Keeping absolute quality in the crosshairs

Consider a product containing more than 200 precision parts. Throughout its lifespan, it’ll be subjected to acceleration of over 1,000G more than 10,000 times. It may be exposed to depressurization, submerged in water, and endure the Earth’s full range of climates. It could reasonably be expected to be dropped on concrete, covered in mud, and possibly even blown up. What would it take for a company to guarantee a precision product would function perfectly after decades of such abuse? According to riflescope manufacturer Leupold & Stevens Inc., it requires a total dedication to quality.

A square deal & lifetime guarantee

Founded in 1907 as a manufacturer of surveying equipment, Leupold & Stevens made an ongoing promise that endures to this day: “The customer is entitled to a square deal.”

“You’ll see that promise posted throughout our facilities as a reminder of what we stand for,” says Bruce Pettet, Leupold’s president and CEO. “To us, it means our customers always know exactly what to expect from our products, and we’re committed to giving them more than they pay for.”

Leupold introduced its first riflescope in 1947. Marcus Leupold, son of one of the company’s founders, was an avid hunter who grew frustrated with scopes fogging up from temperature changes. Always seeking out innovative solutions to problems, the company designed an airtight scope and filled the main tube with nitrogen, eliminating the potential for fogging of the lenses. It was an immediate success.

Over the following decades, Leupold created and introduced a steady stream of innovative products designed to improve accuracy, performance, and ergonomics, as well as durability in all weather conditions. In 1985, the company entered into an agreement with the United States military to equip soldiers. Today, Leupold is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of precision riflescopes, supplying hunters, shooting sports enthusiasts, law enforcement personnel, and the militaries of the United States and allies.

As would be expected, 77 years of successful growth has resulted in millions of products in the field. More surprising is the fact that Leupold provides a lifetime guarantee for every scope it has ever sold. That is, the company will repair and, if necessary, replace any scope it has ever produced if it has any problems with performance, though Leupold is quick to distinguish that it’s a guarantee, not a warranty.

“Leupold scopes are guaranteed to perform, not warrantied for failure,” Pettet explains. “When someone buys one of our scopes, they know they can rely on it. It must have absolute, perfect quality. It must be accurate. It’s critical that it performs as expected. That’s what we guarantee to our customers.”

Delivering products consistently meeting such exacting standards requires a total commitment to quality.

Technology delivers uncompromising precision

To provide the level of performance its customers rely on, Leupold routinely must hold tolerances for individual parts to just ±0.0002". Maintaining this level of precision requires careful evaluation and selection of its manufacturing technologies. When selecting a supplier, the company applies stringent demands in terms of technological capabilities and quality of service provided.

For machine tools, Leupold has relied heavily on INDEX, currently operating a mix of 45 CNC multi-spindles, turn mills, and production turning centers from the machine tool builder. This portfolio has enabled Leupold to fully machine most of its parts in a single setup, reducing the opportunity for error and contributing significantly to consistently attaining demanding specifications.

“Throughout my career, I’ve always been a big fan of one-and-done machining because you get better results and streamline your flow of work,” says Jim Conley, manufacturing engineer at Leupold. “I have never seen a commitment to one-and-done like we have at Leupold. More than 95% of what we produce goes into a machine as raw material and comes out as a finished part.”

The main tubes forming the housing of the scopes are the most complex parts Leupold produces. To machine them, aluminum blanks are automatically loaded into the INDEX G200 turn mills on Leupold’s shop floor. The machine turns the I.D. and O.D. on the main spindle, then transfers the part to the identical counter spindle to perform the same operations on the back half of the part. Precise threading is required on both ends for the lens assemblies. Finally, substantial milling is performed to produce the interface for the turret, where end users can adjust for distance and wind conditions. Total cycle times range from 6 minutes to 15 minutes, depending on the model. When a part exits the machine, it’s finished and ready to proceed directly to surface treatment.

For smaller parts, Leupold turns to its INDEX MS Series CNC multi-spindles as frequently as possible. Small components with threading are ideal candidates, from eye shells to pivot tubes and cam tubes used in a scope’s zoom mechanism.

“When we’re able to put a part on a multi-spindle, we know we’re going to increase productivity by a factor of 3.5 to 4,” Conley says. “Between the speed and precision of the multi-spindles, we want to put everything we can on them. We change over those machines two or three times a week, which isn’t very common for that type of technology.”

Changeover times on the multi-spindles can vary significantly. At the short end, swapping out a program and one or two tools can be accomplished in 15 minutes or less. At the other end of the spectrum, the process can consume most of a day if moving to a different diameter of bar stock. To maximize efficiency, Leupold expends considerable effort optimizing its production schedule.

“We have quite a few parts that are only ever machined in lot sizes that would usually be considered too small to justify running them on a multi-spindle,” Conley explains. “So, we look at those smaller jobs and group them based on how comparable they are to other parts in our portfolio. When you have a bunch of small lot sizes of similar parts that only require changing out a program and a single tool, suddenly it can become very feasible to run them on a multi.”

Leupold relies on INDEX for the precision and speed of its machines along with a high level of support and partnership. Leupold frequently provides feedback directly to the machine tool builder, then finds it incorporated in the next generation of machines. For example, when it was looking to upgrade its older G250 turn-mills, it had some specific requests, most significantly for a third turret with a B-axis and a longer bed length. These were implemented on the G200.3 turn-mill.

“The spirit of collaboration is fantastic,” says Rob Nees, Leupold’s vice president of manufacturing. “I usually visit INDEX’s global headquarters twice a year, to get their insights into what we’re doing and to offer our insights into what we need. It’s been very beneficial to Leupold for getting the most out of the technology and for INDEX to identify ideas for future development benefiting all their customers.”

The future in its sights

Leupold is in the process of replacing some of its older models with G200.3 turn-mills and the latest MS Series CNC multi-spindles. There’s a concerted effort to consolidate and standardize specific machine models as much as possible.

“We’ve really seen a benefit to streamlining our fleet of machines to as few models as we actually need,” Conley explains. “It gives us more flexibility, makes it easier to achieve our quality standards, and helps our operators become true experts on the machines.”

Still a privately held, family-owned company, Leupold doesn’t publish exact sales numbers, but business is on a very positive trajectory.

“We’re at an all-time high in terms of sales and demand is continuing to grow,” Pettet says. “Our challenge is to ensure we’re thoughtful with our growth and making absolutely no compromises to our quality. The speed and precision of our INDEX machines plays a key role in helping us achieve that.”

INDEX Corp.
https://www.index-group.com
2025 SHOT Show Supplier Showcase Booth #51335

Leupold & Stevens, Inc.
https://www.leupold.com
2025 SHOT Show Booth #12421