Knock Off Leupold Rifle Scopes by Jon Swanson |
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Written by One Shot Charlie
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Wednesday, 03 February 2010 01:14 |
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I was having a chat with my Leupold customer service rep about a client's range finder. I was sensibly surprised to discover that Leupold has been having some problems with knock off Leupold scopes in the world wide market. Evidently, customers are sending rifle scopes in for service and Leupold was finding that the scopes are actually imitation models.
Right now as it stands, the knock off rifle scopes seem to be confined to the especially popular Mark 4 series, which is one of Leupold's pinnacle sellers in military and law enforcement. It rather stands to reason as the Mark 4's are not inexpensive so it was probably fairly easy to sell a counterfeit one at a lower than average price. Leupold has been able to track the fake versions back to China. Guided by the cases that Leupold is aware of, the sales seem to begin on the Internet in some fashion. It is also believed that some of these imitation models might have made their way into secondary merchandising channels (unauthorized Leupold dealers) through the gray market, surplus goods channeled through Europe or Canada into the US.
These tips will tell you if you are looking at a genuine Leupold or a fake:
Adjustment dial - All genuine Leupold scopes carry the antiqued brass Leupold medallion on the adjustment dial. At this time, all the known phony scopes have had a bare black center on the adjustment dials.
Objective ring - All bona fide Leupold scopes have black on black objective rings, with "Leupold" etched on the ring. The counterfeit have an objective ring etched in white on black, and does not say "Leupold."
Turrent - real Leupold scopes bear the "Leupold" logo and "Mark 4" nomenclature laser etched in silver on the bottom of the turret.
Serial number - All Leupold scopes have a serial number, usually on or around the bottom turrent. The current clones don't feature a serial number as of yet.
If you aren't sure about a specific Leupold scope or have an authenticity question, Leupold has asked that you please call their customer service team at 1-800-LEUPOLD.
Jon C. Swanson is the owner for "The Firing Line Store" and has over 28 years of firearms training and experience.
For more information on Leupold scopes go to: http://thefiringlinestore.com/search.htm?keyword=leupold+rifle+scopes
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