So the elevation adjustment was either sticking or the spring is worn out/broken. Not working acceptably for sure and not acceptable customer service either.
Your neighbor might try running the adjustments on the scope up and down, back and forth, 25 times from end-to-end. Sometimes this is all it takes to redistribute the grease and loosen the spring so that it works well again for another decade. If the spring is somehow broken or truly worn out, then it won't help any. But it is a free fix that seems to limber up about half of the Leupolds I've tried it on.
