I've had a Leupold 1x4 on a .375 for so many years I can't remember, the adjustments have always been a pain, hard to turn, so this year I boxed it up and sent it to Leupold to fix, and I asked them to install a duplex retical..That was two weeks ago, got it back today, but as opposed to being fixed it was a new 1x4 Leupold..This has been typical of Leupold as long as I remember, and that's why Ive seldom used any other scope in my 82 years..As a hunter I prefer smaller scopes than todays masses of huge scopes more suited to astronomers et. al. I still love the old 3x and 4x fixed Leupolds. Great company great folks.

I feel the same. I only use Leupold. They have always been there if issues show up, which is usually seldom if ever. Good old American quality and service!

Their service is good, but I'm slowly replacing mine. Not really impressed with their quality.

Butch,

I'm really sad to hear you say that, because it's my experience you know what you're talking about. Is it optically or mechanically that you find them lacking?

I see through my Leupolds clearly. The VX-1 is better than most of the other brands in the same price range to me. Mostly I have bought VXI's and VXII's though. So I'm not comparing to Nightforce.

But my experience with them not breaking and with the erectors working and adjusting right is why I really love them. And the one I have on the 458 Lott keeps working. I guess I have a Nikon Monarch that was less than the VXIII back when I bought it, and it's probably just as clear and trouble free. And a I have a 3200 (upper mid range) Bushnell that's been good too. I still think the single VXIII I have is clearer and brighter.

Weaver's have had mechanical trouble for me, though they've been really good optically.

Is your comparison more on the high end? For benchrest guns or hunting rifles?

Thanks,
Steve

Chris,
My problem as with many others has to do with tracking. Optics and so on were great. Just tracking.

Gotta agree with that Butch and Ray. When I don't have a need for the unique qualities of a high end Euro scope (relax Ray), my go to is always the VX 3.

The 3 is noticeably clearer to me than the 1 and to a lesser degree the 2, so I am happy to pay the small premium for the 3.

My only gripe is also that the adjustments seem to have minds of their own, but more importantly, once the rifle is zeroed, I do not remember ever having had one move. As I don't play the dial up/dial down game with my Leupies, the inconsistent tracking is of no concern to me.

In the last 40 years, I have had two problems with Leupies, a 3x (they were really 2.75) and a 1.5/5. Most importantly, neither were rendered unusable by the problems and both were fixed in the usual quick and efficient manner - one repaired, and one replaced.

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
... got it back today, but as opposed to being fixed it was a new 1x4 Leupold...

Believe it or nuts, Atkinson, this fits into my theory about image-movement: the manufacturers know that the cost of that constantly centred illusion is a system prone to damage; so, they produce massive numbers of spare scopes (saving at least with economies of scale) and just send out new ones willy-nilly, whereby the punters get a warm fuzzy from the generosity rather than wonder about the issues.

For all that, I do have respect for the Leupold name - their stuff has not let me down so far and the company was one of the last American brands to jump on the dodgy bandwagon.

I've also had good experiences with Leupold. I've broken 2 or 3 of their handgun scopes on heavy recoilng handguns and they were always fixed within a couple of weeks with no hassel.

Most of my Leupolds are the Mark 4 model which I like a lot. I like them better than a Swarovski I had.

quote:

Originally posted by sambarman338:

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
... got it back today, but as opposed to being fixed it was a new 1x4 Leupold...

Believe it or nuts, Atkinson, this fits into my theory about image-movement: the manufacturers know that the cost of that constantly centred illusion is a system prone to damage; so, they produce massive numbers of spare scopes (saving at least with economies of scale) and just send out new ones willy-nilly, whereby the punters get a warm fuzzy from the generosity rather than wonder about the issues.

For all that, I do have respect for the Leupold name - their stuff has not let me down so far and the company was one of the last American brands to jump on the dodgy bandwagon.

I understand the mechanical differences to which you refer. I will never understand your messianic fervour for what I regard, as a past user, as crappy old scopes. Trying to shoot relexively and naturally when the crosshair is way off centre in the field of view is physiologicaly unnatural and not conducive to good outcomes. I used low powers in early euros to attempt to off set the degree to which this was a problem.
Had old Pecars and old Kahles with the apparently more robust mechanicals of which you are so enamoured. Good riddance! Have had a hunt stopped by a fogged Kahles, but never by a problem with a Leupy.
As far as producing extra for warranty replacements, I think it more likely that for an old scope, parts may simply not have been available, or, as you suggest, cost to the manufacturer of a new scope may be less than the cost of skilled labour to repair a faulty scope. That's good business, not a sign of a dud product.

