Leupold® is issuing a customer alert to purchasers of products, particularly via Internet sales, in regards to bogus Leupold products that are apparently being illegally imported from the People’s Republic of China. These products bear many of the marks and trade dress of current Leupold & Stevens riflescopes making them very hard to distinguish externally from authentic Leupold products.
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.... most of the scopes appear to originate from Hong Kong (People’s Republic of China), and have “Leupold Mark 4” laser engraved on the bottom of the turret in a silver etch, ....
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Originally Posted by bartsimpson12384
I agree with this, and hopefully nobody gets ripped off because someone mislabled their Chinese scopes. I guess we have to keep an eye out on retailers of these items. Do you know of any American retailers(or anyone that ships to the U.S. for that matter) that are falsely labeling their optics. I haven't seen any yet...
I bet you can find them on eBay, however.
Leupold & Stevens, the Beaverton, Ore.-based maker of riflescopes .... under the "Leupold" trademark, learned in December 2001 that the Chinese government had issued a trademark for the English word "LEUPOLD" to a company it had never heard of: SAM Optics Ltd. of China.
.... SAM Optics had filed to register applications for 16 other companies' trademarks, most of which were in the sports optics and telescope market, including for the biggest names in the business: Bushnell, Swift, Celestron, Swarovski and others ....
Well, looks like we'll be seeing more fake optical products. And, counterfeits of other major brands ... soon.
__________________ W. Edwards Deming ... Quality: It is not enough to do-your-best;
you must know what-to-do, and ... then ... do-your-best. Ever-Onward ... Through the Fog ---- Fort Stockton TX 79735
Last edited by aom22; 06-05-2007 at 07:47 PM.
Reason: Modify Text
Emailed Leupold (Contact Us) asking to following question:
Quote:
Counterfeit Leupold Riflescope Warning:
Were any of the fake Leupold scopes sent into your company
for warranty repair work, clearly marked as: MADE IN CHINA.
When I receive a response, I will post the message.
__________________ W. Edwards Deming ... Quality: It is not enough to do-your-best;
you must know what-to-do, and ... then ... do-your-best. Ever-Onward ... Through the Fog ---- Fort Stockton TX 79735
Well, to my knowledge, most of the Chinese rip-offs say "Made in China" on them. If you can't determine which one is real by that then you are on crack. Although, I am not sure if all of them have that on there. Bottom line is, if you find an amazing deal on any of the scopes mentioned online and they list it as a Leupold or whatever, it mostly like is the Chinese counterpart.
I bet you can find them on eBay, however.
bartsimpson, you're right.
If a person can't tell these items are replicas, fakes or counterfeits ... they, must be on crack.
Can you see MADE IN CHINA on any of these items? I don't.
However, what if, they're bought off the internet.
Then, unscrupulously, resold as the genuine article?
How 'bout the KMC mounts - Fake or real?
What if, you or I saw them for sale at a gun show, flea market or in a private sale.
Would you or I question their authenticity?
What if, they were very well priced.
In a distress sale - personal illness.
Going "out of business" sale.
Getting "out of the hobby" sale.
You name the sale ... if it seemed reasonable?
__________________ W. Edwards Deming ... Quality: It is not enough to do-your-best;
you must know what-to-do, and ... then ... do-your-best. Ever-Onward ... Through the Fog ---- Fort Stockton TX 79735
Last edited by aom22; 06-02-2007 at 07:33 PM.
Reason: Clarify Text
I guess we just have to be extremely careful when buying these products. I would only order from a retailer that has a good reputation. Hopefully nobody gets ripped off.
Curiously though, someone that has a Leupold should buy its Chinese counterpart and compare them to see how well the Chinese copied them. They are pretty cheap. It would be funny to see how well they compare with the real thing.
Emailed Leupold (Contact Us) asking to following question:
Were any of the fake Leupold scopes sent into your company
for warranty repair work, clearly marked as: MADE IN CHINA.
When I receive a response, I will post the message.
From Leupold Customer Service:
Quote:
Leupold Customer Service
Product Specialist Group
Phone (503) 526-1400
Reference Call #
Caller: - aom22
Phone:
Summary: Leupold
No they do not say "Made in China" on the scope. They say Leupold.
And we can tell by the serial number if it is counterfeit,
as well as some other subtle differences
that unless you handle these scopes everyday,
you might not notice.
__________________ W. Edwards Deming ... Quality: It is not enough to do-your-best;
you must know what-to-do, and ... then ... do-your-best. Ever-Onward ... Through the Fog ---- Fort Stockton TX 79735
Last edited by aom22; 06-09-2007 at 05:25 PM.
Reason: Correct Text
What about the poor schlep that buys it 2nd hand? What about the guy who's just getting interested in firearms? You think, after buying "premium" optics at a cut-rate price, he's going to be buying any more Leupold's soon? If you think the counterfeits aren't going to be passed as the real thing, I've some swampland for you.
