This is why we don't buy el cheapo optics...

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grampajack

grampajack

AR Junkie
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I was given a cheap little red dot sight today, and not one to turn down anything free I said, "hell yea I'll take it, why not." Well, it became immediately apparent why the guy gave it to me. I took it for a test run on my PS90 trirail, and that dot bounced around so much that sometimes it totally left the viewing window and went on vacation in the next county, only to come back in a different location the next time I pulled the trigger.

I can actually watch the dot move if I dryfire the weapon. Just that little jolt from the hammer striking the pin is enough to make it jump!

I won't mention the brand since we're on the high road, but suffice it to say it's a brand everyone knows about, and is a very popular item peddled by gunshow vendors. It's kind of irrelevant anyways since all the el cheapo optics are made in the same factories in China, so it's always six of one half dozen of another when dealing with them.

Just a reminder why it's never a good idea to use these things. Stick to the quality manufacturers like Aimpoint, Trijicon, etc. and save yourself the headaches of dealing with a crappy optic, or worse. I suppose if you want to use one for plinking then that's up to you, but I would only advise it if you enjoy wasting ammo having to sight the thing in every few dozen rounds, not to mention always playing a guessing game about whether you're off your game that day or your sight is just misbehaving again. Personally I like knowing if it's me or my equipment when I miss, but to each his own.

ETA: I just looked up the sight on the internet, and it's 60 dollars on Midway! Yikes!!!

ETA (again): I looked on the manufacturer's website, and they want a $10 handling fee just to look at it! They might not even do anything (as per their fine print), and even if they do I'm still out ten bucks! What a bunch of scammers...first they sell a crappy optic, then they get to charge their victim more money for their screwup. Shame.
 
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I'll be glad to say the name. Giving a review of a product isn't anything bad, and I can't see how it goes against taking the "high road".

Was it NcStar?
 
Hanzo581 said:
I'll be glad to say the name. Giving a review of a product isn't anything bad, and I can't see how it goes against taking the "high road".

Was it NcStar?
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Ladies and gentlemen we have a winner!:D

Like I said, though, it's kind of a moot point since they're all made in the same factories and are for all intents and purposes the same thing with different branding. Although NC Star does seem to have the worst, or at least the most repugnant, warranty I've ever seen.
 
Yeah, I love listening in to the sales pitches at sellers tables at gun shows.

If you're trying to deck a rifle out for airsoft or a movie or something they are great since they can look like their expensive counterparts at a distance. Otherwise, no thanks.
 
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Not all el cheapo optics are bad. Save your $10 and just by a $22 Fieldsport micro red dot - https://www.amazon.com/FieldSport-Micro-Sight-Precision-Green/dp/B00Y3SZEJC

Here's torture test video of this red dot (Watch the water bottle beat test at 6:00 minute) :eek::D



Another review with water bottle beat test at 5:20 minute mark - I guess people like beating their Fieldsport red dot? :rofl: I am happy with mine and no, I won't be beating mine with a water bottle.

 
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Budget does not always mean low quality. Sometimes you win, and sometimes you lose. I have seen Aimpoints break, plenty of Eotechs, and even Leupold scopes. But I have also put a $100 Chinese made Bushnell stand up to recoil on a .22, 12ga, and AR without any drifting zero.
 
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herrwalther said:
Budget does not always mean low quality. Sometimes you win, and sometimes you lose. I have seen Aimpoints break, plenty of Eotechs, and even Leupold scopes. But I have also put a $100 Chinese made Bushnell stand up to recoil on a .22, 12ga, and AR without any drifting zero.
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You've seen an Aimpoint break? What in the blue blazes did they do to it?
 
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I have exactly one "cheap scope that was excellent" story. So no, not all low priced optics are junk. But I would agree that the majority of them are.

For the curious, my story involves a Taco 2 1/2 X scope that was slapped onto a 12ga slug gun just to get me through one season. It's been there for more than five years now with no shift in zero. Given my experiences with Tasco as a kid, I'm very surprised.
 
grampajack said:
You've seen an Aimpoint break? What in the blue blazes did they do to it?
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A couple of Aimpoints. Both times the units were hit hard enough to cause the nitrogen seal to break. After that it is like trying to look through a snow globe if the humidity is high enough or moisture gets in.
 
herrwalther said:
A couple of Aimpoints. Both times the units were hit hard enough to cause the nitrogen seal to break. After that it is like trying to look through a snow globe if the humidity is high enough or moisture gets in.
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Hit hard enough by what? Everybody and their cousin has done an aimpoint drop test on youtube and they're good to go.
 
Well...sometimes "el cheapo" works out, sometimes not.

I put a $10 Walmart scope on my first rifle back in '82 (Marlin 783 bolt action .22 WMR). It suited my needs on plinking, squirrel hunting, and even ground hog hunting out to an easy 100 yards for many years...all the way up until my rifle was stolen around a decade later.