Thanks for the reply Butch.

So Ray was the new Leupold any better than the old? I too find the turret adjustments fiddly and the power change ring way too stiff to turn on the lower end Leupolds (can't speak for higher end stuff). I've now gone to Vortex. The adjustments are easy and track well and the power change is very smooth. Optics comparable to Leupold for same price range.

quote:

Originally posted by secondtry:
I will never understand your messianic fervour for what I regard, as a past user, as crappy old scopes. Trying to shoot relexively and naturally when the crosshair is way off centre in the field of view is physiologicaly unnatural and not conducive to good outcomes. I used low powers in early euros to attempt to off set the degree to which this was a problem.
Had old Pecars and old Kahles with the apparently more robust mechanicals of which you are so enamoured. Good riddance! Have had a hunt stopped by a fogged Kahles, but never by a problem with a Leupy.

Well, my fervour was originally prompted by the beautiful lack of tunnel vision in old German Nickel and Zeiss scopes, which I assumed was something to do with the lack of an erector tube wasting much of the field coming in from the objective. That, I finally concluded, could not be a problem except possibly at 1x. The risk of the articulated tube being damaged over time by recoil was a more-recent epiphany.

That problem of the reticle being out of centre came from poor mounting of the scope; if the shooter was not able to set it up to bore sight without turning the knobs, the usual advice was to get a competent gunsmith to do it.

I had a Kahles fog up on me, too, but only after 21 years and some dodgy handling on my own part (got deer's blood on the lens and foolishly sloshed some commercial lens fluid on to clean it - either enzymes or the solvent probably ate the seals and a blue-blazes rain storm next day did the rest). Otherwise, that scope was tough as old boots and only ever moved once in 33 years, when I used it and the rifle as a brake to stop my sliding down a waterfall.

The toughest scopes of all, though, might have been certain old B&L Custom models, which had no internal adjustments. Bausch & Lomb claimed in their booklet 'Facts about Hunting Sights' to not even cushion the lenses (as Lyman did) for fear of parallax when the cushioning compressed over time.

the scope I sent them was probably pretty darn old and it was a varix 11, but Im not OCD on scopes if I can see the animal and kill it, that's about all that interests me, and Leupolod has served me to perfection on that part..Ive had some tight adjustments, they fixed them..I had a horse roll over and break a scope in half, I had a hunter twist the adjustment off my binoculars in his excited state looking at a 400 elk, in all cases the just sent me a new replacement and in the case of the binocs they sent me a new pair, a month later the old ones repaired..I called them and told them what they did and that I would return the new set still in the box..They said "Merry Christmas Mr. Atkinson, you keep both sets and don't mess up our book keeping!! Yeah, I'll stay with Leupold....My business is hunting, I hunt a lot, I have no complaints with Leupold, they serve my purpose well..

To my surprise, I even like the new Redfield 2x7x28 that Leupold is making, I bought one for my .338 just to test it, Its worked on 3 elk for me and 2 more for others, taken a beating and been many miles in a saddle scabbard, and all for $157.00 on sale at Sportmans Whse some time ago.

If a scope holds its zero once sighted in and I can see an animal with it, that's about all I care about, claity is of little concern within reason, The rest is horsehocky to this old cowboy, but I sure don't begrudge anyone for being more particular than I..

I have a barbwire fence about 200 yards from my shop, If I can see barbs in a scope its passed the test, and every leupold Ihave will do just that..You would be surprised at the ones that don't. but I won't go there.

I have a number of the Leupold scopes and Swarovskis as well. As best I can recall, excluding one that was damaged, the only Leupold scopes I had an issue with were some 2x7 rimfire scopes. They seemed to yellow over time. I changed them.

Butch,

you can box those old Leupolds up and send them to me. If need be, I would even reimburse you for the shipping costs!

Rich

Another Leupie fan here. The factory is an hour from my house. I have had Ray's experience to a T. I even bought a used EER M8-2X handgun scope with a small chip in one of the lenses. Sent it to them and had a new one on my doorstep a week later.

