Liking Leupold is not as popular as it use to be!!!!!

[Big Squeeze]

There are scopes out there that have equal or better glass than the Leupolds and cost less.

However, the Leupolds shine primarily in two areas; product selection and customer service.

The choices from Leupold, from their reticle choices, from the straight tubed fixed and low powered variables all the way up to the highest variable and fixed powers, is outstanding. Their 1" tubed lower powered straight tubed variables unlike most are lighter in weight, not the 15 to 20 oz as most are and they are a little more compact. The eye reliefs for the most part across the board are very good. In the dept of looks, no other scopes looks better than do the Leupolds with that gold ring.

Although I have no particular loyalty exclusively to the Leupold scopes, I will buy a Leupold, IF it suites the rifle I am mounting it on in the best possible way and for the price I wish to pay, which was $375 NIB for mine.

A 1.5-5x20 VX111 #4 sits on my 375 Ruger Alaskan. It`s more compact in length, light weight at 9.5 oz, is lower profiled, is extremely durable, offers wide FOV`s, is very fast in target acquisition and aiming needed for a DGR, is a perfect all-round magnification for a 375, looks damn good
and its glass is more than good enough for any hunting circumstance needed for me.

In my particular case, while some scopes offer some of the above, Leupold on the other hand, offered ALL of the above.

Also, todays trends are leaning more, to the more compact rifles. Leupold has the best selection in scope sizes that look great and look better porportionally to the more compact rifles.

I also mount this scope (rotated with my scout scope), on my 300 WSM Ruger Frontier compact for hog hunts and will use this combo for future elk hunts.

 

[remingtonman_25_06]

Leupold is one of my favorites. They sit atop every single one of my centerfire rifles, besides the new 22-250 I just got, it wears a sightron. I"ll have to work on that one.

Most my experience is with the vari x 2's, but I do own a LR VX3, and I did own a Mark 4.

All of them performed great with no complaints.

I like Leupolds lifetime guaruntee, I like there customer service if and when you need to use it, and I also just plain like the way there scopes come up and give a full field of view, not like your looking through a dark tunnel like the "other" cheaper brands. I hate all the black around the picture.

There is better then Leupold, like higher end Zeiss, (not conquest series) swarovski, nightforce, USO, IOR, schmidt and bender but you'll be paying a lot more for it.

 

[Snowshoe Hunter]

It sounds like those bad mouthing Leupolds are the same ones bad mouthing Les Baers. They never had one or used one. I think Leupolds are right up there wirh scopes costing twice as much.

 

[big rifle man]

I wouldn't think of badmouthing Leupold as I have 6 of them presently but last year I purchased a Zeiss 30MM VMV in 1.5X6 for my .338 UltraMag. It beat the daylights out of my wallet but I have to tell you it is in a class by itself. The light gathering ability and sharpness surpasses any of my Leupolds. The extra cost goes into lenses and other improvements only available on highend items. While at my local range I had a number of people look through the scope and the remarks were very positive.

 

[Guest]

Just for the record, as I think I'm the only somewhat dissenting voice on this thread, I'm not badmouthing Leupold. They make fine scopes for hunting and target use, depending on the model. I just find that other brands of scope have caught up in terms of quality and service, while not yet in terms of price. If you like Leupold, by all means buy them. I'm more than satisfied with the scopes I have (including gold ring bearers), but I won't purchase another Leupold, just because I find the Zeiss Conquest to be better for my eyes for the same money, and the Bushnell Elites to be equal for less money. No bashing, just polite conversation. If you can't stand for someone to disagree, I'm terribly sorry for you. Buy all the Leupolds you can - it will keep the scopes I like cheaper and easier to find.

 

[Thebear_78]

leupold are as or more durable, weatherproof as a scope can get, and usually shorter and lighter than any other comparable variable scope. All these things make if one of the best buys in scopes.

I broke on in half rolling down a mountian on a 4 wheelr a couple years ago and broke my scope in half, it was replaces for 86 dollars shipped two weeks later. NOt bad for a 430 dollar scope.

 

[DrMike]

Dubyam,

We are living in a great period when quality glass is available at relatively low prices. I have more Conquests and Diavaris on my rifles than anything else. I do have several Leopolds, and they are good. There is a reason, however, that I have so many Zeiss scopes. For the record, it is hard to beat European glass, though many of the newer scopes are nipping at the heel of such quality glass, if they haven't actually caught up to them. The move by Zeiss to produce their Conquest line in the States was a wise move, however. The competition can only make Leopold that much better as they are forced to rise to the challenge to their market.

