Thread: Leupold Scopes are NOT worth the money....IMO

NZ hunters seem to love Leupold scopes, I own three myself (well now two), but I have always felt that you paid a premium for the Leupold name and for an American made product. So over the last 3 weeks, I sold my Leupold VX-5HD 3-15x and Weaver T16 target, and brought a very nice s/h Sightron SIII 6-24x and s/h Weaver Super Slam 3-15x.

Now I will say after a few days of playing with them, that the newly purchased Sightron and Weaver are the same optical quality as the Leupold VX-5HD...to my eyes I can tell no difference. Also the box test I set up in my back yard seems to show both have the same tracking accuracy as the VX-5 did.

So I've reached the conclusion (yes my opinion only), that the value for your money just isn't there with Leupold anymore. Paying twice the money for a Leupold, does not get you twice the brightness or twice the clarity or twice the tracking ability as top brand Japanese scopes like Sightron, Vixen, Athlon, TRACT or the old Weaver Super Slams. Actually the more you spend on optics, the more diminishing returns apply.

Now Leupold does import good glass from LOW of Japan, but nothing I would ever dare to call "impressively different" from the other top brand Japanese scopes I listed. And to get their high power ratio scopes (VX-6, Mark 8), you gotta spend a huge chunk of change….a lot more than what similar featured scopes are selling for.

I think Leupold have had their day and now they are mostly resting on their reputation/brand name and excellent customer service. If that’s the case, perhaps the rest of the Japanese optics companies have already (or shortly will), pass them by?

you know I was just looking at a 2nd hand Leupold scope... maybe I test some others as well - thanks

Originally Posted by NzMavrick

you know I was just looking at a 2nd hand Leupold scope... maybe I test some others as well - thanks

@NzMavrick I've found that the below are great 2nd hand mid-range scopes that sell for around NZ$400...worth looking at instead of Leupold:

Nikon Monarch III 3-12x42 BDC s/h or 4-16x50 BDC
Burris Signature Select 3-12x
Weaver Grand Slam 4.5-14x Tactical
Weaver Super Slam 3-15x (better than Grand Slam)
Bushnell Elite 4500 4-16x40
and
Sightron SIII 6-24x50/8-32x56 (2nd hand $850-$1000)

Originally Posted by muzza

I have trouble with the eye relief on leupolds - have never found one that suits me . So I dont own any currently....

I've got a Vari-X II 4-12x with target turrents and the eye relief must be under 3" - just today I had to shorten the length of my Remington 700 Mountain rifle stock to make it viable.

Originally Posted by Hermitage

@NzMavrick I've found that the below are great 2nd hand mid-range scopes that sell for around NZ$400...worth looking at instead of Leupold:

Nikon Monarch III 3-12x42 BDC s/h or 4-16x50 BDC
Burris Signature Select 3-12x
Weaver Grand Slam 4.5-14x Tactical
Weaver Super Slam 3-15x (better than Grand Slam)
Bushnell Elite 4500 4-16x40
and
Sightron SIII 6-24x50/8-32x56 (2nd hand $850-$1000)

Monarchs are rubbish.....best send them to me and I will dispose of them for you all
There's a reason I have 1 on all of my rifles

I grew up in the time where, yes in NZ Leupold were thought very well of, considered better than the lower priced Weavers and the others were well....
It took ages before I could afford a Leupold scope and then it was a fixed 4 , then next big thing for me was a very early [for me] friction 3x9.
These things were hopeless chasing impact for zeroing
but, was it my shooting, ..
Who knows, best thing was then to shoot a 4-5 shot group , measure, change the impact on the measured center, give the turret a whack with the screwdriver and repeat if necessary.

I usually found that once the zero of 200 was set, they were pretty good but you didn't dare change them.

I started out dialing with VX3 4.5x14 x40, but then after awhile I'd figured scope were 1/2 price everywhere else but good old Gods own NZ, so Usa dealers were happy to send to Leupold fit M1 Turrets and send to me for half what I could get here..

I lost faith in the dialing ability and had heard too many stories of the then supposed best in the [my] world MK4 back then not performing to spec, but as my earning ability increased so my affinity for Leopold decreased.

