Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Why I keep buying Leupold scopes...

Obviously nothing wrong with Euro optics and there better not be for the price you pay. But I've said this before, there is a point of diminishing returns for the extra dollars you spend.
At some price point you are paying for the name of S.........., L.... and Z....on the optics. Only you and your checkbook can decide.

"Why I keep buying Leupold scopes"....

Because your a 'cheapskate? Glad it worked out for you BrownDog. Leupold CS has always been great.

The last three Leupold scopes I bought were from the custom shop. I can get the finish and reticles I want. I don't feel Leupold scopes are the best or the only brnad to buy. Leupold can give me what I want.

Leupolds are good scopes, but not quite as good as Tasco and simmons... Grin

Gimme Conquest all day long. No comparison at least for me.

I agree

The cynic in me asks why it's such a coup that Leupold fixed what was obviously a manufacturing defect. Even more so, it's a manufacturing defect that has plagued Leupold for a while, the "power ring too hard to turn" problem crops up repeatedly with Leupolds. In my mind it shouldn't have left the factory that way, whether or not it had been through another owner is irrelevant. I'm glad they fixed it at no cost, but that's what they SHOULD have done since they sold a defective product to begin with.

I like Leupold scopes and am glad they have a good customer service reputation, but this is an example of the most basic level of customer service that should be expected from anyone. I don't see anything exceptional to crow about here. To be honest I haven't purchased any leupold scopes in 7-8 years even though I have quite a few of them. When leupold started their minimum advertised pricing strategy they priced themselves out of the market for me. The street price shot up about 20% and at about the same time other quality scopes started appearing that gave better value for money. A VX3 3.5x10x40 is a great $300 scope, when they price them at $500 there are better options for that kind of money.

Me too!!

Yep +1

Well here is my opinion of Leupold...like it or not. First off, I've lived most of my life an hour or so from the factory, and my Dad is a Leupold fanatic, so I had no choice as a youngster. Since I've grown up I've had a lot of different glass. In my opinion Austrian glass is the best. German glass is a close second, and Japanese comes in third. Old Soviet is really good as well. At one time I only had one Leupold left in my collecion, all the rest was European. Now I have one Kahles, one Swaro, and one Nightforce. The other dozen or so are Leupold. The customer service is what brought me back to stay. When you have optics that cost as much as my go to work truck, but are messed up and the manufacturer won't help you, you may as well have open sights.

CastleRocker, I like it fine. Also was raised on Leupys and strayed for awhile. Anymore, with the scarcity of jobs, its simply good to support them and the 600-700 folks working there. When you can get actual repair and refurbishment on 5, 10, 20 even 30 year old scopes its pure icing on the cake... OT

I own 25 or so of them and have used them almost exclusively since 1974. One failed, a hand gun scope on a 357 maximum contender. It was fixed, no charge very quickly. And I have sent several in for reticle changes etc and always had very quick service.
They can not be beat.
You get what you pay for.

crow hunter.....Please tell us which scopes you buy that are better and cheaper than Leupold.

I haven't had any problems with Leupold....Mostly VXIII and VX3 and Vari-XIII as well as FXIII's and M8 6x42's. Sent one M8 6x42 back because it had accumulated oil on the inside edge of the objective lens over the years....but it was still working fine. Leupold fixed it and upgraded it for no charge....quickly. I've never had a problem with tracking or adjustments when sighting in. Have had problems with Burris, Zeiss Conquest, and Minox and I'm done trying anything new.....except for the Swaro Z3's I just bought because LL Bean had them at 30% off the anniversary pricing (i.e.: No brainer).

I'm glad some are having better luck with others....whatever works for you.

Me too. They have always met and exceeded my requirements.
I really appreciate their ability to be easily customnized as well.
I have to laugh at those that call the new VX3's a "good $300 scope, but not at $500." Just where else can you get a scope with super hard coatings for $500 ?
Then we get those that insist they are no good at night, etc. Or that their euro wonder last 10-15 mins longer than the same class of Leupold as it gets darker. It turns out that they insist that all you can do with a Leupold is focus the reticle, but not the scope's image and/or that they aren't using the same class of Leupold for their comparisons. A single coated, old Leupold is not going to perform as well as a new Zeiss. Then there are those that don't even set them on the same magnification to do their comparisons. Really strange.
The other thing I've noticed is that most Leupolds are very forgiving as to where one's head lands on the stock. Apparently some of hunters don't understand that this place changes with the thickness of the clothing worn, and as to shooting position. Shooting uphill or downhill changes this alot. So having a scope whose image is right there is really helpful. As well as having one with enough eye relief to allow one to easily look arounf the scope as it's being shouldered in a hurry. E

Leup's warranty is what they have going for them. Probably the best in the business. That said... I don't buy Leupolds anymore. I prefer the quality of the Euro scopes. It has nothing to do with wallet size either if you really want a Euro scope and you can only afford a Leup, just keep saving till you have it. Once purchased you don't walk around feeling the missing dough, but you got what you wanted....To each their own though...

Here's a good one. When I lived in Palmer Ak., I went into a pawn shop and bought a Leupold 3-9x40 vari x 2. It was in a trash can and I gave the guy $10 for it. Everything was siezed and it looked as if it rolled around in the bottom of a skiff for 10 years. I packed it up and sent it in to Leupold just to see what would happen. About 2 weeks later, I got my scope back. Still ugly but completely rebuilt! I camo'ed it and have been using it ever since. Talk about a company that stands behind their products!

Wow ! That's one for the books. I've heard similar stories. E

I'll throw in another for you. I had a customer bring in a Vari-X II in three pieces...horse rolled on it in the scabbard. I returned it to Leupold, and they sent him a new scope a week later...no questions asked....
Even I would have asked questions about that one...

Geez, that's even better. E

I own and use a number of different brands of scopes that are capable of shooting distance when needed.
I use Leupold VX-3's or Mark 4's, but I also have NF, Vortex, Huskemaw, and Sightron.
I will be buying another Leupold very soon-I really like some of Leupold's products.
I also will be purchasing another S-3 Sightron as well.