E, stop. Please. You know nothing of military sniping or sniper equipment.
These are the Leupolds issued in the military.
Ultra M3A (or MK4) 10x40
MK4 LR M3 3.5-10x40
MK4 4.5-14x50 M1
TS-30 A2 3�9�36
MK8 1.1-8x24 CQBSS
MK4 34mm 6.5-20x50
There are/were a few others in limited numbers.
The only ones that don't have consistent problems are the fixed 10x, the MK8 CQBSS, and the new 34mm 6.5-20x50.
The rest fail at an unacceptable rate for military sniper use.
Your statement about Nightforce's military contracts and repair backlog is false. They have, and have had, several contracts within USSOCOM, NAVSPECWAR, and USASOC. They currently have one worth 25.8 million dollars.
They do have a huge backlog across the board with their optics because they are selling every single scope they can make. It has nothing to do with repairs.
I have spent 7 years as a military duty slotted sniper. I have been issued, used, and shot every scope mentioned in this thread. I have seen the variable Leupolds fail at around 25-30% rate. That is- it is not uncommon to have 2 or 3 variable power Leupolds out of 10 develop issues when used hard. I have seen both S&B and Premier scopes have issues (granted there have been very few). I have never seen a NF fail (including the one with the bullet through it). I'm sure they break like all things made, but I would bet they have the lowest failure rate of any US issued sniper scope.
Formidilosus,
Thank you for your service.
If I may ask, exactly what kind of failures did you see with the Leupolds?
JD338
