Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Broken Leupold

How many of you have actually broken a Leupold? Not found one broke, heard about one being broke, but actually been the one that broke it. Through normal use or stupidity either one.

1st hand accounts only please.

Once I mounted a Vari X II in vertically spilt rings thet were not lapped properly. The rings "pinched" the tube and made it hard to turn the power adjustment ring. It still shot okay. I sent it back and they fixed it. I also received a Vari X III back from a rifle builder, and somehow it got it's tube pinched as well and was hard to adjust the power, though it was in horizontal rings. Neither I nor the RB have any clue waht happened. Sent that one back to be fixed as well.

Blaine

I don't know if it would be accurate to say these were "broken" but I've sent a couple back for unusual reasons. I bought a 4X cheap at a gunshow and took it home to mount on a .22 and realized the objective lens was clouded by some sort of fungus or something. Sent it back and had it in a week.
I had a 3x9 on my .338 that I thought was shifting POI just before leaving for Africa a couple years ago. I took it over to Leupold ( I only live about 5 miles away), explained the situation, and dropped it off. They called the next day and said it was ready and I could pick it up. I found out later that my bases were loose and nothing was wrong with the scope, but since it was an older model, they replaced the erector system with a newer style (more adjustment), replaced several of the lenses with newer style, and generally made it like new. This is the same scope that took flight when I slipped on a slippery rock on a very steep rimrock slope and landed approximately 30 feet below me directly on the scope and survived. I shot a couple shots at a small rock the next day just to be sure at approximately 400 yards and both shots were dead on.
I could go on like this for awhile about my Leupold scopes, mostly due to my clumsiness at times in the woods. I could be a heck of a tester for Leupold if they offered to pay me to do it! ( payment in scopes maybe?) <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />- Sheister

I've tried hard. The deserts I hunt are all loose rock. I manage to fall at least once a trip. I literally slamed my rifle down twice at a dead run in about one minute once. Not once have any of them shifted zero or broken anything. I've never seen a B&L or a Leupold broken. E

I've had four. 2 BR 24x scopes - complete overhaul - won't hold point of aim. 1 - 1.5-5 which you could barely move the power ring on and 1 - 4-12x which friction adjustments were so tight that they crept back and even while using a properly fitted screw driver I managed to damage the al. slots due to the high torque required to turn them. I probably missed one target scope, but who is counting. The sad part on the 4-12 was Leupold corrected the problem, but didn't replace the damaged (slots) adjustment knobs. I had to send it back a second time but they made good on the second go!

I've had better luck with Nightforce, Weaver and the new B&L 4200 series scopes.

Whitetail
A friend leaned his rifle against my rear bumper. At least an hour later I backed up, only stopping when I heard a loud crunch. I had driven over the rifle, totaled, and the scope, looked to be totaled.

Leupold said it was easier to replace than repair, so they sent him a brand new scope. I have seen lots of other brands fail, including a Pentax this past spring. We found out it was broken right after my friend missed a Kodiak brown bear at less than 100 yards...
art

I had to send one back that changed the windage when you changed the elevation.Had only used it for 24yrs.Had it back in about ten days, works fine,no charge.

Last summer I mounted 6x42 on my .338 to try it out. Two shots later the reticle was in pieces. Sent it to Leupold with an account of what had happened, eight days later I had my repaired scope back. Also had one of the early 1.75 x6 extended tube scopes with heavy duplex. The outer part of the reticle(the heaviest portion) nearly met in the middle. I returned the scope to Leupold asking them to look it. I told them I would pay to change the reticle if they determined that the original was correct. I got that scope back in seven days with a new heavy reticle which had the proper spacing. No charges were made to me in either case. I also have a 1.5x5 and a 2.5x8 which are mounted on my hunting guns. Those two scopes have been through some very rough circumstances and hunting conditions on backpack hunts in Alaska with absolutely no problems.

