Leupold Scopes...Do you trust them today?

[Rich Coyle]

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.

You are a very fortunate individual in that you see things others don't.

 

[PredatorSlayer]

I had one that failed miserably.

What model did you have that failed?

 

[PredatorSlayer]

You are a very fortunate individual in that you see things others don't.

Oh Rich, please elaborate...you saying it is impossible for NF and S&B to fail? Or are you saying its impossible for a Leupold to track out to 1250 and hold zero?

 

[Riflehunter1776]

NO. I dont trust them. plus I've been waiting since December for them to tell me what they are doing to a repair I sent in on a $1300 scope.

Whenever I've emailed for an update, all I get are snippy "we'll tell you when we tell you" responses.

When I sent back a Kahles a few years ago, it made it to austria and back and was nicely fixed, with status updates all the way. In less time.

 

[J E Custom]

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!

Many people still use Leupold scopes and find them great. I have tried many other brands and always return to the Leupold's. I have every leupold that I ever bought except for the ones that went with the rifles/pistols that I sold.

There will always be someone that likes something else better and that's what makes the world go round. Many will swear that there brand is better and dish the competition. There are many brands that I will never buy again, but I don't spend my time telling the world that they are junk, so the swamp is full of those that don't like one brand or another.

With the trend of buying the latest and greatest scopes, stocks,barrels, actions and cartridges there will always be something "Better". In truth, they are just different and appeal to different people.

I use and trust the Leupold's and have never been disappointed or let down buy them and find them as good as any scope in the same price range and compared them with the highest price scopes and saw no advantage in paying double for the same performance.

Taping on the turrets is a thing of the past that was required because on the design of many scopes not having good return springs on the turret adjustments. With the advent of dialing scopes for impact at distance, things have changed, (Old habits die hard) and it is no longer necessary on good quality scopes.

The only thing I can say is Like a good woman, if you find a good one, stay with her/it and you will be glad you did. Fads come and go, but I can still depend on the Leupold to do what I want and need.

J E CUSTOM

 

[Will Gray]

I like my Leupold scopes but am looking at a Trijicon Huron™ 2.5-10x40. Looks like a great one and has a 30mm tube at a reasonable price. I have two Trijicon scopes: pefection.

 

[the blur]

I sold my Leupold. I needed a channel lock plyers to turn the magnification dial. It was ridiculous. Especially at 20 degrees outside. I was lucky to get a deer stuck at 8x. Leupold is just a name. People are brand loyal, which helped me sell it on Ebay.

 

[gohring3006]

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).

I have the same scope in the CCH reticle. I haven't shot and tested it yet. Hopefully it's a good scope because I really like it. I think the reticle is going to work well for what I want to do with it.

 

[fiftybmg]

There are Leupold scopes that are not Leupold scopes, the counterfeit business is big. Unless you are buying from a known Leupold dealer / distributor, always check the serial number of the scope with Leupold customer service to make sure it was actually made by Leupold.

Here, the majority of working safari big bore rifles, I'd say 4 out of 5, hold Leupold. I do see the odd Swaro and Zeiss.

In the local PRS competitions, Leupold is about 10%.

The Leupold Mark 5 has PRS shooters very excited right now. Word amongst the shooters is it's bulletproof.

 

[Tikkamike]

I used to be hard core leupold , never had the first issue with them other than they didn't used to offer reticle a that suited my evolving shooting needs/interests. I tried Zeiss had great luck with the Rapid Z reticle but poor experience with Zeiss customer service. My next venture was the NXS, if weight is not a factor then NF is my favorite scope.. they are just BA! A few years ago I got into the SIG Whiskey 5's another great scope, feature rich for the price point... awesome little scope. Although I sold a bunch of Leupold I never had an issue. As I get into ultralight rifles, Leupold is looking more and more attractive. I recently sold a Whiskey 5 and ordered a 3-15x44 VX5HD which will be here today. Between the scope and switching from seekins to NF ultralights I'm saving 6oz on my 6.5 GAP I'll be testing it out once it warms up a little and I think it'll be my spring bear rifle this year if all goes well. To answer your question yes I trust Leupold. At least the VX3 and better lines.

 

[FEENIX]

I have the same scope in the CCH reticle. I haven't shot and tested it yet. Hopefully it's a good scope because I really like it. I think the reticle is going to work well for what I want to do with it.

Same here!

 

[Tex_Hunter]

No.
I had one of my personal Leupolds go down. Sent it in for repairs, got it back, sold it.
I know 7 other guys who have had VX4, VX5HD, VX6HD, and Mark 6 go down on them. I also know plenty of guys who have never had issues. But 8 out of 40 or so is too poor of odds for me to risk.

