Scalarworks LEAP 07 scope hinge failure

[Ape_Factory]

I went to the range last weekend and noticed my scope zero was way off. Temps were around 100 so I thought maybe it was just the heat or some other anomaly and I re-zeroed the scope. Didn't really look at the mount. Groups were bad and I was shooting like shit so I packed it up and decided not to waste more ammo.

Tonight I decided to clean everything since I hadn't done that in some time. I pretty much finish up and I turn the rifle over, looking down at the scope and I see what looks like hit marks on the foremost ring, on the clamp. I can't see things well up close and I get out a magnifying glass. The top of the hinge "fingers" has literally cracked and fallen off. The hinge pin is sliding forward in the front. There are no marks on the scope itself, the turret, anything, or anywhere else on the mount. I then look at the rear mount and the first finger is cracking the second is still intact. Holy hell. I've literally had it out to the range maybe three times?

I just sent a letter into Scalarworks asking for an RMA. It appears I have to ship this back on my dime since it's been 30 days since purchase. I just noticed the LEAP 07 isn't even listed now and there's a LEAP 08 with a new hinge design (more fingers instead of just two). Interesting.

It's mounted on an AR10, was installed correctly, with a torque wrench. I have all of the necessary equipment and I'm pretty meticulous with installation details. So check your mounts, you may have a similar issue.

Pics or it didn't happen.

Front hinge.


Rear hinge.


Wider shot of rear hinge. No damage anywhere else.


Wider shot of front hinge.


Side shot.


Shot with top of turret, can clearly see there's no damage.


Looking down the scope.


If this is a known issue that's been discussed, my apologies and welcome to yesterday.

 

[dogman]

I had the same issue with the older 34mm LEAP 07 on an AR10. It failed with less than 100 rds on it. I sent it back and they replaced it with a LEAP 09 with the new hinge. I decided to run a sturdier mount so I replaced it with a Badger C1 and sold the LEAP 09 as soon as it shipped to me.

I run a number of Scalarworks LEAP mounts on my 556 guns with thousands of rounds and I've had no issues with with those.

 

[RedRockCharlie]

Wow. This is surprising, but very sad that Scalarworks won't stand behind their product. My last two mounts have been Spuhrs and they have been excellent without any issues. I guess I'll have to keep an eye on my Scalarworks on my JP CTR-02 now. Is there a Scalarworks rep on this forum?

 

[Ape_Factory]

I did an internet wide search and there were a few threads on AR15 that divulged into romper room as usual but it seems I'm not alone. Most chalked it up to over tightening but I most certainly used a torque wrench and I know I didn't overdo it. Hopefully they have more in stock and can ship soon.

RedRockCharlie, I just submitted a request for an RMA tonight. I'm sure they'll stand behind it.

 

[RedRockCharlie]

I did an internet wide search and there were a few threads on AR15 that divulged into romper room as usual but it seems I'm not alone. Most chalked it up to over tightening but I most certainly used a torque wrench and I know I didn't overdo it. Hopefully they have more in stock and can ship soon.

RedRockCharlie, I just submitted a request for an RMA tonight. I'm sure they'll stand behind it.

Good luck with the RMA! Please keep us posted.

 

[Ape_Factory]

Definitely will. Just looked on their site and the 30mm, 1.57" mount is of course out of stock. Par for course this day and age!

 

[RedRockCharlie]

Yep! But a year ago, we could barely get any ammo, and now there are ammo sales happening again!

 

[Ape_Factory]

Received an email early this morning from Scalarworks. They'll be sending a label so it ships back on their dime which is awesome. I'll let everyone know the end result. I do have a backup mount I can use although it's not ideal for .308 (Aero Precision lightweight).

 

[1911hombre]

When you get your new mount , don't mount your scope with the turrets choked up tight against the mount. Even if you have an eighth inch.

 

[Ape_Factory]

That was actually from the mount being loose from the hinge failure and me not noticing it. It had been mounted so the back edge was 1/2" from the front of the turret. But once the mount cracked, the entire scope shifted forward and pushed the scope ring against the turret. Left a nice mark on my scope too which I'm not too happy about. Wore away the black finish. You can sort of see where it was originally mounted in photo below if you look closely.

