope probably has about 100 MOA of internal elevation.

30 mm maintube, with 1/10" tube thickness, so incredibly strong for that era.

 

[TOWGUN0352]

Thanks for the reply I appreciate it. And yes it feels heavy as a tank which is a good thing I suppose. Also, why would Leupold glue them together? Waterproofing?
Thanks in advance

 

[lb-ft]

I am really curious about this one. It is marked in a way that is much different than what I’m accustomed to from Leupold. For your sake I hope it’s not a counterfeit.

 

[lb-ft]

Just found this, Google search, it is from Arkansas Democrat- Gazette “

“
Leupold does not use the letters I, O, and Q in its serial numbers because they are easily mistaken for 1, 0, and 0. If a scope has these letters in a serial number, it's fake. If it does not contain a letter at the end, it's fake. Leupold scopes bear distinctive physical characteristics.Dec 30, 2018

​

 

[TOWGUN0352]

Thanks for the info lb-ft. It's confusing because the older Ultra 10X scopes are numbers only with no letters, which the article would deem a counterfeit. However, there is a patent number on the rear ring that matches with the US Patent office concerning dates of manufacture. Of course I'm sure that could be duplicated but to what end you know. I'm hoping to take it to the range this Friday, see how the elevation and windage tracks, etc.... I'll give an update to you all. For what it's worth the scope feels heavy as a tank, turrets click appropriately, patent number matches. We'll see. Hoping for the best.

 

[TOWGUN0352]

Scott,

It predates our digital records however Ultra’s were produced 1984 thru 1987.

Built for the military to their specifications. The "A" designation in the Ultra M1A scope name description indicates a change/revision that occurred in 1986.
Ultra Scope Models:
Ultra 10X M1
Ultra 10X M2
Ultra 10X M3
Ultra 16X M1
Ultra 20X M1
Based on the serial number it's not counterfeit.
Best regards,
Chance

 

[NateHaler]

As to the glued-together issue, I was told (by the late great Mac Tilton of Tilton Guns and the world-famous Tilton Racing Clutch) that Leupold glued up a batch as a test run for the military, rather than assembling them in the much more expensive traditional way until such time as the testing (whatever that was) resulted in a 'proceed' conclusion. Again supposedly, somebody who had access to this batch of scopes took them and sold them to unsuspecting buyers.

Mac speculated that somebody with a glued-together scope could conceivably return it to Leupold, and in return -- because of Leupold's lifetime guarantee -- Leupold would replace it with a properly assembled scope.

I miss Mac. He was not just a superb engineer and machinist; he was also extremely personable and willing to share his knowledge. When I dropped by his shop one day (in Zephyr Cove, NV) he showed me some of the inventory he had been accumulating from his buying trips in various countries where the shooting sports were under attack and thus rifles would have otherwise been confiscated and destroyed. Usually smallbore rifles, such as Anschutz, Remington, BSA-Martini, and more. Hundreds of them!

MT Guns (not empty guns). He used that slogan in Precision Shooting magazine, in his ads for the excellent Barnard actions (which he imported).

OP, I hope you put that scope to good use.

 

[Bocephus]

Just got this on a trade. Don’t know much about older Leupolds so if anyone could help identify I’d appreciate.
I’ve read so much about fakes it’s hard to decipher between real and fake. I’ve attached photos as reference.
thank you

Had an Ulra 16X M1 that had been boosted by Premier. Eyebox was really tight, but maybe the most repeatable adjustments I've seen in a scope of that vintage. If it is genuine, should be tough as nails.