Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics NEVER thought it would be me posting this thread

I NEVER thought it would be me posting this thread, I have been a lifelong Leupold guy and have been using their scopes for more than 40 years. I own at least 20 of them right now and have never had an issue until a couple days ago while on a once in a lifetime deer hunt my trusty Leupold completely failed.
Thinking for the first time ever that I will look elsewhere, very disappointed !!!!!!!!

What happened? Share the details of the fail.

This is exactly how science doesn’t work. Unlimited success and one failure is the reason to condemn a scope…

SchitSmell,

You TELL her. Hint.



Fhuqking LAUGHING!.............

I out of 20. 5% failure rate. Sounds about Leupold.

I wouldn't care to wait around for the second failure.

Iron sights

When you HAVE to have a scope: SWFA. UN-failable.

I was an ONLY LEUPOLD guy as well for 40 plus years. I had one fail on a 338Fed, and another on a 223. Leupold did the warranty work and fixed both. The one on the 338F failed again within 20 rounds. I sent it back for round 2 repairs. It lasted another year of shooting and then sold it just because I was always worried about it. The one from the 223 was fine and sold the entire rig. My son bought one for a 45-70. It did not last 10 rounds and started get two distinct groups. I swapped it for a Sig Whiskey3 (a MUCH cheaper scope) and groups stay together nicely. I have switched all my scopes to either Swarovski or Meopta and not a single failure.

3700fps! Holy crap. What am I missing because…

Always bring a backup rifle/scope when travelling for a hunt. In case of a failure, worst case is one lost day afield. Doesn't matter what brand any componnent is, it can fail.

That being said, what happened?

40 years, 20 scopes and one failure has you turning them out?

If I'm on a ONCE IN A LIFETIME hunt, I'm gonna have a backup rifle and scope already to go

I have seen scopes from damn near every brand fail. Having backup is key.

ILya

Sounds like the OP didn't follow the simple rule of (7-P). Let us know when you will be selling your other Leupold scops.

Not sure how many leupolds I’ve owned and used over the past 45 years, probably 40-50, and still have about 15. Had one handgun scope fail on a contender in 357 maximum. Was fixed and returned free in weeks. I have other brands but sure am not moving away from Leupold.
OP, if you're dumping your leupolds, this site is a good place to do so.

Who goes on a once-in-a-lifetime-hunt without a backup?

And why so vague about which Leupold?

Your math is a bit skewed. It was 40 years with 20 scopes and 1 failure. That isn’t even significant enough to draw any conclusions…

My 6x SWFA arrived already failed. Returned it for a 3-9 SWFA. Short eye relief, mediocre glass, dials well until it’s below freezing, but holds zero fine.

About a third of my Leupolds don’t adjust accurately, but once adjusted they do hold zero.

Optics are not the same as a anvil. Use them long enough and they will break……..

On the bright side, it seems there are more good scopes around than there used to be. Definitely more good rifles. At least Loopy will fix it for free if I recall.
Regarding having a spare rifle and scope, that sounds great but often is not possible. Nobody's gonna have a spare rifle on an alpine sheep hunt, or a horse pack-in hunt (usually). If a partner is with you maybe they will have one. For truck or camper-based hunting, maybe a spare is a good rule. The last time I backpacked into an AZ wilderness for a week of hunting my pack weighed 79 pounds, because I hauled every drop of drinking water (hey, its Arizona). Tell me how a spare rifle would have made it on this trip. Never mind, don't bother to.

Talus_in_Arizona,

Stop making sense. This is the 'net you're on.