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

Originally Posted by nor-west

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.

How do you find your Minox @nor-west? The Minox ZL3 I owned for about 3 months was really poor quality (Philippines made) and there are mixed reviews of the Minox ZA5 assembled in Germany, and ZX5 line assembled in USA.

Optics have definitely come a long way and there are just TOO MANY affordable offerings out there to worry with fixing old scopes. Now is the best of times for optics customers.

Leupold may be higher priced now days but I have never had one fail and cost me a animal or a trip.

I had not one,not two but three Weavers in a row fog up on me and ruin hunts....replaced not repaired each time.

Enough for me to never own another.

I have and do still own a number of leupys....I have sent one back for a bit of fluff inside it but I have never had one end a hunt.
Low light performance is also very good, I haven't compared with everything side by side in low light but I haven't compared with anything that is better and in most cases even close.

Originally Posted by Hermitage

How do you find your Minox @nor-west? The Minox ZL3 I owned for about 3 months was really poor quality (Philippines made) and there are mixed reviews of the Minox ZA5 assembled in Germany, and ZX5 line assembled in USA.

Great!, schott glass, good mechanicals, lightweight, a European Leupold really, I dont care if others don't like them more for me. Superslams have been bullet proof, others may have had other experiences, I can only comment on what I've had.

Originally Posted by veitnamcam

Leupold may be higher priced now days but I have never had one fail and cost me a animal or a trip.

I had not one,not two but three Weavers in a row fog up on me and ruin hunts....replaced not repaired each time.

Enough for me to never own another.

I have and do still own a number of leupys....I have sent one back for a bit of fluff inside it but I have never had one end a hunt.
Low light performance is also very good, I haven't compared with everything side by side in low light but I haven't compared with anything that is better and in most cases even close.

+1 ..... Both my scoped rifles wear vx's.
A 5hd and a 6hd and I am more than happy with mine. Sure you might pay a little more but I don't mind for the peace of mind I get knowing that the chances of an issue are small and if there does happen to be a problem then it will be sorted no questions asked.
And I can tell you the colour of the shoes of the mountain bikers on the top of the hill behind my house around 2 odd kays away with the vx6 , so no complaint there either.

Originally Posted by veitnamcam

Leupold may be higher priced now days but I have never had one fail and cost me a animal or a trip.

I had not one,not two but three Weavers in a row fog up on me and ruin hunts....replaced not repaired each time.

Enough for me to never own another.

I have and do still own a number of leupys....I have sent one back for a bit of fluff inside it but I have never had one end a hunt.
Low light performance is also very good, I haven't compared with everything side by side in low light but I haven't compared with anything that is better and in most cases even close.

I’ve also had a great run with leupolds and have owned a few different models: everything from an old vari x iic right up to a vx6. They all performed faultlessly, to the point that all my rifles (apart from one) currently wear leupolds. I’ve had a couple of weavers; the classic rimfire version I owned had shit glass compared to other rimfire scopes at the same price point; and the 4.5-14 grand slam was too long and bulky with glass that wasn’t as good as a vx2.

It’s my belief that ALL new scopes are overpriced, which is why I generally buy mint 2nd hand optics at about a 40% discount off the RRP.

my only experience with loopys is at the bottom end of the range...... i compared a vx1 3-9x40 to a redfield revolution 3-9x40 in the shop essentially the same scope rom the same factory .....the redfield image was alot crisper , go figure. ... obviously leupold new this too because they have discontinued the redfield line to concentrate on the higher priced loopys.
oh and once i bought a loopy M8 at a garage sale for $20 and onsold it for $260....... cant complain about that!

Have struggled focusing Leupolds as my age has increased, don't have the same problem with Burris Signature Series, so have stuck with them. Sometimes wonder if the warranty service is a problem more who the local agent is than the manufacturer.

Leupold is excellent. Never let me down in comparison with other scopes ive had. That said, just bought an NX8 due to the over all package ticking all the boxes. If not that it would have been another leupy.

