produced under the name "Leupold-Volpel & Co." Leupold & Stevens was founded by the German immigrant Markus Friedrich (Fred) Leupold and his brother-in-law Adam Voelpel in 1907, under the name Leupold & Voelpel. At the time, the company specialized in the repair of
survey equipment. In 1911, Leupold & Voelpel was contracted by John Cyprian (J.C.) Stevens to manufacture a water level recorder he had designed and patented. After the initial success of the product, he was made partner in 1914 and the company was renamed Leupold, Voelpel, and Co. Besides the first water level recorder, the company invented several other innovative pieces of equipment, such as the Telemark water recorder which was patented in 1939. By 1979, Leupold scopes were generating twice the total revenue of Stevens instruments. In 1969, the company acquired a majority interest in the company
Nosler Bullets (also a family company), and then sold off their portion in 1988. By 2006, the company employed 600 people at its Beaverton facility. The company is now in its fifth generation of ownership. In 2010, the company added almost 100 employees, bringing total employment to almost 700 by November of that year. In late 2010, a
Portland Business Journal article gave the company's annual revenue as approximately $160 million, citing
Reference.com for the estimate. The 2014 NRA National Championship equipment survey listed Leupold as the most popular scope manufacturer for both the high power and high power hunter competition. ==Products==