Leupold Broke...I was Warned

[RockAndSage]

It's not the hard-breaks on the inside, but the mysteriously wandering zero...while wondering if it's me, the ammo, or the gun, or the fasteners, whatever, for thousands of dollars in ammo and my time and frustration that haunts me. They've got a killer form factor and style, and such superb glass. But, dammit, Leupold.

 

[Bidwell]

For sure, just be honest selling in places like here that it's a repaired or replaced scope and let the buyer decide. eBay all bets are off pretty much, but if they replace it then it's a brand new scope so you should be able to list it as such.

That's true. Thanks! Appreciate the advice

 

[Bidwell]

It's not the hard-breaks on the inside, but the mysteriously wandering zero...while wondering if it's me, the ammo, or the gun, or the fasteners, whatever, for thousands of dollars in ammo and my time and frustration that haunts me. They've got a killer form factor and style, and such superb glass. But, dammit, Leupold.

This thought crossed my mind. I'm thankful it was a hard fail. It is such a nice scope in terms of weight and clarity, these dependability issues are frustrating

 

[pacoalcracker]

Crazy that Jim Shocky has hundreds of hunts all around the world, for yhe last 35 years, most in far more rugged terrain and very remote places in often terrible circumstances than 95% of the hunters here...and what does he have on his rifles? Anyone care to guess? That man could afford to run any scope he desires, sponsored and free or not. I never heard him complain but one time when he dropped his rifle 40' down a chute and it broke...but he complained about his own slipping and not the scope. He is in a position whereas if they were junk he would say so and not use them.

I myself have been using them since the 80's and have at least 2 dozen of them and a lot are on pretty severe duty weapons. This includes pistol scopes too and on more severe recoiling handguns than any rifle anyone would care to shoot more than 1 round from. I even had one on my 7.5lb 300RUM no brake or can, 5.5lb 375 H&H w/brake, and 8.5lb no brake/no can 505Gibbs shooting a 525gr@2700fps, Ruger #1 458Lott, Ruger #1 470NE......and this, a TC Encore pistol in 500 S&W w/ a 10" barrel and the same with a 375 H&H in a 13" bbl, really severe kickers....same for some custom revolvers like 500 S&W w/3.5" bbl in a SINGLE ACTION with hot loads, could only stand to shoot 2 shots at a time...never had to send a single scope back, never a broken scope. Not sure what the hell you guys are doing, to be honest. Maybe learn how to handle a gun properly?

BTW, I did purchase a NF just to see what all the hoopla is about. Nice scope, probably as tough as they say, but it's 2.5x heavier than a Leupold and makes my 5.25lb 7prc handle something terrible...way too top heavy.

 

[HairyScandinavian]

It's not the hard-breaks on the inside, but the mysteriously wandering zero...while wondering if it's me, the ammo, or the gun, or the fasteners, whatever, for thousands of dollars in ammo and my time and frustration that haunts me. They've got a killer form factor and style, and such superb glass. But, dammit, Leupold.

My son is going through this right now. He's got a POF Revolution that won't shoot, tons of various ammo and it just won't shoot a group. It's the rifle, we know damn well it's the rifle, but it's got a VX-5 on it so we just spent 4 hours at the range swapping scope and tinkering to confirm. Annoys me because I absolutely love that scope otherwise and nobody has an Alumina cap equivalent. It's like getting cheated on, once the trust issues are there they never go away.

 

[Bidwell]

Crazy that Jim Shocky has hundreds of hunts all around the world, for yhe last 35 years, most in far more rugged terrain and very remote places in often terrible circumstances than 95% of the hunters here...and what does he have on his rifles? Anyone care to guess? That man could afford to run any scope he desires, sponsored and free or not. I never heard him complain but one time when he dropped his rifle 40' down a chute and it broke...but he complained about his own slipping and not the scope. He is in a position whereas if they were junk he would say so and not use them.

I myself have been using them since the 80's and have at least 2 dozen of them and a lot are on pretty severe duty weapons. This includes pistol scopes too and on more severe recoiling handguns than any rifle anyone would care to shoot more than 1 round from. I even had one on my 7.5lb 300RUM no brake or can, 5.5lb 375 H&H w/brake, and 8.5lb no brake/no can 505Gibbs shooting a 525gr@2700fps, Ruger #1 458Lott, Ruger #1 470NE......and this, a TC Encore pistol in 500 S&W w/ a 10" barrel and the same with a 375 H&H in a 13" bbl, really severe kickers....same for some custom revolvers like 500 S&W w/3.5" bbl in a SINGLE ACTION with hot loads, could only stand to shoot 2 shots at a time...never had to send a single scope back, never a broken scope. Not sure what the hell you guys are doing, to be honest. Maybe learn how to handle a gun properly?

I'm hoping this was a fluke. I'm not sure how I could do anything differently. My scope is basically perfectly centered between talley rings, torqued within spec, shouldered well. I'm no pro here so I'm open to hearing how I could handle a rifle differently to not break a scope. It's never been dropped or mishandled. I have a primary arms scope that has 5 times as many rounds on it and cost half as much, never had an issue. But it does weigh more. I am honestly curious if there is something i could do better and I will do it.

