Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Another Leupold Failure

In reality it's not that scary IF the product continues to be made to spec. I'd be very surprised however if the optical glass for example was being totally produced in the USA, let alone lesser components.

Leupold (if happening) wouldn't be the only optical manufacturer to outsource and reserve truly home made products to the absolute top of the range where costs to manufacture can be recouped. I'd still be very surprised if all the manufacture of the optical glassware was 'in house'.
Cheers...
Con

Con,

It is common knowledge in the optics industry that Leupold HAS NOT made their own glass the entire time they have made scopes.

They used to have contractors in the US producing their lenses and switched to Japanese glass in the 1970s..

No secret there.

And you know it's funny... Leupold was building their reputation for QUALITY with Japanese lenses in a time when the "experts" were making fun of "inferior" Japanese scopes..

Just pulled the scope off. Bases are fine. The issue is the scope.

They nay sayers can say what they wish. Two top dollar scopes fail is not just random chance.

I will get the replacement and use it. As for future purchases. I won't be buying anymore Leupolds. You can bet on that.

Tom

They have been using the same Japanese glass for years.

Tom

Just where are the "nay sayers" on this thread?????

I have searched high and low and cannot find ONE post critisizing you or saying you are mistaken for that your scope is not functioning properly.

I had the same problem with a VX III 4.5-14X50 LR during hunting season back in 08. I sent the scope back and they said (reworked scope to new condition). That's the respone I got on the work order they sent with the scope. I had it on a Rem 700 300RUM. I was rather pissed about the whole deal.

Send it back, quit carping, all brands have failures. I have likewise had some small troubles over the years. Leupold will fix it, period. They always have for me, quickly, and correctly.

Some brands just seem to have more than others

+1

One scope to rule them all,
one scope to find them,
one scope to bring them all,
...

And now you know the truth.

Gollum shoot S&B.

From Terry Cross on Snipers Hide:

I apologize in advance but I have to rant for a second.

I have always been a huge, huge Leupold advocate. They were always my benchmark for quality, innovation and U.S. workmanship. I own an awful lot of their product and continue to use it regularly.

However. . . . In the last few years, I have seen a change in the way Leupold does business and delivers product to the market. As they have grown, they have embraced many less than admirable traits that seem to define too many parts of American businesses. While their pricing has been steadily increasing at a faster rate than inflation, their quality has dropped. They are still capable of producing a sharp, repeatable optic but not as dependably.

My biggest aggravation with Leupold is the fact that less than 5% of their product line that can be legally stamped "Made in U.S.A." and I'm not even sure that those few are !!! What started out with a few of their Wind River imports has blown into an all out effort to prostitute their name brand for a dollar.

I just received 18 RX-4 range finders, 18 Tactical 10x50 Patrol Binoculars and 18 Mk 4 LR/T 4.5-14x50mm TMR Illum. scopes for a package deal I have to ship. This is pretty much suppossed to be their better gear. Guess what? Range finders "Made In CHINA". Binoculars "Made In China". Scopes have no country of origin marked on the packaging, instructions or product. Call back from Leupold informs me that the scopes are assembled in Oregon but so many of the parts and sub-assemblies are made over-seas (mostly China except for some of their lenses)that they do not qualify for the Made in USA stamp!

I can assure you that sourcing their components and products from China has dropped their costs very, very dramatically while they have continued to raise market prices. You know, honestly, it isn't even the price/profit thing that burns me. It is the fact that they chose to move their sourcing and manufacturing (I do consider "manufacturing" and "assembly" two different beasts in this instance) out of the country and specifically China. Why couldn't they keep most of their production here and just up their pricing 10%? Jesus, I could drop my selling price and triple my profit on freakin Pod-Loc kits if I used components from outside the U.S., but I refuse to go there. Guess that is why I still drive a 10 year old truck.

While they may still have satisfactory product performance and at least attempt innovative ideas occaisionally, I believe that they are straying from their roots, pumping a ton of money into foreign factories and putting yet another hole in the bottom of the lifeboat that retains at least a small fraction of our ability to domestically support our police and military logistics in the event of any serious conflict. I remain firmly convinced that we shall sorely curse the day that we wake up and realize that we need to raise our military to a task only to find out we have cut off our own legs. I aim this statement not only at Leupold but other textile, steel, electronics and molding industries based in the U.S. You don't just start that [bleep] back up inside the U.S. borders overnight.

