The 3 shot saga of Leatherwood "HiLux" Scope

sneeky_sniper

New member
I recently (in a moment of true stupidity) purchased a Leatherwood HiLux scope to go on a Stainless/Synthetic Remington Model 7 in .300SAUM

Needless to say, I was impressed with the clarity of the scope at all the power settings, and the power adjustment smooth as well. The clicks were uniform and blah blah blah. Basically, I thought what the heck, this thing may be as good as the dealer said it was. The warranty was good too, and I had met Mr. Leatherwood about a week earlier. He had talked all this crap about each and every scope was shock tested and they stood behind every product....blah blah.

So, now to the meat and taters... I mounted this scope on the Remmy with Leupold rings and bases that were tightened, and rechecked several times. THEY WERE NOT LOOSE. I cleaned the rifle, and went to my range to shoot it the first time. Long story short, the gun kicks like a pack mule. Not an unbearable kick, just a you'd better be damn good and ready kick. I fired three shots, making a triangle shaped "pattern" that covered most of a 8x11 piece of paper. The scope was crap after the first shot. The entire reticle moves when the power is adjusted. No consistency to it either.

Here's the best part, I took the gun and scope back to get another scope, and guess who's back at the gunshop...... Mr. Leatherwood himself... We were reintroduced, and he inspected the scope. He asked the usual(as I expected) questions like.... Did you drop it? Are the rings overtightened? Are the rings/bases tight?

Basically, he did not want to admit fault of his product. Or, he did not want to stand behind his warranty.

Just thought I'd share.

Oh, yeah, I now have a Zeiss on my gun, and that will be the last HiLux scope I will own. Screw me once...not again. If you talk your product up, and your "no questions asked warranty" you better damn sure keep your word, and not try to B.S. your way out of it.
 
Wow,I have been looking at the Leaterwood compucam scope.The one that automatically adjusts crosshairs for bullet drop with a tiny lil'computer chip that you program with your caliber ballistics code.Is this anything like your speaking of?Anyway it sure is nice to get real world knowledge and feedback about these things.Sure makes me think twice....Thanks for the info :rolleyes:
 
Originally posted by sneeky_sniper:
[qb]the gun kicks like a pack mule. Not an unbearable kick, just a you'd better be damn good and ready kick.[/qb]
LOL! Now that was funny!

Sorry to hear the bad news about the scope. My brother's AR-15 with the Leatherwood shot surprisingly decent. But not well enough to keep the scope. Good luck with the Zeiss. Quite a price difference! Like they say though...you get what you pay for.
 
Think that if you had one on a smaller, lighter recoiling gun it would be alright. It is just what it is, A CHEAP SCOPE. You get what you pay for.

I paid for quite a bit of confidence in my scope/gun, and hopefully that is what I got. You can't actually put a price on trust or confidence, though. But if you can't trust your gun, no matter the price, you are pissin' in the wind. (my opinion)
 
Way back in my younger days I conned my stepdad out of a 7mm Rem Mag that he bought and never shot. I bought a Simmons el cheapo special (didn't know any better at the time) and had it put on the rifle. Thee guy that mounted it told me it wouldn't survive, but of course, I didn't listen. I was young and ......... The scope didn't survive the first range session.

Fast forward many years. I'm older, perhaps wiser, and certainly better informed. Now I pay for Leupolds (my brand of choice) and haven't had any problems.

The other folks are right. Spend more money on the scope than the gun and you won't regret it.

Jim
 
I have a 6 x 18 Leatherwood on my 22-250 and it works great. I have shot at least 500-600 rounds through it and it has functioned flawlessly. The clicks are accurate and it is as clear as my Leupold. Sneeky you may have just got a bad scope or maybe the caliber was too much. I had a leupold go bad. It was my fault, the front ring was ever so slightly out of line and when the weatherby spoke the scope went blurry. The scope was in a bind in the rings and the combination of the torque on the scope and the recoil of the big .300 weatherby trashed the scope. I got a new one from leuopld and now I use a ring alignment tool to make sure its true. Im not making excuses for Leatherwood but there are "bad ones" in every product line. good luck

BLACKSHEEP
 
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