Leopold CQT? Super Tactical Turbo Ultra Scope? Or absurdly overpriced?

Correia · May 29, 2002, 04:16 PM

I got to handle an AR15 with a CQT (CQC?, whatever) mounted on it the other day. For those of you who haven't seen one of these, it is a heavy duty red dot style sight, only it offers variable 1-3x magnifcation. The recticle is an orange dot inside a larger orange circle. I did not find out what MOA the dot size was. The scope cost $799.

It looked good. Field of view wasn't that big. The quality of the actual optic seemed ok, but not super wonderful. And it still needs batteries to operate.

So why on earth does this thing cost about 800 bucks?

I know that Leopold traditionally makes really good scopes, and this is their big entrance into the "tactical" scope market, so they are pricing the scope along with the ACOGs and the ELCANs.

But come on now, why won't somebody make a combat style scope priced for us average joes who don't have a Knight RIS and a $500 flashlight on all of our rifles.

At least for that much money it should work off of tritium, fiber optics, and then batteries. Not just batteries.

Anybody have any opinions on this beast?

Watch-Six · May 29, 2002, 04:27 PM

Larry, I have a CQ/T on one of my CARs. I quite like it. You would be welcome to give it a try sometime. I was a little surprised by the size of the thing and the cost seems pretty steep. You don't need the batteries unless it is dark. The scope functions perfectly well with a black reticle. I'm not totally won over, but so far my impression is favorable. I spend too much money on guns, so this item isn't out of line for a fanatic like me. Watch-Six

Correia · May 29, 2002, 04:45 PM

Watch-Six, I would love to actually shoot one. I was only able to handle one at Sportsman's Warehouse. Don't get me wrong, I think it looked like it would be quite a good scope, but the price tag just about put me into shock.

By the way, you should come and shoot in the next 3 gun at the FARM. (June 29th). Either that or I'll be at the next IDPA match in Springville (probably).

Watch-Six · May 29, 2002, 05:01 PM

I was going to shoot in the last three gun match, but my father died the morning of the match. Obviously, I had other business to take care of. I can't go to the next one either, I will be on vacation out of the area. I would be happy to bring it to the IDPA shoot or just meet you sometime. I have not used it a great deal yet. I put it on my CQB type carbine, not on my more accurate ARs. They have more powerful scopes. After looking at the calendar, I probably will be on vacation for the next IDPA shoot in June too. Oh well, things happen. Stay in touch. Watch-Six

Dave3006 · May 29, 2002, 05:01 PM

Here is my take. The Surefire flashlights, Leupold tactical scopes, Trijicon red dot scopes ect... are meant to be sold primarily to the government. They are good products. However, the prices are absurd. The government buys them because they are spending our tax money and could give a rat's ass about how hard we worked for it. When necessary, the above companies will discount off these incredibly high prices so some overpaid gov't employee can claim he got a wonderful deal.

If guys like you or me buy at the wacked out prices, that is even better. They reap superprofits. Our purchases at the insane prices legitimizes the pricing to their real customers (U.S. govt).

Don't get me wrong. No one makes a better light than Surefire. Is a flashlight really worth $350 for your AR15? Absolutely not based on the materials and reasonable marketing costs. But hey, the government is rich on our tax dollars and pays the prices.

STEVE M · May 29, 2002, 05:04 PM

What is the eye relief on those things? All I have seen is 'for AR-15s'. I also thought it sounded neat, might even make a good scope for a scout type rifle.

Schmit · May 29, 2002, 05:16 PM

I've been looking for a Red Dot scope for a while. Looked at them all. I've settled on the Trijicon Tripower.

Red "dot" (well actually a chevron), 30mm tube., Tritium powered, with fiber optic illumination and battery back up.
It's like a CompM(L) but better. Trijicon is asking $550. but I'm sure you'll be able to find them for $4XX when they finally do hit the street.

When they do I'll let you know how it works.

Watch-Six · May 29, 2002, 05:24 PM

I don't have the exact eye relief for the CQ/T, but it is a conventional scope. Your eye is near to the eye piece. It is not an extended eye relief optic. It would not work well as a forward mounted scope on a scout rifle. Watch-Six

Jeff White · May 29, 2002, 06:10 PM

Larry,
Save your money and buy what you want. I don't really kow too many people who are satisfied with the Leupold CQ/T. Pat Rogers made an interesting post on Tactical Forums about them today. Apparently Some reps from Leupold showed up at Gunsite with them.

