This leupy is no good!

[FOTIS]

Went to the range this weekend and played a little. I was shooting my 30-06 for an upcoming hunt.
A friend wanted me to take a few shoots with his rifle. He was having issues sighting in for elk. This is a WBY Custom shop 300 Bee. It is a tack driver. He sold the NF he had on it due to financial difficulties and mounted a 4x12x40mm Firedot 30mm Leupold he had laying around. I shot the first shot and it was high. I adjusted 4 clicks down and shot the second shot. Nothing! I adjusted 4 more clicks down and fired the third shot. This is the target. BTW 180 TTSX at 3200 fps via IMR 7828. My loads.

 

[gerry]

Maybe it was a vertically strung 2" group and you brought them all together Seriously though that's not good.

 

[FOTIS]

It was frustrating. All the Leupies I have left after a deep cleansing are 3x9 or 2x7 of the Vari-x II flavor. Set it and forget it scopes on my lever guns.

 

[gerry]

Such a shame since they offer so much otherwise. Failure to stay zeroed is why I moved away from them. Come on Leupold get your stuff together and fix the issues you know are there.

 

[FOTIS]

My 378 Bee broke 3 Mark 4's 4.5-14x40mm, and a 3.5x10x40mm. The erectors were shot. I sold them and bought a NF 2.5x20 NX8. Love this scope!

 

[JD338]

Nice group Fotis! Not taking adjustment isn't good.
What mounting system is on the rifle?
A few years back, a Leupold engineer told me that on the VX-5/6 scopes, use a picatinny rail and PRW rings on 300 Win Mag or bigger and keep them as low as possible.

JD338

 

[FOTIS]

Basically it has a 1913 steel picatinny rail with steel warne 30 mm medium rings on it. Gun was shooting .55" all day long with the night force on it.

 

[JD338]

You definitely have a solid mounting system.
Hopefully your buddy can get a new NF and never look back.
Trijicon and Crimson Trace might be a couple of lower price point options.

JD338

 

[FOTIS]

I really like Trijicon also. Tract is another great one for tracking and RTZ.

 

[PJGunner]

I've had three Leupold 3x9X crap out on me. Two at the range so basically no harm for one, semi-disaster with number two as I was when checking the sights at Raton New Mexico the day before my elk hunt. The 30-06 stood up for gack up duty. Number three was weird. The elk was stands perfectly broadside at a lasered 350 yards. I had a good solid rest and helf for a heart/lung shot and ather ths shot te elk went down. I quickly lined up for a second shot should one be needed and where in hell did the reticle go. Just a nice clear round window to look through. When we got to the elk ther were no holes in the body but the neck had been broken exactly at the base of the skull. I sent that scope back to Leupold and they fixed it and got it back to me in about a week. The paperwork said the entire erector system had totally disintegrated. That rifle now wears a 3x9X Nikon. I hope it holds up as it seems Nikon has reneged on their lifetime warranty.
Paul B.

 

[badaxeriverman]