I love the 2.5x8x36 that's on my 9.3 and would have another on the 30 06 if i could find one.

I know everyone swears by the 5's and 6's but...I know more people that have trouble with the leupy medium high end than have trouble with other brands including a few new on the market.

Lastly ,if you gave me a Vortex, unless it was a Gen 11 Razor, I'd pay it forward.

I tend to look at have often things (Scopes) change hands and Leupolds do. Have owned 3 now / own zero.

The critical feature is 'excellent customer service'. My experience: the factory customer service from Burris, Weaver (now defunct as a company) and Bushnell has been abysmal. Service from Sightron has been bureaucratic (difficult) and non-existent from Nikon (and now no longer in the scope business). Service from Leupold has been amazingly good. Most of these firms are just holding companies. They could be marketing floggle-toggles just as easily. Better to deal with a scope company that actually backs up the product, particularly, because we live at the very end of the production line so we really need the back up service. That is why it is worth buying Leupold and paying a bit more.

Originally Posted by rupert

The critical feature is 'excellent customer service'. My experience: the factory customer service from Burris, Weaver (now defunct as a company) and Bushnell has been abysmal. Service from Sightron has been bureaucratic (difficult) and non-existent from Nikon (and now no longer in the scope business). Service from Leupold has been amazingly good. Most of these firms are just holding companies. They could be marketing floggle-toggles just as easily. Better to deal with a scope company that actually backs up the product, particularly, because we live at the very end of the production line so we really need the back up service. That is why it is worth buying Leupold and paying a bit more.

Yeah Leupold's lifetime warranty and customer service is excellent sure.
However more and more scope companies are trying to match it. Look at Vortex for example. Leupold has an advantage with the build quality of their scopes compared to Vortex, however Vortex has the price advantage and both have great warranties.

I haven't any problem with Leopold's warranty, Just the recent, Eg last 20yrs, product.
Weaver Grandslams. damn, should have bought 10 of them.

@Hermitage yep i agree with you, Leupold is way over priced compared to the performance for money you can get in other brands.

That'll be why i have no Leupolds and now a few Super Slams, a grandslam, a Sightron and an Athlon amoung others that offer good performance for money depending on the rifle and its purpose.

Originally Posted by jakewire

I haven't any problem with Leopold's warranty, Just the recent, Eg last 20yrs, product.
Weaver Grandslams. damn, should have bought 10 of them.

Before I brought the Super Slam I tried out a friends Weaver Grand Slam. I definitely like the turrets of the Super Slam better, but the glass of the Super and Grand seems to me to be the same. If you want to dial in correction then the Super Slam is the way to go, if you set it and use holdovers or never dial in corrections (like you do Jakewire), then the Grand Slam is perfect.

I have not had to deal with Vortex yet (I have just one Vortex scope which is quite good for the price). I have heard only good things about their support. Tried a few Euro companies: Zeiss, Hertel & Reuss/Nickel and Swarovski: a bizarre rigmaroll to go through with eye-watering prices and an incredibly long time for repair.

Originally Posted by rupert

I have not had to deal with Vortex yet (I have just one Vortex scope which is quite good for the price). I have heard only good things about their support. Tried a few Euro companies: Zeiss, Hertel & Reuss/Nickel and Swarovski: a bizarre rigmaroll to go through with eye-watering prices and an incredibly long time for repair.

Vortex cranks out a high volume of optics at a low cost per unit so can offer a great warranty. However the warranty is required as the high volume and low QC affects their reliability...it seems to me that Vortex is one company where they use their guarantee in place of quality control.

My Swarovski and Kahles scopes that I sent in for warranty took nearly 4 months to come back to me. However both were repaired at no charge so it was worth the long wait.

3 Minox, 3 superslams, 2 Burris, 1 Leupold vx3, 1 Bushnell and 1 Clearidge the last 2 on .22 rimfires, the vx3 on a Kurz Oberndorf. 250 Savage cause its light and the BDC reticle fits the trajectory. If I started again probably Tract for everything, but so many good options now.