BEWARE! Counterfeit Scopes

[Pwbergen]

I posted on another thread, and thought it would be helpful here.

A good friend bought a used rifle with Leupold VX-3i 4.5x14x50mm scope mounted on it this spring. He remounted the scope, and the scope tube buckled when he torqued (not over-torqued!) the ring screws. He sent the scope to Leupold for repair, and they informed him it was a counterfeit.

Additional research revealed there was a bunch of fake Leupolds a couple years ago, and they reportedly have the same serial number. (This one is 503088AB.) The fit and finish is generally good, but the caps on the elevation and wind age are plastic, and the adjustment dials are cheap plastic and obviously not Leupold.

Caveat emptor!

 

[Sykes]

Tons of these on ebay

 

[FEENIX]

Tons of these on ebay

Yep, and it has been for a while now ...

 

[kft101]

Always good info to make everyone aware of. Thanks for sharing!

 

[tgeavenson]

I saw a Mark 4 on Gunbroker. Had it verified by Leupold as counterfeit. Reported it 3 times. They never took it down.

 

[nrar15]

I posted on another thread, and thought it would be helpful here.

A good friend bought a used rifle with Leupold VX-3i 4.5x14x50mm scope mounted on it this spring. He remounted the scope, and the scope tube buckled when he torqued (not over-torqued!) the ring screws. He sent the scope to Leupold for repair, and they informed him it was a counterfeit.

Additional research revealed there was a bunch of fake Leupolds a couple years ago, and they reportedly have the same serial number. (This one is 503088AB.) The fit and finish is generally good, but the caps on the elevation and wind age are plastic, and the adjustment dials are cheap plastic and obviously not Leupold.

Caveat emptor!

You can call Leupold with the serial number and they will tell you if it is there scope. Fakes have been around for 20 years.

 

[Bigcat_hunter]

Not sure on Nightforce but you can go to DH gate and buy Leupold counterfeit scopes shipped right to you. I mean look at this link:

https://www.dhgate.com/wholesale/search.do?act=search&dspm=&sus=&searchkey=leupold&catalog=#pusearch1812

How can they get away with that?

 

[Ckleeves]

You mean the 200.00 S&B's on eBay aren't real? Uh oh I better swap out some scopes….

 

[Deputy819]

You can call Leupold with the serial number and they will tell you if it is there scope.

I did this once…and they verified that the serial number was a 'valid' one and that they had no record of any counterfeit scopes associated with that particular serial number. They could not tell me if, in fact, the scope I was calling about was actually 'theirs'.
The scope in question was originally purchased by an LRH member straight from Leupold (through Scheel's) and I gave the Leupy rep the info that I had and he 'verified' only by saying that my information matched their information as far as the original purchaser/owner was concerned. THAT alone put me at ease.

 

[cohunt]

$20000 fender strat's and gibson les Paul's can be bought on alibaba for about 200 too--- anything that sells for lots of money (Gucci, Rolex, etc) are all counterfeit by china...nothing new unfortunately

 

[Shane Lindsey]

You mean the Bolex I bought in HK 25 years ago isn't real???

 

[Dr Strangelove]

I posted on another thread, and thought it would be helpful here.

A good friend bought a used rifle with Leupold VX-3i 4.5x14x50mm scope mounted on it this spring. He remounted the scope, and the scope tube buckled when he torqued (not over-torqued!) the ring screws. He sent the scope to Leupold for repair, and they informed him it was a counterfeit.

Additional research revealed there was a bunch of fake Leupolds a couple years ago, and they reportedly have the same serial number. (This one is 503088AB.) The fit and finish is generally good, but the caps on the elevation and wind age are plastic, and the adjustment dials are cheap plastic and obviously not Leupold.

Caveat emptor!

I've seen quite a few in the UK but all with a serial number containing several 8s. Something like SC88888AB. Good info to know that there are other fake serials out in the wild; hopefully they won't be sold as genuine!

 

[antelopedundee]

You can call Leupold with the serial number and they will tell you if it is there scope. Fakes have been around for 20 years.

Also people who post pics of their scopes for sale and show the end of the box should black out the serial number since it can be used to get the free CDS dial and provides a valid SN for the counterfeiters. They can put the same number on 100 like scopes if they want to.

 

[pwee223]

Leupold explained it to me on my first counterfeit purchase / thought was a Leupold , The zoom ring turns in the opposite direction on counterfeits !

Mine zoom ring turned opposite from real Leupold . something to watch for, before purchasing.

JW