Leupold scopes love or hate em?

[3006Sprng]

Glass is good.
Weight is awesome, very light.
Dials, meh.
Zero tracking/hold, junk.
Price for value, junk.

In the higher end lines, vx5 etc, top notch scopes, wicked good.

Vx3 and freedom are rip offs for mid range and value scopes. Other brands make better scopes in the sub 1500 dollar range.

Burris and vortex (in my experience) were much better built in the 600-2000 dollar price range.

 

[Bhoesl]

I’ve had the same leupold vari-x III on my 30-06 all my life, was on the rifle when I inherited it from my grandfather 20 years ago. A few years ago it stopped holding zero, hadn’t been dropped or anything that I was aware of. But I will say the customer service was great. I had no receipt, no idea when or by whom it was purchased, but I sent it in and a month or so later got it back, no charge, and no issues since.

 

[3006Sprng]

I’ve had the same leupold vari-x II on my 30-06 all my life, was on the rifle when I inherited it from my grandfather 20 years ago. A few years ago it stopped holding zero, hadn’t been dropped or anything that I was aware of. But I will say the customer service was great. I had no receipt, no idea when or by whom it was purchased, but I sent it in and a month or so later got it back, no charge, and no issues since.

Their warranty is great. Vortex, leupold, Burris are all no receipt, no questions asked warranty.

 

[GlockZ]

I have a few Leupold's, and no issues, I don't go out my way to abuse them either, but at some point they've all taken hits, same with the few Vortex scopes I own, they've been banged around as well. I don't get the hate some have for either. They're hunting scopes that get used and they work.

 

[Birddoggin]

I have not had any problems with my Leupolds. Just purchased another one. I dont stretch out shots either. I believe my farthest was 534 yards with a VXII paired with a 257 wby mag.
As far as for the Vortex hate, I have one and no accuracy issues. Its a cheaper model though and the clarity at the edge of the glass is not good. My daughter has a vortex, which she damaged by dropping her rifle and broke the glass. She sent it back to vortex and it was replace with no questions asked. I guess thats good.

 

[caddiscrazy]

Love my vx6-hd. I have had some great vortex scopes as well. No problem with either one of them

 

[TX Trophy Hunter]

 

[mtmuley]

View attachment 400342

Great info. Thanks. mtmuley

 

[TX Trophy Hunter]

Great info. Thanks. mtmuley

Any time

 

[T.R.]

They are certainly well built but I have experienced great hunting luck with scopes by Bushnell and Simmons which cost a lot less. Granted, my rifles are not hard kicking magnums either. TR

 

[TXTad]

My first real scope on a hunting rifle was some Simmons back in the 90s. I couldn't stand the edge distortion, so I switched to a Vari-X II 3-9x and never tried anything else until I put a Redfield, after Leupold bought them, on my stepson's rifle. Sometime around 2012 or so, my boss told me that Nikons were great for the price. I tried a couple of Nikons and found that sure 'nuff, they were nice in price and quality, but I was still mostly doing other things besides shooting.

A couple of years ago I decided to get back to shooting and went looking for another scope for another rifle. I was confused about not being able to find any Nikons, and didn't take long to learn that they walked away from the scope business. At that point, I figured I'd try some others, and have been happy with the Burris, Bushnell, and Vortex scopes that I've tried. I think even the mid-range scopes these days are generally better than almost any 80s or 90s scope.

At this point, I think I have more Vortex than anything else. But my best rifles still get a Leupold. I don't know why. That's just what I do.

 

[MNfarmer]

Took my Tikka T3x lite 6.5 creedmoor out this week with a bipod for the first time. Both my T3x’s like the cheap Norma Whitetail load. Anyways the VX3i 3.5-10x40 is still right on with no adjustments since the first couple sight ins 7 years ago. It’s been my main deer rifle and taken 10 deer in that time. I don’t drop it and carry it in a hard case when transporting. This one jumps a quite a bit more than the heavy CTR, but accurate enough.

 

[Spiral Horn]

Like a lot of folks posting here I was first attracted to Leupold many years ago as they were viewed by the old-timers as solidly reliable. Then later on it was the very attractive military/LE discounts - I still applaud them for their support of our troops. They are also very light weight for their configuration.

Have owned several in the VX-6 and VX-6 HD II series - however, none of them still sits on any of my rifles. My experience mirrors many here = 1) challenging to zero as they tend to wander until settling in; 2) once settled in they seem to hold zero very well until the unexplainably don't - then the re-zero challenge begins anew; 3) tracking leaves a lot to be desired - I just cannot trust their erector system on long range shots. What finally made me give up was taking one on a Bezoar Ibex Hunt and the zero shifted considerably while in transit (robust Pelican case with foam insert) - I was able to sufficiently re-zero but lost all confidence in the scope. The last thing I want to be thinking about at the moment-of-truth is whether my scope is holding zero.

I then switched to Swarovski Z5 with a BRH reticle and no cranking turret. This worked very well, light, and crystal-clear. Took quite a few critters with this scope and it worked reliably for several years - then began to struggle with holding zero. Swarovski fixed it but charged me a good $ for the repair.

Then Swarovski came out with the new Z5+ series. It is an improvement in every way over the old Z5 - still lightweight, but more solidly built, with a much more robust erector system and the clearest optics I've ever seen in a riflescope. Used it extensively over the past year both at the range and in the field. Took it on a Yukon Sheep and Asian Ibex Hunt - both very hard on gear and it performed flawlessly - very long shots on both and animals are at my taxidermist. This scope was easy to zero, so far solidly holds zero, and tracks perfectly - saw a shooting school video where they intentionally worked the elevation turret to death and it still tracked perfectly. Anyway, it is my new go-to scope.

Was at a Sportsmen's Show recently where the Nightforce guys were trying to hard-sell me on their scopes. While they are very robust I just find them far too heavy for my applications as I currently mostly focused on hunting mountain game. After all, it isn't about what we can bring ourselves to lug out of camp but more about what it feels like after carrying it for 8-10 hours in the mountains.

My 2 cents