Tasco & Simmons Scope ?

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357smallbore

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Without all the belittling of these scopes. I have a serious ? What are shooters and hunters thoughts on the lower end of the scope shelf. I know there are the Leupold, Ziess and 100 other scopes out there that are better. I have two game rifles I hunt with. My 243 that's topped with a Tasco 4x32 & my 30-06 has a Simmons Whitetail Classic 2-10x44 on it.
I've had these scopes for over 18 years and they've never left me needing more. Optics are crystal clear and these scopes have helped me bag so much game from varmint critters through the gambit of game up to Elk over the last 18 years. I shoot no further than 375 yds. Most all game I have taken is between 175 and 300 yds.
 
I've never had a problem with Tasco or Simmons. I've heard "you get what you pay for" and all, but in reality, just because something cost more doesn't always indicate that it's better.

LoonWulf has a point and I figure that has to do with QC at different times. And while we don't know Troy Fairweather's experience, those could also be QC-related.
 
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I put a tasco world class 1.5-4.5 on my 7.62x39 ar. Glass is very clear but noticeably dimmer in low light than my burris fullfield II 2-7x35. But for the 45 I paid for it, I am impressed.

I have a crummy simmons 3-9x32 on my marlin model 60. The variable zoom is broken and stuck on 7 power. It is being replaced by a tasco pronghorn 3-9x32 when I get around to ordering it.
 
I put a tasco world class 1.5-4.5 on my 7.62x39 ar. Glass is very clear but noticeably dimmer in low light than my burris fullfield II 2-7x35. But for the 45 I paid for it, I am impressed.

I may or may not have seen this Tasco model. What size is the front end? Also, the source?

No real dislike for variable power, but one thing about fixed power... fewer moving parts... less to get fouled up.
 
I divested myself of Tasco scopes after one that had been sighted in a week or so before, started shooting 10 inches high. The scope wasn't that old and I missed a coyote because of it. I decided cheap scopes weren't worth it when I could get a good used Leupold for $200 or so on eBay.

I have Simmons binoculars I've used for 20 years with nary a problem so I guess neither Tasco or Simmons are bad unless you're unlucky. You're just less likely to be unlucky with something by Leupold or Nightforce.
 
Put a Tasco World Class 3-9x on a sporterized Lee-Enfield No. 4 Mk. 1 back in 1996. It lasted for 765 rounds until early 2007 when it got funny and wouldn't hold zero or adjust properly. Seen other Tascos older than that still going strong. Bought a Savage Mod. 10 package rifle in 300 WSM in early 2004 that came with a Simmons 3-9x Eight Point on it. It was on there for about the first 30 rounds before a Leupold replaced it. Put it on the aforementioned Lee-Enfield for about a year when that Tasco died and now I'm saving it for backup duty if I ever need a temporary scope. So far its been great. I think you just take your chances with stuff in that price range.
 
Like you said on the thread, I still have a Tasco & Simmons that are great for up to at least 30-06 & maybe more & I wouldn't trade
them for any other scope I know of --------- however there were several of both mfg that failed either from the start or soon after
they were put to use here.
Back in my poor boy days they were the only scopes us guys could afford. And being the one that sighted in lots of scopes for the
locals, I saw several of them fail in various ways which meant, take them back to wherever we got them & get another one which
might or might not work but when they made it thru a hunting season without failing then you could bet they would work next
year as long as you didn't take it off the original rifle & put it on another one which seemed to jinx some of them.
But survivors like my 50X Simmons is so dependable that when someone wants to know if their scope or rifle is off, I clamp this
old junk Simmons on their rifle & it will remove all doubt which is failing because it will not lie.
My old 3x9 Tasco was on a Rem 7600 30-06 which took 15 deer then after I retired the rifle, the scope survived the dreaded
move from the 30-06 to a 22mag & still drills perfect. [ the parallax in both scopes is perfect ]
But these days all I buy is Leupold & Nikon but at least I haven't had to take one back YET.
 
I have had a Tasco World Class 4-16x44mm for almost 25 years, only a few years ago removed it from my old 30-06. It’s never been very good in low light, nor have great resolution, but sufficient for its price class, and better than many scopes I have owned from manufacturers which come more highly recommended. It has a little gain in tracking, but it is consistent, which is manageable, and it has held zero as long as I have had it. Wouldn’t buy another today, but wouldn’t condemn anyone for buying one on a tight budget.

