Did I just make a mistake?

[excaliber]

I'll play along....................I'll try to make this as short and sweet as possible. I bought a brand new VX-3 4.5x14x40 CDS for a new semi custom Rem 700 300 Win Mag.

Once I found my load and tried to adjust the scope it would not dial to zero. The local gunsmith looked at it a couple times and said it looked OK and sent me back to the range to try again.

The scope would not adjust properly. Shots would be high and left and any adjustment vertically or with windage did very little to change bullet impact. I adjust it 16 clicks down and 16 clicks right and nothing. Same POI.

I sent the scope back to Leupold after talking with their Techs a couple times. I was given all kinds of advice like shim the scope I'm out of adj, check this, check that........

I drew a really hard to Draw Elk tag and had planned on using this new gun and scope for this hunt.

I told Leupold I had this hunt coming up and hoped they could get it looked, fixed and returned in time. They said they would do all they could to get it returned in time for my hunt. Maybe I was asking for too much as I had about three weeks until the hunt when they received the scope.

I did not get the scope back in time and had to use my old Ruger 30-06 for this hunt. The scope finally came back and the worksheet stated they made some erector adjustments etc.

I'm not sure what that means but it seems to be working fine now and actually works with the CDS dial out to 600 yards and dials back to 200 yards, 100 yards and back out to 300 with no issues.

I just don't trust that this scope will continue to be trouble free. Is it really fixed or will have issues occur down the road when I need it to be 100% reliable?

This was my first Leupold and I too heard of all the issues with QC and poor tracking but figured only people with bad ones were complaining on these kinds of forums. I looked around but this scope seemed to be a good deal so I went bought it.

I doubt I'll buy another Leupold scope but what do I buy. I will admit the new VX-6HD's look pretty good but am I willing to roll the dice once again?

 

[brentc]

I'll play along....................I'll try to make this as short and sweet as possible. I bought a brand new VX-3 4.5x14x40 CDS for a new semi custom Rem 700 300 Win Mag.

Once I found my load and tried to adjust the scope it would not dial to zero. The local gunsmith looked at it a couple times and said it looked OK and sent me back to the range to try again.

The scope would not adjust properly. Shots would be high and left and any adjustment vertically or with windage did very little to change bullet impact. I adjust it 16 clicks down and 16 clicks right and nothing. Same POI.

I sent the scope back to Leupold after talking with their Techs a couple times. I was given all kinds of advice like shim the scope I'm out of adj, check this, check that........

I drew a really hard to Draw Elk tag and had planned on using this new gun and scope for this hunt.

I told Leupold I had this hunt coming up and hoped they could get it looked, fixed and returned in time. They said they would do all they could to get it returned in time for my hunt. Maybe I was asking for too much as I had about three weeks until the hunt when they received the scope.

I did not get the scope back in time and had to use my old Ruger 30-06 for this hunt. The scope finally came back and the worksheet stated they made some erector adjustments etc.

I'm not sure what that means but it seems to be working fine now and actually works with the CDS dial out to 600 yards and dials back to 200 yards, 100 yards and back out to 300 with no issues.

I just don't trust that this scope will continue to be trouble free. Is it really fixed or will have issues occur down the road when I need it to be 100% reliable?

This was my first Leupold and I too heard of all the issues with QC and poor tracking but figured only people with bad ones were complaining on these kinds of forums. I looked around but this scope seemed to be a good deal so I went bought it.

I doubt I'll buy another Leupold scope but what do I buy. I will admit the new VX-6HD's look pretty good but am I willing to roll the dice once again?

I know how you feel about the poor timing. If I had a scope I didn't trust it would be hard for me not to get rid of it, even if the the problems were fixed. I will say that a properly functioning VX3 will last a very long time. The only way to get confident is to use it or sell it and buy a new one. The new VX6 HDs are definitely a higher tier scope than the VX3. I run a VX6 (non HD) confidently on my 338 RUM and I have an HD on order.