A .22 rifle is a low recoil rifle, even in WMR. Never had a problem with it. Now, if I had put it on my oldest brother's bolt action 30-06? Might of been a different story.

Obviously, there is a world of difference in the optics themselves. Anybody who has sighted through a $10 scope and a $500 scope can see that. But reliability under use is just as important...and an el cheapo that works on a low recoil rifle probably ain't gonna cut the mustard on higher recoil guns.

If you've got something with recoil to it, spend the money on a better 'scope.
 
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grampajack said:
Hit hard enough by what? Everybody and their cousin has done an aimpoint drop test on youtube and they're good to go.
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The time my Aimpoint broke I was doing a mountain bounce rappel. One of the reasons I didn't and don't like one point slings on my service rifles, they allow too much sway. The other one I know about was during a fast rope exercise. Someone in my jump group misjudged how far away the ground was and let go of the rope too soon. Fall was somewhere around 8-10 feet. The soldier got a hairline fracture in the ankle along with the Aimpoint needing to take a trip.
 
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I do own Leopold scopes but lately I've bought Vortex scopes and have had excellent luck with them, they're clear as a bell, and fairly rugged, as they bounce around in my UTV and have all held there zero. Plus the cost is about 1/2 of a Leopold. Got no idea where they are manufactured but like I said they do hold up.
 
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Archie said:
I normally buy Leupold. I've come into possession of a couple others in trades, 'boot' and so forth, but it does not pay to buy cheap - especially optics. I reckon a proper scope will cost as much as the rifle, more or less.
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That's how I've come into possession of some not so stellar optics, and accessories in general. Like I said, I'm not one to turn down anything free (but, no, I will not take your puppies, kittens, or third child)!:)
 
When I worked at the LGS, we got a crapload of factory refurb Tascos for WAY cheap. We were selling them for something like $30, don't remember exactly.

As expected, a pretty fair number (I'm guessing 30%) came back as defective. The owner wold just take the old one back and hand them another one. Never sent the bad ones back. Just pitched them.

So, it's slow and I ask the owner how he can afford to do that. He says he only paid something like $6-10 each for them. Return shipping was more than the scope was worth.

So I ask about the failure rate on the better scopes. He says Swarovski had a return rate of maybe 1-2%. Hard to tell because we sold very few $800 scopes. Leupolds/Burris sold quite a few more, and their failure rate was maybe 3%. Bushnell was between the good ones and the super cheapie. Once you got to tasco, swift, Barska the failure rate was 30-50%.

There was an absolute direct correlation between price and failure rate.
 
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bikemutt said:
I recently mounted a new Vortex Viper red dot on a 9mm pistol, it died after 65 rounds. Guess I'll get to know about the great warranty.
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Those companies are always more than happy to replace stuff because they're only out ten bucks or so. It's a very lucrative model followed by many very popular brands.
 
There is definitely a huge mark-up on optics. $10.00 cost on a Viper Red Dot is an exaggeration but their cost compared to retail is much much lower than manufacturers cost for a firearm compared to retail.
 
You can chalk up the quality where a lot of these parts are sourced and made. If your not going to go for german glass or USO, then usually Japan glass is the middle of the road price/good quality optics. All the others are hit or miss. Vortex sources are japan, the Philippines and china...different product lines, different prices, different quality. Even leupold glass generally comes from Asia.
 
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I disagree. Japanese glass is top notch as a rule. Some high end European Optics companies outsource their binocular manufacturing to a company in Japan. No one knows where Leupold sources their glass. I do know it is from multiple sources. I also know that Schott glass(Europe) is used in many scopes assembled by LOW in Japan.

It's also generally true that in Asia the quality of optics best to worst are in order: Japan, Philippines and China.

Vortex now has a manufacturing facility in Wisconsin producing at least one model, possibly more of the Vortex line.

In Asia where a scope is assembled only has a direct correlation with the labor force of that particular country. Parts are sourced from all over the world.
 
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To each their own. I love JP glass, its all I need. If then not my opinion, for others that use actual European glass, is considered one of the highest tiers of clarity as a general consensus. An example is S&B lense coating and its increase in blue spectrum makes for low light shooting amazing, lenses like these are made out of a factory in hungary. Swaros (top shelf) in another example having there own spin on quality glass but recently not being assembled in Austria anymore but in the US still are sourcing their glass (last i saw) form schott in germany . Now as far as outsourcing binos...yes complete assembly lines will vary in price and be outsourced from region to region. Hense the price difference (as well as mechanical features and design). Even nightforce gets stuff from Japan and its good stuff, among the very best; but "among" and "the" aren't quite equivalent.

Circumstances and needs dictate what is best at that time and it may not be best at another time as far as companies and resources go.
 
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