I have had a Simmons ProHunter 2-6x32mm handgun scope for about 12 years now if memory serves, it has spent about half of its life on top of a 44mag SBH which gets a regular diet of 300grn XTP’s seated long over an over-book charge of H110/W296, and the other half on a Super Redhawk in 454 which never eats anything but firebreathing 300+ grain, full pressure loads. It has better eye relief and better low light transmission than the Bushnell Trophy handgun scope, or the Burris. I’ve bought multiple others, and would/will buy more again in the future.
 
I may or may not have seen this Tasco model. What size is the front end? Also, the source?

No real dislike for variable power, but one thing about fixed power... fewer moving parts... less to get fouled up.

It's a 1.5-4.5x32, I picked it up via amazon for 44.95 if I remember right. I was hoping for a compact scope but its pretty much the same length as my full field II
 
How about this:
When you install a scope upon a firearm,the first thing you do is take it to the range, and zero it. There's an approximate possibility of need to re-zero percentage you can assign to most scopes. Now, if you spend a lot of time at the range, you probably enjoy re-zeroing your scopes, anyway.

But most serious hunters want a scope zero to be a "one and done", where most likely the scope is not going to lose zero, again, for the rest of the hunting season, and ESPECIALLY not while they are trying to take a trophy animal.

So, the less expensive scopes will fall into the @ 60/40 % range, where they need a re-zero @40 % of the time, climb to the next tier, and your scopes are more@ 85/15%, where you need to worry a little less. Spend a little more, and you climb to the@ 92/8% range, where, generally, you don't have a problem, go a couple hundred more, and you're up there in the @97/3% range, almost zero loss-free.

But, a sad fact of life is, that any scope COULD lose it's zero, at any time.

So what do you want your scope dependability % to be ?

Most experienced scope purchasers aren't worried they will spend too much on a scope, they are worried they will spend too little. Many gladly spend more on the scope than on the gun.
 
How about this:
When you install a scope upon a firearm,the first thing you do is take it to the range, and zero it. There's an approximate possibility of need to re-zero percentage you can assign to most scopes. Now, if you spend a lot of time at the range, you probably enjoy re-zeroing your scopes, anyway.

But most serious hunters want a scope zero to be a "one and done", where most likely the scope is not going to lose zero, again, for the rest of the hunting season, and ESPECIALLY not while they are trying to take a trophy animal.

So, the less expensive scopes will fall into the @ 60/40 % range, where they need a re-zero @40 % of the time, climb to the next tier, and your scopes are more@ 85/15%, where you need to worry a little less. Spend a little more, and you climb to the@ 92/8% range, where, generally, you don't have a problem, go a couple hundred more, and you're up there in the @97/3% range, almost zero loss-free.

But, a sad fact of life is, that any scope COULD lose it's zero, at any time.

So what do you want your scope dependability % to be ?

Most experienced scope purchasers aren't worried they will spend too much on a scope, they are worried they will spend too little. Many gladly spend more on the scope than on the gun.
Where are you getting your statistics from? I've never seen it broken down like that.
 
I’ve never owned or looked through the older Simmons and Tasco scopes that are supposed to be decent. I have looked through newer ones and found their glass lacking in comparison to Burris Fullfield II which is the benchmark I use to judge lower end scopes.
 
I found myself in a pinch a few years back and did the unthinkable; I bought three new production Tasco .22 Mag scopes. They were for children’s rifles seeing only range use and Dunham’s offered them at around $25 with coupon.

I can attest to the FACT that backlash in all of them was miserable to deal with. I expended nearly a box of ammo each on sight-in while chasing windage and elevation. Once settled on zero they remained so, as has been the case with any pillared or bedded rifle in my experience but were NEVER touched thereafter!

If what you require from a rifle scope is a single yardage hold using Kentucky Windage in good conditions the newer Simmons scopes will work. If you factor in the ammo cost to zero one, well, I hope it’s rimfire as the difference between a Simmons and a better scope could easily be made up in the process.