 

[DartonJager]

No offense taken Just a different point of view.
My "scientific" reference was regarding sample size. Let's say brand L sells 150,000 of a particular model and 52 people (1 in 2884) complain on the net generating some lengthy posts. Is that in indicator the brand is bad? If company B sells only 1000 of a comparable model with only 4 complaints (1 in 250) -are they better? And what if brand N and S don't even make a model remotely close in price or weight, are they even better?
I say you should have kept the Leupold and "drove it like you stole it". See for yourself and send it back if you aren't happy. If it breaks tell us how you used it and what broke.
Heck, I thought I was a serious rifle shooter until I starting reading forums like this one. Some of these guys here shoot more rounds in a week than I shoot in a year. I'm certain they have different expectations of their equipment than I do. Their opinion is very valuable, but not always applicable to my circumstances.
In other places I have read a "one star" review of Swarovski binos cuz UPS crunched the box (binos were fine). Another guy was raving on multiple forums that Cooper rifles were junk- because he had a loose guard screw on his. Then a half dozen more guys chimed in how they felt the same way- even though they never owned one...
None of us wants to get the 'lemon" so we have to try to weigh all the factors. With regard to internet complaints, I think 'percentage' of unhappy customers vs volume of complaints would be more valuable. Absent that data- then learning specifics about the failures would be helpful. You reference complaints going back a few years- but scope companies continually change models (hopefully to upgrade). If they "fixed the glitch" should I still remove them from consideration?
I know for a "hunt of a lifetime" we would all like a guarantee that we will achieve total equipment satisfaction. If a turret fails that would certainly be a deal breaker and a great warranty of little consolation. But if my OIL hunt was for sheep I'm not sure a 3 pound scope is the answer either. Looking forward to seeing which make/model you end up trying and how it suits you.

Well said sir,
you might be a little surprised, to say I am is a understatement to putting it mildly, but I've decided to spend a few extra $$$ and buy a VX-6 CDS/ZL from a member here. After spending dozens and dozens of hours reviewing and evaluating a mind numbingly large amount of scopes from Ziess, Vortex, Burris, SWFA as well as others, I finally chose Leupold because simply put Leupold IMHO, above all others I looked at and considered, offered as close to perfect what I wanted in a scope for hunting.

As soon as I get it I gonna as suggested "drive it like I stole it" and see how it works for me.

Thanks to all who responded,
DJager/Art.

 

[bigngreen]

Last year I saw three vx-6 fail, all were repaired then sold promptly, my buddy who is also a gunsmith saw several failed also, good luck!!!

 

[DartonJager]

Last year I saw three vx-6 fail, all were repaired then sold promptly, my buddy who is also a gunsmith saw several failed also, good luck!!!

Terrific,
Where was your input 25 days and five pages ago?

If I am to understand you correctly you mean you know of first hand at least 5 VX-6 scopes that failed in the location of the state in which you live in, would mind elaborating at least a little as in do you know if these VX-6's were all bought from venders in your area, what type of failures did these VX-6's suffer and how many if any were the failures all of the same type? Is not the VX-6 one of Leupold's upper tear products? At the least the VX-6 line is among their top tear hunting scopes, or am I wrong?

Please by all means correct me if I error, but were not VX-6's selling for $1000 new if not considerably more back in 2016 and if correct, to have five of such rather expensive scope all fail in a relatively speaking small geographic area is alarming to say the least. I say this because I am going to school for a degree in Mech-Tronics and I have to take classes on advanced manufacturing practices and based on the QC mandates that I know companies like Leupold adhere to, the level of scope failures you are describing would likely indicate a serious QC problem, because they simply could not have been the only VX-6's to have failed in your area of Leupolds distributorship.

So please give as many accurate factual details on these 5 failed VX-6 scopes as you know.

 

[bigngreen]

They came from all over, all on rifles that were shooting poor and came in for trouble shooting and possible barrel replacement only to be a scope issue.
They cheepened up the internals and added some plastic from what I could gather.
A buddy of mine borrowed my old battle worn Vortex hslr three hunting seasons running when his Mark4 turrets locked up and had to be sent in, it spent more hunting season at Leupold than on a hunting rifle which is rediculous.
I would LOVE to use a Leupold because of weight but if they won't hold zero or the turreted crap I'd much rather have the little extra weight of even my Nightforce SHV which has been bomb proof and beaten like a red headed step child sheep hunting!!

 

[RockyMtnMT]

In my world the way this will all work out is the OP will finally settle on a scope after many sleepless nights, massive hours of research, many times of near purchase only to chicken out. What ever scope is settled on will be defective. It is just how it works. The guy that checks out a few scopes, finds the one he likes and goes to town with it, will more likely never have a problem.

In the last few years I have seen failure in a Nikon, Swarovski, and a couple Nightforce. No Leupold. I am currently running a Mark 4 on my personal hunting rifle and am very happy. Appears that it made it through the poor quality of Leupold and I am lucky.

I remember when I was a kid lots of guys used rifles with open sights on them and a scope with detachable rings or shoot through space under the scope to use the open sites.

Reminds me of when I shot competitive archery. You could climb into a guys head during competition by talking about the equipment he was using and get him worried about it and he would shoot like crap. Some guys are really easy.

