No Leupold love

[NorCalMikie]

Got a 4 power from my Father before he died. Put it on my Ruger 10/22. Worked fine till I heard a rattle in the tube? Come to find out the "fine" cross hair had come loose inside and was flopping around. Lifetime Warranty?
Sent it back. Got it back repaired but with the wrong cross hair.
Mounted it back up and went to shooting again. Not too long after, cross came loose AGAIN!! Sent it back and got it repaired AGAIN. Returned but this time with the original fine cross.
Was told by Leupold that that scope "wasn't designed" for the recoil of a Ruger semi auto10/22??? Funny that you can mount one on a 7MM Mag with no "recoil" issues but NOT on a Ruger 10/22?? Not buying that.
Don't think I'll be spending my $$$ on another leupold, no matter what the price.

 

[Bill Norris]

SInce we are now talking about Leupold warranty a close friend of mine had issues with a 6.5 X 20 X 50 VX-3 not holding POA a few months ago and sent it back for warranty. Once Leupold received the scope they contacted him by e-mail and said his REPLACEMENT SCOPE had been authorized and would be sent out within 10 days I believe. He never heard from them for another 3 weeks and finally called to see what the problem was. On that call he was given the run-around about not finding his scope and then told his scope was going to be repaired when they could get to it. After another few weeks his scoped was returned and supposedly repaired. Not real sure if he has checked it out yet. Poor communications by any stretch.

 

[ChrisNZ]

Here is a perfect example of what is being said. You paid top money for top of the line scope at the time. Then because you didn't trust it you paid more top money for a mounting system and adjustment system to get rid of the one that was on the scope because it wasn't reliable...

Shades of Harley?

 

[Spike A]

I have always had good luck with leupolds … I have a mark 5,4… a few lower models including a couple m8’s…that being said one issue I have is the lack of a decent “tactical” prisim scope hence I have a vortex on an ar “ I am not a vortex fan to say the least had several and didn’t like them” but I do not mind the prisim I have…. After that when I bought my mark 5 I was very close to buying a nf but I had never tried or used one and was nervous about buying without really looking through one… so I bought the leupold … and have been very happy with it… but I always wonder what if….

 

[Larry Koch]

The best scopes are the ones you don't need a life time warranty, period.

 

[Gargoyle]

There is a lot in this thread to unpack and discuss. I have had too much caffeine to not comment!

I think it safe to assume them dudes shooting/winning those matches can outshoot their equipment. So, they know if something is going wonky. They'll choose what works regardless of hype. Heck, I know something is up when I can get a .116 MOA group with one rig and then shoot 1.5 MOA with another back to back. I know what I am capable of and know when a rig is in tune with the combustion recipe of the round.

 

[BowWow]

They had some issues in the past and lost a chunk of their market share. The Mark 5 series has been impressive so far. The only issue I see right now is that they don't offer a model for the Bench Rest / F Class guys.

 

[brokeasajoke]

Leupold has a good name with the hunting crowd still but amongst the people I know Vortex has taken a lot of the market share it seems. 1 out of 3 trucks has a Vortex sticker on the window. My Leupold 8.5-25x50 LRT on my 204R has done all I need it to in the past but so has my Zeiss, weavers, one monstrosity Millet, and various others.

 

[davidjoe]

Got a 4 power from my Father before he died. Put it on my Ruger 10/22. Worked fine till I heard a rattle in the tube? Come to find out the "fine" cross hair had come loose inside and was flopping around. Lifetime Warranty?
Sent it back. Got it back repaired but with the wrong cross hair.
Mounted it back up and went to shooting again. Not too long after, cross came loose AGAIN!! Sent it back and got it repaired AGAIN. Returned but this time with the original fine cross.
Was told by Leupold that that scope "wasn't designed" for the recoil of a Ruger semi auto10/22??? Funny that you can mount one on a 7MM Mag with no "recoil" issues but NOT on a Ruger 10/22?? Not buying that.
Don't think I'll be spending my $$$ on another leupold, no matter what the price.

It’s odd but true that semi-auto’s and air guns are the hardest on scope internals. It’s the shock of the reciprocating metal on metal that destroys them. I recently removed a Nightforce from a heavy AR and replaced it with a less valuable Romanian IOR, concerned that the glued seals in the NF would suffer.

Big bore recoil is hard on mounting screws when mounts aren’t bedded, and flexes scope bells downward, (setting them into door stop spring motion) when rings aren’t spread as wide apart from each other as they can be. But semi auto’s internal clack clack can’t be mitigated, and spring air, air guns are actually the most destructive to scopes.

 

[D Coots]

I've had 45x Leu fail, March not able to adjust parallax out ( repaired under warranty in timely fashion with great communication) and one of Gene's mounts. All scopes will fail someday I believe.