$799 is considerably less then MFSRP for the CQ/T.
For the money you could do a lot better. Have you looked into the Trijicons with Bindon Aiming Concept? They can be bought pretty reasonably and they don't need batteries. A guy I was in Jim Crews carbine course with had one, I was impressed. The dot was kind of big, but it did give you both the magnafication and the red dot on the same platform.

What kind of shooting do you want to do? I'd recommend the Aimpoint Comp M2. It's available for half the cost of the CQ/T and good on a man sized target out to about 400 meters.

Jeff

G3 · May 29, 2002, 07:24 PM

I was looking to get a $500 (gulp) compact AOCG from SWFA, and then they pulled a bait-and-switch on me. They said Trijicon had jacked their prices upby $200.

They would not honor their SGN advertised price.

No way in Hades am I spending $700-800 on a 1.5x to 2x scope.

Redhook · May 30, 2002, 02:39 AM

I love my Leupold scopes, but I got to see the CQ/T at shot show and I wasn't overly impressed. My biggest fear was confirmed when I got the chance to see it... That 3MOA dot is huge!!! After that the optics are typical Leupold, the eye relief was fine, and it is a solid piece of equipment. But it just doesn't seem worth the money. I might buy one if it was half of what the going rate is.

I also like the optics of the ACOG, but the eye relief is horrid. And the price is pretty high as well.

I decided on an Aimpoint M2 about 6mos ago and I love it. Jeff White is right. With a little hold over I have no problems hitting a man sized gong at 450yrds with good consistency using a 16" Colt M4 A3.

-Red-

JIH · May 30, 2002, 06:50 AM

The optics manufacturers (along with the illuminator manufacturers) have discovered that the "tactical" folks have very deep pockets. (after all, if you can afford night sites, infra-red, lasers, Surefire lights, tactical slings, Knight's RAS, vertical foregrips, a tailored ghilie suit, etc, and you believe that it all makes you a berrer warrior... you can afford a $900 more of warrior attitude in a red dot with 3X magnification)

It does not cost Trijicon $200 more this year to make ACOGs than it did before. They know people will fork it over.

It's capitalism.

dZ · May 30, 2002, 08:22 AM

this was posted on the AR list:

>I can't wait to talk to Leupold about the CQ/T at SHOT.
>
>When the moods strikes me, I'll walk over to the Leupold booth and
>see if I can pull some chain.
>
>"Hey, that's slick."
>
>"Long eye relief, like the scout scope you guys make, right? Really?
>It's only 1 or 2 inches? And it depends on magnification? Hmm."
>
>"What's the tube diameter? Really? Only 14mm? Wow, that's like 5/8-inch"
>
>"Hey, how long is this? Wow, almost 9 inches long. Sort of eats up
>the whole rail and precludes the use of any NV gear. Hmm."
>
>"Show much does the dot cover at, say, 100 yards?"
>
>"What sort of battery life? Really, up to 7 hours on a AA battery?"
>
>"Hey, there's spare picatinny rails on the top and sides of the
>sight/scope. Clever. What do you suggest hanging there? A flashlight?
>Ok. So, given the mounting requirement (well back on the flattop), that
>means the light will be so far back that you'll light up your front
>sight base if you're using an AR15. Hmm."
>
>"Well, at least it's competitively priced against the Aimpoint, right?
>Wow, $1,248."
>
>"But the price includes mounting gear? Oh, it doesn't."
>
>

Correia · May 30, 2002, 08:46 AM

Watch Six, sorry about your Dad. I'm going shooting tomorrow, nothing formal, just me, George, and skyder doing some drills. PM me if you want to come and I'll let you know when and where.

Jeff, I'm not really looking for anything right now. I'm still trying to master my iron sights.

GnL · May 30, 2002, 10:22 AM

Maybe not a significant difference to you, but many retailers offer the CQ/T at around $699, not $799 (one example is SWFA ). The $799 price is typically for the "certified" version, which I believe is intended for the military. If you want to put it on a flattop, you also need a separate mount that runs about $30.

fix · May 30, 2002, 10:32 AM

"Tactical" = $$$

Absurd? Totally. Overpriced? Depends on your income and your level of desire to be "tactical".

IMHO it will never compete with the ACOG.

Jamie Young · May 30, 2002, 12:09 PM

I'd pay no more than $400 for that POS. The only good thing about it is the reticle stays there even when the batteries die.

Jason280 · May 30, 2002, 02:21 PM

I wouldn't waste my money on the thing even if it cost $200! I've tried one, and I wasn't impressed at all. You'd be better off buying a $40 Tasco and spending the rest on another AR. Leupold makes some great scopes, but I'm afraid they might be pricing themselves out of the market...

