One thing I hate about Leupold is how EVERYTHING they are putting out lately has the overrated CDS dials on them. I personally don't need the extra/added cost stuff on a hunting scope. I know of a few other people who feel this way as well.
It's a pain in the ass initially because it comes set to zero and if you need any -elevation at initial sight in, you have to take the cap off and reposition it so you can come down. Then when you're zeroed you have to take it off again and position it to zero. I just do that and leave it alone. Otherwise, it adjusts nicely with good solid clicks.
Sometimes I think it would've been a better move for Leupold to double down on the svelt, lightweight, 1" set it and forget it market than to try to keep up with the turret twisting market that has clearly passed them by. At the very least, they should've done a major redesign on their mechanicals instead of just putting an exposed turret on their old erector design that was notorious for inconsistent adjustment even while just trying to sight in.
By and large, there's a lot of people who don't twist turrets who are happy with their Leupolds. I still have them on levers, pumps, and other "woods" rifles and they've given decent service in that capacity. I danced the Leupold shuffle getting them sighted in, but once sighted in they seem to do ok for awhile. Where they unraveled for me was VX-3 and VX-5 CDS's I had that wouldn't track consistently and or return to zero after twisting on.
Now, with all of the companies getting out of the scope business and or discontinuing their tried and true 1" offerings that a lot of us are still looking to buy, I think a niche exists, and Leupold would be well positioned to fill it.