I haven't bought any scopes due to advertising. I've bought hunting scopes from friends reccomendations and SR BR Scopes from talking to other competitors and by looking through their scopes at a match.

Later
Dave

 

[longbow]

Vortex are nice scopes...BUT...maybe one of them with a dot -fine X hair.I mean come on...Alot of us guys dont want to be the Sniper.I've scolded the reps there and they just smile away. There is so much garbage in some of there scopes its...Oh I better be nice.They are nice scopes,but they have like 12 different models?and not one dot crosshair in the lot. all have the same profiles... Smile.......

 

[sw282]

Vortex are nice scopes...BUT...maybe make them with a dot -fine X hair.I mean come on...Alot of use guys dont want to be the Sniper.I've scolded the reps there and they just smile away. There is so much garbage in some of there scopes its...Oh I better be nice.They are nice scopes,but they have 12 different models? that all have the same profiles? Smile.......

Well said: IN SPADES

 

[JPB3]

I have a number of Leupold hunting scopes that subpar.. I won't even sell them, because I know they won't hold poi.. Many have been back several times to no avail. I'll never buy another, and have bought them since the very early 70's through the early 2000's. I used Leupolds during my 15 year BR career even though most were suspect at one time or another .
Pat

 

[jasonprox700]

I own a handful of Leupy scopes, VX3 6.5-20x50, VX6 2-12x42, and VX5HD 3-15x42. The VX6 is a gem for hunting (0-300 yards), although it has never been dialed. The VX3 has spent its 20 years of life on a heavy barreled 22-250 and has held up fine. The VX5HD honestly has the best glass of any of my scopes. I even compared it to my buddies Swaro Z5 and would pick the VX5 over his Z5.

With that being said, I don't think Leupold compares to some of the offerings out there in terms of options. I think they are playing catch up with the turret game, and their price is high (to me) for the options offered in their scopes. If I was building a dedicated long range rig, whether it be hunting, F-Class, PRS, or plinking, it would not be Leupold. I feel there are better options for the same money.

 

[209jones]

Last Leupold I bought and kept was a 3.5-10x50 about 30ish yrs ago. Right around the same time I picked up a 6.5-20x40 or so Nikon at a gun show, was better than the Leupold I had, and it was one eighth clicks, still have it. Was about 2010 before I needed to acquire another scope, Zeiss had the Conquests out then, and the Leupold stuff wasn`t even coming close in my mind, bought a couple of them, and 3 Swaros. After that, Leupold just didn`t have a scope I liked, when it came to FFP scopes, I had to do a pile of research before buying, as I had never used one, ended up buying a Delta Stryker and a Tract Toric and a Sightron S3. Too many good products out there, and Leupold did hold off for too long, then what they brought out didn`t measure up, can`t see myself buying any more Leupold. Only have two left now, contemplating replacing them too.

 

[Dave Way]

There was a time when Leupolds filled most of the benches in the SR game. I have only had one Leupold fail and I have owned dozens. On that occasion Leupold made the repair free of charge. I prefer Leupold glass over other scopes to this day. It’s absolutely crystal clear to me.

I think Leupold simply made a conscious decision to put their R&D into the newer markets where they could make it pay. An extremely low percentage of rifle scopes are ever used in any type of precision rifle match. I don’t blame them for trying to make a profit and I still think they make excellent products. They may not be well suited to our game but they seem to be going strong to me, while many others have gone under or been bought out.

Dave.

 

[Andy Work]

Vortex are nice scopes...BUT...maybe one of them with a dot -fine X hair.I mean come on...Alot of us guys dont want to be the Sniper.I've scolded the reps there and they just smile away. There is so much garbage in some of there scopes its...Oh I better be nice.They are nice scopes,but they have like 12 different models?and not one dot crosshair in the lot. all have the same profiles... Smile.......

They do have one model with a FCH. Hopefully they'll come out with more uncluttered models.

 

[Mudcat]

Leupold ws always a good hunting/casual use optic, at best. I would trust one for a basic hunting rifle that I was running around with and didnt want to have an "expensive" piece of glass on, but thats about it. For competition, nope, for serious hunting where I want to be able to turn the turrent to go from one yardage to the next or for max light gathering, it certainly will NOT be a Leupold.

 

[longbow]

Andy. I have an older Golden Eagle with fine x hair. and it is a very nice scope for the older price....the new price at $1995.00 I'd have to think on that,I'd probably go Nightforce.It is on there medium-low high range in between scopes that a cross hair dot ...I think would help there sales.

 

[mikecr]

Well, if any of you gentlemen hold a Mk4/M1 8.5x25,1/4 or 1/8 MOA clicks, with a Premiere Reticles Med-Fine CH, I'd buy it from you for $1k more than you paid for it.
That would get you closer to a modern replacement.