Anybody had a problem with them holding zero or tracking correctly thank you

Yes, had two VX6 2x12's. One on my 338 and the other on my 35 Newton. Both rifles crushed each scope 2X. Internals were trashed and they tracked like garbage. Not trying to be a downer but they do not work as advertised in my usage. I replaced them with 6X SS's and I have had consistent and perfect zero retention and repeated tracking. So, yeah, I'm going to pass on them for a long while. I am sure they might work better on a set it and forget it sorta deal on a lighter rifle, but they wasted alot of powder and bullets chasing my tail that was the optic vs the gun or load.

Hmmm. Interesting

I’ve seen canted reticles in the VX6 straight out of the box....

wow!

First 2 I had....

Canted reticles straight out of the box (more than one), failure to hold zero, and tracking issues.

I've had more issues with the Leupold VX6 than any other scope brand and model. I'm completely soured on Leupold offerings and no longer own any of their products.

My 1-6 had to go back for tracking problems, so far it’s been OK after the return mounted on a 5.56

"Leupoldoptics"
New user
1 post
Joined early july

Ask him..........

Sig line says no pm,s answered
Will not actively engage in discussions

I sent him a PM, sure hope he reads it !!!!!!!!!!!


He joined the site

But ain't wanting to play dodgeball I geuss........


Track correctly, hold zero, RTZ, decent optics.
We don't ask for much outta an aiming device.......

Some companies deliver.
Some companies dont.

A 2-12x lasted about a 10-12 shots on a braked .338 Lapua.

Too heavy out of the box to even gain further consideration.

I must be lucky. I’ve had the same VX6 1x6 on 2 different 375 H&Hs. Made 3trips to Africa and 1 to Alaska with it. Ran hundred of practice rounds thru em w the same scope and accounted for quite a bit of hard field use. Never a single issue. Same scope heading to Zambia in 2 months. 163BC

Last year I witnessed a VX-6 (I believe a 2-12) come unhinged on a client's 260 at the shooting bench before a hunt. He shot a nice little group that needed some adjustment to zero. Adjusted scope. Next shots were all over the target and rifle wouldn't zero or group worth a darn. Client borrowed one of our rifles which didn't have a VX6, and had no issues shooting a nice deer.

Not encouraging.

Just watched a YouTube review (some TV guy) on the VX-5HD. Said they made them lighter, but stronger. Wonder how they did that? Gotta decide soon if the 2-10 I won from Doug is going on my Fieldcraft, staying on the .308, or going down the road to finance something else. It's a very nice scope with lots of good points, just not sure what to make of all the problems; QC or crappy design and/or parts.

I have VX6 1-6's on my 375 H&H and 404 Jeffery. Shot 600 practice rounds before going to Africa, traveled to Africa. 375 was still dead on, but 404 took a couple shots to get re-zeroed. I attributed that more to breaking the rifle down, and putting it back together than the scope.

Just for curiosity sake, were these VX-6 or the current VX-6HD? (or 5HD.......for my own interest if the OP don't mind).

God Bless
Steve

I have a VX-6 2-12 with the illuminated fire dot duplex, and it has been great. It’s held zero and tracked fine, but I sold the rifle it was on and now it’s sitting on top of my safe. Was thinking about listing it in the classifieds. I guess if you have a good one, you have a good one.

[quote] Renegade50=“But ain't wanting to play dodgeball I guess”

You should have promised to only throw with your left hand...😎

I have three VX6 scopes...Two are mounted on 300 magnums and one on a 243 win. Once I get my Bushnell LRHSi scopes next month, I’m pulling the VX6 off the magnums. I have never had an issue, yet...A member whom I trust PM’d me and said “It’s only a matter of time before a failure WILL happen”...I have many “set it and forget it” Leupold’s that I am fine leaving up top on lower recoiling varmint rigs...😎

Gotta give the tract rep some credit, at least he interacts in forums
This new "leupoldoptics" guy makes his Sig line some sort of disclaimer and gives ya a link
to customer service in it also.

That is dodgeball... he dosnt want to be put in an uncomfortable
position it seems on forums or PM,s about leupold scopes.

Why even bother setting up an account.....

I had a 2-12 VX-6 illuminated firedot (not HD) that went wacky after trying to change the stupid thing one click. I sent it in to Leupold and they adjusted the erector system, and it has worked ok since then. It's on my wife's 7-08, and she loves the glass - it is really good glass - so we're leaving it on there for now, but I don't really trust it.

Do you still own it?

Wow, an eye opening thread for sure. I've had my 2-12 VX6 for several years now, taking it to MX, Africa, and a handful of States here in the US. It is responsible for probably 75 big game animals so far. Not even the baggage handling gorillas could make this scope shift zero,.as my travel case (Americase) looks like a pack of hyenas has gotten ahold of it. I consider OptiLocks heavy duty, solid mounts, so maybe that has something to do with it. You can bet I'll be watching it very closely though.

Man I have been a leupold fan for 30 years and this is really disconcerting

This is not a new issue....

Pappy,

No.

I have just one a 3-18 on a 7mm AI. Shot a bit ~300 rounds and it seems to track reasonable but I only dial between 200-500 yds. It came shipped with the illumination dot about 1.5 MOA below the crosshairs, I haven't sent it back because I would only use the dot at the fringes of light and the range would be short enough the 1.5 MOA wouldn't matter, but it doesn't say much for the QC of the scopes.

I wish Leupold would make an FX6 6X36 just so I could say it fast three times...

I have two 2-12's. It is disconcerting.

Even though mine are doing well, it does undermine trust.

I respect those with negative reports, these things didn't happen (don't happen) in a vacuum...

DF

Perhaps only in my case, I take into account reviews from all sources, not just one.

The VX-6 (not HD) has a 4.8 out of 5 rating on Optics planet and Midway out of 11 to 19 reviews. Other sites have a 4.5 to 5.0 rating out of fewer reviews.

I would be horribly disappointed should I catch a faulty scope, but I've yet to see a single incident where Leupold didn't make it good, no matter what it takes, no matter how old it is, or who owns it.

Just leveling the playing field a little......no offense intended in any way. As much as I love any mechanical thing.........lemons pop up. What happens next is a huge deciding point for me.

That said I dont shoot heavy recoil rifles so my personal experience is quite limited.

All this speaks volumes to me.........YMMV.

God Bless
Steve

I had a VX-7 2.5-10x45. The view through it was great, even to the S&B Zenith owner when we were comparing scopes at last light on the range. Its adjustments were very reliable, and I cranked them a bunch to check. The scope had too much parallax for my taste at anything past 100 yards, so I sent it in to Leupold to check it out. They said there was a problem they couldn't fix, so they would send me a replacement from the VX-6 line. I wound up with a 3.5-18x44 and so far it has been great, but I've read enough about VX-6 adjustment problems to be uncomfortable.

I know everything is capable of breaking but this is a heck of a trend. I did break a vari x 3 3.5-10x40mm and 2 mark IVs on my 378 bee. Then I bought a Nightforce

Most people can't even sight in their own scope. They certainly wouldn't know if their expensive scope malfunctioned.

I own 3 2-12s, 2 3.5-18s, and have owned a 2-12 HD. I have had zero issues. Love the glass, eyebox, power range, and the illumination for our dark timber. I switched my main big game rifles over to them selling my Swaro Z5s. No regrets here. 7STW, 300H&H, 270WSM, 30-06, and a 270.

I probably have ten or so if memory serves me correctly in all flavors except for the straight tube model. I haven’t had any problems with any of them. The only criticism that I have is that the power selector ring can be really hard to turn especially with cold hands and I’ve seen where other users have had the same complaint.

I'm not surprised. The VX-6 I had was fine for the season I used it. The VX-5 I bought was excellent, but didn't beat my 6500 so I returned it.

Just did a bunch of surfing looking for some "truth" about the VX-5HDs. The vast majority was fluff from various commercial entities; very little from users, and not a single actual review of tracking performance. The gist seems to be that the glass is a bit better than the VX-6 (non-HD). One user said his VX-5 (sic) crapped on a an elk hunt, while dialing IIRC. "Search" being what it is, I saw a bunch of complaints about VX-6s. One forum post claimed the HDs have a completely redesigned erector, but no source for that info, and Leupolds site is pretty much just a product listing. If mine was on a rifle I needed next season, I'd probably replace it. As it is, I'll just ride it out for a bit with some range work.

I don't own a VX-6 and am surprised that a relatively expensive Leupold would give so much trouble.

However, whenever I hear of any modern scope failing to track or maintain zero, the first thing I think of is an erector tube bouncing around under recoil. The more recoil, the more bouncing.

It seems to me that, as with zoom lenses on cameras, whenever the power is turned up lenses are likely to move forward, and the greater the power multiple, the farther the lenses may have to go. And the farther forward the lenses are, the more leverage will be imposed on the erector tube under recoil. Not only will this put strain on the spring and concuss the tube as it hits the scope bottom but, as it returns to battery, the tube may scrape against the windage screw and slam back against the elevation screw.