MAD DOG · May 30, 2002, 08:32 PM

The CQT is a POS. :barf:
Overweight, tiny (14mm!!) objective lens, etc, ad nauseum.

A classic example of a great idea terribly executed. Sad, we expect better from Leupold.

-Yo- · May 30, 2002, 09:16 PM

Check out the Eotech.

I like the idea of a 2x scope on a CQB rifle. Red dot is nice at night. If I recall, that is one of the options on the HK G36. Very simple, very basic, mounts inside the handle.

BTW, I have to echo the thoughts that stuff sold to our Police/military is overpriced on purpose. One of the local SWAT teams was at my range last week. They had some very cool short-barrel G36's, but every possible gizmo you could put on the gun was hanging off. Heck, I thought I spotted a garage door opener and a mood ring on there.

Yet, when I asked what they were shooting through that gun, he held up a box of Winch USA white box. I mentioned that that ammo would probably not fragment properly at the velocities of a 9" bbl, the guy just stared like he didn't have a clue.

I guess they have a big gizmo budget, but no budget for ammo or chron testing. No surprise, my county's SWAT had just one call-out last year, and that was a false alarm.

Somebody has to remind these guys whom they are working for.

May 29, 2002, 04:16 PM	#1
Correia Senior Member Join Date: December 3, 1998 Location: SLC Utah Posts: 3,740	Leopold CQT? Super Tactical Turbo Ultra Scope? Or absurdly overpriced? I got to handle an AR15 with a CQT (CQC?, whatever) mounted on it the other day. For those of you who haven't seen one of these, it is a heavy duty red dot style sight, only it offers variable 1-3x magnifcation. The recticle is an orange dot inside a larger orange circle. I did not find out what MOA the dot size was. The scope cost $799. It looked good. Field of view wasn't that big. The quality of the actual optic seemed ok, but not super wonderful. And it still needs batteries to operate. So why on earth does this thing cost about 800 bucks? I know that Leopold traditionally makes really good scopes, and this is their big entrance into the "tactical" scope market, so they are pricing the scope along with the ACOGs and the ELCANs. But come on now, why won't somebody make a combat style scope priced for us average joes who don't have a Knight RIS and a $500 flashlight on all of our rifles. At least for that much money it should work off of tritium, fiber optics, and then batteries. Not just batteries. Anybody have any opinions on this beast?

May 29, 2002, 05:04 PM	#6
STEVE M Senior Member Join Date: February 7, 1999 Location: TN. USA Posts: 607	What is the eye relief on those things? All I have seen is 'for AR-15s'. I also thought it sounded neat, might even make a good scope for a scout type rifle. __________________ MOLON LABE! I've joined the 300.

May 29, 2002, 05:16 PM	#7
Schmit Staff Alumnus Join Date: March 11, 1999 Location: Masquito infested flatlands of Mid-FL Posts: 1,857	I've been looking for a Red Dot scope for a while. Looked at them all. I've settled on the Trijicon Tripower. Red "dot" (well actually a chevron), 30mm tube., Tritium powered, with fiber optic illumination and battery back up. It's like a CompM(L) but better. Trijicon is asking $550. but I'm sure you'll be able to find them for $4XX when they finally do hit the street. When they do I'll let you know how it works. __________________ Schmit GySgt, USMC(Ret) "Notoriety is fleeting, Anonymity is forever!"

May 30, 2002, 08:22 AM	#13
dZ Senior Member Join Date: May 31, 1999 Location: Exiled, Fetid Swamp, DC Posts: 7,548	this was posted on the AR list: >I can't wait to talk to Leupold about the CQ/T at SHOT. > >When the moods strikes me, I'll walk over to the Leupold booth and >see if I can pull some chain. > >"Hey, that's slick." > >"Long eye relief, like the scout scope you guys make, right? Really? >It's only 1 or 2 inches? And it depends on magnification? Hmm." > >"What's the tube diameter? Really? Only 14mm? Wow, that's like 5/8-inch" > >"Hey, how long is this? Wow, almost 9 inches long. Sort of eats up >the whole rail and precludes the use of any NV gear. Hmm." > >"Show much does the dot cover at, say, 100 yards?" > >"What sort of battery life? Really, up to 7 hours on a AA battery?" > >"Hey, there's spare picatinny rails on the top and sides of the >sight/scope. Clever. What do you suggest hanging there? A flashlight? >Ok. So, given the mounting requirement (well back on the flattop), that >means the light will be so far back that you'll light up your front >sight base if you're using an AR15. Hmm." > >"Well, at least it's competitively priced against the Aimpoint, right? >Wow, $1,248." > >"But the price includes mounting gear? Oh, it doesn't." > > __________________ "O tell the Lacedomecians to damn the torpedoes." BOTR, Chapter V: Some Monsters

