boosting scope power

[rmist]

Since Premier recticles NO longer boost Leupold scopes,does anyone else do variable power scopes?? I would like my 8.5x 25 boosted to 20x50.
Thank you,
rmist

 

[eggman]

Have you tried one of the Gene Davis screw-on,or slip-on) Optical boosters ? If you haven't I'd suggest trying one and it might be all you need . Plus, it will not void your manufacture's warranty.

Rodney

 

[tightneck]

Since Premier recticles NO longer boost Leupold scopes,does anyone else do variable power scopes?? I would like my 8.5x 25 boosted to 20x50.
Thank you,
rmist

No one else does variables.

 

[rmist]

Thank you for the info. I was hoping to boost mine. The lens from Gene sounds like the only way to go. I will give him a call.
Thanx again...
rmist

 

[rem_kujawa]

I tried the Gene davis lens and did not like it,It made the scope unclear.And I could not get it into focus

 

[tightneck]

I tried the Gene davis lens and did not like it,It made the scope unclear.And I could not get it into focus

My experience mirrors yours

 

[rmist]

So what is the best way to go besides spending almost 2 grand for a powerfull clear scope that you can FOCUS ??? I live on a fixed income from the military...,not much mide you)...a bill sounds good, but you say it's not the way to go !! Why did premier stop boosting scopes ??
Thanx... Rmist

 

[brfun]

In MHO you cant beat a nightforce! for round 1300 you can get there BR 12-42. I know that probably isn't what you wanted to hear. for what it is worth I had a hard time coughing up the cash for my nightforce but I sure am glad i did. its fantastic! you mentioned clear as a requirement and the nightforce is that without a doubt. Back 13 years or so I had a lup. 6.5-20 boosted to 14.5-35 and was not impressed with the brightness or clarity either one. I shot it for a number of years before selling it to help with the cost of my first nightforce. Even if premier still did boosts I wouldnt do another.
Brian

 

[tightneck]

So what is the best way to go besides spending almost 2 grand for a powerfull clear scope that you can FOCUS ??? I live on a fixed income from the military...,not much mide you)...a bill sounds good, but you say it's not the way to go !! Why did premier stop boosting scopes ??
Thanx... Rmist

The man who started premier passed away a couple years ago. I don't know exactly how it all transpired, but Premier was a certified Leupold repair center until his passing. When he died his son took over but the Leupold contract was not renewed. I think he deals with S&B scopes now. As far as what to do, you can place an add stating that your looking for a boosted scope, they do become available pretty frequently. Many trades have been made, boosted for an un-boosted. Your scope is worth a fair chunk of change toward whatever you like too. A Nightforce BR model 12-42 would be what I would look for.

 

[CatShooter]

Why did premier stop boosting scopes ??
Thanx... Rmist

The man who started premier passed away a couple years ago. I don't know exactly how it all transpired, but Premier was a certified Leupold repair center until his passing. When he died his son took over but the Leupold contract was not renewed.

Actually, that's not what happened.

Dick Thomas, who owned Premier Reticles, did custom reticles repairs and modifications on Leupold scopes from the beginning.

It was Dick Thomas that put Leupold scopes on the map.

In the beginning, Premier Reticles made reticles for the military and optical industry... and Leupold made very high quality hunting and varmint scopes - Weaver was the king of the benchrest crowd,hard to believe now, Huh?).

So Premier started putting Mildot reticles in the Leupold military scopes - the MK4-M3 and the MK4-M1.

Then he started boosting the power of the varmint scopes with really good lenses, and Leupold/boosted scopes started pushing out Weaver.

Premier became a dealer and the only repair station for Leupold.

Then Premier started making all kinds of custom reticles for the Leupold. Since they would only work on Leupolds, people that wanted custom reticles started buying Leupolds instead of other scopes because they could get the reticle of their dreams... the relationship benefited both companies.

About ten~ish years ago, Leupold brought in some Harvard/Yale type MBAs.
These grubby assholes thought, "Hell, we could be making money on these custom reticles instead of those guys - and one of the first things they did was start shutting out Premier Reticles.

