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Leupold advocate

stevecrea
Last fall while I was backpacking and hunting muledeer, I fell with a 50 lb backpack on and in the fall, I broke both my ankle and my Leupold VX III 3.5-10X40 AO. I had purchased this scope new in 1976, and it has given me excellent service since that time.

I recently mailed it to Leupold for service, and they inspected it and informed me that the maintube was broken, and that they had none in stock to replace it. By the way, their warranty is for lifetime coverage of materials and workmanship. As might be expected, the warranty does not cover damage as mine incurred.

They were very good about this and offered the alternative of the Vari X III 4.5-14X40, for an upgrade charge of $81, and I also opted for the Varmint Hunter's Reticle, for about an additional $80. The replacement scope arrived promptly, and I have to tell you that I am very happy with their service.

Leupold is an example of a successful US company making great products, and giving great service.

Perhaps GM, Chrysler, and Ford could learn some lessons here!
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Comments

11 comments

Date Votes
  • craig 25-06
    Hi Steve, You are 100 percent right. They are simply the best.
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  • tsr1965
    stevecrea,

    That was nice of Leupold to give you a price break. That is by no means a forever warranty. Knowing your situation, and that most likely the scope design had been upgraded, they should have offered it to you for free. It is not your fault that they did not make that model anymore, nor they did not have any replacement parts in stock.

    I once had an idiot customer unscrew the eye piece of a Burris 3-12 Signature series, past the posative stop to clean the lens on the inside. Doins so released the nitrogen charge, and damaged the scope tube. Burris sent a brand new one, and told me to tell the customer not to remove the eye piece...ever. But it did not cost anything other than shipping one way.

    by the way...Burris has better clearity too.

    EDIT:

    craig 25-06,

    If you have any questions that you need reinforced, please find my e-mail address in my profile. I did not say the Leupold brand was not a good one, just that from my experience with BOTH Burris and Leupold, that Burris has caught and passed Leupold...in both Quality and Value.

    Best
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  • Horse Plains Drifter
    quote:Originally posted by craig 25-06
    Hi Steve, You are 100 percent right. They are simply the best.


    Yep
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  • craig 25-06
    tsr,

    B.S. use your Burris for forty years and if they are still around and still warranty a forty year old scope get back to us.
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  • stevecrea
    Craig 25-06:

    Can I assume that you love the 25-06?

    I have two. One in a Sako 75 LH, and the other in a Sako AV LH.

    Do you use them for longrange varmints?
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  • JustC
    quote:Originally posted by craig 25-06
    tsr,

    B.S. use your Burris for forty years and if they are still around and still warranty a forty year old scope get back to us.


    Just out of curiosity, how many leupolds and Burris scopes have you had for 40yrs in order to run a scientificaly unbiased experiment?

    forever means forever,..there is no going back on that warranty. Burris IMHO is better in their service times. I bought one broken for cheap, sent it in, had the reticle changed, turret caps replaced and new lense covers for free, and had it back in under 2 weeks.

    The leupold MK IV I had to send back,..their flagship scope, took a lot longer to get back to me.

    leupold has been resting on it's laurels for a while now. I find the Burris signature to be slightly better than the VXIII line to my eyes, and for a more reasonable price. Now,..if burris can produce an equal or slightly better product, that sells for $100-$150 less, and still offer the same forever warranty,..then who is getting taken advantage of?????? the leupold customer because he has been introduced to expensive marketing campaigns, which increase the overall cost of the end product.

    AND, if Burris wasn't up to par, why would Beretta USA have purchased them and included them in their product line along the likes of Sako, Tikka, Stoeger, Beretta, Benelli???? That is an awful strong pedigree. It is no suprise to me as I sold most all of my Leupolds and replaced them with Burris signature series. The MK IV's were replaced with Nightforce NXS's,...a world ahead[8]

    Sorry for the highjack stevecrea
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  • ern98
    I got hold of a Vari II on which the main tube had been bent. I guess they were still making them then, but I sent it back to Leupold and they put it right for nothing more then the return shipping. But the question of Burris still doing their warranty in forty years is a good one. Does anyone know offhand how old Burris is and has their warranty always been as it is?
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  • stevecrea
    JustC:

    That's OK. I am always interested to hear opinions about good glass. Many of my friends are using Burris. One friend has a Burris Black Diamond 8-32. He is deadly with it. However, I recall that it is a quite heavy scope. Also, when we varmint hunt together, he does not seem to be able to see them as well as I do through his scope, but that may be due to eyesight rather than the scope. All of mine are Leupolds, with the exception of a Bushnell 4200 that I am quite happy with.

    I am interested in the NightForce scopes, and would like to try one. Are these made here in Idaho, in Orofino? Or, do they just assemble them in Orofino?
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  • craig 25-06
    Hi again Steve, I also have two 25-06`s, one 700 adl and a 700 bdl.
    They are my favorite muley rifles.I have taken several 30" and better bucks with both of them.

    AS for Justc`s question. I have several Leupolds that are at least 30 years old and have no doubt that Leupold will stand behind them forever. Just in the last six months I sent in a pair of 20 year old field glasses for repair (my wife dropped them on the cement)and had them back in two weeks, no charge.

    I`m not saying that some of these other companys aren`t as good or maybe even better but I for one won`t live long enough to know for sure.
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  • tsr1965
    quote:Originally posted by ern98
    I got hold of a Vari II on which the main tube had been bent. I guess they were still making them then, but I sent it back to Leupold and they put it right for nothing more then the return shipping. But the question of Burris still doing their warranty in forty years is a good one. Does anyone know offhand how old Burris is and has their warranty always been as it is?


    I know That I have been using Burris scopes since 1983. I am not sure when they first started making scopes, but they have always had a no matter what warranty. There is another up and coming company that I hope survives, that does the same, and that is Sightron. They have great value in optics. Nikon is not bad, and actually their optics are really decent, just their warranty sucks.

    All I can tell you is the experience that I have had with Leupold, Burris, Nikon, Weaver, Simmons, Sightron, and now NightForce.

    Best
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  • JustC
    quote:Originally posted by stevecrea
    JustC:

    That's OK. I am always interested to hear opinions about good glass. Many of my friends are using Burris. One friend has a Burris Black Diamond 8-32. He is deadly with it. However, I recall that it is a quite heavy scope. Also, when we varmint hunt together, he does not seem to be able to see them as well as I do through his scope, but that may be due to eyesight rather than the scope. All of mine are Leupolds, with the exception of a Bushnell 4200 that I am quite happy with.

    I am interested in the NightForce scopes, and would like to try one. Are these made here in Idaho, in Orofino? Or, do they just assemble them in Orofino?


    Steve, from what I understand, Nightforce glass is made in japan to the nightforce specs. It is superb glass due to the quality constraints placed on it, and the proprietary coatings are some of the hardest in the business (one reason for military contracts). The clarity is a long ways past most anything in their price range. The Swaro's and S&B's have better color transmission according to some folks,..that would matter if I was bird watching, but I am only interested in target performance. They also are tougher than just about anything out there,..do a search and you will find pictures of the NXS that had a 30cal bullet goe through the main tube, and the operator taped up the hole and continued to use it for the rest of the operation,...can't discount THAT performance.

    The burris will be heavier than the leupy,..they have thicker main tubes. I like thicker,...it puts up with more abuse and the extra few oz's dont bother me to carry around.

    Once you buy a Nightforce NXS, you will forever be spoiled[;)]
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