May 30, 2002, 10:22 AM	#15
GnL Senior Member Join Date: June 1, 2000 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 321	Maybe not a significant difference to you, but many retailers offer the CQ/T at around $699, not $799 (one example is SWFA ). The $799 price is typically for the "certified" version, which I believe is intended for the military. If you want to put it on a flattop, you also need a separate mount that runs about $30. __________________ NRA GOA (Life) SAF JPFO SAS "For every complex problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong." -- H.L. Mencken

May 29, 2002, 04:27 PM	#2
Watch-Six Senior Member Join Date: April 19, 2000 Location: Utah Posts: 654	Larry, I have a CQ/T on one of my CARs. I quite like it. You would be welcome to give it a try sometime. I was a little surprised by the size of the thing and the cost seems pretty steep. You don't need the batteries unless it is dark. The scope functions perfectly well with a black reticle. I'm not totally won over, but so far my impression is favorable. I spend too much money on guns, so this item isn't out of line for a fanatic like me. Watch-Six

May 29, 2002, 04:45 PM	#3
Correia Senior Member Join Date: December 3, 1998 Location: SLC Utah Posts: 3,740	Watch-Six, I would love to actually shoot one. I was only able to handle one at Sportsman's Warehouse. Don't get me wrong, I think it looked like it would be quite a good scope, but the price tag just about put me into shock. By the way, you should come and shoot in the next 3 gun at the FARM. (June 29th). Either that or I'll be at the next IDPA match in Springville (probably).

May 29, 2002, 05:01 PM	#4
Watch-Six Senior Member Join Date: April 19, 2000 Location: Utah Posts: 654	I was going to shoot in the last three gun match, but my father died the morning of the match. Obviously, I had other business to take care of. I can't go to the next one either, I will be on vacation out of the area. I would be happy to bring it to the IDPA shoot or just meet you sometime. I have not used it a great deal yet. I put it on my CQB type carbine, not on my more accurate ARs. They have more powerful scopes. After looking at the calendar, I probably will be on vacation for the next IDPA shoot in June too. Oh well, things happen. Stay in touch. Watch-Six

May 29, 2002, 05:01 PM	#5
Dave3006 Senior Member Join Date: July 25, 2000 Location: Lake Forest, CA USA Posts: 493	Here is my take. The Surefire flashlights, Leupold tactical scopes, Trijicon red dot scopes ect... are meant to be sold primarily to the government. They are good products. However, the prices are absurd. The government buys them because they are spending our tax money and could give a rat's ass about how hard we worked for it. When necessary, the above companies will discount off these incredibly high prices so some overpaid gov't employee can claim he got a wonderful deal. If guys like you or me buy at the wacked out prices, that is even better. They reap superprofits. Our purchases at the insane prices legitimizes the pricing to their real customers (U.S. govt). Don't get me wrong. No one makes a better light than Surefire. Is a flashlight really worth $350 for your AR15? Absolutely not based on the materials and reasonable marketing costs. But hey, the government is rich on our tax dollars and pays the prices.

May 29, 2002, 05:24 PM	#8
Watch-Six Senior Member Join Date: April 19, 2000 Location: Utah Posts: 654	I don't have the exact eye relief for the CQ/T, but it is a conventional scope. Your eye is near to the eye piece. It is not an extended eye relief optic. It would not work well as a forward mounted scope on a scout rifle. Watch-Six

May 29, 2002, 06:10 PM	#9
Jeff White Senior Member Join Date: October 29, 1998 Location: Kinmundy, IL, USA Posts: 1,397	Larry, Save your money and buy what you want. I don't really kow too many people who are satisfied with the Leupold CQ/T. Pat Rogers made an interesting post on Tactical Forums about them today. Apparently Some reps from Leupold showed up at Gunsite with them. $799 is considerably less then MFSRP for the CQ/T. For the money you could do a lot better. Have you looked into the Trijicons with Bindon Aiming Concept? They can be bought pretty reasonably and they don't need batteries. A guy I was in Jim Crews carbine course with had one, I was impressed. The dot was kind of big, but it did give you both the magnafication and the red dot on the same platform. What kind of shooting do you want to do? I'd recommend the Aimpoint Comp M2. It's available for half the cost of the CQ/T and good on a man sized target out to about 400 meters. Jeff

May 29, 2002, 07:24 PM	#10
G3 Senior Member Join Date: September 24, 2000 Location: Central Indiana Posts: 138	I was looking to get a $500 (gulp) compact AOCG from SWFA, and then they pulled a bait-and-switch on me. They said Trijicon had jacked their prices upby $200. They would not honor their SGN advertised price. No way in Hades am I spending $700-800 on a 1.5x to 2x scope.

