What is a "good" Japanese optics company?

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Fatelvis

Fatelvis

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I just bought a Pride-Fowler scope, and they openly say on the box that it is made in Japan, by a reputable optics company. Can anyone tell me what company actually makes it? It looks to be put together very nicely, with crisp, positive target style turrets. Thanx-
 
Probably hakko. They'll make it to the level of quality specified, but are capable of putting together some pretty decent glass.
 
you won`t believe me/this...........Leupold made in Japan. That`s right. Guess what Leupold has been doing to hunters/target shooters for years now....made in Japan. Do you want an American made scope made in the USA, good as Leupold (some say better) and certainly less expensive than Leupold and with a lifetime forever warranty? > BURRIS <
 
The RR 22LR scope is excellent! It uses FFP lenses, and lets you shoot accurately with a 22LR out to very long ranges. The reticles are very accurately matched to standard velocity ammo. I tried one, and now I gotta have one! The 44mag pistol scope I have now is SFP 1.25X4, and the ranging reticles match my 357 Maximum perfectly also. I'm shooting a 180grn XTP @1500 fps for IHMSA, and after zeroing it for 100 meters, it makes shooting at 150 and 200 a breeze!
 
Chad from Rapid Reticle informed me that they are made by Asia Optics/Kenko of Japan. Any questions or comments? Write him at: [email protected] He answered my email in about 5 minutes!!
 
ROBSC,

Leupold scopes are made in the USA, in Beaverton OR. I've been to the plant many times. The Wind River line of range finders and Binos are made in Japan.
 
First off, saying "Jap" isn't really a good idea.

Secondly, Leupold makes great scopes. It's all we use.

IF I could afford Leica, Swarovski, or Zeiss, they would be good too, but, not cheap.
 
Kenko filters are a staple in the photographic community along with Hoya and Tiffen.

Nikon and Pentax both make multiple lines of hunting and spotting scopes. Canon, oddly enough, does not.

That being said, everything I have that's scoped wears a Leupold. An M8 on my old 30-06, a 3-9x40 VX-II on my .223, and an LER 4x on my .22.

Brad
 
robsc, are you suggesting that the Japanese aren't up to the job of making quality optics? My Nikon camera and binoculars would disagree with you, as would my friends' cameras, binos, riflescopes, spotting scopes, telescopes, and, well, pretty much everything.

Come to think of it, I think the same can be said about cars. And electronics. And . . . .
 
Do you want an American made scope made in the USA, good as Leupold (some say better) and certainly less expensive than Leupold and with a lifetime forever warranty? > BURRIS <
Click to expand...

Can you tell us where Burris gets their glass?
 
For quality I would choose a Japanese product over USA made product just about every time.
 
actually, I would be very curious to know what "Japanese Optics"

are still made in Japan these days. I am willing to bet that most of the optical glass is now being "made" in South Korea or China--or possibly other Asian countries.

By the mid-nineties, the Japanese camera companies were well on their way to moving manufacturing away from Japan--the labor costs were simply too high. I bought a highly-rated 70mm DX lens last year--arguably as good as Zeiss or Leica--and it wasn't made in Japan.

I'm not sure the location of manufacture has much to do with the QC and quality-level issues we associate with good gear any more. More than ever, the "reputation" of the product is determined by a marketing plan, not by inherent design considerations.

Jim H.
 
Gator,

every scope I know of is made with foreign glass. Is there even a maker of optical glass in the USA anymore? High end scopes like USO, Kahles, Schmit and Bender, etc use Schott glass from Germany. Most everything else uses Japanese or Chinese glass.

As far as Leupold, tubes, erectors etc are all made in Beaverton. I very much doubt you could find any optical device with US made glass.
 
Scopes

No one here is going to believe this post. I wouldn't if I hadn't owned one at the same time I owned a Zeise and a Leupold VXIII to compare it with. Here goes: The best optics available in a scope are Fuginon. So says some optical sites and I have to reluctantly agree. I don't think they are imported any longer. They're ugly but everything is impressive and they are pretty inexpensive on E-bay. They are Japanese. They supposedly are the toughest, brightest, most light transmitting, better optically than any scope in the world in their class. That includes Kahles, Schmidt Bender, Leupold, Zeise, Burris, etc.etc. I know most of you reading this won't believe it. If you ever encounter one just compare it to what you have, and be honest. Darn shame they didn't make it here. At least I don't think they are imported anymore. Those on e-bay are probably closeouts.
 
"For quality I would choose a Japanese product over USA made product just about every time."

I'll take American tools any day over Japanese (if, that is, the Japanese make tools). Their rifles are quite nice, but there's nothing about a Browning that makes it better than a Remington or Savage (say, for instance, a Savage 114) or FN for that matter.

And I'll also take American computer processors.

Ash
 
There are very few companies actually MAKING sporting optics from start to finish. You can get great glass from about anywhere, so long as you pay the oem glass house to do X,Y, or Z.

Almost all consumer glass is Japanese (you hope), Pacific Rim/China (you sigh, and gamble), or European (you pay through nose).

Burris, Millet, Leupold... these guys may assemble, coat, and QC in the states but the glass is Japanese. They just order it made to a certain level of quality, and break balls whaen it shows up not cutting it.


Simmons, tasco, Barska, NCstar, Leapers, weaver, Bushnell et-al do not, for the most part, pay these guys (pacific Rim, Japanese firms) to make them great glass. They pay them to make stuff they can use to corner marketshare in the sub $150 segment.
 
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