I have sent back more Leupolds than I can count and it appears that ever since they got into the CDS game the repair times are significantly backlogged. Has to a be a direct effect of many a dialing scopes ( with no erector issues) needing fixed! I remember when they only had your set it and forget it scope for a week and it was on its way back. It took 6 weeks to get a generic MOA dial the last time I ordered one.....seriously?
I scratch my head at quotes like this. First off I am not disbelieving your claim or having a shot at you AlaskaCub. I just find it hard to understand.
I have been using Leupold scopes for about 25 years now and have owned over 20. I have scopes ranging from old VariX llc and M8 to new VX3i and FXll and everything in between (VXlll and VX3). I hunt every weekend for about eight or nine months of the year and my rifles and scopes get used. I look after them and don't bash them around but I do a bit of bush bashing in some hunting situations. In all that time I have only ever had to send one scope in for repairs. It was an M8 6x36 that had a loose front lens. I could put my thumb on it and slide the lens round about 1/2 a millimetre. It was sent off to the Australian Leupold repair shop and returned as good as new. That's the whole issues I have had with over 20 Loopy scopes in 25 years. The two newest scopes (2.5-8x36 VX3i and a FXII 6x36) tracked in exactly when sighting in at the range.
The VX3i was so precise it only took seven rounds to sight the rifle in without bore sighting it first. First shot at 25m was three inches left and about an inch and a half low. I clicked 48 clicks right and the next shot was below the square an inch and a half. I then fired a shot at 100m and it hit two inches high but about 3/4 inch left. A second shot landed about five millimetres next to the first. I clicked three clicks right and let the barrel cool. Then I fired a three shot group and they all clustered into a group dead in line and two inches high. The group was about 1/2 an inch. It was that easy. The FXll was also very easy to sight in with precise click adjustments.
Obviously my experiences are vastly different to other peoples. All of my Leupolds are on calibres from .22 up to 8mm with a 4x33 on my 9.3x62. Maybe others are having issues on harder recoiling rifles? I also set and forget and am not a turret twister. So I find it confusing to see such differing experiences with Leupold scopes by different people. Maybe I haven't bought enough of the newer models (but two out of two have proven to have very precise click adjustments) but I can only go on my own experiences over the past 25 years.
However, there are enough people on here with bad experiences that I believe Leupold must be having some issues at the moment. The life time warranty must cost them a hell of a lot too compared to other manufacturers. With the down turn in the economy Leupold must of had to make some cuts to their production to stay viable which seems to have effected their quality in recent years. They have cut numerous lines out including the great little 6x36. I guess they are having to restructure to stay a viable manufacturing business to stay competitive with all the Asian scopes on the market. I'd bet someone at Leupold must be monitoring sites like this to see the amount of people turning against them. I'd assume, rightly or wrongly that Leupold will have to regain the quality control that they used to have or continue to loose sales. Or maybe move manufacturing off shore to build reliable scopes at a competitive price. Would people buy an Asian built Leupold?
I think Leupold's quality control issues are indicative of the pressures home grown companies are experiencing with the ever increasing competition from cheap Asian imports. It's happening everywhere, just think of the car industry. Every time someone buys an Asian Burris for half the price of an American made Leupold, it just makes it harder for Leupold to compete. Maybe staff have had to be laid off which could be one reason the warranty claims are taking longer to be processed than they once were.
Anyhow, I hope Leupold get things sorted out and reclaim their place as one of the best optics companies.
