The live cast with the two clowns was a pretty big nail in the coffin.
$300 SWFA’s that track amazing and have a killer reticle was another.
Yeah but it was really longer ago than that. It started in Vietnam with issues with G.I. issued Leupold ... loopies.
Weaver had already gone put of country and had the Japanese manufacturing some of their glass and it was far superior to Leupold and a lot less expensive. Didn't take long for G.I.s to get the word out on the Weavers vs the Leupolds and that was actually when Leupold started taking PR hits.
Everything discussed in this thread came after that and admittedly there was still plenty pf Leupold worship going around at Nationals at Camp Perry which Leupold was very good at monopolizing for marketing's sake.
Weaver made some inroads through Field & Stream and Outdoor Life and by doing a deal with Weatherby right around '78 or so .... but it was tough dethroning Leupold.
And then came the Internet and then social media and all the while word was coming back from the sand box and the rock pile about what the Canadians, Germans and Brits were doing with Vortex, Ziess and Nikon .... and then came the really hard lick to Leupold. Some of the Russian glass being captured was being compared to Leupold .... and that wasn't good.
So this has been coming for a long long time.
There has also been some diversity issues in terms of product line .... and another thing I seem to remember. Didn't Leupold and Barrett have words?
