Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Leupold failures and returns

Hopefully they'll get the cam phaser issues figured out so they don't try and rattle themselves to death before oil gets to the top of the engine and quiets them down.

I absolutely love the Leupold 6.42. That would be the greatest scope ever for me if it we're reliable. I put up with it until I started traveling and then lost patience with Leupold. What really did it was having a Leupold 6x42 lose zero on the plane trip to Africa. Then burning up half my ammo for the trip because it wouldn't track. All this while the guide was looking over my shoulder losing confidence in my shooting ability. I got home and realized and none of Leupolds tracked very well and most wouldn't hold zero if jostled around. I still have a couple of Leupolds and like them, but only use them for rifles that don't travel. I've sent more than a few back to Leupold for repair and these have been from all vintages of production. I have since mostly gone to Zeiss Conquest and Tract.

Optics Forum always good for a chuckle.

You pays your money and takes your chances. Ultimately, it's your $$ and your choice. You only have to please yourself.

I've had no such trouble with my Leupolds and they get "jostled around" plenty while riding on the handlebars of my quad every season.

I'm not sure what shooting enough has to do with not dialing vs dialing? I take it to mean that you shoot enough to learn the dope of your cartridges through seeing where the bullets land. But that info can be found in a few seconds for any load via various ballistic apps these days. For years I didn't dial with Leupods either, but it was because I shoot enough to know that they weren't up to it.

But, thanks for taking the time to explain the functions you don't expect from your scopes.

No problems with my VX-5 HD and would buy another. In general I don't care for the Leupold fast focus eyepiece and will not buy a scope with that. I prefer the European type eyepiece like the one on their VX-5.

I do wish they would make a VX-5 without the dial...

I've had a few that held zero OK, several that would move around a little and 6 or 8 that went haywire and wouldn't keep shots in a backstop. I've lost count but would guess that is out of a sample size of 60-70. None of them would consistently track. A few did track for awhile and then wouldn't. So of a good sized sample, 10% absolute failure rate and 100% of them wouldn't adjust to where and in accordance with the number of clicks stated by the manufacturer. Usually, they are dial a few clicks and nothing, dial a few and nothing, dial a few more and it moves 12".

This from a person that likes a couple of Leupold scopes better than anything ever produced (other than terrible reliability).

Not odd at all. It entirely depends on your requirements and how you define "reliable". Relative to a Toyota Tundra 5.7, the EcoBoost engine has a high rate of failure and could be classified as unreliable. If your reliability requirement is a failure rate of less than 0.0001%, then Leupolds are unreliable. Alternatively, when comparing the failure rate of more than one product, it can be said that one is more reliable than another, or that one is unreliable relative to another. Reliability is relative.

Thanks, Jordan, for the elucidation. Right on target as per usual.

I've always considered scopes to be in the as reliable as possible category. Glass, weight, features, size, etc all come secondary to mechanical reliability. Seems strange to me that folks have other hierarchies. Looking at life through a different lense, I guess.

Some zero shifts go unnoticed. Whether or not a user will notice a zero shift depends on whether their shooting and equipment (like the rifle and load) are capable of resolving the size of the shift.

If a scope shifts by 0.5 MOA, it may never be noticed by a user with a 2 MOA lever gun, but a 5 MOA shift likely would get noticed. The same 0.5 MOA shift would absolutely be noticed by a BR shooter who is shooting in the 2s. Both hypothetical scopes shifted zero, but one is recognized while the other is not.

I completely agree.

My Marlin .30-30 lever averages under 3/4" for 3 shots at 100 yards repeatedly. It wears a 1-4x20 Leupold Vari X- IIc and hasn't shifted zero in years despite many rides on the handlebars of my quad. Same can be said for the 3-9X40 VX-II on my Ruger 77 .30-06 except it ain't quite as accurate as my Marlin averaging closer to 1" groups. If the zero is shifting such a minute amount that I can't see it with those rifles IDGAF. They are for killing deer, not shooting flies in outer space and work very well for that.

It's entirely possible that your 2 scopes haven't unintentionally shifted zero.

I, and others like me, however, have had/seen multiple zero-shift issues with Leupold scopes, and in my case these issues went away when I swapped the Leups out for more mechanically reliable scopes.

I like Leupolds and they have served me well. All this negative feedback instills a little doubt but I haven't seen these failures.
We have 36 by my count. They run from 1989 to 2020. they sit on rifles in .22 LR, .22 WMR, .223, 5.56, .243, on up to 7mm & 300 Mags, a .338 Win Mag A.375 H&H and a .45-70 Hi-wall so the scopes get a workout.
I have sent one back, a 3-9x40 mm that was on my main '06 for 20 years then on a backup.
It was back in nine days.
I have often seen some slow movement when sighting in but haven't noticed movement from year to year if using a synthetic stock. I have with wood stocked rifles.
A couple of my newer scopes have ranging features so I will be paying close attention to how well they work.

Can agree with your analytical references to make a point.
However, it doesn’t address the “most are happy with the performance”. Which seems to be the case with Leupold.

As far as percentages, what is the failure rate of Leupold when user abilities, rifle abilities, incorrect mounting issues, etc are factored into failure? Just a thought, on an unanswerable question.

I had a Leupold start acting up on a Winchester Winlight .300WM. Removed it and discovered it had sheared a screw. Once that was fixed all returned to as before.

I know a LOT of hunters that use Leupold scopes, none that I know of have had any problems, bunch of VX scopes....guess we are lucky. I have other brands, also.

Dumbphuckatudes abound out there in the real world, schitty rings and bases, front base screw digging into barrel tenon, and other issues that get blamed on the scopes of many brands.

I have about 6 Leupolds from 4 different decades, and not one has given me the first problem, but I have abused a couple of them from time to time.

I agree that most Leupold users likely can't/don't recognize any issues that may or may not be present, and are subsequently happy with their scopes' performance.

Keep in mind that most Leupold users are far less enthusiastic and technically apt than the average 24HCF member.

While there are some knowledgeable individuals here, I will agree on enthusiastic. However, I'm not so sure on average they are more technically astute.. The two don't necessarily exist in combination.

As mentioned previously...I am more than familiar with hunting Deer in the woods. However, lacking in Long Range shooting, I'm not about to do anymore than read the Long Range forum. Many don't have the same restraint on a variety of subjects, and it is obvious.

On example of many...On Deer hunting. some say hunting into the wind is the only way..Well, all they have to do is watch Hal Blood or the Benoits on YouTube, follow a Deer track wherever it takes them. Up when the thermals are going up, down when they may be down. Around in a circle with their wind position constantly changing. They catch Deer in their bed when they have made the circle, so the wind tells them what is coming on their backside...And they regularly kill Bucks most of us only aspire to.

Well considering the sheer volume of scopes Leupold sells you might have a point. Most Leupold users are not surfing optics forums.

As many others here have pointed out a used Leupold sells quickly on the Campfire so even here the users are having good results exept a handful of very vocal Leupold bashers.

Some of them even act like it's their job or something.

Wow, Jordan , you just made 5 post in the last 3 hours just to bash Leupold.

Gota admire your passion or work ethic.