Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics VX6 problems Again

Don't take much heat to make you snowflakes melt does it.

I also suspect, but don't know for sure, that friction adjustments are cheaper and less complicated than clicks, so when click adjustments were added to scopes built to a price point, reliability may have been compromised. A lot of the Leupold toughness reputation was built on friction models. For set-and-forget use, an older friction model still makes sense to me, and makes seeking out nice used ones worthwhile, as well as keeping the ones I've got.

You are spot on I believe.

That's pretty much how most people go about it. Unless/until a product craps out on you, no problem.

But to qualify, I did have one VXII 1X4 break something loose inside on a 458WM years ago. Leupold naturally fixed it. In turn, I've had TWO Zeiss Victorys go tits up yet I still own them and would buy another, but Leupolds just give me what I want for much less cost. And just because the Victorys went bad I don't make blanket idiotic statements condemning ALL Zeiss'

Don't take it so seriously

Obviously saying a particular brand or model is more prone to failure than others does not mean that every scope they make is garbage or will break in the first 20 shots. It just means that the failure rate is higher, so your chances of having a scope fail on you are higher than certain other brands or models. You clearly have a couple of good ones on those rifles, but of all the scopes I've owned, I've had a higher percentage of Leupolds fail than any other brand (excluding the actual garbage like Simmons), so I tend to avoid them except on set and forget rifles, or when absolute minimal weight is required.

Your experiences and mine as well as EVERYONE here, save maybe for Mule Deer, are all anecdotal. I've had one Leupold in over fifty fail, yet two out of four Zeiss'. So unless there are valid statistics out there with valid methods of effectiveness to accurately track, it's all unreliable. Not doubting your issues w Leupold, just addressing the "all Leupolds are junk" "profundity"...

If you consider the experiences from a single individual, I'd agree with you. But when looking at the experiences of dozens of users as a single sample, the results become statistically meaningful. The number of NF scopes I've used is very limited, but based on the experiences of hundreds of other users I'd feel confident that you'd get a very durable and reliable scope if you bought one.

Another person whose work has given him statistically significant experiences with various scopes is Formidilosus.

True, but for every Leupold hater, there is arguably a proportionate number of "lovers". As to NF scopes, no doubt they are bomb proof, but as a pure hunting scope, I find them needlessly heavy and their reticles was too complicated. Full disclosure I own only TWO "knob turners" a VX3I 3.5X10X40 on my 300 Browning Safari that works as advertised and an inexpensive Nikon 22 Rimfire that also works well. I also tried the B&C reticle this past fall for the first time on an elk hunt and it worked as advertised. 330 yards, put the second ladder on the bull's shoulder and it hit as advertised. That's another scope on a hard kicking rifle that I put well over 200 rounds of practice prior to the hunt and no failures.

I'm 100% in agreement with you. My VX6 was really free I would not buy one. I'm trying to break 3x15 SS's right now. With no luck.

I'm a sensitive! delicate butterfly 🦋 smoke. LOL.

Starsky, It's great Comedy that a guy who can't afford his own place has such refined taste in optics.
Even funnier that anyone who pins the tail on the free loader is drunk.
Judd says your a good kid at least you don't have those stupid gauges in your ears. Maybe he's right I'll stay open minded. LOL.
You can stop sobbing I will ease up.

I try not to be a "hater" or a "lover", but simply look at my own experiences as well as those of others to decide what scopes to use and buy. Emotions sometimes get in the way of facts, which is detrimental to progress. I'm not implying NF scopes are perfect for hunting, but am simply looking at one aspect of riflescope performance compared between different brands and models- durability and reliability. When looking at a vast sample of different experiences among various individuals, you can cut through the bias and anecdote, and formulate a pragmatic trend of what has low failure rates and what doesn't. This is how we can all agree that NF scopes are bombproof, even though some of those very people have never used one. When a scope proves to be reliable and hiccup-free for 1000+ rounds (I suppose this number should be lower for big-bore DG rifles), I start to think of it as durable and reliable. A couple hundred rounds doesn't tell me much, as that is about when most of my scope failures have occurred.

Haha, not surprised. SS scopes are not easy to break. They're one of the hardest, IMO.

I have had a 2x12 VX6 on the rifle I use the most. It is a 375 and it has traveled to Namibia, Botswana, and Zim a few times with me with no problems whatsoever. One of my PH's had the lower power VX6 model on the 458 Lott that he uses every day. VX6 scopes are also on my favorite elk rifle and favorite deer rifle.

I also like the Swarovski scopes and use them.

Surely there have been occasional defects in every product made by man. Some guys must simply like to bash.

Yes, there have. But it's the rate of defects in different brands and models that we should be looking at.

Your statement is like saying that there are some Lada cars that have been perfectly reliable, and every car made by man has the odd failure, so some people must just like to bash Lada. I think most people would agree that this is a silly statement. Just because Toyota has a defect here and there, and Lada also has defects, that doesn't make them equally reliable or durable.

Anyone of the opinion that Leupold reliability went down at the Vari-X III to VX-III transition?

😎

It's as simple as pressure from the big box retailers to deliver larger margins. Quality goes down cost stays the same or increases.
It's the reason SS and others. Flourish no middle man means better product at said price point.

I'm guessing with a year or two post-college, he'll be out-earning you in no time.
And, unlike you, likely in a career where his spelling and grammar will be a reflection upon him.