Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Leupold 2-7 Friction Adjustments before 1974

Hello All,

Are the very old Leupold's built before 1974 with the friction adjustments very reliable scopes. The glass on it is amazing but I'm concerned about the friction adjustment vs clicks.

I'll be using this scope on a 45-70.

Thanks

Tom

Very reliable, and in some ways I like the friction adjustments better. If in doubt, send to Leupold for a once ove.

Considering the low grade, by today's standards, lens coatings found on pre-1974 vintage Leupolds, I'm surprised that you can actually see anything through it in full sunlight.

Jeff

I like friction adj turrets better than clicks. But you can send it in and they will upgrade it to click turrets. The cost is not bad.

I wasn't talking low light with the lens coatings. I was talking about the clarity. I haven't checked it for low light but it has to be a huge step up over the Bushnell that I have.

Not really a good comparable. They are at completely different price points.

With this style of scope does one movement between the numbers on the adjustment knobs equal a 1/2" at 100yds?

Tom

I got rid of my older Leupolds 2 X 7,s sight it adjustment was difficult at best. Moved it 1" up and it would also vary windage.

Sent several back to Leupold and still did it after. Newer models
did not do this.

I have had a Leupold 2-7 with friction adjustments on my old .270 since 1974. It was the only gun I had for several years and killed many deer and elk. It has never changed point of impact in all these years. I still hunt with it a few days every year.

I used an older 2X7 on a .338WM for years with no trouble at all, actually preferred it to a 2.5X8 I have on a different rifle. It's a little tricky to sight in but once there it stayed. --- Mel

I still have at least a half dozen of the friction Leupolds. They are sometimes cranky to adjust, but they have stayed set without changing for years. I generally check them annually or check and reset if needed after changing loads. Yes, the newer ones have better coatings, but the old warhorses still get 'er done. I did not realize they were that old. I would have sworn that my several Vari-X IIIs were from the eighties. ??? jack

OK, three that I could lay hands on w/o a lot of trouble: Vari-X IIIs from '77 and '78 according to the prefixes. A Vari-X II Ultralight EFR from 1983. All are friction. The IIIs are older than I remembered. I bought the II UL for a 1967 Marlin Mountie that I found NIB in '83. Memory not totally gone. jack

In response to 260Remguy. My eldest Leupold is a M8-3X. It is a heck of a good scope and still very much sought after. The reintroduced FX-2 is likely a better scope, but stuff is still falling to the old one. I now let this thread go w/malice towards none. jack

I was just kidding!

I have a couple dozen friction adjustment Leupold scopes, some probably older than your M8-3x. While I don't seek out scopes with 20mm objectives, I do have a couple of Leupold Vari-X III 1.5-5x20s, as well as some old Bushnells, Redfields, Weavers, and a single Stith 4x built by Weaver.

Malice on the internet is just a waste of energy.

Jeff

I checked the quality of the glass of the Leupold 2-7x against some modern Leupolds that I have including a VX-L and the older scope is worse in every way.

Though the older Leupold is still better than my modern Bushnell el chepo model. I think I paid about $80 for the Bushnell from SWFA.

Tom