May 30, 2002, 02:39 AM	#11
Redhook Senior Member Join Date: January 25, 2001 Posts: 254	I love my Leupold scopes, but I got to see the CQ/T at shot show and I wasn't overly impressed. My biggest fear was confirmed when I got the chance to see it... That 3MOA dot is huge!!! After that the optics are typical Leupold, the eye relief was fine, and it is a solid piece of equipment. But it just doesn't seem worth the money. I might buy one if it was half of what the going rate is. I also like the optics of the ACOG, but the eye relief is horrid. And the price is pretty high as well. I decided on an Aimpoint M2 about 6mos ago and I love it. Jeff White is right. With a little hold over I have no problems hitting a man sized gong at 450yrds with good consistency using a 16" Colt M4 A3. -Red-

May 30, 2002, 06:50 AM	#12
JIH Senior Member Join Date: November 11, 1999 Location: Houston, TX, USA Posts: 963	The optics manufacturers (along with the illuminator manufacturers) have discovered that the "tactical" folks have very deep pockets. (after all, if you can afford night sites, infra-red, lasers, Surefire lights, tactical slings, Knight's RAS, vertical foregrips, a tailored ghilie suit, etc, and you believe that it all makes you a berrer warrior... you can afford a $900 more of warrior attitude in a red dot with 3X magnification) It does not cost Trijicon $200 more this year to make ACOGs than it did before. They know people will fork it over. It's capitalism.

May 30, 2002, 08:46 AM	#14
Correia Senior Member Join Date: December 3, 1998 Location: SLC Utah Posts: 3,740	Watch Six, sorry about your Dad. I'm going shooting tomorrow, nothing formal, just me, George, and skyder doing some drills. PM me if you want to come and I'll let you know when and where. Jeff, I'm not really looking for anything right now. I'm still trying to master my iron sights.

May 30, 2002, 10:32 AM	#16
fix Senior Member Join Date: December 28, 2001 Posts: 919	"Tactical" = $$$ Absurd? Totally. Overpriced? Depends on your income and your level of desire to be "tactical". IMHO it will never compete with the ACOG.

May 30, 2002, 12:09 PM	#17
Jamie Young Senior Member Join Date: April 7, 2000 Location: SE/PA Posts: 4,834	I'd pay no more than $400 for that POS. The only good thing about it is the reticle stays there even when the batteries die. __________________ Find out about Gun Shows and Training activities. www.TheRallyPoint.org Get your gun club involved!!

May 30, 2002, 02:21 PM	#18
Jason280 Senior Member Join Date: January 1, 2002 Location: Athens,Georgia Posts: 355	I wouldn't waste my money on the thing even if it cost $200! I've tried one, and I wasn't impressed at all. You'd be better off buying a $40 Tasco and spending the rest on another AR. Leupold makes some great scopes, but I'm afraid they might be pricing themselves out of the market...

May 30, 2002, 08:32 PM	#19
MAD DOG Senior Member Join Date: October 13, 1998 Location: Arizona. Posts: 853	The CQT is a POS. :barf: Overweight, tiny (14mm!!) objective lens, etc, ad nauseum. A classic example of a great idea terribly executed. Sad, we expect better from Leupold. __________________ BOYCOTT COSTCO!! http://www.tacticalforums.com

May 30, 2002, 09:16 PM	#20
-Yo- Senior Member Join Date: November 6, 2001 Location: Near the Ocean Posts: 248	SWAT toys Check out the Eotech. I like the idea of a 2x scope on a CQB rifle. Red dot is nice at night. If I recall, that is one of the options on the HK G36. Very simple, very basic, mounts inside the handle. BTW, I have to echo the thoughts that stuff sold to our Police/military is overpriced on purpose. One of the local SWAT teams was at my range last week. They had some very cool short-barrel G36's, but every possible gizmo you could put on the gun was hanging off. Heck, I thought I spotted a garage door opener and a mood ring on there. Yet, when I asked what they were shooting through that gun, he held up a box of Winch USA white box. I mentioned that that ammo would probably not fragment properly at the velocities of a 9" bbl, the guy just stared like he didn't have a clue. I guess they have a big gizmo budget, but no budget for ammo or chron testing. No surprise, my county's SWAT had just one call-out last year, and that was a false alarm. Somebody has to remind these guys whom they are working for.