Leupold Scopes...Do you trust them today?

[North Idaho Hunter]

Ive owned more leupolds then I care to mention over the past 5 years. if I had to choose one - the best value to me is the vx5hd 3-15x44. for the average hunter that see's most of his shots inside 600 - I see it as plenty useable.

unfortunately - however, in my case , in the path to finding the most reliable optic I have bought and then sold well over 20 scopes of different makes, I can say with complete honesty I have never found a sub $1000 scope to track true to click. hold & return to zero like they should. that goes for leupold, burris, vortex and bushnell.

Im to the point now where I am selling off the excess to afford a NF atacr on all of my rigs. that is the only scope I trust will do the job every single time.

Sad to say from my findings, I have yet to find any true repeatable scope in that $1k price range.

JUST MY OPINION!

 

[excaliber]

No I do not trust them. I had one that failed miserably. I had my smith look at it twice after two failed trips to try to get it to adjust and track properly. I sent it back to Leupold and they either replaced, repaired or tweaked the erector system along with some other comments. Who knows what they really did?

I guess they would be OK if you just wanted to hold zero and hold over instead of dialing like I do with my 30-06 and VX2

I've moved on now.

 

[ChrisAU]

Ive owned more leupolds then I care to mention over the past 5 years. if I had to choose one - the best value to me is the vx5hd 3-15x44. for the average hunter that see's most of his shots inside 600 - I see it as plenty useable.

unfortunately - however, in my case , in the path to finding the most reliable optic I have bought and then sold well over 20 scopes of different makes, I can say with complete honesty I have never found a sub $1000 scope to track true to click. hold & return to zero like they should. that goes for leupold, burris, vortex and bushnell.

Im to the point now where I am selling off the excess to afford a NF atacr on all of my rigs. that is the only scope I trust will do the job every single time.

Sad to say from my findings, I have yet to find any true repeatable scope in that $1k price range.

JUST MY OPINION!

For the under $1,000 category when it comes to dialing nothing comes close to SWFA. The glass in the 3-9x42 is pretty decent at the price too.

 

[YZ-80]

I have several "set it and forget it" Leupolds from back in the day when they were the "Cat's Meow". For my purposes, they more than sufficed. Not to get all aesthetic on you guys (We all know form folllows function) but I really like the way a nice gloss finish VX-2 or VX-3 looks on a fine rifle. I didn't get my first scope with dial on the fly turrets until 2016, when I started to reach out a little further. It became evident very quickly that you get what you pay for in this game. Haven't sprung for my first Nightforce yet but the tax return's comin'

 

[Gary in MD]

No
I've been unloading the loopys that I have left and replacing with SWFA and NightForce

 

[Westernhuntr]

The mk5's are the only Leupold that I know will track.
I've been running two hard for over a year now and they're solid.
I've had a vx5 and vx6 that didn't track

 

[Bob Wright]

Not dog piling but my 4th repair on 2 different scopes (over decades) none of which were dialed, would just lose POI due to erector failures. Waiting for the return of the last one, when it failed during load development. I've been more than patient/forgiving. But upgrading now. Will miss the light weight and a great hold over reticle for hunting.

 

[cinch]

I've heard Nightforce makes a good scope...

 

[FEENIX]

As with anything, personal experiences and biases varies. I purchased an LRP 6.5-20 FFP but have not mounted it on my .264 WM yet. I have to admit, my last purchase prior to this was ~2003. Hoping for a positive experience like my previous Leupold scopes (mostly VX I, II, and IIIs).

 

[PredatorSlayer]

I participate in a forum where Leupold scopes, especially turreted ones aren't well liked. I have noticed on the LRH forum a lot of guys are running dialing Leupold's like VX5 HD, VX6 HD, Mark 5's and a few Mark 6 scopes.

Makes me curious if it's a matter of the pond water being polluted by some, where another pond isn't polluted at all.

Personally, I once owned 10-12 Leupold's, mostly VX3 and VX6. Several were set/forget and many were cds dialers. I shot enough 200-600 rounds per year, per rifle, to know if I'm having rtz issues. I didn't.

The biggest issue I encountered on a regular basis was setting my initial site in zero for my set/forget scopes. Adjusting elevation or windage with no reticle movement. Then deploying the "Leupold Knock" on the top of the turret to see if that would help the erector move...Laughable, I know, but it's a common practice, that I've heard many people try. Once I would finally get my zero. The scope was good to go without further adjustments required.

After 25 years of being a Leupold slut, the last 3 years, as I've added new rifles, I moved away from Leupold for my rigs that are used for hunting fur that matters to me... NightForce, SWFA, Zeiss, are now resting on top.

My varmint rigs hold a mixed bag of everything from Leupold, Sightron, Sig Whiskey5, Leica, and Bushnell Elite 6500 optics.

Again, I guess, I'm just curious if the consensus on LRH is different for Leupold than other forums. A month ago I bought a new VX5 HD and just today I bought two never used VX3 4.5-14x50 Varmegeddon dialing scopes. Apparently, I still like Leupold's.

Footnote: If this thread doesn't meet LRH forums criteria for a proper post, I apologize. My intention isn't to bash a manufacturer, but rather determine if the strong negative feelings other places share is based more on a mob mentality than facts...Thanks!

My first experience with Leupold was with their VX5HD - fell in love with it. It is tough as heck, lightweight, holds zero, and has been tracking perfectly out to 1250. My 4-24 VX6HD is the same. Glass is amazing, especially in low light. In the last 3 years I have become a huge Leupold fan. Plus made in the USA - when a US company puts out a killer product I try to Support them as much as I can.

Also, I have seen personally seen NF and S&B's fail. March as well...Leupold sales soooooo many more scopes than NF and S&B its a pure numbers game. My guess is the same percentage of high end Mark 5 And VX6HD Leupolds fail as NF and S&B. There are just more of them in the marketplace. Plus Leupold also sales cheaper VX2 scopes with a CDS dial that guys think are going to run them like a Mark 5 - it doesnt track perfectly and they get ****ed.

 

[Alex Wheeler]

Do not have blind trust in any scope. Test it. And every season.
Keep in mind a VX-5 is over 10oz lighter than a NXS
I tried to talk Swaro/Kahles into making us a long range hunting scope in that weight range that was reliable like their Kahles scopes. Theres a reason we dont have a rock solid light weight scope, it is a trade off at this point in time anyhow.
I am a big fan of the VX-5 and have tested a few of them and was satisfied with my results. But they are used when weight is a main concern and recoil is mild. Serious long range rifles are typically larger calibers, or at least should be, and weight is not the main concern. In those cases I use NF or Swaro/Kahles

 

[Beaver10]

I've heard Nightforce makes a good scope...

I heard you're sensitive to recoil, a NightForce makes sense mounted on your Red Ryder BB gun...Laffin

I know you shoot a little, and a little far, so maybe you know a little about a quality scope. Grins

 

[cinch]

In all fairness my Red Ryder is somewhat mild... if I use the lead sled...

 

[Beaver10]

In all fairness my Red Ryder is somewhat mild... if I use the lead sled...

LMAO.....