I have 3 Leupold scopes. It's not all Leupold scopes. But I think the important part that most people are missing, is that it's not specific to Leupold but most of the sporting optic industry. It seems most companies are churning out lighter and lighter weight, less durable, rifle scopes. Those companies are marketing bundled features and numerous reticle options instead of designing a purpose built durable hunting optic to be primarily used as an aiming device.
One of my Leupold scopes is a vari-x ii 2-7 which was paired with grandpa's Remington 760. The scope is more reliable than the gun. I don't know year of manufacturing, but am going to guess it was before the 90s. I don't know if grandpa used red loctite or overtorqued, but I stripped off the head of a screw taking the scope out of it's original rings, had to drill and extract the broken screw. That scope still worked correctly after remounting it in new rings, and on three different guns. I suspect it has a sturdier tube than it's modern counterparts.
I have a VX5-HD 3-15, I purchased in January 2024, that failed hard after flying from Cincinnati to Las Vegas and back. The windage was off by 12" @100 yds upon arrival. It was 12" @100 off the other way upon return home. I took everything apart, remounted and retorqued and the windage shifted yet again just riding around in a soft drag bag in the trunk. One of the hunters I met in Utah had the same scope, his zero was also off, but he shrugged this off and said this happens sometimes when traveling. I'm sending mine in to Leupold for repair and getting rid of it.
I have a VX3-HD 1.5-5 which I bought shortly after the VX5-HD 3-15. It hasn't failed catastrophically yet. Have been using it for deer hunting in WV and KY.
I really liked my Maven binoculars and looked into both the RS.2 and RS.1.2. I settled on the RS.1.2 as it had better eye relief and held up in Form's drop tests. I would have preferred the reliability of the RS.1.2 in the form factor of the RS.2.
I ran a Vortex Viper 4-15 that I ran for three years. Had one low bad hit, on a deer, with that scope that I blame on my self. My atonement was to practice field shooting more and not repeat the same mistake. As far as I know that scope held point of impact for the duration I had it.
I am soured on Leupold after spending $1200 on a scope that doesn't hold zero riding around in a truck. Some may say, but it failed after a flight. Sure, but someone I know had the same type of failure on the same scope, just riding in the cab of a truck in a soft case.
Are you all mad that someone is sharing equipment failure testimonials on the Internet, or do you have an emotional investment in a particular company or gold ring aesthetic? Do you actually want to buy equipment that works as expected in the field?