LEUPOLD VX6HD FRUSTRATION!!!!

[COBrad]

I had the same experience. Sent it back to Leupold 3 times and they always sent it back saying nothing wrong. I put a proven scope on the and problem solved. I replaced it with another Nightforce.

 

[MW204]

Vortex has a great warranty department because they get a LOT of practice. I will give them kudos for warranting electronics where most other won't.

I've never had to use a Leupold warranty and I have a safe full of their scopes. I've dang sure used Vortex warranty on every scope I ever owned except my current one. Time will tell.

I've only owned a few Leupolds, most were not variable power so I had no issues with them. The Mark 4 was a totally different monster, two failures with the same scope made it useless to me. One on-the-job failure could have been a catastrophe and the missed buck on my first out-of-state hunt sucked big time. My current replacement Leupold is in the shop right now, but that's all on me, I tripped last year after shooting my buck and going downhill to look at him and all of us took a roll down the hill for a few rolls and the rifle hit pretty hard on the last roll. If the stock would have been broken in half I would not have been surprised, so I have to look into the mirror on that one. My only problem is old-timers kicked in and I forgot to send it back to Leupold to get it fixed and I probably won't get it back in time to hunt with this year. I bought a replacement Vortex for the 300 WSM but most likely once the hunt is over and I get the Leupold back I'll be switching them out and I'll sell the two Vortex I bought this year and with that money, I'll buy another Leupold like the one being fixed for my 300 WM.

 

[COBrad]

Buy a Nightforce and be rid of the problem

 

[Full Curl]

Thanks for all the posts and replies. Figured I'd send an update.
Another trip to the range yesterday… first 2 shots, rifle was still zeroed at 200yds. I then proceeded to shoot a tall target test from 0 to 20MOA at 100yds and it wasn't even close to 20-21" (where it should be). I dialed it back to zero and shot at 200 again and it was over 2MOA low. I was alone at the range and it was a probably good thing because the F bombs were flying. The scope is junk.

Leaving in 3 days, what to do? Take another rifle or switch out scopes? I had this gun built for the west and have looked forward to killing a bull with it for a very long time. Only other "extra" scope I had on hand was of course another Leupold, a VX6HD 3-18x50 TMOA. I switched everything out and loaded all of the last of the cases I had left. Went back to the range at first light this morning and after getting it on paper at 100, I zeroed it at 200 and then proceeded to shoot 0.3-0.5MOA groups dialing out to 300, 400 and 500, dialing back to zero every time and it was spot on.

I'm getting light on shells so probably won't shoot anymore, but my confidence in this rifle is back. I'm not sure what is wrong with the other scope, but it's not good either can't hold a zero or track worth a chit!! I'm honestly now questing whether I'll stay with Leupold on my bigger hammers or go another route. After all the frustration and stress, not to mention all the additional time and expense eating up components and barrel life, I am again hopeful I'll kill an elk with this rifle. Thanks again for all the posts and sharing your experiences both good and bad. I have a really bad taste in my mouth on Leupold glass after this headache. I know things happen, but I've never had scope issues like this...

 

[orkan]

Sorry to hear of your trouble. I wish I could say it was a unique experience. This is why I use a Tangent Theta on every rifle I take seriously, and why they are the only brand we sell.

I read you have it all taken care of, otherwise I'd have loaned you a TT315M for your hunt. Glad you're squared away.


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[mcdil]

Glad your backup has you in the hunt, pun intended. Man, that really stinks. I hope they can fix it and turn it around for you. More importantly, hopefully, if it is fixed, you can gain the confidence back in it that you need to continue to use it. Best of luck on your hunt! At least you're really not hampered with the 3-18!

 

[Wachsmann]

Reading this is kind of not making me want to buy a Leupold. I have been looking at the low end VX Freedom 4x18 I think that is what it is for a light recoiling rifle to shoot LR with. 6.5 creed with 130 or 140's. Hopefully won't get a lemon if I buy a leupold.

 

[Mike D Texas]

Reading this is kind of not making me want to buy a Leupold. I have been looking at the low end VX Freedom 4x18 I think that is what it is for a light recoiling rifle to shoot LR with. 6.5 creed with 130 or 140's. Hopefully won't get a lemon if I buy a leupold.

I would say your chances of getting a bad Leupold vs other scopes in that price range are pretty low.