An interesting piece of info would be what percentage of Leupolds have ever failed compared to other brands? Whole lot of Leupolds out there ... and a gaggle of Leupold sluts that know more than I.

Never broken one. Sent one back for a reticle change and they did it for me pronto for 40$.

Looks like the biggest problem with Leupolds is the people using them.

I just had a tube replaced this summer on a 6.5x20 . A freind stood the rifle wearing this scope against a wall and gravity kind of took over. It landed on a heavily carpeted floor, but the objective bell
broke off like an icicle hitting a sidewalk.

The tube was replaced at the Can.depot and I was charged for the repair. The tech. stated a fall like this would not cause this breakage, and insisted the scope must have been struck hard prior to this, but there were no dents or marks anywhere to indicate prior damage. I assured him it wasn't, but requested the damaged tube back so a second party could check it out. My freind and I both felt the joint itself was defective as there is precious little material left after machining to get a socket fit.
After discussing it with the Leupold serv. dept. in Oregan, it was sent there for their inspection and was later supposedly sent to a lab. According to the results, there was
too much heat applied to this tube in manufacture, which weakened the material. I was then given a full refund on the repair cost, and assured this problem would not exist in any of mine or anyone elses scopes.

I still believe this is a very weak link in this scope. According to my measurements, the tube is .055" thick. .030" x .250" long is machined out at tube end to create a socket joint, which is then glued into place. This leaves the tube at the objective bell juncture only .025"
thick, plus the strenght of the glue of course.

I hadn't planned on stating any of this, as both my freind and I have had many years of enjoyment from this product with no problems on several dozen scopes. I even have Leupold binoculars. Today I was mounting a 2.5x8 that was on a 270
from 1985 till a couple years ago. It had euro horizontal split mounts installed by the dealer when the rifle was purchased. I mounted this scope in Warne rings which are vertically split,on an 8 mag, so the tube was stressed in two directions, near the objective bell . I installed this scope on another rifle today, and noticed a hairline crack along the top portion of the tube/bell juncture about a half inch long. The bell portion is raised enough to catch my fingernail as it's dragged across, so it is the start of another separation. This scope was NEVER bumped to my knowledge.

I'm not sure how to approach this one. Two in six months ? One could say eighteen years is a long life for a scope, but it is doubtful there was any more than 300 rounds fired with this scope mounted. I don't believe they would pass the Burris truck test. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Guess this'd count as "first hand" knowledge, since I saw the Vari X II before and after the trip back to the factory. Neighbor managed to crunch his 3x9x40 on an elk trip to the Selway a few years ago. Whatever happened to it, the scope fogged in the extreme cold and the everyday snowstorms. Leupold returned it within a few weeks, with the necessary repairs, new finish and updated power adjusting ring.
My neighbor still claims to this day that Leupold sent him a brand new scope, in spite of the accompanying paper work that listed the repairs/updates and stated that it was his old scope, returned in new condition.
My take on it was, if Leupold had opted to send him a new scope, they would've just told him so, instead of pretending they fixed his old one. I remounted the scope and zeroed his rifle for him. If there were any marks on the tube from the previous mounting, I couldn't find 'em. I naturally assume they had to dismantle it to repair the lost seal, etc, so could've easily refinished the tube while it was apart.

I bought a used 4X in the late 60's early 70's not sure but the Canadian $ were worth more than the US $ so it surly was a long time ago.
Spent most of its life on a 358 norma and after about 10-15 years and many animals shook lose or something let go.
Replaced the scope (darned if the rifle didnt get stolen) and put the scope in storage.
Found it this year, looked at all the posts on warrenty and thought I try it out.
Scope gone less than 10 days upgraded the insides and it is shooting just great again.
FINE PEOPLE TO DEAL WITH. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

Come on now. Lots of fellas will deny that the Cdn Dollar ever was higher then the USD. They are few and far between, but the topic.........well them are fight'in words. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />