Leupold Scope?

[mikecatt13]

I have had (and still have) many Leupolds (20+++) over the last 30 years and have never had a problem with a single one of them.

I have been extremely pleased with all of them and have never had to send one back for repair (Vari-X II's, VX-I, up through VX-IIIi's, but nothing of "higher" quality).

I've never experienced the need to have a scope of a higher grade (I also have lower end-Zeiss, a "stupid" expensive Nightforce that I got on a trade, "quality" Burris scopes, one Vortex that was so disappointing that I got rid of it immediately, American-made older Weavers (and newer imports), American-made Redfield's, Sightrons, Bushnells, pretty-expensive Nikons, Truglo's, etc.)

My son, however, is convinced that he has to buy a Nightforce, Trijicon or an SWFA scope to have a scope that is strong enough and tough enough to endure very rigorous hunting. Where a 2 -foot drop will render the scope useless (mountain goats, Alaska, deep-Africa, etc.).

Is he correct about the ruggedness of these optics?

Do I need to underscore the rigidity of the mountings, or are less "rugged" scopes (maybe even my precious Leupolds), need to be considered somewhat delicate?

I have always considered optical quality as the reason to spend big-money on rifle scopes (Swarovski, Zeiss, S&B, etc.).

He's about to put a 2-pound scope on a Tikka T3X lite, because of his perceived (and documented by the "internet" of course) that if he doesn't, it won't survive a twelve inch fall.

Apparently, "**NOT**PERMITTED**" is where all the experts reside now...

In case you missed my last comment, I've thrown my leupold competition scopes in barrels or dumb boxes literally hundreds of times in 3 gun. The rifle often gets slammed into and onto props when getting into and out of shooting positions as it's a timed event for those not aware. My primary one, the objective is now far from round lol, no issues.

A huge trick I learned from one of the few best competition shooters alive is to put a thin layer of red loctite on your rings when properly mounting and torquing your scope. It's easily removed if you ever re-mount but prevents many issues. If that man says it prevents issues, it does.

 

[michael458]

From 2005 to around 2012 we were doing a tremendous amount of big bore shooting here. This involved Load Data, Pressure Data, Bullet Tech Tests along with a host of other work. On average shooting 200-250 rounds of big bore every week. From .416 caliber to .510 caliber.

For years on top of years my favorite scope, because of its size, eye relief, and its large field of view at very close range was the Leupold Vari X and later VX 1.5 X5. I also worked with the lesser version 1X4 for the same reasons. But there was a major problem, reliability. I always had 3-4 of these at Leupold for repair, and 3-4 on the bench to be sent in for repair, as soon as the others returned. They were good about repairs, 2 weeks or so. I had several scopes waiting, or in repair at all times.

This was at a terrible cost in time, effort and productivity. Finally one day I unboxed a brand new VX3 1.5X5, mounted it on a 50 B&M, and on the third shot fired it exploded inside right before my eyes. Crap on this, enough is enough...... time to look elsewhere.

It was, and even more so now, difficult to find a scope that meets all the parameters I had set. I do not care and will not use a 30 mm scope on my guns, the damned things are bigger than my rifles. No thanks. Size....... Eye Relief........ and most important "Field of View" at very close, 10 yards and in. At this time Trijicon made a 1X4 1" scope, Weaver made a little 1X3, and Nikon made a 1X4, all of these fit the size, Eye Relief and Field of View requirements I had. So I got one each to try. The Weaver scope was great for size, but lacked some quality features in my opinion. The Trijicon was great, it had the German Crosshairs, and other requirements, but damn it was fairly expensive, and I needed between 12-15 of them if not more...... At first I did not really care so much for the Nikon, had large adjustment knobs........ But it was clear, eye relief was great, and Field of View was great, overall it appeared better than the Leupold on those counts..... I put it on a 500 MDM heavy recoiling rifle, and went to work......

After several 100 rounds the Nikon was good to go, I bought a few more........ and this trend continued, I bought a few more......... Today I have 20+ of those Nikon 1X4 Scopes, many on rifles, some on standby. A few years ago Nikon went WOKE and discontinued all their rifle scopes. That was a terrible event for Big Bore shooters. You can still find them in various Ebay and Gun Broker sales, which I on occasion pick one up, spares are fine. Lost time, sending scopes for repair? After I switched to the Nikon I never sent another scope in for repair, not once. The original Nikon I bought, is still on a 500 MDM and has had 100s if not 1000s of big bore fired with it.

Yes, I have busted nearly all the very expensive Euro trash models too.......

The last 18 months I kept record of Leupolds I sent 13 different Leupold Scopes back for repairs.

Normally around 300-400 rounds of 458 Winchester a Leupold will hold, about the same on 45/70s. 458 Lott normally around 200 rounds. My .500s ..... well they are scope busting machines, as little as 3 rounds seems to bust them to pieces......... Of course on lesser recoiling rat guns one might last a long time......... Safe Queens that get fired 10 times a year they will last longer as well........... I am not sure if they are worth a crap today or not, with all the Nikons stored here I won't need to ever find out.........

As for the Trijicon, I see they do not make that 1 inch scope any longer, damn it was good, still have it. I recently bought a new 30mm Trijicon, they are still 30mm and over sized .... I put it on a 458 Lott I have and I suppose that will be home for it, its just to large to have on anything else of mine. And I will never take the Lott to the field anyway...........

 

[SFRanger7GP]

@michael458: Thanks for sharing your experience. The B&M series of rifles appear to be very light for the power of the cartridge. I handled one recently and had no desire to shoot it. Could the combination of light weight and powerful cartridge cause "above and beyond" recoil and force on scopes?

Melvin Forbes told me more than once that he preferred Leupold scopes because his light rifles generated too much force on scopes. He even told me he would not back an accuracy guarantee if I put a Swarovski on a rifle he built for me.

When I worked at a big gunshop outside of Houston in the 70's, there was a well-known gunsmith converting rifles into ultralights. I shot a lot of these shoulder howitzers to get them sighted in for clients. They destroyed scopes with very few shots. I felt (literally) the rifles were just too light. I tested my theory on one by weighting it down with heavy sandbags. I sighted in the rifle and then removed the weights. Three offhand shots and another Leupold was destroyed.

Again, thank you for sharing your experience. You have definitely pushed products beyond the norm and your endorsement of the Nikon says a lot.

I think most quality scopes will work fine for us mere mortals firing rat guns.

Safe shooting

 

[Mark A Ouellette]

I bought my first Leupold when I could finally afford one. That was in 1981. I still have that 4x.
I am a Leupold fan and have a dozen or two of them. If however I have to bet my life on a rifle scope, I chose Nightforce.

 

[michael458]

Could the combination of light weight and powerful cartridge cause "above and beyond" recoil and force on scopes?

No doubt a contributing factor...... However, I would not call it "Above & Beyond"........... We have the old Nikon line of 1X4 African in the beginning, later changing the name to Monarch series. Now this scope cost $270.00 New, all day long from many different distributors. $270! Compared to Leupold at the time at or round $400, and of course Euro Trash triple that cost........ So what is above and beyond? Recoil, light weight, recoil impulse, none of that was above and beyond the $270 scope?

Recoil impulse is very fast on some of the B&Ms in .500 caliber. A very quick, sharp, recoil. 458 Lott has a very fast recoil impulse as well. A Leupold rep told a friend of mine once that the reason the Leupolds did not hold up as well on heavy recoiling rifles was they did not "Glue" the reticle in place, that Leupold customers like to "customize" their scopes....... I replied back, Get the Damn Glue Out and forget the damn customize crap.

One of the biggest issues I had in the end was the focus on the scopes would just blow up. They would not refocus no matter what. Many would not move any longer when trying to adjust. Some the reticle would turn or even break. It was a nightmare when you were trying to do data and had to stop everything you were doing to remove the scope and start again.

JD had some close ties with Leupold, and I forget the guys name, but he called one day. I told him about the issues I was having, and he offered to replace all my 1.5X5 scopes with the 1X6 I believe30mm versions. Well, those were $1000 scopes at the time.... but they were HUGE on my rifles, just out of place with size and weight. I told him as much, I appreciated the effort, but declined the offer. Finally he asked me to just try one to see if it would grow on me, I agreed, he sent the scope, very very nice glass..... I put it on a 50 B&M and maybe I shot a couple of 100 rounds in it. In the end I sent it back, told them how much I appreciated the effort, but the scope was just over sized for my needs........ I did not wish to take advantage of the situation either........ But I would have never used that in the field.

I looked at the situation about a year or so ago, and there is nothing out there these days that can compare, everything is 30mm and big and heavy. So I make sure I have all the 1X4 Nikons I will ever need and call it a day. I would hate to be some of you guys today trying to find something worth a damn..........

He even told me he would not back an accuracy guarantee if I put a Swarovski on a rifle he built for me.

Your man is 100% spot on, I have busted every single one of those that has been here. Other folks bring them in, I send it back busted............ No thanks......In fact I stopped messing with those, any of the guys show up with that, they can remove it and try something else, not waste my time with them. The last guy showed up with 458 Lott, I had him remove the trash and put a Trijicon on it.

 

[SFRanger7GP]

@michael458: Thanks for sharing. I have seen Leupolds subject to a lot of abuse (military ops and my redneck buddies) and hold up, but none were subject to the recoil levels you are subjecting them to. I am not a fan of today's scopes. Some seem to have more options than an iPhone, huge dials and weigh too much. I used to joke that the Nightforce was too heavy, but it replaced the need for an e-tool.

I am guessing the simplicity of the Nikon is its strength. I have talked to several scope reps at DSC and asked them to make a simple, basic, strong, scope for hunters. They immediately reach for their latest hubble telescope clone and start explaining how I can shoot out to ridiculous ranges, and if I downlod the app and punch my load into the ballistic program and then start adjusting dials, etc, etc. When I repeat what I am asking about and explain it further, I am told the market doesn't support that. Maybe if more of us will ask about it the market will support it.

Safe shooting

 

[michael458]

I am guessing the simplicity of the Nikon is its strength.

I think you are correct........... The thing is, you want a scope for a Dangerous Game Rifle, big bore, .458 caliber +.......... its not rocket science, you don't need the latest greatest computerized this or that....... 50 yards is a LONG SHOT in this business. You need something small, handy, light, lots of eye relief and above everything extreme Field of View at very close range, 10 yards and inside...... I have shot a lot of buffalo at 10-15 yards, elephant at 10-15 steps........ You don't need 15X scope for that work.......

 

[Cam300]

Of course on lesser recoiling rat guns one might last a long time.........

Thank goodness the leupold on my 375 H&H will be fine! It’s hell on rats but a bit light for the larger rodents like squirrels.

 

[Flewis]

@michael458: Thanks for sharing. I have seen Leupolds subject to a lot of abuse (military ops and my redneck buddies) and hold up, but none were subject to the recoil levels you are subjecting them to. I am not a fan of today's scopes. Some seem to have more options than an iPhone, huge dials and weigh too much. I used to joke that the Nightforce was too heavy, but it replaced the need for an e-tool.

I am guessing the simplicity of the Nikon is its strength. I have talked to several scope reps at DSC and asked them to make a simple, basic, strong, scope for hunters. They immediately reach for their latest hubble telescope clone and start explaining how I can shoot out to ridiculous ranges, and if I downlod the app and punch my load into the ballistic program and then start adjusting dials, etc, etc. When I repeat what I am asking about and explain it further, I am told the market doesn't support that. Maybe if more of us will ask about it the market will support it.

Safe shooting

Just try to find a good 4x scope.

 

[Woodcarver]

Don't know how many Leupold scopes are in the safe, it's a bunch, and having used them on standard calibers for almost 4 decades, I finally have to send a Vari-X II in to have it fixed; the reticle literally broke. Bottom leg, thin part of the duplex, separated from the horizontal. A few thousand rounds of 270Win finally broke it. The only other scope I've ever had to send back to have worked on was an old Redfield that apparently had lost it's seal and needed to be cleaned internally and recharged with gas. One scope in 40 years and thousands of rounds doesn't have me worried about putting a Leupold on a rifle.
Taking @michael458 's advice though and will be putting one of my Nikon Africans on the 458 Lott when it's finished.

To the OP's original question, the only reason I have anything above a 3x9-40 on any rifle is because somebody had a sale going. And nothing wears a scope with more than 14x magnification or a 42mm objective. Besides the bench and prairie dogs, I find most of the shots on game were made with the scope set from 4-6 power. So that 1-6 would be fine. The biggest "discovery" for me was the value of the illuminated reticle several years back. Now I consider it almost mandatory on scope.

 

[michael458]

At one point I had well over 40+ Leupold scopes on everything, various sizes. With the incredible durability of the 1X4 Nikon, I decided go all Nikon, give them a go. From the cheapest Nikon to the more expensive Monarchs. I sold all the Leupold scopes with the exception of a few 2X Scout scopes, which proved to be indestructable after years on a 510 Wells.

With all the Leupolds gone, I started replacing them with Nikons. Even the cheapest Nikon has done excellent and now with 50+ or more, zero issues.

It really is too bad that Nikon discontinued all the rifle scopes. Stupid ass Woke crap....... None the less, the 1X4 Nikon African, and later just Monarch is one hell of a fine Big Bore Rifle scope, the only one that I have never busted after 1000s on top of 1000s of rounds fired in them. I know a lot of you think you have to spend a $1000 to $2000 to have a big bore scope, but that is just not true. When I first learned of the 1X4 Nikon it sold for $270 new, every distributor. I was skeptical myself. But it was the perfect size, excellent eye relief and most important extreme field of view. My test for field of view at low power is two full mounted lions at 10 steps, low power I want to see the entire animal at that distance......... If all I can see is hair, no thanks.......... Field of view with a Big Bore DGR is extremely important because chances are at some point you may be very very close..................