 

[Pdvdh]

Frustration with some failed scopes is they can begin life fully functional, but deteriorate slowly prior to issuance of the death certificate. Those are the real buggers to figure out.

I wish the lenses would fall out when they fail internally. Make for simple diagnosis. I've had some with progressive internal failures that have caused poor hits on game. Scope failure being the fault, but not confirmed until later. Those are the most frustrating of all.

 

[Outlaw6.0]

.....

I read you have it all taken care of, otherwise I'd have loaned you a TT315M for your hunt. Glad you're squared away.


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Orkan, I just wanted to give you a shout out for this post. TTs are not cheap, & to loan it out to another forum member to keep a hunt on track is incredibly generous. Especially if you don't know the member (I don't know if you two know each other or not).


That was really stand up of you, Cheers.




t

 

[orkan]

Orkan, I just wanted to give you a shout out for this post. TTs are not cheap, & to loan it out to another forum member to keep a hunt on track is incredibly generous. Especially if you don't know the member (I don't know if you two know each other or not).


That was really stand up of you, Cheers.




t

Thanks. No clue who he is. ... but it sucks when you've got a nice hunt planned and equipment that you THOUGHT was good... fails. I know it sucks, because I hear about it all the time from customers. It doesn't happen to me much anymore, but about 20 years ago when I was mostly buying junk that I thought was good, it happened all the time.

People think I spend tons of money on gear for the fun of it. Well they are partly right, because it's very fun using great gear... but mostly I just buy it so my shooting and hunting isn't ruined by broken gear.

I still remember when I had my first VX3. It was like a thousand bucks. I thought I had arrived. The only thing I remember more vividly than that... is discovering it didn't track. lol I felt sick.

Then I discovered this whole other class of products, and bought my first nightforce. I think I saved up for a year. I was good there for a while. Until I realized I was having focus/parallax problems that could not be resolved. On and on it went. Premier, USO, S&B, Kahles, etc etc etc. Then in 2014 I bought a Tangent Theta.

Since that time, every rifle that means anything to me, has a TT on top of it. I've never been happier with a companies ability to produce a good scope, unit after unit. It's hard for someone to go from shooting $300 "expensive" scopes... to spending $5,000+ on an optic. It is for that very reason that most people won't ever get the opportunity to see the truth for themselves. I try to give people that opportunity whenever I can.


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[Outlaw6.0]

@orkan

Funny you should mention that. I do believe my first "Long Range" optic was a VX3... duplex reticle, IIRC I had no idea what I was doing...lol Gosh, experience can be very expensive at times...

Luckily, I was able to dump that one, which actually treated me fine. I "upgraded" to a MK4 M5-A, 34mm or 35mm tubed top teir stuff, I thought; until it quit tracking for me in Oregon. Enough of that lesson & down the road it went.





t

 

[LaHunter]

Really frustrated with my Leupold glass!! Got my custom 300RUM delivered this summer. I had a Leupold 4-24x52 VX6HD with the TMOA reticle waiting for it. Broke the barrel in and developed a great 0.5" MOA load for it. Early on I performed a vertical target test at 100 yards shooting 0, dialed 15MOA, and dialed 30MOA to verify vertical tracking in the reticle was in fact vertical and to measure the distance of turret clicks which came right out at 0.253MOA/click which was spot on. I inputted all the data into Strelok and had my DOPE for longer range. I shot a target drop test out to 700 yards and verified all the drops at 300, 400, 500, 600, and 700. Strelok's come ups were spot on as I verified each of them by dialing down to my groups (all sub-MOA) on the target. Perfect, I thought to myself, I'm good to go to start dialing my all come ups with all my DOPE.

I started shooting 500 to 1000 yards dialing and this is where my issues started. I started having low hits. I would start at a distance and my first and second shots would hit low (multiple inches low depending on distance), I would then correct by how low they hit and dial up accordingly and they would hit spot on. Then I would go back the next day with my new numbers and again I would hit low and have to do it over again. This went on for the last week and a half and is driving me nuts! I triple checked all my rounds for charge weight, neck tension, seating depth, fps, etc. and everything was spot on. I am anal about the ring and action screws on the rifle and they are tight. I'm far from a pro, but my form is solid and I'm shooting very nice sub-MOA groups. I never touched the horizontal turret and only adjusted the vertical. Horizontally, I'm spot on. My vertical hits are off and not making any sense to me. They keep dropping lower.

