Vintage Japanese Tasco scopes

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DSinOR

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I bought a few recently on eBay. A couple of very nice target/varmint scopes, a couple of 32mm rimfire scopes, and a EuroClass 3-12x52. Cost was anywhere from $30 to $93 each.

Beware the seller Sacchan8838, located in Miami. He has a ebay storefront with multiple vintage Tascos. His auctions all have cut-n-paste descriptions that claim the scopes were refurbished at the "optics repair center". I was curious, so I contacted him to ask if the scopes were refurbed at ABO USA, also located in Miami. He said yes.

So I ponied up $128 for a refurbed Jap tasco 3-9x40 BDC scope with dials, as a gift for a family member.

It arrived yesterday. The windage cap was the old-style rubber slip-on. It was stuck in place by years of grime. I almost had to tear the rubber to get it off. It hadn't been removed in years. The elevation knob was covered in grime and lint under the BDC dial. Also hadn't been off in years. I used low-pressure compressed air on the zoom dial, it blew lint and grime out from under the ring. Refurbished my ass.

I really like the other scopes I bought, and the price was right for the Japanese glass and quality of design and construction.

But I got taken to the cleaners by Sacchan. His name is Sachiko Akahoshi, he lives in the 33185 zip of Miami. Real close to ABO.

ABO has been getting a bad rap lately. They charge $48 to look at your scope, then send you a quote for $100+ for repairs, or $20 for return freight with no repairs. I think a lot of people just tell them to forget it and keep the scope.

I'm starting to wonder if this isn't where Sacchan is getting his old Tascos.
Pretty decent racket.

Anyway, I'll leave negative feedback after the 7-day time requirement has passed.

This is the first time i ever got completely screwed on ebay, so I figured I'd put Sacchan's name out there.

If you need repairs to a vintage scope, there's other places to go besides ABO. L&K and Parsons are two shops with good reps.

If you shop eBay, look for tropgunshop. He sold me a really nice Jap tasco and it was very well packaged. Beware Sacchan8838. He's full of crap.

I also own Nightforce, Elites, Monarchs, and some mid-range Burris. Some guys like to bash Tasco, but some know better. Japanese Tasco's from the 60's thru 80's and into the 90's are typically very good scopes if you know what to look for. Anyone who says diff generally doesn't have any idea what they are talking about. Tasco was a different company and a different product back in the day.

Cheers.

DS
 
Teachu2 said:
I have a couple of the Japanese World Class Plus models. Very nice glass for it's day.
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Same here. I have one that has lived on my muzzle loader for close to 20 years. I doubt if I have had to make more than a 2 click adjustment in all that time.
 
Thx for the heads up. I have a thing for old scopes and was aware of Tasco's Japanese products.
 
I recently sold a Tasco 705. It was a barrel mounted target scope like a Unertl. It had external adjustments and a return spring similar to a Unertl. It has Japanese glass. It was very clear....I should have kept it.
 
The Japanese World Class line were the Tasco scopes that gained recognition the "hard way", ie via public approval. Over several decades, a large group of people began to come to the same conclusion: they're bright, rugged, repeatable, etc.

Within the "inner industry circle", some knew from Day 1 what the original owner was trying to accomplish. It was a great company for decades until it was brokered thru to Bushnell. I guess it could be a great brand again, but it depends on whether Bushnell wants to make the effort to reduce the damage of the last 20 years.

Farris 2004

Farris 2007

Also: Interesting discussion on Brit airgunner site
 
If you need repairs to a vintage scope, there's other places to go besides ABO. L&K and Parsons are two shops with good reps.
Click to expand...

Can you comment further?
I have a Unertl that needs a good deal of work. When I attempted to contact Parsons, I got no response but it was pretty soon after Gil died and maybe Richard had not yet gotten into the swing of things.


I know a guy who wheels and deals in scopes. He has lists of the actual makers of different brands and periods of scopes and knows how to pick the good ones, high end Tascos included.
 
Hi Jim, no I can't. It sounds like you know more about the Parsons operation than I. The name came to me a few years ago as a recommendation for a repair shop, but to date I don't have any firsthand experience.

A lot of folks get steered to ABO for tasco service under the mistaken impression that ABO assumed warranty service of pre-Bushnell Tasco scopes. ABO is just a paid shop, just like any other repair shop. My point was that there are other options.

Your friend sounds interesting.

Most people are surprised when they learn that you don't need all 5 fingers to count the actual number of global manufacturers who sustain commercial production of quality glass lenses for binocs and scopes.
 
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