Leupold 12-40x60 SS question

[wolf300H&H]

So I bought the special run leupold spotting scope with a S&B reticle. It's the mk 4 tactical one. Seen the swish of the bullet today at 850 yard targets - at least when the bullet rose above the snow line. So the optics themselves seem good.

But when at lower power like 12 , and if I bob my head like checking for parallax(on a riflescope) there is definite parallax and second thing wonky is - the duplex lines/ reticle bends and moves !!! Fairly severe. But seems to be fixed when zoomed in. And the parallax first issue is I think only at close range which would kinda make sense .... Since it is for long range. But not the reticle lines bending.

Have been pm ing another member here who was dissatisfied with his purchase and had some similar issues but backwards. Plus he said his glass sucked. So now I'm wondering if there's a reason why I got such a good deal on the S scope.

Since this is my first SS I'm just wondering if this is normal ? Or do I gotta call korth / send it for repairs.

Anybody here familiar with LSS 's ? Thanks a lot

 

[AP]

I guess you have the Mk IV ??? AFAIK this same Leupold scope without the reticle is called GR and with reticle it is MK IV ... it is interesting that the GR is constructed the same way this particular spotter has been built for decades eg NO prisms and uses instead two mirrors to fold the light (making it a shorter telescope) - this design performed pretty well according to some folks who have tested it - the mirrors were unusually precise and (I believe front silvered) BUT apparently (according to the specs on Leupold's site) the Mark IV uses "bak4 prisms" - could the inclusion of Prisms into the light path be causing the problem - or are Leupold mixed up on their site? Seems unusual

 

[wolf300H&H]

That's above my head there ap. I'm just a redneck that shoots guns. Lol. So I talked to korth today after he gave it a few days. He said it's normal. Because parallax is set for infinite. Kinda what I figured. Just wasn't sure about the flexing. But meh. Guess it's good. Just had to inquire.

 

[AP]

I have looked through the 12-40x60 folded path Leupold scopes and always thought they were very good! excellent eye relief and waterproof which impressed me .. they are also apparently pretty tough and the warranty was ( I guess still is) very good! For a hunter there is nothing really not to like. I have read one online critical assessment of the spotter and they seemed pretty objective and also they were very impressed! I can't image folks would be unhappy with the unit. The only reason I brought up the "prism" stuff was I was surprised that the Leupold ad copy mentioned prisms in the Mk lV advertisement. That would be a significant change to the optical design and "might" have caused the "barrel/pincushion" distortion you mention. However I am pretty certain that the prism reference was in error by Leupold's copy writers. I am also pretty certain that the design of that scope (which is unique) has made a small tradeoff eg you get great light transmission, sharpness, color fidelity in a compact spotter with excellent eye relief and good fov ... the very small trade-off for this level of performance is a little distortion of the reticle at certain power settings. Not sure there is any other spotter that could do better?