Roger, I have over 1000 heavy 440gr/H110 loads through my S&W 400 topped with a 4x Leupold. It is still accurate and as togehter as it was when it was new. Leupold 2x and 4x on a 500 is all that needed out to 200 yards! I have a 2x on my 15" Encore 500 and just put a JP Enterprises brake on it cuz it was a bear. The scope is till fine after ~300 rounds. I expect it will stay that way for a long time. I use Leuie's on all my heavy kickers. The Leupold 4x on my 16" 416 Rigby is still together too, but I only have about 250 through it. The recoil on that is brutal. Your's must have been a bad one.