Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics How bad are new Leupold scopes

I used to think the gold ring gave my rig a status above others rigs or an envy factor possibly from others.
I got over that perception.......

That is how I feel about the super chicken head on my scopes now.

I wish i could afford one. But im gonna get a sightron s2 3-9x42 , plain jane hunting scope that works.


I know I could shoot pairs and make a 16 click square at 100yds with a sightron and it would rtz, and not have to chase "wonky"(love that term)adjustments hoping to find that rtz sweet spot like I tried with a vx3i....
Frigging expensive exercise in frustration.....

Give me a woods reticle on a SWFA and I would buy one. In fact I’m fighting buying one of the SB 6x42’s Camera Land has on sale. Fanboy that I am. 😁

Battue, what’s this about a sale on SB 6Xs?

I was almost over having the last vx3i 3.5-10x40 go back twice and still not act right. Then I read this thread, came to my senses and ordered another 3-9x40 Meopro

Haven't had the need to buy a new scope in a while, but did so last fall. A friend and I each bought a Leupold VX-6 2-12x42mm CDS FireDot LR Duplex riflescope. I mounted and zeroed mine on a M70FW 270 WIN, he mounted and zeroed his on a Ruger American 6.5 Creedmoor. I had no issue zeroing mine with about six shots, he did the same. I did order the "free" promo knob but haven't installed it. Both scopes were hunted through the season with no issues. Small sample, but scope has performed as advertised so far (low light performance has been excellent - the reason I bought the scope). If it fails I will be disappointed and will send it in to Leupold for repair - if that ever happens I'll report back in this thread.

I hope the bashing continues until I can pick up some more VX3I 3.5x40 for way under $300! I only had to send one Leupold scope back because the turrets were way too tight. The scope was corrected and sent back with no other issues. I have also had a $1500+ Kahles scope that was bad right out of the box. The elevation on the scope only went up for a few clicks and then stopped. Talk about bad quality control but it happens to the best of companies.

I think with anything you will have promoters and detractors (ford vs chevy, remington vs winchester etc.) it just goes that way especially when a company gets as big of a following such as Leupold.

Phugging Enablers

Perhaps some may be enticed to dump their leupold 6x42’s, and since you can’t trust them,should sell them at a giveaway price???? And pay the shipping. 😀

I have Leupold optics on 17 different rifles and have never had any complaints other than tracking. Since I don't fiddle with turrets, it's been pretty much a non-issue. I believe three of these scopes are VX-3i models.

I did have a rifle in the safe lacking a scope and decided to try out a Sightron. I found an SII 3-9x with the HHR reticle, which I like. As far as I know this scope has the ExacTrac adjustment system...Sightron's website says it does. I should have shopped around more for a better price, but it's done.

The glass in the SII seems very good, eye box is good, eye relief is good, and the turret clicks are very positive. I think I'll like the scope.

I'm not about to sell off all my Leupolds, but I'm not going to buy more of them just for the name either. As long as I am satisfied with them they will continue to be an option. Eyes wide open!

I purchased my first Leupold, a plain 4x back in the summer of 1963. I still have it on the Win 70 it was originally installed on. It has held zero all these years without any problems. Since then I cannot remember how many Leupold's I have purchased, and have never had any problems with them. I have a Redfield 4-12 from 1970 that is nowhere as clear as any of the older Leupold scopes, and have tried a Nikon but still prefer Leupold. My latest purchase is a VX3i 6.5-29x50mm. I have not gotten it mounted yet, still awaiting rings but it looks very sharp and clear. and I like the side focus much better than the ocular focus on the old Redfield that it is replacing.

What are you getting out of this 16 click square exercise? Do you think it has anything to do with holding zero?
How does that apply to hunting?

It would be great if swfa marketed 1 pure hunting scope along the lines of their 3-9x42 with a simple duplex and capped dails with around 65-70 total MOA of adjustment. They would sell like crazy I bet. I wonder if the company has ever approached that.

It is an old school tracking exercise/ test . Another is verticle rtz test for turret scopes. Both will show if a scope holds up to click values. Not a big thing on set and forget scopes once you find the sweet spot after making "wonky"(love that term) adjustments chasing a zero and ya leave it their. Also the test lupy did with my vx3i and the grossly out of spec trapiziod it shot on their test bench rifle. Hows it relate in my mind to hunting. Trust.....

I've never had a gun with a Leupold on it shift zero by more than an inch (and that's probably stretching it) on a year to year basis - I trust them.

I do a lot of scope swapping, years ago thought it was just the older 2 X 7 Leupolds that were difficult to sight in,
With a Leupold 2 X 7 you needed scope 2" up and 2" right and scope adjustments were all over the place. The last 7 years or so I found the problems were in more Leupold models. Very noticeable when swapping scopes with another brand of scope.

Have not had any issues with the cheaper Redfield Revolution 2 X 7 holding zero or adjustments not working as they should, and they are made by Leupold. There tubes are short for a long action rifle.


For example took off a newer 2 X 7 Leupold on my accurate 35 Whelen that would not hold zero, replaced it with a Vortex Viper 2 X 7 adjusted perfectly has held zero and just works.

Sadly they have discontinued the 2 X 7 Vortex Viper got any for sale?

This is weird to me hearing about Leupold scopes not adjusting properly. I've been using almost nothing but Leupold scopes for 25 years, and that's one reason I like them, they've always been so easy to get sighted in. I normally can get my 270 sighted in with two shots. First shot, let's say it's 2 inches low and 2 inches right. Adjust 8 clicks left, 8 clicks up, shoot, bullseye. Done.

I'm very happy with my Leupold scopes. I have more than a dozen. They are all hunting scopes. I don't have any bench rest scopes and I don't spin turrets.