I've always been curious what people mean when they say a scope "goes down" on them?

Did the glass break? Lenses fogged up? Erector wouldnt dial/impacts downrange didnt match adjustments?

People are almost superstitious about their gear and I have always wondered how many bad shots get blamed on the scope rather than the warm meat bag pulling the trigger?

To further illustrate my point, I shot a spike this year kneeling off shooting sticks at 75yds, had what I felt was a good hold and clear sight picture, scope is a US Optics LR17 (which many consider to be a benchmark in tracking reliably and holding zero), broke the shot, deer went down immediately but then pawed at the dirt and rolled around for way longer than a shoulder/heart/lung shot deer should.... because I had hit it almost 3/4 of the way back on the body, bullet clipped the spine so luckily it didnt run. I spent forever analyzing the shot scratching my head at what went wrong figuring maybe something was way off on the scope/mount. Nope... took it to the range 3 days later and printed a nice 3/4 MOA group centered on the bullseye, did a box test and got perfect return to zero. Thos US Optics scopes are garbage I tell you! /sarc

For my .02 I run Leupolds on two of my rifles right now (VX3i and a VX5HD), and am current eyeballing a VX6HD 3-18 for another rifle I have. I've shot both extensively at ranges that required dialing out to around 600yds or so (300-375 on game animals that were both killed with one shot each) and both have done what was needed within the limits of the two cartridges (a lightweight bolt action 6.5 Creedmoor and 6.5 Grendel AR). The only gripe I have heard but not personally experienced is the cheaper CDS on the VX3i's slipping when returning to zero because the set screws had back out. I set my zeros and then tighten the ever loving sh** out of mine (like allen wrench took a slight bend tight) so maybe I am safe here?

 

[antleredacres]

Same here!

I was a loyal Leupold user in the past. Note the word "was". Had a Leupy lose zero on a sheep hunt. I 've had a few issues with sighting in a couple "set and forget" Leupolds in the past. Shook my confidence to the point where I have dumped my Leupolds. Since I've jumped on the Swaros, NF, Zeiss V6, and most recent a Tract Toric which really has me impressed so far.

 

[tylerw02]

I have several Leupold scopes. Most are made for the max PBR style hunting.

I have had several Mark 4s over the years and still have a few.

A few years back I wanted a highly-featured, light-weight scope for hunting. I purchased two of the Mark 6 scopes. After all, the military was buying them. How could I go wrong? It was a 21 oz scope with the features of my 39 oz Nightforce.

The first scope went on a known good rifle. It wouldn't hold zero at all and the windage knob seemed not to even move the erector. I sent it to Leupold and they sent it back "repaired" with a week's turnaround time. The problems persisted and it ended up back at Leupold 3x before it seemed good to go. Now two years later, it's on a rifle that I can't seem to group anymore. I'm thinking it's the scope yet again.

The other scope was good out of the box. I took it on a mountain hunt a few years back and it held perfect zero on the trek there. During load development it did awesome....I was shooting 2.5" groups at 600 with it on a .280 AI. After the trip I used it for whitetail hunting at home. I shot a 9 pt buck but missed my mark by 4-6" and Initially thought I made a rare bad shot. So I took it to the range and surely enough, the scope was shooting high and right 6". The turrets has not been moved. I attempted to rezero. It wouldn't. It went back to Leupold. They "repaired"it. It came back and wouldn't shoot under a 3" group on a known good rifle. Back it went, and back it came with the same problems.

Finally, I'd had enough. I got a bit hateful with the guy after he called me a liar and said it was impossible and I just hadn't done something right and didn't know what I was doing. Ironically, I teach precision rifle for a local training outfit and I've been an F-Class and PRS competitor does many years I was more than ****ed and went over his head. They promised"if" they detected any of the problems I was having, they would replace the scope.

Leupold has my scope for three months before they determined I wasn't full of it and again repaired the scope rather than replacing it. Seems this time they actually shot it. I was quite upset they didn't replace the scope, but at least I know I wasn't getting a new scope that could have as soon been a lemon.

Up until new Mark 4 and Mark 6 scopes I had never had a problem. But the last several scopes I Have experience with have been troublesome.

I would have been more forgiving of what seems to be some QC issues if Leupold would have just owned up to their mistakes and their CS people would have been more diplomatic rather than blaming me for their junk products.

To answer your question, no, I don't trust Leupold and won't be buying any of their scopes until there are institutional changes. I'll stick to S&B, Vortex, and Nightforce here on out.