Eagle the new scope was perfect in every respect..BTW you can get vari x 3 click adjustments for about $25 or $30. and that's a nice update on any old Leupold.

I wouldn't even consider using a scope not made by Leupold, why would I? Send one of those other scopes back, especially the foreign scopes or binocs for repair and then get a bill that you could have bought a new Leupold for, not to mention a 9 month wait..been there done that, never again.

Ray, My other brand scopes have not needed to be sent back. Leupold takes care of problems, but I rather not have these problems. I don't buy them anymore.

I have tried to talk myself into switching over to Leupold and I cannot. I do not believe the clarity is there, as opposed to other models. It is just my opinion/experience. I use what I would call "mid range" scopes). I like the Nikon better. I give Vortex the edge as well.

I decided to buy a new rifle and would like to have better optics than I currently have. I looked at the higher end Leupold and Night Force. I will probably go with the Nightforce.

Again, just my experience. To each their own..

I started out with leupold around 1975, used them exclusively for 30 years and killed loads of big game with them. For some odd reason I thought I needed better and experimented with Zeiss, S&B, and Swaro scopes for 5 or 6 years, then realized they would do nothing the Leupold's wouldn't do. I've been around the block and back to using primarily Leupold for over 10 years, again, and have only had problems with one, in which Leupold promptly fixed and sent back to me. I find the VX3 glass to be on par with Conquest, Monarch, Elite 4200 glass, but optics aren't the most important thing to me in a scope. I love their duplex reticles, especially the VX6's. I figure I've taken at least 200 head of big game with them now, so I would say they've performed very well for me.

I've used Leupolds and had both good and bad customer service results with them, the last being a brand new, sealed VX-R 3-9x50 that was supposed to be a FireDot Duplex but instead was a TMR, which wasn't even an option in that scope at that point in time.

I sent an e-mail that weekend, but on Monday morning, I could no longer wait and called. The first person I talked to basically said to me it couldn't have left the factory that way and that it was my problem. He would not exchange it for me (the vendor had no more, either) but said I could send it in "for a reticle change" on my own dime. I asked if I could at least get the correct box for it but was told that's impossible since it is not a standard item, never mind that the Leupold Custom Shop provides correct boxes for just about any reticle/scope/finish combination you want to place.

Thank goodness a different CS rep (Mr. Hinze) answered my e-mail later that day. He apologized, immediately sent the correct replacement via 2nd day and got me an RA with a shipping label to send the other back.

I don't have any Leupolds now but have nothing against them. They offer good, solid products. But for me, the Leupolds can't do what other scopes can.

I can no longer get out and hunt, and the bulk of my now-minimal shooting activity involves sniping hogs from a couple of shooting rests I have near the house. Hogs rarely if ever move in daylight here, so I am relegated mainly to moonlight shots in the 150 to 180 yard range.I've tried and used Leupolds for moonlight hogs, but they just don't offer the resolution necessary in many of these situations. Light transmission rates are more than adequate in the VX-3, VX-R and VX-6, but a "bright" image alone can't quite cut it for my usage. On the other hand, if I were still mobile and could get to reasonable range -- maybe inside of 50 or60 yards -- of the hogs, then the Leupolds would do great, but I need a scope that I can use on 8x or above and still be able to resolve adequate detail under the worst of lighting.

Other scopes manufacturers aren't perfect, either. I once purchased a Conquest 3-12x56 that had only 44 clicks of windage. They quickly sent me a new Conquest DL 3-12x50 with #60 reticle -- a heck of an upgrade -- but the illumination feature was dead. It was returned, and they confirmed that it was indeed defective. They didn't have another and were going to have to wait for Germany but would keep me apprised of the progress. Well, that didn't happen, and communication dropped off entirely. Since phone calls and e-mails were not getting returned after a long wait, I contacted them on a Saturday via a PM on social media -- and lo and behold I had another scope sent overnight and received that Tuesday. It all worked out but was not the smoothest, either.

No optics company is perfect, and neither is any one scope.

