Japan makes about all lens for every one.they assemble some and the rest are assembled in china.
Source for this information?
simmons are made up in phillipines.
This is true for the previous generation of Simmons scopes. They've since gone Chinese.
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There is a reason the BSAs, NcStars, Barskas, Target, etc. Chinese scopes are cheap. They are simply of poor optical and build quality. Millet has started to turn the corner with their Chinese scopes. They've (it was said at SHOT '07 by their rep) put into place at the Chinese factory they get their scopes from a more stringent quality program which includes better measuring devices. After looking through their new line of scopes (which are starting to come out now), there were significant improvements that I've saw. Looking through one of their new scopes, the optics were much better. The image did not distort until very close to the edge, also brighter, and the adjustments were more precise. A quick run to UTG's booth to see if their scoped products have also improved, it was found that they didn't. Same old numerous problems. They had tried to hide the problem of a smaller image size by putting a ring on the inside of the ocular bell to cover up the black thick ring around the image (made me laugh).
If you do not know what to look for, any scope looks good.
If all you are looking for is a magnifier that pits a crosshair at something down range, the Chinese scopes will do (until they break). If you are looking for something that will let you see what you are looking at better and last longer, look for something better (for the time being).
What amazes me is how some folk treat scope slection as nothing more than an afterthought non-critical accessory. 'If you pay more than $50/$100 you've paid too much.'
There is also a reason a lot of folks malign the Chinese optics. Most of them actually used them with poor results. The majority of folks who have used them have found them to be poor product. Whether you note opinions or dismiss them is entirely up to you. The very low cost is very hard to pass up and if it doesn't work out, it wasn't too much of a big financial deal. But, it could save you a few bucks if you do heed the results.
Personally, I'm always looking for a good deal and have tried numerous products cheap and expensive including Chinese scopes. For the time being, they are not good. Eventually they will improve and become capable products, but for now, they are quite short. Look through a high end scope and one of the Chinese scopes (if possible, side-by-side). Move your head around a little when you look through the scopes looking at something far away, see how well the image is defined, note any straight lines bending as the image moves away from the center, etc. You will notice the difference. Whether this is important to you or not is up to you.
It could also be that the Leaper scopes are so poor they are no longer being offer and are now "Out Of Stock". Leapers does, IMO, make relative good scope rings. Very solid, the rimfire rings may need a little filing to get a perfect groove fit but for $8-$12/pr, and easy fix.
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