I find the "you must be on crack" comment as coming out of left field. You may have the experience, I may have the experience to tell the difference. There's a lot of people out there who won't.
Emailed Leupold (Contact Us) asking to following question:
When I receive a response, I will post the message.
The answer to this question is YES, I know a guy who did this. he bought a "leupold" and soon after mounting he couldn't get it to hold zero so he sent it back to "Leupold" Leupold sent it back to him with a little note saying that this particular scope is not made byLeupold and we are not going to fix it or something to that effect. I later asked him how much he paid for it and he told me 150 bucks I looked up the scope on the internet Leupolds site and the scope was selling for 495.00. He went back to buying Bushnells.
Look What I Found On eBay However, what if, they're bought off the internet.
Then, unscrupulously, resold as the genuine article?
Quote:
Originally Posted by CH47gunner
What about the guy who's just getting interested in firearms?
Consumer Fraud However, Newbies ... are another story.
Another purpose of the post is to educate the newcomer to our hobby to be knowledgeable,
as well as wary, when buying optics - especially over the internet.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CH47gunner
You think, after buying "premium" optics at a cut-rate price, he's going to be buying any more Leupold's soon?
Leupold's warning: countermeasure against fraudulent sales.
Counterfeit Leupold Riflescope Warning Leupold® is issuing a customer alert to purchasers of products, particularly via Internet sales,
in regards to bogus Leupold products that are apparently being illegally imported from the People’s Republic of China. These products bear many of the marks and trade dress of current Leupold & Stevens riflescopes
making them very hard to distinguish externally from authentic Leupold products. .... most of the scopes appear to originate from Hong Kong (People’s Republic of China),
and have “Leupold Mark 4” laser engraved on the bottom of the turret in a silver etch, ....
Quote:
Originally Posted by CH47gunner
If you think the counterfeits aren't going to be passed as the real thing, I've some swampland for you.
Consumer Fraud The point of the post is to make it known.
That, some of optics being offered for sale as the genuine article,
may not be what they are purported to be.
It is one thing to present a product as a clone,
and, quite another, to pretend to be the real McCoy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CH47gunner
You may have the experience, I may have the experience to tell the difference.
There's a lot of people out there who won't.
Consumer Fraud A certified gun nut (such as yourself - me included)
should be able to detect a counterfeit item when they examine it ....
However, Newbies ... are another story.
Quote:
Originally Posted by CH47gunner
I find the "you must be on crack" comment as coming out of left field.
bartsimpson12384 .... If you can't determine which one is real by that then you are on crack. bartsimpson, you're right .... If a person can't tell these items are replicas, fakes or counterfeits ... they, must be on crack.
I was addressing, I assumed, an older teenager. Or, a young adult.
These groups of people understand and use the expression.
__________________ W. Edwards Deming ... Quality: It is not enough to do-your-best;
you must know what-to-do, and ... then ... do-your-best. Ever-Onward ... Through the Fog ---- Fort Stockton TX 79735
Last edited by aom22; 06-21-2007 at 07:31 PM.
Reason: Modify crack related Text
I've obtained permission from Michael Frost CEO to use information and images from the MFI website at Rimfire Central.
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You can use the information but, remember we manufacture only accessories for live weapons
... we do not make any airsoft product
... it just so happens that the airsoft is close enough to the real thing to use our items. Please be sure to stress this point
... as we do not want to be associated with sub standard airsoft product.
As many of you know MFI has been in the live weapons industry since 1978. Over the years we have added airsoft guns and accessories to our repertory.
There has been some confusion as to:
... what are the accessories are DESIGNED FOR LIVE WEAPONS but, will also work on airsoft,
... what are accessories DESIGNED FOR AIRSOFT BB GUNS but, will also work on live weapons (some limitations apply)
... and, what accessories are DESIGNED FOR AIRSOFT but, will NOT work on live weapons.
Counterfeit optics ... can't be counted-on to function on real weapons - for long.
Witness ... the counterfeit scopes being returned to Leupold for repair.
Their proper place are on fake weapons.
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DESIGNED FOR AIRSOFT but, will NOT work on live weapons.
This is a REAL WEAPONS SIGHT… Built to take the punishment of a center fire cartridge but, also manufactured to MFI specifications to work on airsoft guns as well. Generic version of the Pro Point Tasco 45mm which is normally $250.00+ retail … We have contract that allows us to make identical Red Dots to the Pro Point without the Tasco Logos… Exact same technology and manufacture (as Tasco contact manufactures 75% of their items).
__________________ W. Edwards Deming ... Quality: It is not enough to do-your-best;
you must know what-to-do, and ... then ... do-your-best. Ever-Onward ... Through the Fog ---- Fort Stockton TX 79735
Last edited by aom22; 06-21-2007 at 07:33 PM.
Reason: Additional Information and Text
Linear Mode