Give it time it’ll do the magical “Leupold leap” as they all do. I have many leupolds that won’t adjust after adjusting three or four times and not moving like above . Then after so many tries i finally get it to adjust and zero it in. Then the next time out it’s so far off from zero. It “magically” shifted POA because it finally moved because the binded up adjustment spring finally “let loose” and moved inside for all the times it wouldn’t adjust. I have Leupolds that are bulletproof and work great… and I’ve had a lot of turds from them that don’t adjust like this one. I had a really old VX two that I bought back around 90. Think I paid 300 bucks for it and a 3 x 9. You did good for years and then all of a sudden every year it was 4 inches off or more when I checked zero before hunting. The coating also was coming off the lens. I got tired of it losing zero and sent it in and asked them to check the coating in the lenses. They sent it back to me 10 years ago as is or it might’ve been a little sooner than that. Was told there was nothing wrong with the scope. I was mad as a hornet because the year before I checked zero and went out hunting and it was a foot off the next day. Wounded a deer and ended up getting it and heading to the range the following day to confirm that I lost zero again. This is happened the season before when I sent it in. I set it aside in my safe for quite a few years and finally tied it again. It wouldn’t adjust so I sent it back in again. They finally replaced it with a $199 American. I called and raised heck since I still had the $300 receipt from 90’. In todays dollar value it was around $550. They were nice enough to swap it with a vx3i. That scope came in the crosshairs were screwed up in it. I could see the thick part all the way lo at up to the thin part. Sent it back and they replaced it with another optic. At this time, there was a piece of long wire inside in a 45° angle like they were soldering a piece on for the thin part, and they left it inside the optic. Sent that one back and the third one came. Took it out to the range and tried to adjust it three times and it never moved just like the one the OP is having issues with. After I tried to adjust it a fourth time it moved…along with the additional first 3 adjustments and was a foot to the right at 100 yards with only 12 clicks. Guess it finally decided to move the other three adjustments plus the fourth adjustment. That scope went back within two days of getting it. They were awesome enough to send me a 2 x 10 VX5 for the replacement! So for all the drama and crap they gave away the farm so I have to give them hats off. Scope has been pretty top-notch other than you can see there’s already flaking of the finish coming off. I was told I could send it back in and they would swap it out but I’m afraid they’ll send me one that doesn’t work again. Even though though they’re customer service turned around there quality still sucks. They’ve been living off their namebrand since the 80s, but their quality is gone in the toilet. I get a kick out of their spin dial reticles. They have to replacing those optics nonstop because the regular optics that I have never adjust when I spin dials to adjust them. It’s gotta be a nightmare to own one of the spin dial ones. I still have a couple dozen of them that work great but I’ve had a a half dozen besides this the ones in this story not adjust properly.

It’s a pretty common occurrence if you start googling the Internet called the Leupold Leap. After three or four times of trying to adjust them and they don’t they all the sudden just jump after the three or four times of trying to adjust them and go way out of whack. I would assume that’s what happened with mine every year is when you go to adjust it when siding it in it doesn’t adjust and you keep adjusting it where you think it zeroed and then all of a sudden the springs let loose and go to wherever it was adjusted the three times prior that it never moved.

 

[RL338]

My 378 Bee broke 3 Mark 4's 4.5-14x40mm, and a 3.5x10x40mm. The erectors were shot.

My Mark 4 LR/T needed the same overhaul. That was supposed to be their robust scope , didn’t take long for the 30-378 make it cry uncle.

 

[FOTIS]

Give it time it’ll do the magical “Leupold leap” as they all do. I have many leupolds that won’t adjust after adjusting three or four times and not moving like above . Then after so many tries i finally get it to adjust and zero it in. Then the next time out it’s so far off from zero. It “magically” shifted POA because it finally moved because the binded up adjustment spring finally “let loose” and moved inside for all the times it wouldn’t adjust. I have Leupolds that are bulletproof and work great… and I’ve had a lot of turds from them that don’t adjust like this one. I had a really old VX two that I bought back around 90. Think I paid 300 bucks for it and a 3 x 9. You did good for years and then all of a sudden every year it was 4 inches off or more when I checked zero before hunting. The coating also was coming off the lens. I got tired of it losing zero and sent it in and asked them to check the coating in the lenses. They sent it back to me 10 years ago as is or it might’ve been a little sooner than that. Was told there was nothing wrong with the scope. I was mad as a hornet because the year before I checked zero and went out hunting and it was a foot off the next day. Wounded a deer and ended up getting it and heading to the range the following day to confirm that I lost zero again. This is happened the season before when I sent it in. I set it aside in my safe for quite a few years and finally tied it again. It wouldn’t adjust so I sent it back in again. They finally replaced it with a $199 American. I called and raised heck since I still had the $300 receipt from 90’. In todays dollar value it was around $550. They were nice enough to swap it with a vx3i. That scope came in the crosshairs were screwed up in it. I could see the thick part all the way lo at up to the thin part. Sent it back and they replaced it with another optic. At this time, there was a piece of long wire inside in a 45° angle like they were soldering a piece on for the thin part, and they left it inside the optic. Sent that one back and the third one came. Took it out to the range and tried to adjust it three times and it never moved just like the one the OP is having issues with. After I tried to adjust it a fourth time it moved…along with the additional first 3 adjustments and was a foot to the right at 100 yards with only 12 clicks. Guess it finally decided to move the other three adjustments plus the fourth adjustment. That scope went back within two days of getting it. They were awesome enough to send me a 2 x 10 VX5 for the replacement! So for all the drama and crap they gave away the farm so I have to give them hats off. Scope has been pretty top-notch other than you can see there’s already flaking of the finish coming off. I was told I could send it back in and they would swap it out but I’m afraid they’ll send me one that doesn’t work again. Even though though they’re customer service turned around there quality still sucks. They’ve been living off their namebrand since the 80s, but their quality is gone in the toilet. I get a kick out of their spin dial reticles. They have to replacing those optics nonstop because the regular optics that I have never adjust when I spin dials to adjust them. It’s gotta be a nightmare to own one of the spin dial ones. I still have a couple dozen of them that work great but I’ve had a a half dozen besides this the ones in this story not adjust properly.

