Leupolds Repeatability

Kenster-Boy

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Apr 1, 2004
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Location
Northern California
I have a leupold VX III 6.5-20X40 with target turrets and was shooting the other day and to find out how much elevation and windage I have to work with I ran the ajustments to the top and bottom of their range when I reset the knobs to zero and resumed shooting the scope was no longer zeroed /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif. Is this a malfunction or have other people had the same problem. The change wasn't huge maybe 3/4 in at most but enough to annoy me. And I don't consider this acceptable for hunting purposes. What should be done about this?
 
...you're probably dealing with the "lash" issue associated with Leupold scopes... while they are extraordinary in most ways, I hear it is pretty common to have lash in the adjustments... some recommend setting the zero only after cranking all the way up and then back down to zero; same thing for windage, if that makes sense to you...hope this helps...
 
Thanks I may just have to try that, because other wise the scope is great for me. Although it may prove to be difficult with the windage because of the nessescity to turn the turret both ways due to the direction of the wind.
 
...I may have been thinking about the lash in the side focus parallax adjustment, and not the tracking issue you referred to...there is a good article on Leupold "tracking & side focus lash" on www.6mmbr.com/optics.html they also have a comparison article there between the Leupold & Nightforce; Leupold seemed to have better color rendition, but the Nightforce had no lash or tracking problems (much more money, of course)... personally, I like them both and would buy either one at the right price, for the right application...hope this helps...
 
there is a fix for that problem with Leupolds. commonaly called the Tucker conversion.

Cecil Tucker (432) 530-2919 or [email protected] is a gunsmith in Tx that is the premier scope guy for the BR communitiy in this area.

For $175 he puts a zero stop like the NF that takes up all the slack in the Leupolds and makes them 100 % certain and accurate on the click movements. He also does paralax work on them.

BH
 
BH,

Is it the zero stop thing that Cecil puts on that removes the slack? If so, it must be a different concept than that of Nightforces in order to accomplish it, because I don't see how it comes into play until the turret is dialed all the way in to the stop? Backlash is a result of a loose thread fit and unless he replaces them in some way, I don't see how it could be corrected.



When you unscrew either turret, it relies on a spring to push the erector tube tightly against the turret as it's backed away from this inner tube. If these leaf springs are weak, (and most say Leupold uses somewhat lighter springs) and drag even a little and stick, the tube may not be moved the calibrated amount at some point upon turret rotation, then all of a sudden it may free up and move a couple or more clicks at once... possibly after recoil from firing the rifle.

The solution most folks make habbit in order to avoid this problem if it exists or not is to unscrew the turret 1 MOA or so past where you intend to set it, then screw it back in the 1 MOA "toward" the spring to preload it... windage or elevation. Lefty loosy, righty tighty... think of the turret as pushing the bullet the direction you want it to go and you never have to look at a turret to know which way to dial. In a in a 9 O'clock wind, you need to push the bullet back left, so the turret gets screwed in to push it back left. In this case, you've already preloaded the spring so dialing 1 MOA past, then back 1 MOA is not necessary. If wind was at 3 O'clock and you unscrew the turret to let the spring push the bullet back right, the spring is unloading and should then be preloaded again, same as dialing out to a farther range unloads the elevation spring.

The best thing to have is stronger springs and ultra precision fit turret threads, which is why Nightforce is known for its tracking and repeatability.

Lock your rifle down in a rest so it does not move when you make turret adjustments and with a grid target, make a thurough check its tracking and repeatability throughout its full range, both turrets. This is the only way you too can truely calculate what your turrets are specifically calibrated at per click, and if that remains consistant throughout the whole range.

Other things to consider, as you were already preloading the spring when you returned to your 100 yard zero, are things like; was the barrel fouled and settled in when you zeroed it, or did it shift slightly as it fouled in while you fired more further out, was your rifle recoiling consistantly, as in same type rest and grip on rifle etc, had your barrel temp become drastically different as you switched ranges, etc...

Definitely will require some time and careful study to be sure of the cause.
 
Brent

Cannot explain it technically. But several people I know have had it done, and it corrects that problem. YOu might want to email or call him for the technical aspects, but it is THE measure to clean up Leupolds by all accounts.

I am going to send a 6-20 bumped to 14-35 to him for the fix at the end of the month.

BH
 
TUCKERIZE, It works for Leupolds like nothing else. Of course from then on the warrenty is void so for any work you might need done, you have to send it to Priemier or someone else, cause Leupold will no longer touch the scope! But it is the only for sure cure for the crap flat spring Leupold uses. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
ss7mm

Jim C. does Paralax adjustments on the leupolds. Do not think he does anything else like the tucker conversion. We talked about his paralax adjustment about a month ago.

Cecil tucker is the only one that I am aware of doing that conversion now. Wish someone else would pick it up also.

BH
 
Brent, If you get ahold of him let us know what hes doing. Also if you would, if he is pulling the scope apart would you find out if he repurges it (Refills it with Nitrogen)?

Thanks,
Ben
 
Ok, I thought I was crazy
I bought a new 6.5-20 LRM1 last year
Mounted the scope, zeroed the rifle - Wow great scope

Following week took a friend to impress with the "great" scope - zero moved about 3/4" to the left

Took apart rifle looked for the "problem" none found
my colorado trip was about a month away,under pressure I ended up buying a nightforce NXS 5.5-22 from a member of this board. WOW!!!!! this scope stays zeroed, tracks
great and has no "lash" problems. Now I have a Leupold that I have no confiendce in. It sits on my 338-300 ultra while I develop the load, now I must save up for another nightforce

To be fair to Leupold I do have a 4.5-14 M1 that I brought a couple years back, tracks great no lash problems, I still use and love that "little scope"

Anybody want to trade a Leopold + Cash + ?? for a nightforce 5.5-22x56??
 
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