Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics I suspect a leupold scope problem. What say you?

Spending the weekend in Nevada shooting sage rats. During a lull a few minutes ago I thought I'd check my ocular for focus.......point at sky, focus reticle, etc.
I loosened the lock ring and turned it to the right and the reticle 'jumped' to the right vertically. Continue turning right and it doesn't move as expected. I stop and turn it back left and it 'jumps' to the left. Is this a 'feature' that I'm unaware of or would you agree this is a problem for their service dept.? Also adjusting the zoom does not shift the reticle nor does adjusting the objective. It's on a CZ453 .22lr, that is incredibly accurate I mind add. I'm still popping rats with it at the moment but I freaked when I saw that reticle jump like that. BTW, it's a VXII 3-9x33 Ultralight EFR.
Never had this happen before with my other scopes(Zeiss, Bushnell 4200, Leupold). But I do love this scope and it looks killer on the CZ!
Thanks.

It happens when you mess with the ocular.

Continue shooting.

There is some play in the threads for the ocular adjustment (either the tube or the ocular housing). Any slight movement of the ocular makes the reticle appear to be moving, but it's probably not at all.

Hard to say what that is. But it is not right. That I'm sure of. I have the same scope w/o the AO. It, and my other Leupolds have never done that.
Send it in with a note detailing what is not right. E

What Tanner says is correct. They do that, doesn't change point of aim/impact.

So was it shooting bad, or did you just decide to start fiddling with it?

If the lock ring is loose, the ocular can wobble and cause the reticle to move. I have seen this on my Leupos. Tighten the lock ring and you should be ok.

I had the lock ring loosen on a 270 BAR and 375 Ruger while developing loads using a Leadsled. I think the bolt slamming back and forth loosened the lock ring on the BAR. I was getting shotgun patterns as the ocular was unscrewing itself with each shot. Once I tightened the lock ring, I was getting 5-shot groups of 7/8" at 100 yards. It's been dead nutz ever since.

I think the shear recoil of the 375 Ruger in combination with the Leadsled was causing the lock ring to come loose on that rifle. My lightweight 300 Win mag never loosened the lock ring.

I now tighten the heck out of the lock ring and use the factory marks or my flip-up cap as an indicator to clock the orientation and make sure that all is well.

Teesh: I am sure that is a great looking and nifty shooting rig (Leupold and CZ!) rig you have there.
IF...you can hold your Rifle/scope up to the sky, hold it perfectly still, and when turning the ocular eyepiece and "see movement" of the reticle then something is indeed ascue!
I would lock that ocular down and use it for an amount of time ample enough to determine if point of impact of your projectiles is changing.
If it is send it for repair - if it does not then use it and don't fret.
Are you experiencing eyestrain or blurry image?
Best of luck to you.
Hold into the wind
VarmintGuy

Actually, what I would do if I was concerned that the reticle was moving would be to place the rifle on/in a rest and point it at a target. Then while looking through the scope, start turning the eye piece and see if the reticle and target image move together. In other words, look to see if the reticle moves on and off the original point of aim. I'll bet that the image and reticle move together. If they move together, it is simply a loose ocular and there is nothing mechanically wrong with the scope with regards to a point of impact change.

Funny how some guys don't know anything about car's but feel the have a ford problem, vs. a engine issue, or brake problems..

If he follows Varmint Guy's advise he'll be more frustrated. Pointing the scope skyward gives no point of reference.

I'll check a few things this weekend and post back here again.

When a reticle floats on an adjustment screw bur you can detect it by shooting the rifle at 100 yards and then adjusting one adjustment at a time by 1/8th or 1/4 inch turns. If the bullet impact jumps vs. moves then its got a problem.

Some guys move them in a way to make a box, first moving right, then up, then left, then back to the original position. Make sure you count your clicks when doing it.

If you are in doubt, send it back to Leupold for a checkup.......

[video:youtube]ea_Mku6TToY[/video]

Is that excellent service, or what?

If I made that YouTube video I would have charged him for it............

Wasn't hard at all. If you have any future concerns about your Leupold scopes don't hesitate to ask me for a diagnosis...............

Great idea on the video from them. Need to buy a couple more Leupolds in next few months.

This is a fantastic customer engagement vehicle - tip of the hat to Leupold.

One might argue that you're opening up a new can of worms with the expediency of the videos. A few will inevitably come on here to whine about how they didn't get a video answer/explanation to their question in under 30 minutes.