Customer service, ruggedness and features are top notch.

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

Part of it is also simplicity of choice. With Leupold you know what you're getting - reliable, solid, and reasonable quality at the cost of increased price. There's good brand recognition/trust, and their prevalence means you can get them used relatively easily.

There are certainly better scopes out there, but they aren't easily identified and require a lot of reading and searching to identify.

Originally Posted by canross

Part of it is also simplicity of choice. With Leupold you know what you're getting - reliable, solid, and reasonable quality at the cost of increased price. There's good brand recognition/trust, and their prevalence means you can get them used relatively easily.

There are certainly better scopes out there, but they aren't easily identified and require a lot of reading and searching to identify.

Given the way they support their product, buying a used Leupold does not carry the same risk as buying another brand used

I always remember this video.



Some googling around this problem reveals quite a big and persistent problem with Leupold scope tracking on forums in the US. Loads and loads of posts about it from a few years ago.

I don’t know if they’ve sorted it out.

But I’d put a fiver on few shooters testing their tracking as comprehensively as this, and therefore not knowing whether they have a problem or not.

Originally Posted by jakewire

Jesus Christ, I offered an opinion on 30 yr old scopes , the passion is..... interesting

It definitely is about the passion. Their customers have enjoyed a consistent level of performance and great warranty, literally for generations, and as a result, Leupold enjoys an almost cult-like following. Not many brands have had such a consistent reputation for excellence. However, the scope market has changed and there are a few excellent alternatives. Looking at the performance of Leupold. Their performance is better than average, but certainly lower than the price point they enjoy would suggest.

I think that in NZ due to the importer some dealers new prices are maybe a bit high especially when you have been shopping in the states. But they are still bloody good scopes.

I've had a few mid to high end scopes now from sig, zeiss, swarovski, leupold, vortex, Kowa, sightron etc. I now have mostly Leupolds in fact I own more Leupolds than rifles.

I would argue the likes of any rifle above a Howa isn't worth if realistically but we would all prefer nicer options.

What leupold does extremely well is produced good quality optics that are lightweight for the feature set and have a great warranty. They are also made in America vs x y or z (riflescopes atleast) so expect to pay more for better working conditions etc.

As for warranty few match it. Vortex is shiet not only will you likely need it (I've needed 3 of 10 vortex items sent for warranty) but if its an actual fault it can be a long time as the NZ agent is pretty useless. I have a set of Binos that shit out that have been with them since February. Ask your local store what they are like to deal with I'm sure you won't hear great things. They are good value for money when they work and if its all you can afford but nothing more depressing than walking the tops carrying a set of binos that no longer work at the start of a 10 day trip. Nothing against them as a whole as I think the diamondback hd binos they make are some of the best entry level binos out but they are cheap as the QA is lower.

I can't comment too much on the modern lower grade leupolds as only have some of the older vx1s etc that live on a few farm rifles as well as some red fields made by leupold. But these rifles have been thrashed by myself, my brother, and my father on the a farm ratlling around on back seats of the ute and the the other things rough farmers do and still work a treat.

One of my favs the CDS VX3i in the 3.5-10x40 size is arguably one of the best lightweight scopes for mountain rifle type builds. Light functional, good glass, good eye box, and reliable. Not much really comes close. For general hunting on an 08 based case I actually replaced a Z5 3.5-18x44 with one recently due to preferring the eye relief and larger eye box.

I guess imo there is value and it come in reliability (on a whole any brand can have issues) and where its made. That has different values to everyone.

Nice summary Stocky. I pretty much feel the same way. Leopold have stuck by hunters by offering pretty good scopes with the right performance/spec esp weight and price ratio. Most manufacturers of things firearm related are much to focused on following fashion (currently tacicool/PRS) and have forgotten about "hunters". I've got several Leupies, Weavers and Sightrons. Each is good in it's own way but none are perfect.