Leupold scope went bad

Dirtysteve · Oct 12, 2004

Opening morning in Wyoming I had 7 bucks 200 yards away without a clue I was there. I had my Encore 7mm with a Leupold 6x18 sighted in 2 1/2 inches high at 100yards. I picked out a 28 inch nice 4 point and pulled the trigger. The buck stood there looking around for what made the sound, reload and fire ...same thing but this time he runs off to about 350. One more time ...bang...buck has had enough and follows his buddies into the next county. Upon further inspection the scope had something inside rattling and would not hold zero. Lucky I had a back up gun and ended up taking a small 4 point on the very last day. This is the second Leupold that I know of this year that has had problems. I guess I will see if they warranty it or not. Anybody else had any Problems?

redrabbit · Oct 12, 2004

Never had a problem with my Leupolds. My only scope failures have been two cheap $20 Bushnell 4x's on a Ruger 10/22. On one, the reticle broke apart, and the other had a lens start to break aroungd the edges as one could see powdered glass inside the scope.

Bummer that you had to find out while sighting in on a nice muley and not on a paper target.
(Maybe I did have a scope failure once and it wasn't buck fever)

Doug/RedRabbit

Blank · Oct 12, 2004

Have never had a problem with a Leupold scope, and I have had dozens on all sorts of rifles, up to 375 and 458. I guess my question would be what did you do to it between sighting and shooting at game? The only problems I have found with any of my friends scope failures has been strapping it on the front of a 4 wheeler and banging around for quite a while, or actually sustaining some sort of damage in a scabbard on a horse. Sucks to miss a great buck, because of equipment failure.

rost495 · Oct 12, 2004

LAST EDITED ON Oct-12-04 AT 05:07PM (MST)[p]If you hang around long enough they all fail. Well not each scope but from every maker. I"ve seen 2 loopys fail on 223s! Wow. Had a bushy fail on a 243. Have had a tasco on a lightweigh hard kicking 308 for years with no failure(have worn another out using as a test scope for 223 ammo match rifles).

How about a Zeiss that had the exact same problem you had on my 300 wtby? Have a Zeiss on another Wtby that I got as a tip from a client. I actually watched that scope fly off the gun while testing it. It was all loose and just fell off after the 2nd shot. Lots of dings, dents, scratches and I put it back on and had to file the bases a bit. Still going strong as is AND the lighted reticle still works.

Bottom line. Pick a reputable scope, use it. Murphy hangs around me mostly so most of you should be safe. But don't be surprised if any of them go TU.

I agree on the beating around on 4 wheelers though. I try to carry my guns in a good soft case or plastic "hard" case at all times. That constant rattling, bouncing etc.... is not what they were really designed for. Prime example is that you put top line 1000 buck scope on an air rifle and it will tear the scope apart unless its designed for air rifles. Very little recoil but the opposite forces for which CF scopes were designed.

Send it back. They'll take care of you. Sorry it had to happen at that time.

PS-- Should have added that I have a buddy with a Tasco on a 50 cal Barret. A few hundred rounds and its still easy to hit 35 gallon drums at 1600 yards with it. Still baffles me but that one is hanging in there so far. He wants a Lightforce but theres mega difference in dollars......

Jeff

RANGERCON · Oct 12, 2004

I hate that for you.

I have only had 2 brand's of scopes that did not need any warranty work done on it. Nikon and Schmidt&Bender.

And that Nikon scope should have failed. It was ABUSED on a .300 RUM.

As stated, all scope brands fail. Fact of life. Leupold should give you no static at all for the repair. Excellent CS.

Dirtysteve · Oct 13, 2004

I did have it on a 4 Wheeler in a soft case but only for about 2 miles then the rest of the time it was on my back. This is the first scope I have ever had go bad on me. I have always taken care of my stuff so it wasn't abused. I guess Murphy finally found me.
Rost would you mind taking him back?

Bambistew · Oct 13, 2004

That sucks, but Leupold's even fail. Was your scope a 50mm? There could be a variety of reasons for the failure. Usually the two culprits are poor mounting, and big heavy scopes on heavy recoiling rifles, not that a 7mm is heavy recoiler, but... There is a reason why those 375's and 458's wear those ity bitty scopes... if they wear one at all...

rost495 · Oct 13, 2004

If he left me I never realized it. Especially with my Muzzleloader hunt results. But yep, I'll take him back. I think he belongs with me anyway. That way if I ever get to shoot an elk at all or anything bigger than a forky muley, I suppose it'll mean that much more to me. If I live that long

Jeff

Dsquared · Nov 13, 2004

I'm curious, which model was it? VXI? VXII? VXIII?

I have heard that the VXI's are "vessels of fertalizer".

Myself, I have used the old Vari-X II's for many years. they have never failed me. I have one that is over 30 yrs old.

Recently I picked up a Vari-X III 3.5-10x50mm Matte finish from Midway for $385 on close out. Mounted it on my 300 Wby Mag and it is working like a champ.

Send the failed scope to Leupold, They will stand by it 100%.

Good Luck, Don
Everett, WA

Dirtysteve · Nov 15, 2004

It was an old Vari x II 6x18x40mm
Sent it back and got it a week later with no questions asked. They went through the whole scope and didn't charge me a dime.
I own several Leupold scopes mostly 50mm's that are on a 223 to a 338 and never had any trouble. I think this was just a fluke that it went bad.

crextin · Nov 15, 2004

A similar thing happened to a buddy of mine a few years back. Fortunately we figured out the scope was screwed during target practice. At 25-yards we couldn't get the thing to hit the paper. After talking to his dad we found out that dad slipped and fell while climing around in the woods and banged the scope. They sent it back to Leupold and had a brand new scope a few weeks later no questions asked. Send it back and you should get a new scope in a few weeks. Sorry you found out the hard way. I would buy a Leupold any day just because they do stand behind their product so well. unfortunatly shtuff happens.