If this is not enough to wreck a scope, failure to install it straight when mounting can see the spring strained laterally at the click extremes, failing to track consistently and possibly causing the spring to break.

There are simple answers to these problems, but you couldn't do without that constantly centred reticle, could you?

We used to.

Guess I may as well start looking for used Tascos on Ebay to replace my VX-6's.

Don't read much about them failing...

DF

Thank goodness all of my scopes are OLD Leupolds instead of the total SH1T they are apparently making now.

Beyond that, it is with total sadness for all of us are witnessing a great product line go bad. Really, really sad. about that.

God Bless,

kd

I bought my first VX6 1-6 Firedot right after they came out, (had to wait a while before they came up with a zero stop that was advertised.) I've twisted the CDS dial back and forth hundreds of times on my steel range and never once has it failed me. I bought another one without the Firedot and though I didn't dial it as much or even put as many rounds through the rig, it hasn't failed either. Both of mine were on AR-15's in 223.

I used and gave many as gifts. Never heard of one failing, even the adjustable trajectory models. I switched from them because of poor low light performance.

I didn't have any failures, but I was disappointed in the service I received from Leupold.

The small o-rings that seat under the elevation and windage caps were not seating property when I lightly tightened down the caps. I sent this in to leupold, and they let me know that it was ok for a $1000 scope to have poorly fitting O-rings.

So I sold the scope.

Beautiful view - really nice glass - but that was the last Leupold I owned, and I don't see buying any in the near future.

I hear the early ones were OK but I fell heir to one so crappy I gave it to my six-year-old grandson.

No, the problem is less to do with Leupold than the entire industry, all producing scopes with constantly centred reticles. In order to perform this smoke-and-mirrors act, the erector set is put in a tube of reduced diameter and hinged at the rear. Then, instead of the wedding-ring-size reticle being moved by the turret screws, the entire erector set and variable power scroll (usually brass) comes into play, suspended only by one or more springs.

Leupold knew this system was rubbish, probably why they waited eight years to buy the bag in 1964, long after Kollmorgen/Redfield, Weaver and Lyman. But, as the Germans found eventually, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em.

A contact of mine likes Leupold but wrecked so many on his 458 Lott and 505 Gibbs that the company finally cobbled up a special for him, saying that because the reticle was in the first focal plane, he wouldn't wreck that one. They were right. He fired more than 1500 shots on elephant rifles with that scope and it still works. The question is: what sort of scope is it?

Modern, image-movement scopes can have the reticle either in the first focal plane (near the turrets) or the second one (near the power ring or ocular bell). If anything, putting it in the first focal plane could add fractionally to the weight at the front of the erector tube, so I don't believe that cures the problem in itself.

The only way I can see FFP solving the recoil-damage problem is if the erector set is lodged unmovingly in the scope's outer tube (as Leupold's would have been before 1964) and an old-time independent reticle is placed at the turrets. This, too, will probably have a spring holding it against the screws but, since it weighs maybe 10 per cent that of an erector tube's mass, the inertia load under recoil will be correspondingly less. I dismantled an old, reticle-movement Nickel Supra scope and was surprised how strong the spring beneath its reticle was. There was also a heavy sleeve fixed inside the outer tube to prevent the reticle moving forward in the scope under recoil. All I can see stopping modern erector tubes moving forward eventually (if not up and down) is the gimbal or hinge provisions at the ocular end.

So, if you really want to find a tough scope on the Internet, look for an old reticle-movement one like a pre-'64 Leupold, Unertl Falcon or Hawk, a Zeiss or Hensoldt (same thing, usually), Nickel Marburg, Kahles, Pecar, Prominar or Swarovski (there are others, but these were possibly the best in their time). Alternatively, you could look for a scope with no internal adjustments, the most secure of all, made by Bausch & Lomb, Unertl or Leupold, but these require special mounts, only made for rifles of the day. The subtleties of these matters could fill a book, if only someone would write one

Or you could just buy a scope that is designed to work correctly.....

Those current choices would be?

I've had a VX6 Leupy on my .458 Winny for a long time and it's still holding zero.

sambarman338,

Welcome. I see you are new here. Fun post to read.

Thanks Ringman, glad you enjoyed it. Considering the myriad models Leupold makes, I'd be over the moon in they made just one model for other big-game hunters like the 2x Compact they made for my pal.

Formidilosus, what in your opinion, from those now retailed, is that scope?