Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Leupold range of adjustment?

I've been centering up some Leupold scopes with the "counting turns" method.
I presume the marked integer numbers on the dials are MOA.
Ranges listed are TOTAL range, i.e half that from the center position.
Designations are exactly as they appear on the scopes, and note they have changed a bit over the years.
Listed in order of newer to older.

LEUPOLD VX-2 3-9 x 40 - made in 2017 - 58.5 minutes elevation, 61.5 minutes windage - click adjustments, 15 MOA per revolution (and damn, I miss the older "coin slots"!!!)
LEUPOLD VARI-X III 3.5 - 10 - made in 1998 - 61.0 minutes elevation, 62.0 minutes windage - click adjustments, 15 MOA per revolution
LEUPOLD VARI-X-III 3.5 x 10 - made in 1984 - 59.5 minutes elevation, 60.0 minutes windage - click adjustments, 15 MOA per revolution

LEUPOLD VARI-X-III 3.5 X 10 - AO - made in 1982 - 57.0 minutes elevation, 63.0 minutes windage - friction adjustment, 12 MOA per revolution

3 X 9 (AO, but the ONLY markings are "3 X 9") - made in 1979 - 27.0 minutes elevation, 27.0 minutes windage - friction adjustment, 6 MOA per revolution

Note all are 3-9 x 40mm or 3.5-10 x 40mm, and some are Adjustable Objective.
So it seems sometime between 1979 and 1982, Leupold more than doubled the range of adjustment, from 27 MOA to "60 ish" MOA, and went from 6 MOA per revolution to 12 MOA per revolution of the dial.
Sometime between 1982 and 1984, they went from friction adjustments to click adjustments, and went from 12 MOA per revolution to 15 MOA per revolution.

So I guess my only questions are about adjustment range:
Did the older Leupold scopes, sometime before 1980 or so, really have so little adjustment range?
Did people make a big deal about it when they increased the adjustment range?

Thanks,
Gun Doc