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

I like Leupolds and keep buying them. Tough as nails, lightweight, waterproof, sleek design, practical size and magnification ranges for my needs. I admit the lower end models are maybe not the brightest scopes.
Once you buy a Leupold you kinda have it forever, if anything craps out or just wears out , send it back and it's repaired or replaced for only the postage cost.

Originally Posted by rockland

I like Leupolds and keep buying them. Tough as nails, lightweight, waterproof, sleek design, practical size and magnification ranges for my needs. I admit the lower end models are maybe not the brightest scopes.
Once you buy a Leupold you kinda have it forever, if anything craps out or just wears out , send it back and it's repaired or replaced for only the postage cost.

This!

I have four Leupold scopes on rifles, the youngest of which would be ten years old and none of them have ever let me down despite my best attempts at banging, clanging and dropping them and using them as a carry handle from time to time.

I personally love the leupys, admittedly the prices have climbed a little over recent years but so too have swaro etc. As stated above, you can purchase a leupy 2nd hand with confidence knowing you have a warranty that will cover you. I've not long sold a swaro z5 to go back to a vx5 due to eye relief and the zl2 system. I also grabbed another 3.5-10vx3 the other day as it came up cheap and they're one of my favorite light weight scopes about. I agree that the gap between vx5 and 6 has diminishing returns but I've never needed to go to a 6. Windplex vx5 covers me fine. I also challenge anyone to find a 2nd hand 2-10 vx5... you wont. To my eyes pricing the vx5hd glass against z5/z3s zeiss v4s etc I know what I'd pick.

Originally Posted by csmiffy

years ago in a discussion with Richard from Wilhelms arms and optics, this came up. I was looking at a scope for a project and he had a burris 2-10 signature that i ended up with. That is still a great piece of glass to look through but never been on a rifle in anger. Quite a large objective lens too but it is an AO type
His comment back then in the mid/late 90's was that leupold was generally a good scope and their QC very good. They tested every single scope and as such this was why their failure rate was so low on the hill so to speak. This is very likely what kiwis liked so much about them. Reliability
The Burris I was looking at and ultimately purchased was a little different. That particular range (maybe it was all Burris scopes) only had maybe 1 in 5 tested. Instead they put some of that budget into the glass. As such they were a slightly better scope although with slightly more risk of failure.
I know at 4x it is still way nicer to look through than the Loopy M8 4x from the early 90s i have on the 243. its only a couple of years newer
remember back then there wasn't the dearth of all these other scope manufacurers about.
There was the euro stuff like Kahles that you got when you saved up the shekels, along with the odd Swarovski etc and the odd Pecar thrown in.
Come back down the line you had Leupold, Burris, Bushnell, some Weaver, Tasco and Nikko Stirling.
You would probably find that Leupold had a bigger range marketed in NZ too

yes but not all m8 4x are equal...I had 3 and all were different...the oldest/longest ,with largest rear eyebox was by far and away the best......eye relief is primo...field of view is primo....target aquiring is shit hot....it now sitting atop my poohseventy and will probably never leave it again....the 3x9x50mm vx11 in the 223 is good scope and never moves zero....the old nikko stirling gold crown beat it for light gathering but those scopes were freaks of nature....had so much good features but did fog if abused...unfortunately Im guilty of scope abuse so nearly all my rifle wear loopys...the two that arent are wearing an early burris and early kahales both were gifted to me....

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

yes but not all m8 4x are equal...I had 3 and all were different...the oldest/longest ,with largest rear eyebox was by far and away the best......eye relief is primo...field of view is primo....target aquiring is shit hot....it now sitting atop my poohseventy and will probably never leave it again....the 3x9x50mm vx11 in the 223 is good scope and never moves zero....the old nikko stirling gold crown beat it for light gathering but those scopes were freaks of nature....had so much good features but did fog if abused...unfortunately Im guilty of scope abuse so nearly all my rifle wear loopys...the two that arent are wearing an early burris and early kahales both were gifted to me....

@Micky Duck I reckon Leupold should have you on the books and pay you a commission for every Leupold they sell.

You would have to be the number 1 Leupold 'positive promotion man' on this whole forum

Used to only have Leupolds,now only 1 little 1-4 compact left I have slowly switched to low power Kahles and a swaro,no regrets.

Originally Posted by Micky Duck

yes but not all m8 4x are equal...I had 3 and all were different...the oldest/longest ,with largest rear eyebox was by far and away the best......eye relief is primo...field of view is primo....target aquiring is shit hot....it now sitting atop my poohseventy and will probably never leave it again....the 3x9x50mm vx11 in the 223 is good scope and never moves zero....the old nikko stirling gold crown beat it for light gathering but those scopes were freaks of nature....had so much good features but did fog if abused...unfortunately Im guilty of scope abuse so nearly all my rifle wear loopys...the two that arent are wearing an early burris and early kahales both were gifted to me....

Mine is a bit of a short one. Even on the m70 243 lightweight it could come back a little for proper eye relief
Got a 1.5x5 loopy on the 416 and it is a great little scope. Mind you dont have anything comparable to judge it against

I own about 17 leupold. 4 were bough new ,the rest were all second hand. I sent back two of the second hand ones recently, one I dropped and broke the rear lense the other one to add a cds turret. They both came back with brand new front and back lenses, serviced and tested for proper tracking.
I also own a couple of bushnell tactical ( bought new), a couple of weaver which are ok .
Unless you want to spend more on euro glass or overpriced nightforce glass , I am happy with what I get out of leupold.

Another leupold fan,I recon good value for $ and I rate the vx5 as a good allrounder


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Availability is one of the key reason that people buy leupold scopes.
Most gun stores have them, they are 'reasonably' priced and they are marketed.

Think of them as the ford ranger of rifle scopes.

If you are talking over priced Nightforce in nz takes the cake. I own a few but still true. If the same supplier that brought in Nightforce brought in Leupold a vx3 would cost $2500

Originally Posted by Manchester

Availability is one of the key reason that people buy leupold scopes.
Most gun stores have them, they are 'reasonably' priced and they are marketed.

Think of them as the ford ranger of rifle scopes.

I'd relate them more to the hilux. Less issues than rangers. Hahaha

Love me a Leupy. Never had an issue with any i've owned.

I personally think you are missing the boat to add the Sightron SV as a 5 star and Delta as a 4.5 Star.

Delta 5-50 (2020 model) has much more features with better glass. Solid zero stop and 10x zoom range vs no zero stop and a 5x zoom range.

Originally Posted by Tahr

Have you used all of these 'scopes?

He missed the latest Delta in there too @Tahr
I am sure they be rated if not such outdated list :-)

Anyway - you Leupi fans
I just listed this for a client
$1 reserve
Brand new mounted once

https://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Lis...?id=2901701918