Leupys work just fine for most people, and that is a fact.
Growing up I was taught to check my zero if the rifle suffered an impact or drop.
Most of the time it was fine, but sometimes a few clicks of adjustment were required. I just accepted that as fact. "Why" isn't really important when you can just shoot a couple rounds, make an adjustment (or not!), and carry on hunting. Who cares whether the action shifted in the stock, maybe the scope shifted sligjtly in the rings, maybe the bases shifted on the receiver. If the rifle shoots where you point it, go hunting!
Right or wrong, that was my paradigm for the better part of 2 decades.
Sighting in at the beginning of the season an 1-½" 3 shor groups was perfectly acceptable, and it want uncommon to adjust the scope a few clicks one way or the other when sighting in at the beginning of the season. Other variables were at play maybe the action had been out of the stock for cleaning, maybe there was a change in ammunition.
For a 300yd-and-in hunter with a 'set and forget' scope, the reticle shift 'return to zero' is making mountains out of molehill to a great extent.
Put a lightweight scope on a lightweight rifle and most shooters can't shoot the difference.
I agree 100% that a 2lb scope has no place on a light hunting rifle!
That being said, when I moved to Saskatchewan (over 10yrs ago now), portable rangefinders had become accessible and I started to get interested interested in longer range shooting. Having Coyotes stopout at 500yd got me inspired, seeing 200 class mule deer at 700yd got me committed.
I moved away from Leupolds when I got interested in dialing. and it was driven by my progression as a shooter. Now I shoot a 10rnd group to zero, I ensure my scope rings are concentric. I epoxy bed scope bases that are not pinned to the receiver. There is a lot more that goes into setting up a 'bombproof' rifle than simply selecting the scope
I'd like to continue, but this reply has taken me over 24hrs to compose - little bits at a time
So ill close wit this. For me its about getting better, better as a shooter and more capable as a hunter. Here is an interesting link explaining the 'How' and 'Why' of drop testing for anyone interested.
https://rokslide.com/forums/threads/scope-field-eval-explanation-and-standards.246775/
Leupolds still work fine for the majority of hunters, and that's just fine with me!