Received the RMA label already and she's boxed off ready to go back. I forgot to include my state/zip and they actually called me to speed up the process. Great customer service thus far!

 

[pk5333]

That was actually from the mount being loose from the hinge failure and me not noticing it. It had been mounted so the back edge was 1/2" from the front of the turret. But once the mount cracked, the entire scope shifted forward and pushed the scope ring against the turret. Left a nice mark on my scope too which I'm not too happy about. Wore away the black finish. You can sort of see where it was originally mounted in photo below if you look closely.

Received the RMA label already and she's boxed off ready to go back. I forgot to include my state/zip and they actually called me to speed up the process. Great customer service thus far!

hit it with a sharpie

 

[gbaby125]

I had a Vortex razor and also a Swaro Z8i 1-8 slide in a "updated" 08 30mm mount.
Here is a pic of the vortex that I marked with a sharpie before I went to the range to test the mount again after the Z8i slid in it.

They were both torqued to 18"lbs, and then 20"lbs as per the Scalarworks specs, and both still slid in the mount.

I had the same gouge mark as OP's against the turret housing at the front on the Z8i. Brand New $2700 optic with a gouge right down to the metal on it and they would only refund me for one of the mounts because I didn't purchase both from them direct.

I didn't want anything to do with these mounts anymore so I just wanted my $ back. they told me I had to take it up with Tactical Link.com where I purchased the other one from, which had been way past their 30 day return policy and they told me to go scratch and that these amounts were the "best in the world" and there should be nothing wrong with them. Fuck tactical Link!!

Scalarworks sent to me one new mount and did refund me for the other.
I didn't even take it out of the box and sold it immediately. They had also told me while they had the mounts in and were inspecting them that the new mount would be sent with these "newer updated screws" which tells me that there was a flaw in the design to begin with being that they are already sending them out with different screws.

YM MV, but I'm done with these mounts!

As you can see in this pic it looks like the very top of the mount where the hinges are is what was actually holding the optic and the rest of the rings were probably not even touching the scope, as there were no visible or even faint ring marks on the rest of the tube on both optics. My Swarovski Z8i had the exact same marks with the added galling up against the turret housing from it slipping all the way back against it.

 

[Doge]

Sorry to hear about your gear failure.

I agree that scalarworks mounts are terrible. Had 2 of them. Didn't care for the stupid "ClickDrive" - quite possibly the worst and slowest to use mount in the industry.

 

[gbaby125]

Sorry to hear about your gear failure.

I agree that scalarworks mounts are terrible. Had 2 of them. Didn't care for the stupid "ClickDrive" - quite possibly the worst and slowest to use mount in the industry.

If they would just do away with those lousy ass hinged rings and use regular horizontal rings, and make those click drive knobs about 1/4" wider for your fingers to get at them, then these mounts would be phenomenal.

Not a smart move to keep going with these hinged rings especially after them breaking constantly.

That reminds me of the Bobro mounts with that shity little spring steel recoil lug that they use with this tiny little screw that holds it in. Those mounts would also be phenomenal if they machined in permanent recoil lugs along with that spring steel recoil lug to make it fit ,in and out of spec rails.

 

[Vivacious Stallion]

Had one of the hinges on a scalarworks magnifier crack with very limited use a couple weeks back. I like their Aimpoint T2 mount a lot, but am not impressed by the durability of their hinge type mounts so far.

I called and spoke to a helpful CS rep, they paid for it to be shipped back and sent me a ton of stickers and a new one for free. I'm gonna give it one more chance. We'll just wait and see how it does. Good thing is the magnifier is a non essential item, so if it fails its not like my rifle is down.

 

[Ape_Factory]

Update, the new scope mount is back on its way to me, no money out of pocket. Got the ship notice today. Great customer service.