Every day I went to the range, my come ups increased about 0.75 to 2MOA from 500 to 800 yards. I went again yesterday and it happened again. I know the MOA/click is on because after I measure my drop and correct, I'm dead on. The problem is my MOA from one day to the next is off considerably. It took me a bit in my thick head but I ruled out the rifle, the ammo, and my form. It has to be the scope. I haven't shot it under 500 yards in weeks after I zeroed it at 200. This morning I shot 2 rounds that almost had touching holes at 200 yards that were 2.1MOA (or 4.5 inches low). About 80 rounds ago I had a perfect 200 yard zero. SO FRUSTRATED!!!!

I know there have been some tracking issues on Leupolds. I'm not sure if this is a tracking issue or just an issue where it can't hold zero. Like I said, when I dial a known observed come up, it's spot on so I know it tracks well in that circumstance. But it either has lost its zero somehow or has tracking issues when I dial and then return it back to zero and dial again. I'm not sure which it is, but neither are good. Now I don't have any confidence with this scope. For $1800 this shouldn't happen!!! Not at all happy, and really frustrated with this scope. Another thought I had was the recoil from a 300RUM too much for this scope? I have a very long awaited for elk hunt next week and just sick about this. Not sure what to do.

Has anybody else had any similar issues with VX6HD's? Is there any way I can tell if it's not holding zero or just not tracking correctly? Or both? Any other thoughts?

There are volumes of reviews of pretty much every leupold model (except the Mark 5s) of wandering zeros, not tracking, etc. I have been down this road and have moved away from leupold a few years ago. It seemed every range trip I was having to re zero my rifle by .5 to 1.0 moa while I had a leupold scope. Now that I have NF on most of my rifles, I have not had this issue.

 

[Wachsmann]

I most expensive scopes I own are 2 Zeiss conquest 4.5x14x44. Their are like 20 years old but one has been living in it box almost its whole life until 2 years ago I put it on a 264 win mag that has not been shot since I bought it so really never fired.. But the other has been on 3 different guns and now its home is on my wife's 243. To the best of my knowledge it tracks perfect and has probably seen about 6000 plus rounds. Nothing to high recoiling probably the largest was a 3006 for a short bit testing a friend rifle, mostly on a 6.5X284Norma, and now on the 243 but its accurate and consistent. I really hope the other one is also. First one has been dialed up and down countless times not abusing it but normal dialing. It the model you had to send back to Zeiss and get a retro fit done to have an exposed turret. It also has the clearest glass of all my scopes. My 300RUM has a Vortex HSLR that has been working great and been consistent. Glass is pretty good but not like the Zeiss. I have a budget Arken scope on a 308 but it weighs like a tank and the glass well, is average at best, probably not as good as my Vortex but it seem to dial ok. If I was doing it over again I would of picked a lower magnification.. The thing I really dislike about it is i have to adjust the eye piece when adjusting the magnification up. I adjust the parallax and then I have to turn around and adjust the eye piece. My cheap Redfield I don't even have to do that on. So it might have to go. Sorry to hear about the Leupold. I remember back in the day like 30 years ago if you had a leupold that was the sht. No one really new of any thing else that was better. I was teen sporting my tasco and some of my friends had Bushnell's and if you saved up more you could possibly get a Nikon or a bausch and lomb. I remember we would try and shoot out to some longer distances with out rifles but it was all Kentucky windage then. I got smart one day a put a thing strip of tape on my eye piece I mean really thin but it allowed me to have a 400 yard hold spot. It took about 2 boxes of bullets to get it right or crude right. I could hit a 6 inch pie plate really consistent at 400 yards. I took one Texas white tail this way I remember the crude range finder I had you adjusted the image until it was clear and it had a yardage marking. Was supposed to work to 600yrds. I think the deer was something between 350 and 400 but it was a long poke for back then and needless to say it was not a good shot. Liver and guts for a clean up but deer was dead. I think that was the first taste of trying to stretch the legs on a rifle. Man how things have changed since then. I was just thinking I started off with an 3006 and that tasco when I was about 10 going down to Ft. Hood hunting on the base with my friends dad and uncle.