 

[pacoalcracker]

Bidwell, don't give up and don't give in so easily to the naysayers..they want you to go down the Tikka/Trijicon/SWFA rabbit hole just like they did.

 

[Bidwell]

Bidwell, don't give up and don't give in so easily to the naysayers..they want you to go down the Tikka/Trijicon/SWFA rabbit hole just like they did.

I'm probably going to give them another shot. Cant afford a 1k+ nightforce. And I love how light and clear the scope is. I'm hoping what another has said that they tend to come back stronger after repair

 

[atmat]

I don't get this. I have, I think, 5 Leopold's on my rifles and pistols with no problems, some of them 30+ years old. What are you doing to them?

Shooting them. Hunting with them. I had more Leupold’s than that, and was constantly chasing zero.

Crazy that Jim Shocky has hundreds of hunts all around the world, for yhe last 35 years, most in far more rugged terrain and very remote places in often terrible circumstances than 95% of the hunters here...and what does he have on his rifles? Anyone care to guess? That man could afford to run any scope he desires, sponsored and free or not. I never heard him complain but one time when he dropped his rifle 40' down a chute and it broke...but he complained about his own slipping and not the scope. He is in a position whereas if they were junk he would say so and not use them.

I myself have been using them since the 80's and have at least 2 dozen of them and a lot are on pretty severe duty weapons. This includes pistol scopes too and on more severe recoiling handguns than any rifle anyone would care to shoot more than 1 round from. I even had one on my 7.5lb 300RUM no brake or can, 5.5lb 375 H&H w/brake, and 8.5lb no brake/no can 505Gibbs shooting a 525gr@2700fps, Ruger #1 458Lott, Ruger #1 470NE......and this, a TC Encore pistol in 500 S&W w/ a 10" barrel and the same with a 375 H&H in a 13" bbl, really severe kickers....same for some custom revolvers like 500 S&W w/3.5" bbl in a SINGLE ACTION with hot loads, could only stand to shoot 2 shots at a time...never had to send a single scope back, never a broken scope. Not sure what the hell you guys are doing, to be honest. Maybe learn how to handle a gun properly?

BTW, I did purchase a NF just to see what all the hoopla is about. Nice scope, probably as tough as they say, but it's 2.5x heavier than a Leupold and makes my 5.25lb 7prc handle something terrible...way too top heavy.

Lol you get on every thread to defend Leupold. We get it, you spent money and want to justify your purchase.

Bidwell, don't give up and don't give in so easily to the naysayers..they want you to go down the Tikka/Trijicon/SWFA rabbit hole just like they did.

Lol why motivation would anyone have to “want” him to do that? It’s not like we’re investing in these companies or getting kickbacks. We’re just giving five other brands (NF, SWFA, S&B, SWFA, Trij, Maven) that actually work.

I'm probably going to give them another shot.

That’s a mistake. But you’re welcome to try it. You said in the OP you got it 25% off. But many of us get mil discount of more than that and STILL won’t purchase them — there’s a reason for that.

 

[pacoalcracker]

Well, for starters, a lot of people use lead-sleds or other means to soak up recoil/pain from their shoulder or keep the gun solidly anchored....thats the worst possible thing you could do for the optics or the gun....and really, for yourself. It breeds flinching when you fire the gun w/o these support methods, The gun needs to move a bit under recoil. Many people that think they are good gun handlers really miss this point...and will argue about it. Good for them. Ive been shooting small bores, medium bores, big bores and really big bores for 4+ decades..in rifles AND handguns. Most would never tolerate what I shoot. Even for me, 2 or 3 shots and I'm done for a bit...sometimes done for the day with that particular weapon. Sure, scopes can and do fail, but often it's due to the shooter. In addition, is it wandering zero due to the scope or half a dozen other reasons. Most won't perform the due diligence to find out. Often, a scope comes back from the manufacturer with nothing wrong found. The person can't accept that the problem might be him or the gun/scope mounting. So, he bitches and buys a different brand. Happens every day.

 

[atmat]

Well, for starters, a lot of people use lead-sleds or other means to soak up recoil/pain from their shoulder or keep the gun solidly anchored....thats the worst possible thing you could do for the optics or the gun....and really, for yourself. It breeds flinching when you fire the gun w/o these support methods, The gun needs to move a bit under recoil. Many people that think they are good gun handlers really miss this point...and will argue about it. Good for them. Ive been shooting small bores, medium bores, big bores and really big bores for 4+ decades..in rifles AND handguns. Most would never tolerate what I shoot. Even for me, 2 or 3 shots and I'm done for a bit...sometimes done for the day with that particular weapon. Sure, scopes can and do fail, but often it's due to the shooter. In addition, is it wandering zero due to the scope or half a dozen other reasons. Most won't perform the due diligence to find out. Often, a scope comes back from the manufacturer with nothing wrong found. The person can't accept that the problem might be him or the gun/scope mounting. So, he bitches and buys a different brand. Happens every day.

Lol or the scopes suck.

I have not had any of the 5 brands above ever lose zero. I’ve had Leupold, Vortex, and many others lose zero.

