100 Years of Leupold History

Vision from the beginning of time, that’s stood the test of time.

From humble immigrant beginnings, Leupold® grows, based on a promise of quality, to become a classic American company. In 1907, Fred Leupold set up a one-man shop at 5th and Oak streets in Portland, to repair surveying equipment. He’s joined by his brother-in-law, Adam Voelpel, and later by inventor John Cyprian Stevens, and the foundations for a century of success are in place.

During Leupold’s second half-century, the company focuses heavily on the sports optics business. Leupold’s presence in the hunting and shooting market expands, and finally dominates, with innovative optics and features that are now legendary among hunters, shooters, and outdoors enthusiasts. Many of the industry’s standards – nitrogen waterproofing, the Duplex® reticle, and more – were Leupold creations.

1907

  • Leupold & Voelpel (later to become Leupold & Stevens, Inc.) was founded by brothers-in-law Markus Friedrich (Fred) Leupold and Adam Voelpel. Fred Leupold makes a promise to his customers that still guides Leupold today: “the customer is entitled to a square deal.”

1914

  • John Cyprian (J.C.) Stevens, a consulting engineer and hydrologist, brings his invention of the first water level recorder to the company and joins as a partner, and the business sees growing success. Fred Leupold’s son, Marcus, also joins the firm.

1937

  • J.C. Stevens develops the Telemark water recorder, a revolutionary water level recorder that uses telephone signals to transmit information.

1939

  • J.C. Stevens’ son, Robert, joins the firm.

1942

  • Company sales leap. To reflect the changes the company and the families are going through, the name of the business is changed to Leupold & Stevens Instruments Co.

1944

  • Following Fred Leupold’s death, his son Norbert, then working as a hydraulic engineer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, joins the company.

1947

  • Marcus Leupold misses a shot at a blacktail buck due to fogged lenses in a riflescope. According to family legend, he exclaims “Hell, I could make a better scope than this!” True to his word, he does, and Leupold enters the riflescope market with the introduction of the 2.5x Plainsman.

1949

  • Leupold employs a lesson learned making optics for the military in World War II, and becomes the first optics manufacturer to evacuate the scope interior of air and then fill it with pure nitrogen, which eliminates any chance of internal fogging. Leupold’s “weather-proofed” optics quickly become popular among sportsmen.

1957

  • Following the success of the Plainsman and other early entries in the optics market, Leupold expands its riflescope line-up even further. Their popularity in the optics market leads them to create other products for outdoors enthusiasts, including a compass.

1962

  • Leupold invents the famous Duplex reticle, now an industry classic. With its heavy posts pointing boldly to the intersection, the reticle style is clearly visible even in thick cover and twilight conditions.

1974

  • Leupold introduces the industry’s first lightweight, high-power target scope.

1978

  • Leupold introduces the industry’s first line of compact riflescopes.

1983

  • Werner Wildauer named chairman of the board and president. Riflescope line continues to expand.

1985

  • Leupold introduces the Dual Dovetail™ mount system, the strongest two-piece mount in the industry. Leupold introduces the Ultra scope, which features the industry’s first turret-mounted focusing system.

1986

  • Leupold introduces the industry’s first compact roof prism, waterproof spotting scope.

1990

  • Leupold introduces the industry’s first low-light scope that balances the physical laws of optics in a scope package that delivers optimum performance to the shooter.

1992

  • For the first time in more than 20 years, binoculars are actually manufactured in the United States: Leupold Golden Ring® binoculars.

1993

  • Leupold proudly introduces the firm’s first variable power, waterproof spotting scope: the 12-40x60mm.

1997

  • Leupold introduces the Leupold Premier Scope, or LPS®, a series of technologically advanced riflescopes designed specifically for hunters.

1998

  • Leupold introduces the Vari-X® III Long Range scopes – featuring side focus parallax adjustment and 30mm maintubes specially designed for long-range shooting. Tom Fruechtel replaces Werner Wildauer as president of Leupold.

2000

  • Leupold Illuminated Reticle technology is introduced, giving hunters and shooters access to both superior light management and pinpoint shot placement in low-light conditions.

2002

  • Leupold introduces the VX®-II, a total redesign to replace the popular Vari-X II; the VX-I, a reliable scope anyone can afford; a new series of high-powered Competition riflescopes; and finally, the Leupold Mark 4® CQ/T®, a revolutionary close quarter/tactical scope.

2004

  • Leupold replaces the Vari-X III with the VX-III, featuring the exclusive Index Matched Lens System® and the Ballistics Aiming System™, which includes the Boone and Crockett™ Big Game reticle, the first optical product ever to bear the Boone and Crockett Club© name. Leupold also introduces new Rifleman® riflescopes and Rifleman mounts.

2005

  • Alumina® accessories revolutionize hunting optics, providing shooters the ability to customize riflescopes to changing lighting and shooting conditions with a series of filters, and protect their optics with machined-aluminum lens covers and more. Leupold also adds its new line of Golden Ring binoculars which quickly become a new benchmark for binocular performance.

2006

  • Two major productions are announced for 2006, including the revolutionary VX-L™ riflescope and the RX™ Rangefinder product line. The VX-L has a unique profile so you can mount a large objective riflescope significantly lower than a conventional scope, for a more natural, shooting position. Other ground-breaking features include our new proprietary, Second Generation waterproofing technology. The new RX digital laser rangefinder series introduced the world to TBR™ (True Ballistic Range™), which takes the guesswork out of using a rangefinder on steep angles as well as 13 different aiming point options, and other unique features.