scope horror stories

Not saying high end scopes don't fail. But they tend not to.

I suspect we'll see alot of Barska, NcStar, UTG, Weaver, Simmons, Tasco, Cabela brand, Bushnell and Vortex on here.
 
I've had plenty of optics fail, from big Euro brands to budget brands and everything in between.

Won't hold zero, broken reticles, knocked out of zero due to a horse, turrets falling off..... Here is one of my latest and most dramatic failures :)

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That has to have a story.
Drop rifle off a horse land on scope?
 
Nope, it was on an AR15 and I noticed the zero was wandering, looked closer and scope was flexing. Removed it from the mounts and it just sort of came apart. Kinda boring story, really !!
 
High end stuff doent fail.
6 S&B over 10 years period, not a single hiccup, and if i wanted i could resale them 80% of the price i paid.

Actually buying the best there is is cheaper than buying entry level stuff.:)
 
What mount were you using?

I've seen scope ring screws torqued so tight the tube was distorted to the point the internal mechanism of the scope including the power dial wouldn't work.
Using the scope tube as a lever in aligning the scope bases is hard on tubes and will bend/break them.
There are reasons things fail; the main ones being ABUSE, accidental damage and poor quality.
 
Probably one of those cheap knock off (fake) Leupolds.
Some people have gotten ripped off on those.

No, it is a genuine Leupold. Sent it to Korth and they repaired it and sent it back. The scope had quite a high round count.

What mount were you using?

Receiver mounted Weaver Tacticool x-high rings. I have the same ones on several AR15;s and haven't had anything similar happen.

High end stuff doent fail.
6 S&B over 10 years period, not a single hiccup, and if i wanted i could resale them 80% of the price i paid.

Actually buying the best there is is cheaper than buying entry level stuff.:)

I tend to agree with you about the value of quality, but I've had Leica, Swaro and Ziess stuff fail too.
 
No, it is a genuine Leupold. Sent it to Korth and they repaired it and sent it back. The scope had quite a high round count.



Receiver mounted Weaver Tacticool x-high rings. I have the same ones on several AR15;s and haven't had anything similar happen.



I tend to agree with you about the value of quality, but I've had Leica, Swaro and Ziess stuff fail too.

When do you ear a S&B needed service, it could happen but it would be an ultra exception.
 
37261539_2164273663853567_3839024331044683776_n.jpg


No, it is a genuine Leupold. Sent it to Korth and they repaired it and sent it back. The scope had quite a high round count.



Receiver mounted Weaver Tacticool x-high rings. I have the same ones on several AR15;s and haven't had anything similar happen.



I tend to agree with you about the value of quality, but I've had Leica, Swaro and Ziess stuff fail too.

I've never had a Leupold fail and I've owned and installed many in 70 years.
I've seen the results of using the scope tube as a lever to align scope rings and that's what this looks like.
The highlighted sentence shouts "ABUSE" loud and clear.
 
I've never had a Leupold fail and I've owned and installed many in 70 years.


How many of your Leupolds have round counts in the 5000-10 000 range?

I'm not the only guy to have a Leupold fail. I've had to send a few to Korth, as have many others. I have many Leupold scopes and most of them get used often. Some of them fail, most don't. I have one Leupold 6-20 on my 50 BMG that has not moved in 2000 rounds. I won't say Leupold is crap, but their products are not immune to failure as some believe.


I've seen the results of using the scope tube as a lever to align scope rings and that's what this looks like.

I use a steel bar to align rings if required. There is no opportunity to use the scope tube as a lever to align this type of rings, they aren't like a dovetail that you twist into place. I don't think you actually know what you are talking about.

The highlighted sentence shouts "ABUSE" loud and clear.

No, it shouts "use" loud and clear. Most guys that talk about stuff "never" failing don't actually use their stuff much.
 
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Helps iff'in yew don't park yer highknee awn it too...…………………………...:cool:

... they don’t do nail pounding very well either ;)

I put a couple of hundred rounds through a Savage Alaskan Brush Gun (light rifle) in 375 Ruger with a Leupold Rifleman 2-7x33 (bottom end Leupold) on it before I sold the gun and the scope is now doing duty on a light 300 Win Mag bolt ... again not a single issue after dozens of rounds as expected.
That Savage kicked like a mule.
 
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I've never had a Leupold fail and I've owned and installed many in 70 years.
I've seen the results of using the scope tube as a lever to align scope rings and that's what this looks like.
The highlighted sentence shouts "ABUSE" loud and clear.

Yep. To have not only a Leupold look like that, and then testify that your Leica, Swaro, and Zeiss equipment have all failed as well, sorry but thats not just faulty equipment, thats abuse. Or bad luck on a scale not previously seen before.
 
Bought a Nikon Shotgun scope from that large US retailer. Sat for over a year before I decided to put it on my 12 ga. At 25 yds and it was still high and right w/ no adj left. Boxed it up and sent it to Nikon in Mississauga. They sent me a new one. Love Nikon for the service but hate the BDC that most of their scopes use.
 
I have owned and used a lot of Leupolds over the past 50+ years. I have sent exactly 2 back for repairs in that time,
and one was definitely my own fault.
My Leupolds have been fixed power and variables, [Mostly Vari-X III and VX III]
They have been on rimfires and on heavy hitters. I have untimately been very pleased with their performance
Cannot say as much for Bushnell and Vortex that friends have owned and that failed. D.
 
The first scope I ever bought was a cheaper Nikon. The turret knobs were splined to the turrets. The teeth were stripped so the knobs turned but the turret did not.

Also a cheapo Bushnell where the turret knobs were these tiny little plastic discs held in by screws. Both knobs cracked and broke off. So now the scope sits, with no knobs, in a box waiting to die.

I've since had a Vortex Viper 3-9 that has been wonderful and an Athlon Argos that was also great. Currently waiting for a Leupold Mark 4 3.5-10x40 sfp in the mail. I better not have any problems with that one lol.
 
When I first ventured into this sport and picked up my first rifle from WWS I had them mount the scope. Well that was a lesson learn(never let anyone mount my scopes but myself now). Long story short we had a crimped tube and at least a 1/16" gouge in the front tube. They offered to send it away to Bushnell and have it repair. I wanted a new scope. Got a new scope. Other than that nothing exiting with scopes be they Ziess, Leupold, Swaro, Bushnell(really like Bushnell) and the mid tier Vortex offerings.
 
Wife Just had a weaver that came in a package deal last 11 rounds of 7mm-08 before the reticle came loose.
Now to decide if it's worth the postage to get it fixed/replaced and maybe put it on a 22.
I knew it was a cheap p.o.s but was hoping it would last her a few range sessions before we upgraded it.
 
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