Questioning the "gold Standard Drop Test" and the conclusions of "This scope brand does/doesn't hold zero"

[BGF]

B

Thread 'A big thank you for the drop tests done on this site!!'

Apr 29, 2026

Hi all,
I came to this site a while back and have lurked for a while but mainly looked at the drop tests done on various scopes.
I have been running a Leupold VX3i on an Antonio Zoli .270 for the last 10 years with disastrous accuracy/consistency and was never sure if this was due to scope or rifle. I ruled out the scope by swapping scopes and had the rifle re-crowned, re-bedded and various other odds and sods seen to by the only person in South Africa that is willing to actually guarantee MOA after accurizing a rifle.
It now shoots a touch under MOA and playing around with 130gr Barnes...

• BGF
• Replies: 1
• Forum: Optics

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Need I say more?

 

[medvedyt]

i do not know about drop tests per say but the days were i had a leupold scope on a rifle going in the sled and banged on trails while bison hunting are long gone.
i destroyed all the kind and always thought it was the mounts or the rings or what else then some scopes came back from oregon or alberta without being fixed but still not able to hold zero. i sold them at cost or loss and now im using the old elite bushnell made in japan by low and lrts and so far so good but again my experiences so valuable only for me ...

 

[Rhettster433]

I am gonna change direction a bit but i was just listening to episode 99 of S2H podcast and realized something when they were discussing the drop test.

Ryan said that the drop test and ride around test were separate but scopes that fail the drops also fail the ride around and vice versa. I would be interested in knowing how many of those scopes would have passed the ride around test before the drops. How is it determined that the drops didn’t damage the internals to where it cant pass the ride around test. @Wiscgunner kind of hit on this with the multi level ranking but i think doing a ride around test before the drops is the only way to get those rankings. Otherwise a scope that would be considered “deer blind appropriate” might not pass to that point due to internal failures from the large drops.

If that did not make sense i apologize but my mind to mouth translation is a little off sometimes.

 

[medvedyt]

@Rhettster433 cant speak for the testers but i did not do any drops and all leupolds failed my rides in the sled while going bison hunting and it was not brutal speed ... i wont dare to do a drop on them for sure ...

 

[theo423]

That’s part of the problem. Leupold is an American icon and institution. The drop tests gore our collective sacred cow. You can hear the faithful howl about it in this thread.
I’ve got very old Leupolds. I mean 20 to 30 years old. Guess what? One slid over and fell sideways this winter. First shot afterward was low. Then returned to zero for subsequent shots. Classic ‘spring bounce’ failure that illustrates a design weakness. But the faithful will explain it away. I’m still using it. Likely will for a long time to come, but it ain’t going elk hunting.

So if you’re on a hunt with a Lupey and drop it, touch off a round to bounce the spring and you’re good to go!

 

[medvedyt]

So if you’re on a hunt with a Lupey and drop it, touch off a round to bounce the spring and you’re good to go!

it is a gamble that you only can answer ...

 

[WAP1T1]

Would @Formidilosus test scopes sent to him?

 

[omicron1792]

Would @Formidilosus test scopes sent to him?

That’s how it works. He generally will test anything you send to him.

Which one you got in mind to send?

 

[1000yards]

Would @Formidilosus test scopes sent to him?

Yes. I have sent him more than a couple. Form and Ryan are easy to work with. Just keep in mind what this test is all about: he's dropping your stuff on the ground, and if it breaks it's on you. That's all worth it in my opinion for the goal to push this industry to higher standards and have more durable scope options.

 

[Marbles]

I am gonna change direction a bit but i was just listening to episode 99 of S2H podcast and realized something when they were discussing the drop test.

Ryan said that the drop test and ride around test were separate but scopes that fail the drops also fail the ride around and vice versa. I would be interested in knowing how many of those scopes would have passed the ride around test before the drops. How is it determined that the drops didn’t damage the internals to where it cant pass the ride around test. @Wiscgunner kind of hit on this with the multi level ranking but i think doing a ride around test before the drops is the only way to get those rankings. Otherwise a scope that would be considered “deer blind appropriate” might not pass to that point due to internal failures from the large drops.

If that did not make sense i apologize but my mind to mouth translation is a little off sometimes.

So, if you happen to hit the scope hard you throw it away and buy a knew one because now it might be damaged? Can't warranty it because you don't yet have an actual problem.

I don't know about others, but I'm not interested in equipment more fragile than my cell phone (which I literally just dropped from shoulder hight onto a hard floor while typing this to test my confidence). There was a time when I wouldn't have dared to do that as I have broken cell phones dropping them; but now the industry has standards and I don't shop for bulky tough phones any more because even the svelte ones service dunks and drops.

Edit: You can also flip this argument, what if a scope fails the drop because if broke during the ride around?