I will continue to use my original Leupold products but I shall migrate away from giving their company blanket support. I will, instead continue to give more and more support to companies that take risks, accept slightly lower margins and consciously make the effort to strengthen our own economy and workforce. As you purchase your gear or spec out the equipment for your agency bids, please consider more than F.O.V. and click value.

I would seriously love to debate the execs at Leupold in front of their Board about some of this.

DISCLAIMER: I know that some out there will have personal budgets at home that restrict your choices to imports and I totally respect that. A non-US product is better than no product at all in some cases.

DISCLAIMER #2: Yeah, that was more than a second. Sorry.
TC

Answer from Lowlight on Snipers Hide.

Amen,

Every year they seem to get farther and farther away from what made them the company worthy of the reputation they have, which I personally feel is no longer warranted.

The shear number of them we see problems with is staggering, on military weapons systems no less. They seem to be completely out of touch with the shooter, all shooters, Civilian, Law Enforcement, and Military.

Unfortunately people still flock to their products based on the past reputation, regardless of the fact their current products don't hold up to that standard.
LL







From Lowlight on Snipers Hide:

So what do you tell the guy who traveled 1200 miles to take a class.. he paid $1500 for the class, plus rental car, hotels, meals, and by the first day it fails... now he goes from what he thought was a solid optics with a stellar reputation to being the guy holding up the class while we run up, get a new scope for him, usually I am pulling one of my NF off to switch it for him. If you want to play the one up and working, the NF I use is heavily used, my S&Bs too, and guess what, of all of them, with more combined rounds than I can count, and only one scope has ever gone back for repair. They well worn and definitely show signs of use.

yes, other brands fail, but not nearly with the frequency as we are seeing with Leupold. it's every week in some cases, and even in the military classes we have Nightforce on the unit rifles next to Leupold... but I don't see the NF failing nearly as much, it's stark the reality of it, especially when you see more than 1 or 2 a week.

It's easily 20 to 1 when you compare the Nightforces on the line with the military units, this last class had 4 Leupolds on the line, 1 failed the first day, the remainders where USO, NF, and S&B... Do we see others fail, sure but not nearly as much.

If you want to start a generic scope failure thread go ahead, but don't be surprised by the results. Facts are what the facts are, in a class of 15 Leupolds on the line I expect and account for anywhere from 2 to 5 scopes to go down, I don't figure that with the same number of NF on the line. Its closer to 1 per every six months of classes, not 1 for every six people.



dave

jwp,
I wonder if the fact we hear more about Leupy failures might be because there are more of them out there on rifles than probably all others combined? It would be interesting to know how many they have built in the past 15 years and how many they have serviced so we could get a true picture.
This scope debate has a lot in common with winning the powerball lottery. We only hear about the occassional lottery winners (scope loosers) . There is no one talking about the tens of millions of loosers every week.(scope winners)

Dave,
I wish I had read your post before I posted mine. I too struggle with the same outsourcing in the sport and industry I sell into and deal with the same manufacturing issues on a daily basis. Looks like it is time for an American optics company to start making Leupold price range optics here in the USA. They (instead of Leupold) could capitalize on Leupy's reputation especially if the new company was loaded with Leupy people.
Filson has done the same thing in the past few years. Looks like both of what we thought were traditional American companies are now feeding at the eastern Asian trough and that is sad.
Remember though that most consumers demand the pricing and are willing to put up with a little aggravation to get the price (Walmart mentality). That has become the bulk of our consumers. If anyone tries to compete with American made products IMO they need to have a clear understanding of their market. IN most cases it is sad. Support those that support you. (a simple concept)

Dave

Not long ago, someone posted the stats for most popular selling brands but I can't find the link. Scope brand was either Bushnell or Tasco. For sheer volume, it's always the cheap stuff. I think people confuse brand recognition and volume. There's not a hunter alive that wouldn't consider Leupold to be the most recognized brand name however.

RT,



dave

maybe those chinese leupold knock off's aren't so bad after all ??
just sayin....

Only reason I got mine was because of the compact packaging, light weight, and CDS. Someone else (Vortex possibly) starts doing those three things and I'll buy from them. Sightron has two of the three qualities I want, just not that third. Plus I can't find a Sightron (Big Sky) anywhere for me to look through. Hard to buy it when I've never even seen it.

I believe I read of Leupold having had issues with their leaf spring system in their scopes. I also believe I read that they have corrected the issue, but are not retrofitting the old scopes.
All second hand info, and based on my fuzzy memory.

Considering the number of leupy is out there, occasional fails are expected.

I might have a Leupie failure on my hands too, will confirm tomorrow when I visit the range.

MtnHtr