[Bonasa]

Have you contacted Leupold and asked for an explanation? I have found their customer service to be the best I've ever encountered--in any product area. They completely rebuilt, recollimated, and recharged a 1950s-vintage Vari-X 3x9 that I inherited from my late uncle's estate--and even thanked me for the opportunity to work on one of their original prototype scopes. They are one of the few companies, I think, where an unconditional warranty is just that: no fine print, no runaround, no exceptions. If it's broken, they fix it--whether you bought it new or you're the tenth owner. I think you owe it to them to see whether or not what you perceive as a flaw is, in fact, an intentional design feature. I, too, have a VX-1 2x7, and I don't find the adjustment ring's stiffness to be a big problem; in fact, I'm reassured by the notion that it's staying put. It has performed flawlessly in subzero tempertaures, freezing rain, and anything else deerhunting in upstate New York can dish out. Leupold is always my first choice in sporting optics.