scope horror stories

I have had one vortex with a bent turret.... my rifle slipped out of my hand and landed turret down. Vortex replaced it for me quick and efficiently. I was very happy with that experience. (PST 2.5-10)

I also (like many others) had Tasco BB gun scopes and red dots as a kid that failed over the years but $20 scopes tend to do that.... might have had something to do with playing army as a kid.

I have also seen a number of S&B scopes fail in cold conditions seizing up.
 
Daver_II said:
I have had one vortex with a bent turret.... my rifle slipped out of my hand and landed turret down. Vortex replaced it for me quick and efficiently. I was very happy with that experience. (PST 2.5-10)

I also (like many others) had Tasco BB gun scopes and red dots as a kid that failed over the years but $20 scopes tend to do that.... might have had something to do with playing army as a kid.

I have also seen a number of S&B scopes fail in cold conditions seizing up.
Click to expand...


Vortex warranty is pretty good for that sort of thing- where it's your fault that the scope was damaged, they still fix it or replace it.
 
remington jim said:
I sent a Leupold ST 6 x in one time for tube damage and a chipped lens ! POS could not take a LITTLE tumble down a hill While Goat hunting ! :p Cost me $60.00 NO warranty ! Abuse they said ! :d LOL RJ
Click to expand...

No, Leupold won't warranty "abuse." I bent the edge of a scope on a hunt, dropping it in the mountains just like you. They contacted me and said they don't warranty "abuse"

When I sent them the scope in the picture above, they didn't even try to suggest it was "abuse" as it was clearly a scope failure that was not of my doing. :)
 
My problem is that I like "vintage" scopes, and try to hunt with them.
I suppose I deserve everything I got coming to me.

Biggest heart breaker for me was a +60 year old Weaver K-3 fogging up at -4C. Shoulda seen that one coming a mile off. That scope will find a place on one of my pneumatic air rifles.

I've had 2 Banner 4-12 X 40 A/O's go toing on me, and lose ability to hold zero. I think that is something in the design, as they were definitely not abused.
Like others here, got tired of all the back and forth warranty stuff, not to mention re-zero and re-mount etc.
Went Diamond Back for the 4-12 A/O, and haven't looked back.

I have 2 other Banners here, both 6-24X, and they have not failed me yet. They are getting sort of long in the tooth too- think I got the first in '89, and the second in '91. They are both work horses , and look it.

I've only actually had one scope that I couldn't tolerate at all- a center point 4 X 32 that came on a new air rifle. Get a clearer view looking through the bottom of a plastic 2 litre coke bottle. I simply round filed that one- didn't have the heart to saddle someone with crap glass like that, not even as a kids toy.

I think my favorite scope is still an old open turret B-4 Weaver. It get's used every year, and nails at least one grouse a season. That is definitely a keeper scope, dim glass, non tactical turrets, 3/4" tube and all :d

Regards,

Doc Sharptail
 
I bought a used Vortex Crossfire off Craigslist. It wouldn't hold zero so I sent it in and they sent me a new one, no questions asked. I sold it and upgraded to a Diamondback and no issues thus far. I have an old Leupold Vari-X III that has never ever failed me on my Ruger heavy barrel .308. Got me a lot of deer with that rifle. I bought a Bass Pro Redhead shotgun scope when it was on special for my 20ga. slug gun. Internals fell apart on the 3rd. shot. Brought it back, got a credit, and never touched any Redhead product again. Currently, I have a Redfield, Leupold, and Bushnell scopes on my firearms. All perform well and I'm quite content. Mind you, the heaviest calibre I fire is .303.
 
Happy scope ending here. I had cheap rimfire Tasco that was on Marlin 336 for probably over 10 years. Most of my shots were within 50 yards so the fixed rim-fire parallax was never an issue. Nonetheless one day I noticed my zero wandering and just blamed it on cheap scope construction amd countless centerfire rounds. I put it away until Cabela's was offering a $100 trade for old scope. I took her in but was rightly embarrassed when the young whipper snapper at the counter pointed out the scope was bent. Sure enough that little scope must have sustained and unwitnessed fall/failure of no fault of its own. I was somehow oblivious to this fact. The kind folks at the counter still gave a $100 credit towards a black x1000 that was already on sale. That turned out to be an awesome $50 scope that took a lot deer and abuse.
 
