Simmons scopes any good?

Hitzy said:
Bushnell sells $50 Chinese scopes, all the way up to $2500+ Japanese made scopes....
The Japanese Elites start at $250 and are a great buy.
Where a scope is made defines it's quality more then the name that is stamped on it.
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:agree: The Bushnell Elite series are excellent scopes.

Most scope manufacturers have both high & low end scopes made in various factories around the world. They do this to ensure they have coverage in all segments of the market.
 
If you can find/determine when it was made.
They where owned for about a 3 year period from 2006-2009 by meade instruments and after a few QC issues in which meade rejected the product and had a more successful production run some made it here which were decent quality.

I own a 4-14x44 aetec duplex on a .17HMR that has been dropped, bounced around in the truck, soaked in the rain and snow with a few thousand rounds through it that has never missed a beat.

I also have 2 prohunter 6-24x44 mil dots on a Remington sps varmint in .204 and Remington 700p 7mm rem mag that have held up with no problems.

All 3 scopes (2008 purchases) have decent glass, hold zero and track consistently.

There is also a 4-12x40 prohunter (2007 purchase) as a spare that was on the .17HMR until I purchased the aetec that never gave me any trouble.

I also have a 3-9x40 Deerfield from the 80's given to me by a relate in about 1998 on a .308, dented tube and beat up that's on about the 8th gun it has been mounted on after doing service on .17HMR's to .300 win mag.

I have looked at the bushnell/ATK simmons and they are not even close in the glass,durability and function quality of the older ones and would not even consider them. That 3.5-18x44 predator quest is a paper towel tube with saran wrap glued to the ends.

If you ever run across a 2009ish 4-14x44 aetec with mil dots I will take it off your hands. :)
 
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nomad 68 said:
Personally, I don't think you can do better than the elite series for the money. I own a number of scopes including leupolds but 5 of the last 7 I've purchased have been elites.
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Yup, and the later Scopechiefs are good scopes for the $$ you spend to get them. I own two of those.
 
I picked up one of the 4.5-18x44 predator/varmint (not the pred quest but probably not much different), it's usable at 18x which is good for a Chinese scope, also clear at 4.5x and no spherical aberration. At 18x it's not very bright but is clear. For $99 after the MIR it's OK. About Banner level of glass IMHO.
 
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