Leupold Rifle Scope Company

A History of The Leupold Optics Company

For over a hundred years now The Leupold Rifle Scope Company has been an American business that is owned and operated by family. In 1907, Fred Leupold started his business in optics design and manufacturing in Portland. He was later joined by his brothers-in-law, Markus Freidrich and Adam Voelpel, in the small shop located on 5th and Oak Street referred to as Leupold & Voelpel. Later Marcus, Fred's son, as well as JC Stevens became part of the company, and then in 1942, when the company expanded, the name was changed from Leupold & Voelpel to Leupold & Stevens Instruments Company. At this point, Robert, Stevens' son also joined the company and would go on to become the General Manager. Fred Leupold often said that every customer is entitled to a "square deal" and the business still operates with this belief, which is a major reason for their consistent success. Fred died in 1944 and Markus then became president. Norbert, Fred's other son, followed in his father's and brother's path and went on the become the Production Manager of the company.

Leupold & Stevens did not begin manufacturing rifle scopes until 1947, the 2.5x Plainsman Scope being the first. The 2.5x Plainsman Scope was the very first rifle scope that was nitrogen filled as opposed to air, stopping it from becoming fogged. As a matter of fact, many of today's standards in rifle scopes, such as the Leupold VX 3 are based on the developments that Leupold has come up with. In 1957, half a century after starting the company, Leupold & Stevens began to gain esteem for their scopes and had also produced a compass for outdoors-men. Because the scopes were so important to the success of the company, it was decided that the remainder of the century would be spent centering on sports optics.

The past forty years have brought several new innovations in rifle scopes with the design of the Duplex- lightweight high power target scope, compact rifle scopes and the Dual Dovetail mount system. Leuplod & Stevens also began manufacturing binoculars again in the U.S. with the Leupold Golden Ring Binoculars. Then in 1998, after fifteen years as president, Tom Fruechtel took the place of Werner Wildauer and remains the company's president now. Leupold made the first Compact Roof Prism Waterproof Spotting Scope, the first Lowlight Riflescope as well as brand new, cutting edge competition rifle scopes in 2002. In 2006 there was the brand new RX Rangefinder and the Leupold VXL rifle scope.

Over the past 100 years, Leupold has contributed positively to the lives of shooters, outdoor enthusiasts and hunters with their sports optics. Following the same road as they have been on since 1907; really listening to the customers' need for a "square deal" certainly would make Fred proud today!