Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Older Leupold and Redfield scopes

Are the older Leupold and Redfield scopes good purchases? I’m thinking mainly of the Leupold M8 2.5x and the Denver-manufactured Redfields in the same category. Ruggedness is my primary concern in a scope. Gift edged optical clarity, light gathering and such are of secondary concern to me.

I have a couple of older Leupold scopes, they are great. I used to have at least 30 old Redfield scopes. They gave me good service.

I use a bunch of M8’s and haven’t crushed one yet. Pain in the butt to zero but they tend to stay put once you get them there.

All that I use.

I had an older Redfield 2-7 variable the eye relief was a little short and critical for focus, it once knocked the hell out of my nose from recoil at the shooting bench. After that, I was not able to completely relax with that scope finally sold it.

I have some older Leupolds, 30 plus years old. They still work great.

I have Redfield and Leupolds that may be up to 50 years old.

Leupold started using an alpha prefix in 1974 and a couple of my 2-7x28 and 3-9x40 Vari-X scopes are from 1968 thru 1972.

I have some old Denver Redfields, 2 3/4x and 2-7x. The 2-7x scopes have been refurbished and the reticles changed by Ironsight, Inc., in Tulsa, OK.

When I started hunting in the late 1960's Leopolds and Redfields were the standard by which other scopes were measured against in northern New England. That said, I don't know if I'd want a 40+ year old scope on a 1st tier hunting rifle 'cause even old stuff in good condition is still old.

Id bet the older Leupold are no more rugged than current production.

By all accounts, you'd be wrong, at least when it comes to holding zero. My impression, and I'm not alone, is that the ones with friction knobs stay put better than the clicky ones. Even the early VX-1 4-12 I had served well on several rifles up to .308, with no jumping around. Until they do something about the issues, I'll buy old ones, or something else.

I have a couple of older VariX-IIs, an old VariX-III, and a few M8s. They have been very good.

Im sure im not alone in saying that I own both and never had a problem with any of them. The only reason I still own anything thats not VX is because I happen to like the gloss finish and the rifles they are on I dont necessarily need the optical performance of the VX vs VariX glass/coatings.
Im certain if the internet was around back then as it is today people would be talking about broken Leupolds. You typically dont hear of anyone talking about older Leupold scopes failing anymore because based on sheer numbers, they aren't as prevalent.

Leupold was great until the bean counters started sub-dividing the lines. Just make a GD scope that works and stfu.

That’s the first thing that came to my mind.

I've not had one fail either, but I don't use them hard at all or dial them. Those here that do either report an alarming rate of failure. Mule Deer has given up entirely on newer ones, and only uses M8 fixed powers. Unlike some here, he absolutely knows how to mount and test scopes correctly, and I trust his word and judgement.

I still have and use a couple newer Leupolds. A VX-2 gave me a lot of trouble while trying to zero it the first time, but that cleared up after running the dials a few times, as suggested by Leupold. I just moved it to a rifle I'm giving to my son. We'll see how it goes on that one when I sight it in. A VX-3 and VX-5 HD gave no trouble, but I ran those dials before mounting them. The 3 was sold, but the 5 is on my Fieldcraft, where it's a perfect fit. Time will tell how it lasts as a set and forget on that light kicker. A VX-1 2-7 SG-ML scope has held up well on the hard-kicking Knight UL it's on; at least a couple hundred shots.

Others brands, including Bushnell Trophy XLT (3), a Tract Tekoa, a SWFA, and four Hawke Endurance models, have functioned perfectly from the get-go, including some light dialing; no zero-chasing at all. One of the new Leupold Redfields acted like the VX-2, but settled down eventually. My son has that one now, but hasn't fired it in a while.

The point of all this is that a bunch of other brands, most costing less than Leupolds and all made made in Asia (four in China), have worked perfectly while some Leupold-manufactured ones have been balky, even with the light use they get here. I see no reason to pay more for scopes that are troublesome to sight in, or to risk the failures that other, reliable sources have reported. If you're happy with yours, good.