At the time, Leupold made a nifty little spotting scope called the 25x50. IIRC, it listed for around $250~ish. It was the size of a beer can, with really good optics.

Premier put mildot reticles in these and sold them to the military and tactical shooters for a whoppin $800. Plus, Premier had a ton of special military Cordura cases made for them with A.L.I.C.E. clips, so they could be attached to web belts or Alice packs.

It wasn't a ripoff, there was a ton of work in it and a lot of special machinery involved.

Well... the Harvard/Yale type MBAs decided to discontinue the little scope and bring in some Asian junk,the Wind River line).

Instead of telling Premier, and giving them the opportunity to purchase all of the remaining 25x50 scopes, Leupold said "Nothing"!

So, when Premier runs low on the 25x50, and orders more, they get a terse form letter saying "No longer available".

So Dick calls Leupold, and asks why they didn't get advance warning,cuz they had a ton of orders pending), and why they didn't get a chance to buy all of the remaining inventory when the decision was made to disco the scopes... Dick was told, "You are not part of our business decisions!".
Dick Thomas was miffed, but thought he still had a working relationship with Leupold.

That was part one...

Part two:

Dick designs a new type of Mildot reticle called the "Gen-II", and applies for a patent. he starts to sell them under the "Patent pending" protection of patent law.

Leupold rips him off, and starts selling Gen-II reticle'd scopes to the military.

Then Nikon follows.

Leupold was claiming that the Gen-II reticle was a copy of the "Smith reticle",,which no body used cuz it was junk), but under that, Leupold was claiming that since the Gen-II reticle was a copy of the Smith reticle, and since the Smith reticle's patent had run out, then the Gen-II reticle was "Public art",meaning no patent protection!!!).

That was Leupold's position to the Patent Office. So the Patent Office denied Premier Reticle's patent application.

So Dick calls them and says "What the hell is going on here?", and is politely told by the Harvard/Yale type MBAs...

... "That's business!, Oh and by the way, while we have you on the phone, you are getting no more scopes, no more parts, and we will not honor the Warranties any of your work or repairs after,XXX DATE)".

Out of the bleu, with no warning, Premier was shut off and shut down - since they had limited their work to only Leupold, Leupold had effectively put them out of business.

So I got a call from Dick, and he asked if I could help him on the Gen-II problem.

So I spent a few weeks looking up the Smith Reticle, and wrote the challenge to the Patent Office's decision, and we won!!

Dick got a patent for the Gen-II, and then promptly sued Leupold,and now Nikon) for patent infringement, and was awarded triple damages,A LOT OF MONEY).

Then Premier went off in different directions.

That's how it happened.


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[Forum Boss]

Fascinating stuff, Catshooter.

Congrats on your involvement in the successful patent litigation.

As a Harvard guy, myself, I'll have to blame the Yale (probably Wharton or Stanford actually) MBAs for Leupold's misguided policies.

I just wish they would stop shipping $600+ scopes with canted reticles.

For grins, do a Google Image search for "canted reticle".

 

[CatShooter]

Fascinating stuff, CatShooter.

Congrats on your involvement in the successful patent litigation.

As a Harvard guy, myself, I'll have to blame the Yale,probably Wharton or Stanford actually) MBAs for Leupold's misguided policies.

I just wish they would stop shipping $600+ scopes with canted reticles.

For grins, do a Google Image search for "canted reticle".

I did research for Leupold in the late 90's early 2000's, but I have pretty much walked away from them.

The boys from "Wharton" have really damaged the company - the prices have gone through the roof, they are now getting stuff from Asia,cuz it brings up the margins), and the quality of the scopes are going down.

"Canted reticles" are a real problem for long range shooters, and are responsible for what many shooters think of as bad wind calls or "spin drift", cuz the POI moves sideways as the elevation is cranked in.

Now, it looks like some of the others are taking up the slack - seems like Sightron has not been sleeping while Leupold has been resting on a reputation made in the 70's and 80's.

