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I have in the last 10 years send back 3 leupole vari-x111 scopes. None of the scopes were at the extreme ends of their adjustments, they were mounted without stress in the rings/bases. Still, they all started to skip.
Scopes were 1.75x6, one 3x , one 3.5x10. The heavy recoilers were a .358 Win and my .338Win. Soooo....not much there.
Another scope a Leupold 6.5x20 0n my .308 target gun develloped severe paralax.
Other Websites mention similar breakdowns in various top of the line brands.
Leupolds service was outstanding and fixed the problems free of charge, the 1.75x6 had to go back a second time.
The short and long of his essay that I find such scope performance not acceptable. Specially since the Leupie is one of the top of the line scopes. On a hunt, scopes can be the factor of failure or success. Lifetime warranty is great, but I rather have a more solid product.
I perceive scopes being nowadays promoted mainly for magnification, clarity and brightness, not reliability.
What do I expect in a scope?
First of all, RELIABILITY, meaning repeatability back and forth of settings and recoil proof performance.

Although nice, I do not primarily NEED the latest and brightest lenses in a scope, I do not object to improvements as long as the rest of the scope gets the needed attention for improvement too.
I spot my game with my BINOCULARS, not my scope. I do not want to spend extra money on a scope just to count the nosehairs on a moose. I gladly spend that extra dough on a set of binocs or spotting scope that will do that.
My binocs/spotting scope are top of the performance line, with it I spot and judge the animal whether I want it or not.
Then I use my scope to put the cross hairs on the vital zone and fire the rifle. There is only so much clarity, crispness and brightness I need for that. I need foremost that reliability, not the ability to count nosehairs.
Of course it is easier for the manufacturers to put in with big fanfare, the latest piece of glass then redesign and improve the innards for improved performance. Specially if the buyers think scopes are "good enough". May be as consumers we should point out that "good enough" is not good enough, specially if it happens on a hunt. May be we should push the MFG to pursue excellence rather then good enough.
Am I out of lock step with most other shooters????

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