Refurbised Nikons. Worth it?

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Gato Montés

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I suppose this is kind of useless since I already ordered one, but I just wanted to see if anyone has actual experience with refurbished Nikon scopes offered at various online vendors. Seems that some won't touch them cause of the shortened warranty, while others think they're a great deal but have no first hand accounts.

I ended up getting a 4x32 Prostaff rimfire for $69. I wanted to scope my old Glenfield M25 but really didn't want to surpass 100 bucks to do it; this seemed like the best course of action.
 
I would not want to buy one for a big game rifle or spend over $100 on one. I have always wondered why there seem to be so many refurbed Nikon's floating around and why they won't honor the lifetime warranty with them?
 
Well i have to say i just had to deal with Nikons service department and i am very happy with the results. I sent a 1-4x20 .223 scope back for repair after i damaged it by falling on it (300lbs + mini + lava field= bad). They are replacing it for free, you wont get any complaints about service from me. Now as for the quality of the work they do on refurbs, i dont know ive never had one. Id be willing to take a bet that they are pretty damn good tho.
 
nikons

I only own one,a 4.5 - 14 w/sf and md.If this scope ever fails without being destroyed,and warrenty gives me a line;all will know.
As it stands,it's on a stevens 223 and I think they are as good as L. or B.
 
Refurb carries a negative connotation with it but I like to think of it as "pre-tested with errors corrected."

I just bought a brand new vortex diamondback for my new TC icon .308. But if I wanted a good scope for my AR that is gonna get knocked around on the farm i would not be above a refurbished Nikon. My dad runs a monarch on his black powder and that thing is a nice scope.
 
there are lots of nikon refurbs because of there service depts policy. most of the time when you send a defective nikon in they just send you a new one. If its not major damage they then fix your old one and sell it as a refirb. Like was said theres actually an advantage to them. After they fix them there tested to insure they work. THe new ones dont get tested so you more likely to get a good scope with a refirb then a new one. Companys like luepold dont do this. they will fix your old scope and send it back to you. Nikon also sells blemished scopes and dealer and show samples as refirbs. technicaly if the box has been opened there suppose to sell them as a refirb. downside is they only have a one year warantee vs a lifetime. But nikon has replaced a refirbed monarch i had after i dropped it and it was 5 years old.
 
Nasser said:
I suppose this is kind of useless since I already ordered one, but I just wanted to see if anyone has actual experience with refurbished Nikon scopes offered at various online vendors. Seems that some won't touch them cause of the shortened warranty, while others think they're a great deal but have no first hand accounts.
Click to expand...
Nasser said:

I ended up getting a 4x32 Prostaff rimfire for $69. I wanted to scope my old Glenfield M25 but really didn't want to surpass 100 bucks to do it; this seemed like the best course of action.
Click to expand...



I bought the same scope (refurb) maybe 8-10 months ago, and have been totally happy with it. Other than the plain white box it comes in labeled "Factory Refurbished," you wouldn't know it wasn't brand new -- it looks absolutely pristine. It comes with all the accessories you'd expect of a new Nikon -- documentation, lens bra, and rimfire scope rings.

I also bought a refurb pair of Nikon binoculars over 10 years ago, and it has been utterly clear and reliable.

If the value is there otherwise, I don't hesitate now to buy refurb products -- scopes, networking gear, laptops, etc. As Holo noted, you can view them as having gotten an extra layer of testing. Also, depending on the policies of some companies, if they get a return of a product simply because a purchaser decided not to keep it, they no longer sell it as "new," and subject the product to the refurb process.


.
 
I bought a 3-9 x 42 Prostaff refurbished for my Moss 464 30-30. It has been an excellent value so far. It is past the limited warranty and hopefully will never need fixing. I will definitly buy another. I am looking to top a few other rifles with a Prostaff. Great scope for the money, even when buying brand new.
 
I don't buy them because I usually spend at least $300 on any scope.For that kind of money I want a warranty.Yours will probably be a fine scope and even if not it's not too great a loss.
 
I was kind of turned off, seeing Monarchs being sold as Refurbished when the scopes had just hit the market within the year of reading the ads. I got the impression they are overpriced and poorly made.

Years later, after comments from a friend about how much he liked his, I bought a new 2.5-10 Monarch and don't like it. The image is much smaller than the eyepiece, so there's a lot of black around it. Optical clarity is slightly inferior to the Leupold Vari-XII I own. I've thought of selling it and getting something else, but probably couldn't get 2/3rds the cost, so will keep it for a while, but not on my deer rifle.
 
Got it in this morning and just got done mounting it to the Glenfield. I'll concur with what others have said; looks brand spankin new with all the accessories.

Yeah, if it wasn't going on a 22 and if I were to spend a couple hundred, I'd also want the warranty, but for a sub 100 dollar rimfire scope I think you could certainly do worse (BSA:barf:).

I'll try to get a picture up later of the packaging and all it comes with if anyone is interested.
 
if you don't mind me asking, where did you get the scope from? For that kind of price, I might be inclined to pick one up.
 
I've got a couple of Monarch 2-8X refurbs I bought through www.swfa.com a couple of years back. No complaints from me. They were almost $100 less than new. Looked and performed as new for me.
 
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