 

[Ape_Factory]

Scope is back on the rifle. I missed the other replies above so this'll be a big wait and see if it works type thing. Assuming I have the latest screws. I torqued to 18 inch pounds this time around but will definitely mark the scope's barrel to see if it's slipping. Really sucks as I immediately had better accuracy the first time out after installing this over the Aero Precision. I've learned when you're having a WTF moment at the range, check the scope thoroughly! I brought out three sub-MOA loads I'd worked up to shoot for fun last time out and none were close to that. Now I know why, LOL.

Edit: On the tightening sequence, I did it in multiple stages. 5 inch, 10 inch, 12 inch, 15 inch and finally 18 inch, double checking on the 18 inch for each screw. Not sure if I need to go all the way to 20 at this point just in case the torque wrench calibration is ever so slightly off.

 

[Rancid Coolaid]

Wow, this is informative. Adding it to the list of "shit I will not buy."

I am an American Defense guy, never experienced any manner of failure like this.

 

[Ape_Factory]

I have an ADM lower receiver that's just awesome. If the Scalarworks fails again, I'll like give ADM a whirl, maybe Sphur. I'm finally beginning to realize that light is not always right.

 

[CoriolisEffect]

I have an ADM lower receiver that's just awesome. If the Scalarworks fails again, I'll like give ADM a whirl, maybe Sphur. I'm finally beginning to realize that light is not always right.

Take a look at Reptilia if you want a light, strong, "traditional design" scope mount.

 

[LoopyChef]

So I just emailed Scalarworks and asked if I could send in my old hinge design Leap 07 34mm in for a replacement. They said that they had 0 issues with mounts made pre-covid lock downs because the quality of materials were better.

 

[Ape_Factory]

Interesting! Based on what I've personally seen, QC was better pre-COVID on just about everything so who knows. All I have to say is they no longer offer the 07 for sale which leads me to believe part of the issue was the design itself. If it's being used on a soft-recoiling rifle, it may be just fine.

I've been to the range a few times with the LEAP 08 installed and it's holding up fine.

 

[Glassaholic]

I had a Vortex razor and also a Swaro Z8i 1-8 slide in a "updated" 08 30mm mount.
Here is a pic of the vortex that I marked with a sharpie before I went to the range to test the mount again after the Z8i slid in it.

They were both torqued to 18"lbs, and then 20"lbs as per the Scalarworks specs, and both still slid in the mount.

I had the same gouge mark as OP's against the turret housing at the front on the Z8i. Brand New $2700 optic with a gouge right down to the metal on it and they would only refund me for one of the mounts because I didn't purchase both from them direct.

I didn't want anything to do with these mounts anymore so I just wanted my $ back. they told me I had to take it up with Tactical Link.com where I purchased the other one from, which had been way past their 30 day return policy and they told me to go scratch and that these amounts were the "best in the world" and there should be nothing wrong with them. Fuck tactical Link!!

Scalarworks sent to me one new mount and did refund me for the other.
I didn't even take it out of the box and sold it immediately. They had also told me while they had the mounts in and were inspecting them that the new mount would be sent with these "newer updated screws" which tells me that there was a flaw in the design to begin with being that they are already sending them out with different screws.

YM MV, but I'm done with these mounts!
View attachment 7874684

As you can see in this pic it looks like the very top of the mount where the hinges are is what was actually holding the optic and the rest of the rings were probably not even touching the scope, as there were no visible or even faint ring marks on the rest of the tube on both optics. My Swarovski Z8i had the exact same marks with the added galling up against the turret housing from it slipping all the way back against it.
View attachment 7874687

Oddly enough ARC uses a hinge design, albeit different with two hinge points, and their rings/mounts have never left a mark on any of my scopes since I began using them many years ago, there is clearly a difference between the two designs. I also have a LEAP 07 and will be curious to see how it holds up, but this thread certainly doesn't instill the warm and fuzzies...

 

[cypriss32]

Broke one today….

 

[Glassaholic]

Broke one today….

That is the old style which is notorious for breaking, Scalarworks is really good at replacing the mounts that fracture so send them a note...

 

[Ape_Factory]

My 08 has been fine for about two years now. Still going strong, still hate the locking wheel texture. Simple knurling please.