I have send 2 burris and I bushnell legend back to be fixed, but I dont hold it against them as they were used hard and the one Burris took a few hard falls over the years.

I sent a brand new vortex viper back for an optical issue. The returned one was not much better so i sold it.

Now the torn in my side is an elite 3200 tactical I have mounted on a 17hmr. Never gets abused or bumped or treated rough due to the gun it's on and come on the recoil is about 0. I bought it 8 years ago and had it on a savage. Which had bedding issues where the rear of the action would sink lower and lower into the stock. Anyway this pos scope would have weekly zero shifts. I blamed the bedding. Had it properly fixed. Still weekly zero shifts. Sold the savage kept the scope, put it on my new cz. The other guy has never had an issue with the savage and cheap scope he put on it. It shot amazing groups btw.

Well my new cz and this 3200 still suffered from weekly zero shifts. I'd love to know how much ammo this cost me. I finally had enough and came to the realization that it was the scope all along. Sent it back. They supposedly fixed it. It's been a 2 years and I didnt have to rezero till twice this spring. It moved over 1 moa up and left in a few weeks. I also see a rather large piece of something on the lense at low power that's new. I'm so pissed off at this thing which is optically a great scope, just hold zero!, but if it moves one more time I'm wrapping it around a fense post.
 
Vortex PST 4-16 FFP - first 30 shots on a braked LM was a drifting zero. They swapped it, sent back, magnification stuck in high happened first in the I cranked it up to read a group. Then that replacement was sold BNIB. I gave vortex another chance with a 1-6 PST and elevation knob seized while checking it out in store seeing how the clicks felt. So now, vortex is for rim fire only up to and including RAZOR
 
Doc Sharptail said:
My problem is that I like "vintage" scopes, and try to hunt with them.
I suppose I deserve everything I got coming to me.

Biggest heart breaker for me was a +60 year old Weaver K-3 fogging up at -4C. Shoulda seen that one coming a mile off. That scope will find a place on one of my pneumatic air rifles.

I've had 2 Banner 4-12 X 40 A/O's go toing on me, and lose ability to hold zero. I think that is something in the design, as they were definitely not abused.
Like others here, got tired of all the back and forth warranty stuff, not to mention re-zero and re-mount etc.
Went Diamond Back for the 4-12 A/O, and haven't looked back.

I have 2 other Banners here, both 6-24X, and they have not failed me yet. They are getting sort of long in the tooth too- think I got the first in '89, and the second in '91. They are both work horses , and look it.

I've only actually had one scope that I couldn't tolerate at all- a center point 4 X 32 that came on a new air rifle. Get a clearer view looking through the bottom of a plastic 2 litre coke bottle. I simply round filed that one- didn't have the heart to saddle someone with crap glass like that, not even as a kids toy.

I think my favorite scope is still an old open turret B-4 Weaver. It get's used every year, and nails at least one grouse a season. That is definitely a keeper scope, dim glass, non tactical turrets, 3/4" tube and all :d

Regards,

Doc Sharptail
Click to expand...

Hayyah Dawk, send it into Trace Scope Repair.
Phil will look after you.

Kupple pennies taws'd yer way...………..:wave:
 
I've had two Leupold VX-III scopes fail. Couldn't adjust the windage knob. That was new out of the box. The new replacement came back with the elevation knob that wouldn't work. got the replacement for that one and promptly sold it.

Only failure I had with a vortex was bought a used PST and the previous owner overtightened their rings and you couldn't change the magnification. Sent that in for warranty and got a replacement. The replacement was totally fine and end up being sold with the rifle.