 

[Teknys]

I've been shooting Leupold for 25+ years now. I own mostly VXIIIs and one VX-L. Twice I tried a different brand scope and twice I was disappointed. I guess comparing to what I have. I gave in and bought the Gold Ring HD Binos last year and at first was having buyers remorse (waht did I do!!!!!). After a couple of days in the Mtns and YEP! glad I spent the $$. I sent two scopes back to Leopold and got them back with in a week or so. One was a VariX-II about 20+ years old and they "upgraded" the internals and recharged the scope at no cost. I have NO complaints about the customer service I've recieved.
That all being said, Yes they are a little more $$ but at the end of the day, I trust them and they don't fail me.

 

[HunterJim]

I have been studying hunting optics for some years, and doing a bit of writing about it. I have used scopes from ridiculously expensive to cheap, and lately I have concentrated on scopes that are good enough and well-supported by the factory.

You are not going to go wrong with Leupold, and no one provides better support.

I ordered a VX3 this morning, I have been looking to try this glass technology from their 30 mm tube scopes in a 1" tube -- and here it is.

Yes, you can buy "better" glass, but try to match Leupold's performance at the weight of their scopes. It is apparently not easy to do.

jim

 

[Divernhunter]

Leupold's are the only scope I will put on a hunting firearm(pistol or rifle) except I use Nightforce NXS on my 50 mbg's. The nightforce is like a leupold on steriods.
I have others on fun or good weather only varmit guns but stay with leupold on a serious rifle.
Sorry but years of being around guns/hunting and working in a real gun shop showed me that was the way to go. Also it has taught me to not use an AO for big game hunting and to use a 40mm lens mounted as low as possible for better handling. The sure sign of an amatuer is the see-thru scope mounts and/or a cheap scope. For hunting the KISS princpal has proven to be best. Also no more than 4X16 power and 3X9 or 10 is usually best. Forget the flip up caps that are so popular now as sooner or later they will cost you a shot.
I do have a good friend in Wy that has the sheperd scope on his hunting rifle and likes it. If I were to get a range finding type of scope it would be a sheperd.
My 2 Cents

 

[YoteSmoker]

Make mine a Nikon buckmaster or better same with a Bushnell 3200 or better...more bang for my buck.

 

[cloverleaf]

Called Leupold today with a question about bases for my Stevens 200. Turns out I had the right bases, but the wrong screws. The right ones are in the mail as is a lost windage screw for a model 70 1 pc base. All free. Spoke to Dave a real person and didnt have to press 1 for english or pay for the call. That is worth somthin' in my book. CL

 

[FOTIS]

They are awesome! As a product and as a company that stands behind its products.

 

[hardpan]

Bullet,
I stopped after a decade ago when boar hunting on a ca morning. The sun was not up yet, when my friend and guide told me that the boar below was big. I could make out a rock, but they could tell the gender! When I looked through his Zeiss and my other friend swaro, i decided to switch.

The scopes made by leupold are fine. In fact, on almost any shooting occasion they do quite well. But on that morning, they clearly were not as good as the high priced competition. Since on that ranch, we could only take boars (no sows), my friend got the pig, and I got to watch. So, I switched, and now I can take those shots. However, the very low light conditions are the one time that I really think the higher priced optics are worth it.
Hardpan

 

[big rifle man]

Hardpan, I would have to agree with you. I have 6 leupolds on various rifles and am very pleased with their performance, however, I emptied my wallet and purchased a Zeiss VMV 30mm 1.5X6 for my .338 ultramag. I can tell you that nothing else I've ever looked through (including my buddies Swaro) comes close to the sharpness and light gathering ability of this scope. I also like the idea of the crosshair in the first focal plane as when it starts getting dark or early in the AM and you increase the power the crosshair gets larger and much more prominent. Absolutely love this scope.

 

[RiverRider]

All my rifles wear Leupold. You can spend more and get a better scope, but I see it as though looking through my VX-II 4-12x scopes is like shooting a half-inch group. Yeah, there are quarter-inch groups to be had, but shaving those last few tenths of an inch off your groups is awful tough. Same with rifle scopes: Leupold is high enough in quality that getting more performance is not something that comes inexpensively. Factor in the unbeatable toughness of a Leupold, a great warranty, and good customer service, and it makes little sense not to use them. IMO, of course!