But if there would be a "perfect" scope for me, it would have Zeiss Victory HT glass in a 3-12x56 configuration, have the edge-to-edge sharpness and pleasing image of the Swarovski PH/PV series, the super-reliable elevation and windage adjustments of Kahles, feature the resolution and ruggedness of a Schmidt Bender, have the contrast of a Leica ERi, have a FFP Zeiss #4 reticle with the illumination system of the Kahles CSX -- and have a reasonable price tag, too. Then, day or night, with or without the illumination system, I'd be set for just about anything.

I have several leupold scopes that "dial" and they all dial very consistently.

I do think that the dials need to be moved a bit, like break in, to free up the erector and I always set my dials for the shot on a tightening stroke.

I hear this clearity stuff on all these scopes, Im not all that scientific and could care less as all I require is to see the target and pull the trigger, not counting hairs or fleas...

I do have a barb wire fence on my property that is a mile and a half to two miles from my shop window..I have tested every make and model of scopes over the years or close anyway..The Leupold show the barbs as well as any other scope I have used, many won't even show you the wire at those distensis..BTW, have not use a Weaver for many years as they are not the best in real cold weather, but I got one the other day that's one of the new ones and its clear as a bell, a good scope..

But to each his own..I been shooting Leupold since the late or early 1940s. and yes Ive sent 3 or 4 back for some kind of adjustment, damn!

I called to send some Lieca binocs back and got an appraiseal for $320. not counting postage for a minor repair and guaranteed 6 months return..A friend sent his high dollar European scope back and they wanted more than he paid for it...go figure...

As to the AR guy that emailed me the other day and said no more Leupolds for him, and I should be using the new Redfieds..Guess he didn't know that Leupold makes those scopes now..I bought one to see how I liked it and its a pretty good scope and cost me $167. on sale at Spts whse...Shot some deer and my new grandson in law shot his first deer with it. He and I hit it off big time, he is now a dyed in the wool deer hunter, I created a monster.

Never had a complaint with Leupold glass, just holding POA. Customer service is good, but why should we have to send them back for free repairs for quite a few times.
Sent a Swarovski back and found I had a base that was drilled wrong. The scope was checked, cleaned, and returned no charge.

quote:

Originally posted by butchlambert:
Never had a complaint with Leupold glass, just holding POA. Customer service is good, but why should we have to send them back for free repairs for quite a few times.
Sent a Swarovski back and found I had a base that was drilled wrong. The scope was checked, cleaned, and returned no charge.

Exactly.

quote:

Originally posted by butchlambert:
Never had a complaint with Leupold glass, just holding POA. Customer service is good, but why should we have to send them back for free repairs for quite a few times.
Sent a Swarovski back and found I had a base that was drilled wrong. The scope was checked, cleaned, and returned no charge.

I found out some of my scope bases were also off center by a tangent. Talking 5 to 15 moa off center as measured by a Bushnell 74-3333 boresight/collimator. Was swapping some scopes from AR-10 rifles to Winchester 70 LA rifles. The Flat top Armalites with integral picatinny rail were dead on. Swapping from one AR to another showed no alignment variation.

When scopes from the winchesters were swapped to the armalites, they were far off from center. These were Leupold QR bases, both 1pc and 2pc. When steel Weaver bases were mounted on the Win 70s, the armalite mounted scopes lined up perfectly. So, no holes were drilled off-center.

Leupold was extremely responsive when informed of the problem and gave me full credit for the base sets; there were about 8 sets plus 10 sets of rings. I also checked using a Mark4 picatinny base and the AR scopes had correct alignment with that system.

Leupold does treat their customers very well.

I prefer their mark 4 scopes over Nightforce for the much lighter weight. Mark 4s are rugged and precise w/o weighing like a boat anchor.

I used Weavers type rings and bases for years, but getting the cross hairs square to the world is a pain in the a$$. and if you do get them straight be careful not to use them in a saddle scabbard or a ranch truck without checking them from time to time, and they will move a tad every time no matter how tight you get them, just a tad over time, but a tad drives me bonkers..

Ive used a lot of Leupold rings and bases over the years and many Redfields and no problems..

That said my favorite are Talleys, even better are the Lynn Brownells that I have, they are not only perfect, they are machined so well and the arms are checkered beautifully, and if you surface grind the receiver and hand fit the bases of any make, as one should IMO, they return to zero. Out of the box you get a 3" or 4" plus or minus variation on return to 0 with most QDs. that's good enough for hunting some tell me, and it should be, but its not good enough for me personally!