I was having a conversation with a customer service person from Leupold and was surprised to discover that they are having more and more imitation Leupold scopes in the market. Evidently, there have been a number of incidents where clients have returned a scope for some type of assorted service and Leupold learned that the rifle scope was not actually a Leupold at all.
As it stands right now, the counterfeit rifle scopes seem to be limited to the ultra popular Mark 4 series, which is one of Leupold's top sellers in military and law enforcement. It somewhat stands to reason as the Mark 4's are not inexpensive so it was probably pretty simple to sell a counterfeit one at the right price. Leupold has been able to trace the counterfeit versions back to Hong Kong and China. Based on the instances that Leupold is aware of, the purchases seem to originate on the Internet in some way. It is also believed that some of these counterfeit versions might have made their way into secondary merchandising channels (non-sanctioned Leupold dealers) through the gray market (surplus goods funneled through Europe or Canada into the US).
Here's how to know if you are looking at a fake or the real deal:
Adjustment dial - All real Leupold scopes have the antiqued brass Leupold medallion on the adjustment dial. So far, all the known counterfeit scopes have had a bare black center on the adjustment dials.
Objective ring - All authentic Leupold scopes have black on black objective rings, with "Leupold" etched on the ring. The counterfeit feature an objective ring etched in white on black, and does not say "Leupold."
Turrent - Authentic 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, generally on or around the bottom turrent. The current clones don't feature a serial number yet.
Should you have a question about the authenticity of a Leupold, please contact their customer service at 1-800-LEUPOLD for more information.
Author Resource:-
The article above addresses some fundamental facts you'll want to know when buying a Leupold scope. To be sure that you do not get a replica one, see the rest of the write-up here: Counterfeit Leupold Scopes.
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