Being a dealer for Scorpion Optics I've grabbed at cost for myself, their 1-4 and 1-6 scopes for AR rifles. They are "disposable" in the sense that if something happens it's "over the counter" to get a replacement anyplace that sells their scopes.

I've had bushnell scopes fail and spent 6 months dealing with their warranty center over it. Of course a Tasco went as well.

Now I am using a scope that is made of steel (not aluminum) and could easily pound in a tent peg without anything happening.
 
Well, here is my list"
Bushnell Trophy had elevation knob direction arrow marked backwards, it took a few rounds but eventually figured out it was adjusting in the opposite direction. Bushnell sent me new correct knob.
Bushnell Elitte Tactical scope fell with rifle, total damage, Bushnell was good to deal with and for $160,- sent me brand new replacement. The replacement did not track correctly, replaced it again.
Vortex PST, main tube failed ( mounting partially to blame), sent me free replacement, ocular lense piece was loose, sent it back, they took the scope apart, played with the internals but never corrected the ocular part.
Another Vortex HS-T broke inside and stopped adjusting, parallax knob nearly fell off, Vortex replaced it, replaced unit floated zero, sent it back, sent me another scope. I have not bought another Vortex since.
Nikon 1000 Black Tactical, tracking a complete junk right out of the box, dealing with Nikon was an absolute s**t show but eventually they replaced it.
Sightron S-Tac, miserable turret tracking, sent it back for refund.
I currently run SWFA SS scopes and still have one Vortex HS-T. The only scopes(SWFA) that do as adjusted can no longer be exported to Canada and Canada post made a lot of money because of junk made in Philippines(most of Vortexes, Sightrons, many Nikons etc.)
By the time I've done all of this, had I bought a Nightforce and couple of XTR's, they would have paid for themselves in wasted ammo and postage on all of the above described.
 
Last edited:
Had an older Zeiss fixed 10 (don't remember model). Was mounted on a SSG69 for a few years. Moved it to savage 93 (quit snickering....). Pulled it out of the case in the gopher patch one day to find the second glass in from the objective rattling around inside the scope. Even good quality scopes can let go without warning.
 
When I first bought my Ruger Alaskan in .375 Ruger, I pooched 2 scopes in the first 12 shots. I had a Leupold VXII 3-9x40 and a Burris Fullfield 2 sitting idle on my parts shelf from rifles I sold off. The Leupold had something break internally leaving debris on the inside front lens. This happened on shot 4. I put the Burris on the next weekend while waiting for warranty fix on Leupold. The crosshair turned 30 degrees on the first shot. Then on the 8th shot, the elevation turret locked up and wouldnt move. I was not happy. I took a VXIII 2.5-8X33 from another rifle I had in the lockers and it has lasted great since for about 250rds so far.
That VXII had seen 1000's of rounds on 4 different rifles before the Ruger. (300win mag, Ultralight .30-06, .338win mag & a 7mm mag , so I didnt hold it against it, The refurbed one resides on my Model 7 in .308win and is happy there.)
 
Had a Redfield 2x7 Widefield wouldn't hold zero Redfield fixed under warranty
Owned a dozen Leupolds never had a problem except a VX3 1.5-5X 25 bought in the 70's the finish turned purplish and starting peeling sent in to Korth they sent a BNIB VX3 1.5x6 can't beat Leupold warranty
 
Let's see...
Had two NC star red dots have the illumination quit
An eotech that drains the batteries even when it's not turned on

Latest issue is seized windage turret on a Bushnell trophy

The only scope I have that is doing fine is a Japanese tasco.

These are the only sights/optics I've ever owned. So my track record isn't that great
 
i ve got a few failures but the worst was to deal with german warranty for a SB that was taking water if raining ... i needed to use the french importer (only warranty work done in germany for european market) to fix the issues and not to paid an hefty bill, the scope was only 11 years old.

for the leupold ones i needed to go with leupold usa as korth did not want to have a look, not talking to fix them. im surprised how leupold can fix some old m8 with bad issues even not bad as gatehouse.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom