Repair of Premier Boosted Leupold Scopes

[sgrayner]

Last year I purchased a used Leupold 6.5-20EFR scope that Premier Reticles had boosted to 14.5-35 power. It worked fine for a few months then had a reticle problem where the vertical crosshair fell off the lens. A recent sale of a similar scope in SteelChickens Marketplace raised the question of who actually repairs these scopes now. The seller of this similar scope, rightfully, directed discussion to this forum. He pointed out the perceived loss of repairability of this type scope reduces it value. I agree.

In December 2011 I contacted Leupold to see if they would take the scope and repair it, if even only to remove the boost module and install one of their reticles. They said they would not take in a Premier boosted scope. I asked Leupold again in January this year as a friend suggested they might have changed their policy. They responded that Leupold would not touch the scope. I then contacted a third-party repair company that does reticle work, TK Lee in Birmingham. I spoke with Mr. Lee who was reluctant to commit to a boosted scope repair due to the difficulty of removing the module. The epoxy apparently is very stubborn. He said he would look at the scope if I sent it to Birmingham. I have not sent the scope to him yet. The recent similar-scope sale discussion suggested that Leupold had perhaps recently changed their policy and that Premier Reticles would repair the scope. Neither is correct. As of yesterday Leupold still will not touch the scope. Premier Reticles says they haven't been in the power boosting business for over five years and have neither the tools or expertise to do any more repairs on their boosted scopes. They referred me to TK Lee Reticles. I'm still thinking about sending the scope to Birmingham.

Mary said she knew of one other Premier boosted scope failure, but for the most part the vast majority of these scopes are performing flawlessly.

Does anyone have any other ideas for repair?

Steve

[Buckshot1822]

I would check with Wally Seibert, I believe he worked for Leupold...............Bill Ackerman would be another guy to check with, he was a long time Weaver employee, or Cecil Tucker, he does a lot of work for BR guys

Bill Ackerman
Optical Services Co.
(505) 589-3833
oscscope@aol.com
Reticle Swaps. Boost on fixed-power scopes only. Call for model availability.

Wally Seibert
22720 S.E. 56th. St.
Issaquah, WA 98029
(425) 392-3567
Reticle Swaps and boosting on certain scopes. Call for model availability.

Cecil Tucker
1567 North Jude Ave.
Odessa, TX 79763
(432) 530-2919
cell phone (432) 553-4692
tuckergunsmith@aol.com
Reticle Swaps and Tucker spring modification.

[GSL]

HELLO ALL ,
Recent dope on LEUPOLD / PREMIER boosted 6.5 - 20 variable scopes ....
ALL the knowledgable persons at PREMIER are gone !
I personally have several of these fine scopes AND have the same trepidations
about repair as anyone else . IRON SIGHT INC. in TULSA , OK .
MAY work on them ! ? ?
LEUPOLD would AFTER PREMIER restores the scope to factory specs ; NO MORE !
WISH me luck ; GSL .

[GSL]

OH , by the way ; WALLY SIEBERT is confirmed DEAD
BILL ACKERMANN and his daughter will not work on variables
TK LEE may not work on variables ( or at least NOT guarantee their work on them )
GIL PARSONS is confirmed DEAD

WHAT is wrong with this picture ? GSL .

[GSL]

LASTLY , I just spoke with CECIL TUCKER and he will not work on any PREMIER boosts .
IT seems that PREMIER did them TOO permanent as such that they ARE DAMNED HARD to work on ...
HE may work on others . HE must see them . GSL

[jdp]

Get in touch with Premier, You can send it to them and they will remove the boost and put it back to normal. At that point you can send it to Leopold for repair. A little work If you want to mess with it,

[GSL]

HI JOHN ,
PERHAPS it depends on WHO one speaks with at PREMIER !
I spoke with them MAY 22 / 2012 and they told me a resounding NO as to
agreeing to even look at them ; CHRIS and the other people who might
know something about them are GONE . IF they do not restore the scopes
then LEUPOLD will not touch them ....
PERHAPS they are collectible ? GSL .

[Trent]

Perhaps we need a "How-To" written up with photos so that we can return them to factory ourselves prior to shipping back to Leupold.

I don't own a boosted Premier… but if someone sends me theirs I'll tear it apart and take photos along the way.

[jdp]

Chris is the one that worked on my scope. He is the only one there that would touch a boosted scope. But that was Sept. last year. Is Chris Thomas no longer the owner of Premier? My contact was Paul at540-868-2044. Here is the letter they sent me when they returned my scope.

[Bob259]

The elder Thomas passed away a few years ago and he was the key for the boosted scopes, I had two of his and they were great. After the death the family and Leupold parted ways and they went with I believe Schimdt & Bender and had so many military contracts to fufill they focused primarly on the military orders.

[GSL]

CHRIS AND PAUL are gone.... miss them miss them miss them....
GSL

[GSL]

HELLO FELLOW SHOOTERS WITH PREMIER BOOSTED CONUNDRUM ......
I just received a promise TO TRY to work on PREMIER BOOSTED LEUPOLD....
IRON SIGHT INC.
THEY WANT TO HELP !

[fred5106]

Received my July issue of Precision Shooting yesterday. Theres a very good article about Iron Sight Inc. and their work on some of the older scopes. Also glad to hear their willing to help on removing boost on my Leupold.

[GSL]

UNFORTUNATELY for MYSELF and everyone with a PREMIER POWER boosted LEUPOLD variable scope .
IRON SIGHT INC . WILL not touch a LEUPOLD scope NOW , as of 12 / 12 / 2012 .
THAT is right - a premier 6.5 - 20 that has been power boosted with a broken reticle MAY BE WORTHLESS ...
I would like to strangle someone , but I do not know who ...
GSL .

[Jerry G]

GSL, when you find out who, let me know because I have 3 of the boosted scopes. I have not had trouble yet but.................