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zoom very stiff

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RWBlue View Drop Down
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    Posted: August/28/2014 at 20:15
I have a 2-7 Leupold I bought several years back.  Seem to remember it being expensive and recommended by some big game hunters.  I mounted it on my 458WM.  For a while there, I thought I was heading to Africa so it may have 1000 rounds through it.  Then it sat in the closet for many years.

Well I pulled it off and put it on something I plan on using more.  The issue is the zoom is very tight. There is not a single scratch on it.  Yes, it zooms, but it is not something I could do quickly and easily with cold hands while hunting. 

So, what did I do to it?  
Or in letting it set did that make it tight?
Or was it always this way and I just forgot?
Is there any way to make it so I can turn it quickly and easily?
To be or not to be, that is the question. Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing, end them.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote NDhunter Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August/28/2014 at 20:36

It will get better, just spend some time and work with it.

You do have to use your optics and get used to them, don't

just take them from closet to airplane for the next hunt.


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote RWBlue Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August/28/2014 at 21:43
NDhunter, thanks.  

My fear was I broke something when shooting the 458WM.  If it is just a matter of playing with it, I will take it off the new rifle and I will sit at home and turn the zoom back and forth until I loosens up.


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote RifleDude Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August/28/2014 at 21:58
This is frequently caused by your rear scope ring screws being torqued too tight, distorting the tube slightly and binding the zoom tube. Don't know if that's the case here, but from what I've seen, more often than not when zoom is too difficult to turn, an overly tight rear ring is the culprit.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Roy Finn Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August/28/2014 at 22:06
I don't know if Leupold improved this issue or not, but all my older Leupold's had hard to turn power selectors. Ted might be onto the issue also, but the only way to know that is to loosen the rear ring altogether and turn the ring to see if it's easier. If it is then Ted hit the nail on the head. On or off my rifles, they were hard to turn. Especially the Vari-X II's.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote RWBlue Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August/28/2014 at 23:14
It is not the rings.  I removed the scope from the rifles, loosened up the rings, worked the zoom back and forth probably 100 times.  It is a freaking workout.  Even with a cloth over zoom, it still feels like it is ripping the skin on my hands.

None of my other scopes are this tight.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote RWBlue Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August/28/2014 at 23:31
Is there a throw lever I can get for this scope?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Roy Finn Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August/29/2014 at 08:52
Vise grips would help........lol. I've heard of folks that sent their scopes back to Leupold with the same issue, so maybe that's worth a shot.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Gerry Atric Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August/29/2014 at 13:45
A lot of swedes have sent their scopes overseas to Leupold and have had the power selector remedied.
A change of faulty seal material that swells. 

There´s also this gimmick:

http://www.mgmswitchview.com/switchview-levers

Me and my friend have the same scopes; Leupold VX III 3,5-10x50  the power selector on my scope is smooth as, the power selector on his is really tough to turn. 

I guess it´s one of those Leupold things Wink


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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Son of Ed Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August/29/2014 at 13:52

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Outrider Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August/29/2014 at 23:16
Have a 3X-9X-40 VariX-II that has the same problem. Sent it back to Leupold twice to be repaired. Repairs lasted no more than two weeks, then right back to a hard-to-rotate power ring. Leupold said both times they greased the o-ring. Stiff enough in warm weather, but hard to turn in cold weather. I have given up on it leaving it on a gun I only seldom use.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Roy Finn Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August/30/2014 at 11:21
IMO, it is a design flaw and not an add extra grease issue.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote RWBlue Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August/31/2014 at 17:22
Gerry Atric, as it appears to not just be my scope...

Does the http://www.mgmswitchview.com/switchview-levers work?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Gerry Atric Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/01/2014 at 00:15
No idea, just fooled around the net and found that mechanical device.
 
I would do a mock-up MacGyver style in order to determine if the lenght of the lever is sufficient to move the zoom (and still short enough that it doesn´t get caught in bushes and other green matter.) Cool
 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Roy Finn Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/01/2014 at 14:30
Not to make fun of your problem, but I remember a gun writer penning that a stiff power ring was the sign of a good scope, as he was told by Leupold. They must train their employees to put a positive spin on design flaws. I guess eye relief that varies by an inch must be positive trait that only professionals can appreciate as well.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote RifleDude Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/01/2014 at 15:37
One man's "stiff" is another man's "ruggedly precise."
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Roy Finn Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/01/2014 at 17:54
If their scope held zero, tracked and returned to zero correctly, I might be more inclined to believe the stiff power ring adjustment theory. They don't, so it was BS....Ted.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote JGRaider Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/01/2014 at 18:07
I always get a kick out of these schitty Leupold threads.   Especially when I've never had issues with any of them (about 20 of them since 1980), and none of my hunters who showed up with Leupold scopes, about 80 of them who hunt all over the world, have ever had any issues either......yet Leupy's always suck.  I guess we've been lucky. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote RifleDude Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/01/2014 at 18:23
Was being facetious, Roy.Big Smile
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Kickboxer Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/01/2014 at 18:29
Originally posted by JGRaider JGRaider wrote:

I always get a kick out of these schitty Leupold threads.   Especially when I've never had issues with any of them (about 20 of them since 1980), and none of my hunters who showed up with Leupold scopes, about 80 of them who hunt all over the world, have ever had any issues either......yet Leupy's always suck.  I guess we've been lucky. 
Maybe so… I've had FEW Leupold scopes, had some significant problems with one, had great success with another.  However, my problems with Leupold and getting the scope fixed pretty much turned me off. In the meantime, Leupold rested on its "laurels" and did not innovate, did not improve, did not do much except sell increasing higher cost scopes with inferior technology.  They HAVE stepped up in the last few years and made some advances, but they have also increased prices substantially.  The Mk 6 and Mk 8 are putting them back in the ballgame, and I recently looked through a number of Leupold scopes (looked through and twisted some knobs… did not really evaluate) and the brief glance was positive.  
There is no scope in the industry that I would call my "go to" brand.  I like some of many different brands.  Overall, I like Hensoldt best of any I have ever used… doesn't mean it is the best, just the best I have had opportunity to use for a number of applications.  I don't advise against Leupold, just don't advise for over a number of others.  I'm not a Leupold fan, you are… I hope they always serve you well.  
A couple of years ago I got to shoot with a a Mk 4 on a Barrett 107… had great success, no complaints and I was favorably impressed, most of the things I look for were good, but the glass quality was less than what I would have wanted at the price.  I would probably purchase a Mk 8 before spending the extra on the "upper" Hensoldt… not sure I would like it as much, though.  I've looked at both, not been able to compare side by side.  
Personally, I'm looking for the digital sighting systems now.  


Edited by Kickboxer - September/01/2014 at 18:37
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