It’s a pretty common occurrence if you start googling the Internet called the Leupold Leap. After three or four times of trying to adjust them and they don’t they all the sudden just jump after the three or four times of trying to adjust them and go way out of whack. I would assume that’s what happened with mine every year is when you go to adjust it when siding it in it doesn’t adjust and you keep adjusting it where you think it zeroed and then all of a sudden the springs let loose and go to wherever it was adjusted the three times prior that it never moved.

Now that is a Leupold Odyssey.!!!

 

[diverdown]

Reading all the comments about Leupold scopes makes me glad I have a Kahles 3X9 on my .300WM and a Zeiss on my .338RUM. Knock on wood I haven't had a second's worth of problems with them. I also have Leupold scopes though, a 2.5X8 on my 7-08 and a 1.5X4 on my AR. So far so good. They are lighter recoiling rifles which may make a difference.

 

[badaxeriverman]

I have to many guns. It would cost a small fortune to put premium optics on every one of them.

 

[RL338]

I do have a Leupold VX3i that’s living a happy life on my 338 Lapua.

 

[Backcast88]

I have a vx3hd I just had to send back today that was on my grandpa's Remington 700 30-06. Its giving me erratic groups and no consistency. With the same load it will shoot a 1-1.25" group and then changing nothing it'll shoot a 3" group or shift 2" up or down at random. I had some accuracy issues and missed a deer last year with the rifle and at the time I chalked it up to a heavy trigger. So, I swapped the trigger to a TriggerTech and am having the same issues. So, the trigger isnt to blame. However, the new trigger is soooo much better it was worth the change.

Action screws are tight. Scope mounts are solid and tight. Factory ammo and handloads all have good groups and then changing nothing and it goes to crap. The only variable not changed was the scope. Its a shame because I have a VX5 on my Seekins and its been rock solid since I got it 6 or 7 years ago but this vx3hd is done.

 

[Bruce Mc]

I put an old, say 40 yes old, M8 6x on a 270 win, last month. It wouldn't adjust and the point of impact wandered around. Sent it off to Leupold for repair. They're sending my 6x back along with a VX3HD 3.5-10x cds duplex. I guess they couldn't fix the M8.

 

[badaxeriverman]

You must’ve got the right person or at least I must’ve beat some sense into them when they tried to replace my VX11 3-9 I paid $299 for back around 90’ (sent them the receipt) and they tried to replace it with an $199 equivalent. They got it right eventually. The vx3i I had 3 in row that went back… so test it right away and look at the cross hairs. Two had screwed up looking defective crosshairs and the third locked up right out of the box abs wouldn’t adjust…then did the leupold leap.

 

[HAT897]

I do love a Leupold VX3i