 

[Scott CWO]

Not really applicable to big bores but my buddy that just retired from SF and he ran the sniper school for a while recommended S&B, NightForce, Trijicon and then Leupold in that order for durability. They tried them all. Although I love Swarovski spotting scopes, he said they had durability problems with Swarovski rifle scopes and didn’t recommend them. Again, this was in reference to small and medium bore rifles under harsh conditions.

As for Nikon, one of the best scopes I own is a simple Nikon 3x-9 that’s on my .30-06. It never needs adjusting.

I’ve had two scopes fail me. One was a Burris that fogged on a .338 WM and the other was a Leupold VXIII 1x-6 on my .458 Lott. However, I still have several other Leupold scopes that have never failed. One trick I was taught with Leupold scopes is to tap on the adjustments after moving them to make sure the spring doesn’t get hung up and then jump forward too far after adjusting it again. Tap each time.

 

[Nhoro]

I currently have a 4-12 vortex crossfire on my plainsgame rifle (30-06) but it had a 4x fixed power lynx (South African brand i believe, made in Japan). For hunting in zimbabwe and general bushveld conditions, the 4x is perfectly adequate and anything more is generally for rangework. If you are heading to the karoo/ open plains then a bit more magnification (8 or 12 x) is good. If you want reliable performance then simple scopes will be best. +1 for nikon- they made excelent,reliable scopes that were reasonably priced. Pity other manufacturers dont follow their lead.

 

[Nhoro]

It really is too bad that Nikon discontinued all the rifle scopes. Stupid ass Woke crap....... None the less, the 1X4 Nikon African, and later just Monarch is one hell of a fine Big Bore Rifle scope, the only one that I have never busted after 1000s on top of 1000s of rounds fired in them. I know a lot of you think you have to spend a $1000 to $2000 to have a big bore scope, but that is just not true.

I am pretty sure nikon still make lenses for scopes- many manifacturers like riton etc advertise japanese glass on certain models but no one has nailed that nikon quality. Their kit just delivers, no mess no fuss. But on the reliability of scopes, have you ever tried airgun rated scopes ? Springer airguns are notorious scope destroyers and the world of airgun scopes are dominated by relatively unknown brands.

 

[Woodcarver]

I am pretty sure nikon still make lenses for scopes- many manifacturers like riton etc advertise japanese glass on certain models but no one has nailed that nikon quality. Their kit just delivers, no mess no fuss. But on the reliability of scopes, have you ever tried airgun rated scopes ? Springer airguns are notorious scope destroyers and the world of airgun scopes are dominated by relatively unknown brands.

I've seen this referenced before, that airguns and rimfires are hard on scopes, but have never read an explanation of why? What do these rifles do that causes the damage to an ordinary scope that holds up well to the recoil of various magnum caliber rifles? And how are the scopes for them built differently to combat the damage?

 

[Flewis]

I've seen this referenced before, that airguns and rimfires are hard on scopes, but have never read an explanation of why? What do these rifles do that causes the damage to an ordinary scope that holds up well to the recoil of various magnum caliber rifles? And how are the scopes for them built differently to combat the damage?

Recoil, the spring recoils from the back. So reverse recoil.

 

[Nhoro]

I've seen this referenced before, that airguns and rimfires are hard on scopes, but have never read an explanation of why? What do these rifles do that causes the damage to an ordinary scope that holds up well to the recoil of various magnum caliber rifles? And how are the scopes for them built differently to combat the damage?

Springer airgins recoil backwards and then forwards very rapidly. Firstly under the power of the spring as it compresses air and then as the spring now bounces back. So the crosshair and adjustment are reinforced and designed against the two direction and rapid change of direction while firearm scopes deal with one direction of recoil

 

[Tally-Ho HUNTING SAFARIS]

Do you find the need to frequently check zero? Thanks for your reply.

Nope almost never with leupold

 

[HookMeUpII]

I'm running a VX5HD in 3-15x44 on my 300WM. IMO, they are really nice optics. I haven't dialed in yet but the BDS dials seem really nice. USA made and you can't beat the warranty. Glass is very clear. Nothing against Swaro but I think this might be a better scope for the money. For any hunting application, I only really consider Leupold or Swaro.

 

[0002S]

View attachment 508872

Good for plains game?

I own two of these and it's predecessor. They are fine scopes and easily provide enough magnification and field of view for 0-400 yard shots. Set the CDS up for your round. If set up correctly is works as advertised for ethical hunting ranges. I also like the 2-12x42 scopes as well. Their firedot duplex is great for hunting in low light with dark vegetation in the background.

These two scopes are some of the best values, in a traditional hunting rifle scope, for the feature set you get. I also have used their warranty and it's as good as it gets.