To the OP....Settle on a scope and get busy, you may never get to pull the trigger.

Steve

 

[DartonJager]

In my world the way this will all work out is the OP will finally settle on a scope after many sleepless nights, massive hours of research, many times of near purchase only to chicken out. What ever scope is settled on will be defective. It is just how it works. The guy that checks out a few scopes, finds the one he likes and goes to town with it, will more likely never have a problem.

In the last few years I have seen failure in a Nikon, Swarovski, and a couple Nightforce. No Leupold. I am currently running a Mark 4 on my personal hunting rifle and am very happy. Appears that it made it through the poor quality of Leupold and I am lucky.

I remember when I was a kid lots of guys used rifles with open sights on them and a scope with detachable rings or shoot through space under the scope to use the open sites.

Reminds me of when I shot competitive archery. You could climb into a guys head during competition by talking about the equipment he was using and get him worried about it and he would shoot like crap. Some guys are really easy.

To the OP....Settle on a scope and get busy, you may never get to pull the trigger.

Steve

I shall heed your advice. At the end of the day Leupold was the only scope that I could find that matched my list of "must haves" in a scope for a light weight hunting rig, those "must haves" included:
1-As simple and uncluttered reticle as I could find. Sorry but I simply find reticles with all kinds of hash marks and numbers to confusing to use effectively.
2-MUST be light this means under 20oz and with a 40-44mm front objective, and under 15x 50mm meant scopes that were either or both to high of power or to heavy
3-SFP for MY WAY of hunting SFP works better than FFP. Unfortunately this nocked other great scopes out of contention like the SWFA SS 3-15x 42 and the Burris Veracity because they both were FFP and SWFA didn't offer a SFP reticle I liked.

At the end of it all The VX-6 2-12x42 CDS/ZL met my requirements the best.

I will do a number of tests on it when I get it and give a brutally honest review of it. I will next post a request for how to make a ladder to test it's adjustment along with shooting a box test.

 

[RockyMtnMT]

I think you chose well. Odds are so far in your favor that I am pretty sure you won't have any trouble. For what it is worth I helped a guy last week do load development and his rifle simply did not shoot well. Turned out that his Nightforce was having trouble. I thought it was his rifle. Lessoned learned.

Steve

 

[Rich Coyle]

DartonJager,

What do you have against a scope with say 20X if it weighs 18 ounces and has a 42mm objective?

 

[jimbires]

At the end of it all The VX-6 2-12x42 CDS/ZL met my requirements the best.

I will do a number of tests on it when I get it and give a brutally honest review of it. I will next post a request for how to make a ladder to test it's adjustment along with shooting a box test.

I have a 2-12 VX6 with the B&C reticle . I hunted with it last year and I really like it . I have it on a point and shoot rifle . I didn't want side focus . I wanted a wide field of view . I wanted more than 9 or 10 power on the top . I wanted a small light weight scope . I wanted a scope that is good in low light conditions . I am well pleased with this scope . after using it for a season , I would buy this scope again , it's perfect for what I was looking for .

 

[DartonJager]

DartonJager,

What do you have against a scope with say 20X if it weighs 18 ounces and has a 42mm objective?[/QUOT

Because this scope is SFP (my personal preference for a hunting scope) and it will be used first and foremost for hunting, and IMHO 20x is not as well suited to my style of hunting as 12x or at the max 15x, I am also still in my infancy in becoming proficient so for now my goal is to become proficient to 500 to 600 yards.

 

[DartonJager]

I have a 2-12 VX6 with the B&C reticle . I hunted with it last year and I really like it . I have it on a point and shoot rifle . I didn't want side focus . I wanted a wide field of view . I wanted more than 9 or 10 power on the top . I wanted a small light weight scope . I wanted a scope that is good in low light conditions . I am well pleased with this scope . after using it for a season , I would buy this scope again , it's perfect for what I was looking for .

Many of the same reasons why I chose the VX-6. I have killed enough of my animals in low light in heavy woods to know that I would be best served with a scope with a minimum of 2-3x VS 4-4.5 or greater, I am also of the belief that a SFP scope with a max power of 12-14x will serve me better for hunting than one with 15-20x.

 

[DartonJager]

I think you chose well. Odds are so far in your favor that I am pretty sure you won't have any trouble. For what it is worth I helped a guy last week do load development and his rifle simply did not shoot well. Turned out that his Nightforce was having trouble. I thought it was his rifle. Lessoned learned.

Steve

I greatly appreciate the vote of confidence from such a well respected and knowledgeable LR hunting and shooting source as yourself.