I'm looking forward to hearing more about the new S-III and Big sky scopes, especially about if there are canted reticles and tracking issues.


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[eggman]

So what is the best way to go besides spending almost 2 grand for a powerfull clear scope that you can FOCUS ??? I live on a fixed income from the military...,not much mide you)...a bill sounds good, but you say it's not the way to go !! Why did premier stop boosting scopes ??
Thanx... Rmist

RMist, the reason I mentioned the Gene Davis lens was because it might be the least expensive of your options. IF it works for your scope! My experience with the lens is mixed : the best example of it working on a scope was a 3x lens on a friend's Leupold 45x comp. scope that we shared at the Unaka NBRSA BR match, it worked so well and was so clear I didn't even know the lens was in place except for the magnification. The other Leupold that the lens worked well on was a 8.5-25x 40mm that I use on a varmint rig. On the down side I tried one on my son's NF 8-32x BR scope and it didn't increase the magnification and I could not focus the cross hairs also tried it on my Leupold 45x comp. on a 6 BRX and didn't have enough eye relief for the recoil. So, it just depends on the scope and the application . One lens cost a bill and if you can't find a buddy that has one too try out on your scope buy a new one and then sell it if it doesn't work like you had hoped.

Rodney

 

[rem_kujawa]

Lito,

Again you always seem to dazzle me with the facts.

I would just save up for the scope you want,if you go cheap youll just sell it for half and get the better one.Thats what I do.LOL

 

[CatShooter]

I tried the Gene davis lens and did not like it,It made the scope unclear.And I could not get it into focus

Good morning Jon-K

If the lens is not clear, you loose more than you gain.

Magnification alone is worthless unless it brings increased detail.

The Gene Davis lenses don't offer that much increase in mag - IIRC, 15% and ~30%

That means that your 20x scope with the first lens will be 23x... you won't be able to see the the difference in magnification... it's nothing!

But the real problem is that your increase in magnification brings you nothing but a larger fuzzy image.

For example, I have several 15x Unertl "Ultra" scopes - I see more detail on a target, and have more ability to see bullet holes,and the space between them) than I have with 20x Leuolds. The optical system in the Leupold is not as sharp. Now, if I increase the 20x Leupold to 26x, I have accomplished nothing... I get a larger view of a target that has less detail in it that what I see with a 15x Unertl.

In optics, this phenomena is called "Empty magnification", cuz the image gets larger, but you can't see anything more.

If you are looking for a solution... it appears that the new Sightron S-III is going to give Nightforce a run for it's money - at ~$800 street price.

Read the reviews elsewhere on this site.


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[rem_kujawa]

Thats good to hear,

Ill have to check that S-III

 

[artbosco]

Scope boost ??? Give these guys a shout:

Scope Boosting and/or Reticle Modifications

Bill Ackerman
Optical Services Co.
,505) 589-3833
oscscope@aol.com
Reticle Swaps. Boost on fixed-power scopes only. Call for model availability.

Wally Seibert
22720 S.E.56th.St.
Issaquah, WA 98029
,425) 392-3567
Reticle Swaps and boosting on certain scopes. Call for model availability.

 

[robbor]

It always annoyed me how they can publicly state one day that your scope will be under warranty if modified by Premier and then deny it the next? When Bushnell bought tasco they stated they would be honoring all warranties and then denied all non new production warranties. I was wondering the same thing about weaver since they just changed hands. Its a shame.

 

[BulletShooter]

Weaver's"
Here is what I came across with weaver scope's. A screw came out I lost it" it was on the power ring that adjust the power.
I called weaver and talked to three different place's Weaver gave me numbers to call about this and I asked for another screw.They said send the scope to them and for $84.00 they will replace the screw.Again I asked for a screw, they said there was so many different scope's and some are made in Japan,they would have to see the scope to repair it. Needless to say I didn't send the scope to them and made my own screw and it works. BUT" I will never buy another weaver scope, I'm all done with weaver.
Do me once hahaha on me' cuz, it isn't going to happen twice.