As the readers of this blog surely know by now, I’m very fond of fixed power 4X scopes. There’s a lot of curb appeal to a simple designed with no frills. I’ve spent most of my life looking through Leupold 3X-9X’s, so I am no stranger to the Golden Ring. With all of that being said; love Leupold scopes, but I don’t find them to be interesting. You take for granted the things you’re used to I suppose. Now gloss Leupolds on the other hand, those are in fact very interesting.
The Leupold M8 was introduced around 1964 proving to be a significant refinement to the M7 series of Leupold optics. Early advertisements feature claims of “fog-free and waterproof”, “self-centering reticles”, “rugged lifetime construction” and the introduction of the famous Golden Ring. Now I’m not going to ramble on for paragraphs about the M8, there’s been plenty written about it and in-power.org has what appears to be a much better and in-depth article about the M8 than I could write (which can be found here).
The important things to note: from a construction/design/clarity standpoint, the M8 is legendary. It is the scope by which all fixed powered optics should be compared to, and it serves as a great barometer of where American optics were at the time of its creation and production life. If you wanted to dip your toe into the vintage fixed powered optics realm, this is the scope to do it. The M8 still retains its lifetime guarantee. Enjoy the photos!
Such a clean design, something about the gloss leupolds screams “premium”.
Bell markings notated the model and magnification.
Serial number stamped on the underbelly of the turrets
The Maker’s mark
Ocular bell close up
Objective lens, could use a good cleaning!
Ocular lens close up.
20yd Clarity board test on a partly cloudy summer afternoon. The glass is bright and clear but seems to lack slightly on sharpness compared to similar optics of the same time period. These photos were taken post exterior lens cleaning.
10yd Clarity board test on a summer afternoon in direct sunlight. Definitely one of the best performing scopes of its time on edge distortion, little to none exists!
This concludes our first look at the Leupold M8-4X. An incredible quality fixed power scope you can find with the Leupold name for $250 or less used (I don’t believe there are any new Leupold’s you can buy today for less than $250). If you have any thoughts or remarks you’d like to add in relation to the M8, please reach out to us via our Contacts page. Shoot straight!
- Hayes