With life back to normal two of those have been replaced and my daughter has abandoned her Rascal (which hosts the 3rd Simmons) for a CZ/Leupold combo.
 
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Where are you getting your statistics from? I've never seen it broken down like that.

As I stated, it's not exact, it's approximate. I've had some scopes which needed a re-zero almost every range trip. Either a Simmons or a Bushnell, IIRC.
 
I have had better luck with Tasco than Simmons in the past, still own some of both though.

I have a routine I have gotten into over the years where I kind of beat up on scopes to see how they hold up. Has to pass a “box test” before I’ll even mount it, more often than in the old days they can’t even track right. Then it goes on a 45-70 marlin that kicks worse than my 50 BMG. If it’s good after that (holds POA and still tracks) I’ll trust it.

The old gloss blued Tasco scopes did pretty good. The ones these days, I return more than I keep. Quality control or just quality has gone down enough and I am not as cheap as I used to be, so sometimes I just buy something better than spend the time to find the “good one”.
 
I've had poor luck with Simmon's scopes, won't buy them anymore, but then again I don't buy cheap scopes anymore. Can't comment on Tasco, and my population study on Simmons was 2 scopes so it's worth the price you paid for the advice.
 
I have had a Simmons go down on a Savage 93R17. The scope was quickly replaced. Service is good. Likewise, BSA. I'm not going to put one of these scopes on a heavy recoil rifle. I have had to recycle a number of this class scope due to failure. The odds are against you using one of these scopes. Here, it will be on 22 RF's punching paper. YMMV

Addendum: The failed scopes included Bushnell's and one beat up Millet. I have also had to have some high end scopes repaired. If it's made by man it's gonna break.
 
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For general hunting inside 300 yards, I think about any 3-9x scope would work and you can get a nice Leupold for a couple hundred these days. No reason to chance a nice hunt or the unethical wounding of an animal with a $50 scope.

My first scope was one of those Tasco scopes that came with the dovetail mounts that they sold at KMart in the 80s. I put one on my Winchester 69A 22LR and I think it eventually broke as I don't have a scope on that rifle anymore.

In the mid 90s, I got into varmint hunting and bought a Simmons 6-20 Whitetail and then a 6-20 Target. A few years ago I sold the Whitetail. They both worked well, and I have heard that they were made in the Philippines back then, but have moved production to China and the quality has slipped. Neither had the clarity of a Leupold or Burris but my eyes were much better in those days.

Today, most of what I purchase are from Burris or Vortex, although I do have a Cabelas 6-24 Covenant that I am pretty impressed with.
 
Well, I put a curse on myself. Installed a Bushnell Banner 6-18x50 on my CZ 452. The power ring is jammed on 18x. Back it goes. Also, in the mix is a BSA "Sweet Sixteen" where the elevation adjustment just spins. Back to their Home Planet. It's a given that the service will be good. How about the down time. I left the Bushnell on the CZ hoping it will work for paper punching this Thursday. There's something worth remembering. You and I probably use and go though many more scopes than the average citizen. I was in the middle of a rant on entry level scopes on entry level rifles. A listener pointed out that those scopes would be zeroed stay that way for years. It was for individual who shot three to five rounds a year etc etc.
 
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Another thought on the Tasco scopes.
I bought a used Encore pistol in 7mm08 which came with a Tasco Pro Class 4X30 that I was sure was way low on life expectancy but have been proved
wrong on that. It has held point every time extremely well & can group any handload I throw thru it.
On the other hand if I have to move the Xhairs for any reason it would prove to be an all day exercise if I didn't have a Hyskore pistol sight adjustment
rig that is used to move the Xhairs to the bullet hole. Tasco & Simmons are famous for the Xhairs not responding well.
 
Here's my take on cheap scope failure. Out I go to test fire on a newly gotten rifle. It is a slick barrel good rifle. Good but noted for the recoil. I drive twenty miles to the range. Right in the middle of the second group the POS scope crapes out. I'm only out time and gasoline. The performance of the rifle remains unknown. Is it the rifle or scope? All this is my fault. I know that scope that retails for $30.00 from China and it is junk. Sure, people will tell me they bought one when they were in the third grade when Truman was President. During that time it gave no trouble. The scope is now mounted on a 338-378 Weatherby. Right.
 
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