Miraculously, that somehow aligns with the majority of the population here. Whats the greater likelihood: that we’re all in on some big conspiracy or that the data presents a trend? Occam’s razor.

 

[pacoalcracker]

atmat, i dont have to justify Leupolds "just because I spent money on them"....I spend a LOT of money on my guns and optics....like many hundreds of thousands....just call the folks over at Keystone Arms in Pittsburgh Pa area if you think I'm full of shit. They are currently selling half of my extensive collection of arms...about 300K worth of them if not more.

My goal here is to speak on MY experience using Leupolds.....lots of them over many years, Certainly, your experience could be different. Certainly NF is a better scope. It better be, at 2.5x the cost and weight. However, it does not fit with every situation on every rifle. If you want a 6lb scoped rifle, NF isn't your choice. I also use others like Burris, Bushnell Elite etc, but won't ever purchase SWFA, Vortex or Trijicon, not that they are not great scopes, but rather they just do not appeal to me in one fashion or another.

Again, don't try to pull that "you spent money on them so you have to justify" bullshit on me...I can afford to buy any darned scope on the planet. In the past few years, I dropped 15-20K right here on optics alone, on top of what I already owned.

 

[Bidwell]

Well, for starters, a lot of people use lead-sleds or other means to soak up recoil/pain from their shoulder or keep the gun solidly anchored....thats the worst possible thing you could do for the optics or the gun....and really, for yourself. It breeds flinching when you fire the gun w/o these support methods, The gun needs to move a bit under recoil. Many people that think they are good gun handlers really miss this point...and will argue about it. Good for them. Ive been shooting small bores, medium bores, big bores and really big bores for 4+ decades..in rifles AND handguns. Most would never tolerate what I shoot. Even for me, 2 or 3 shots and I'm done for a bit...sometimes done for the day with that particular weapon. Sure, scopes can and do fail, but often it's due to the shooter. In addition, is it wandering zero due to the scope or half a dozen other reasons. Most won't perform the due diligence to find out. Often, a scope comes back from the manufacturer with nothing wrong found. The person can't accept that the problem might be him or the gun/scope mounting. So, he bitches and buys a different brand. Happens every day.

Yeah I definitely don't use lead sleds. But agree that can be an issue

 

[pacoalcracker]

atmat....Well, if Leupold was as bad as all of you pretend, they would have been out of business a long time ago. Apparently, they sell all the scopes they build so really, how bad can they be? Every company that builds failures goes out of business fairly quickly...especially today with social media. I know many law enforcement agencies, and our military uses Leupold scopes so if they are using them...hmmm. Lots of benchrest/competition shooters use them and have won national championships with them....hmmmm.

Some people just don't and will never get it. Won't waste any more of my time on it. Well, BYE.

 

[Bidwell]

Shooting them. Hunting with them. I had more Leupold’s than that, and was constantly chasing zero.


Lol you get on every thread to defend Leupold. We get it, you spent money and want to justify your purchase.


Lol why motivation would anyone have to “want” him to do that? It’s not like we’re investing in these companies or getting kickbacks. We’re just giving five other brands (NF, SWFA, S&B, SWFA, Trij, Maven) that actually work.


That’s a mistake. But you’re welcome to try it. You said in the OP you got it 25% off. But many of us get mil discount of more than that and STILL won’t purchase them — there’s a reason for that.

I'm in debate. Maven or trijicon have some more affordable options. I almost went with a Maven before I got the leupold

 

[atmat]

My goal here is to speak on MY experience using Leupolds.....

But that’s not really true, is it? You love to speak to others experiences instead:

Crazy that Jim Shocky has

..they want you to go down the Tikka/Trijicon/SWFA rabbit hole just like they did.

The person can't accept that the problem might be him or the gun/scope mounting. So, he bitches and buys a different brand.

many law enforcement agencies, and our military uses Leupold scopes so if they are using them...hmmm. Lots of benchrest/competition shooters

Not sure what the hell you guys are doing, to be honest. Maybe learn how to handle a gun properly?

Again dude, you spent the money and that’s okay. You don’t need to justify it to us or anyone else. I’m just telling the OP his experiences aren’t rare despite what you might believe.

 

[atmat]

I'm in debate. Maven or trijicon have some more affordable options. I almost went with a Maven before I got the leupold

The RS1.2 has sold for <$900 here used on several occasions. They’re the best scope for hunting currently on the market.

 

[Bidwell]

The RS1.2 has sold for <$900 here used on several occasions. They’re the best scope for hunting currently on the market.

Any thoughts on some of the more affordable options like the RS.2-2?

 

[HairyScandinavian]

I'm in debate. Maven or trijicon have some more affordable options. I almost went with a Maven before I got the leupold

I personally like the Trijicon offerings. Accupoints in particular are pretty lightweight.

 

[atmat]

Any thoughts on some of the more affordable options like the RS.2-2?

For whatever reason, only the 1.2 seems to be retaining zero super well.

You’re already looking for a second scope because you tried the “affordable” option on your first scope.

That said, the SWFA fixed 6’s sell for the $400’s here used. One day they may come back in stock — I bought several for $200ish when they used to have sales.