why are Swarovski Riflescopes so expensive?

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My right eye has some astigmatism. Not a lot, but enough to be a bit of a limiting factor in low light. I consider a scope to be part of ethical hunting with a rifle caliber, at least in some conditions.
 
I read recently that the US army had placed a big order with S&B for snipeing scopes. The US army must have class and taste and know a good scope when they look through one ;).
 
My right eye has some astigmatism. Not a lot, but enough to be a bit of a limiting factor in low light. I consider a scope to be part of ethical hunting with a rifle caliber, at least in some conditions.
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I have severe astigmatism in my right eye. That's why, at an early age, I learned to shoot left handed and never looked back. :D I do have a problem with the bow, have to strain to see those pins sometimes. In sunlight, they light up (fiber optic) and are a lot easier to see. I'm AT BEST 20/70 corrected in my right eye. But, I've gotten it down with lots and lots of practice where I can group into 4" at 25 yards with the Hoyt, about 9" at 40. I feel that's plenty ethical to chase whitetail and hogs with when it this bow season and I have not slacked off in my back yard practice. :D With a bow, you have to HUNT, not just sit back at 2000 yards and shoot. Oh, I can shoot, but I prefer to hunt.

Like I said, though, I'm happy with my Burris riflescope. Doesn't mean I can't tell the difference; I just like the price/performance of the thing.
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I totally agree on the cost/benefit thing. I'm not rich. I'd have to save up for 10 years just to buy a Schmidt and Bender right now, living off my retirement which pays the bills, what work I can get for spending money, and my wife's disability and I don't know if social security will even be there when I qualify in six years. I wouldn't spend it on a scope that costs as much as a Japanese motorcycle, anyway. If the only optics were high end European stuff, I'd just hunt with iron sights. I'm a very skilled marksman and could handle it even with aging eyes. Heck, a good receiver aperture is capable of 1.5 moa at 100 yards in MY hands from an accurate pre 64 M94 Winchester in .30-30. Some "experts" have tried to tell me that a .30-30 lever gun ain't accurate. :rolleyes: I like the higher end Bushnell, Weaver, lower end Leupold, and the Burris stuff a lot. The only scope that has ever let me down is a friggin' Simmons Whitetail. I don't do Simmons anymore. These 200 to 300 dollar scopes stay together, work well, and get the job done for me. The optics can't match my buddy's Schmidt and Bender stuff, I readily admit, but I'm putting a bullet on target at 400 yards or less, not reading a damned newspaper at 600. :rolleyes:
 
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I'd have to save up for 10 years just to buy a Schmidt and Bender right now, living off my retirement which pays the bills, what work I can get for spending money, and my wife's disability and I don't know if social security will even be there when I qualify in six years.
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Between getting a $2000 scope and not getting a full-time job, I'd pick the "not getting.":D

(Austrian origins, beach town youth, Idaho residence... none of these add up to "workaholic.")
 
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I read recently that the US army had placed a big order with S&B for snipeing scopes.
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Dunno if that is true but it would not surprise me. Certainly S&B is the choice of quite a few armed forces, e.g. Norwegian Army [6X42], British Army [ditto], US Marine Corps [3-12x50].

The US army must have class and taste and know a good scope when they look through one
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Well, maybe (though as anyone who has served in any nation's military knows, issue kit is not invariably well designed or made). But keep in mind that the military's needs are not necessarily identical to those of civilian hunters or target shooters.
 
Skoghund said:
I read recently that the US army had placed a big order with S&B for snipeing scopes. The US army must have class and taste and know a good scope when they look through one
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Schmidt & Bender is a fine optic, no argument there.

The government also is buying up all the Leupold 'Tactical' optics it can get it's hands on,
And all the NightForce optics it can get it's hands on...
(I listen to the guys crank about supply at the guns shows a lot...)

See, we have a war going on two fronts, and it looks like North Korea might want some too...!
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Personally, I'm not a 'Snob' for any brand,
And I don't use 'Tactical' optics, so the shortage has blown right past me with no effect at all on my shooting.

Now, if they were to buy up all the medium range hunting optics, or take away the target optics I'd be PISSED!

But the way it is, I'm not effected in the slightest.

The guys at the gun shows are going to crank about SOMETHING,
Might as well be about optics instead of having to hear about their toilet habits or fat women! :neener:
 
High quality optics of any kind are expensive. Whether it's binoculars, telescopes, microscopes or riflescopes, they will be pricey. The high quality optical glass is more costly, as is grinding the lenses perfectly and then multicoating them.

Some folks eyes are more forgiving of poor images. I've been spoiled by good optics in my binos and a couple of telescopes. I tend to be pretty critical of what I see through a riflescope as a result. I haven't looked through a Swarovski, but I'm sure they're excellent. But I tend to buy things that one notch below world class. Big difference in price, not so big a difference in performance.

A scope I've found with very good optics at more reasonable prices is Weaver, made in Japan. These days, Japanese optics are about as good as it gets for anything affordable.
 
I'd much rather spend the money on high-end binos for glassing, and use a reliable, decent scope (Leupold, Nikon, Burris, etc.) aperture sight (Lyman, Sako, etc.) for aiming.
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In most of your threads it sounds like glass is more important to you than trigger pull. I doubt your that good of a shot to where the difference between S&B and Leupold is going to make a difference.
 
Well, right now, the Government is buying up car companies, banks, insurance companies, state budgets, and such. Hell, they don't have to worry about income, they have ME to tax for it and they can just fire up the printing presses for any trillion dollar shortfalls. :rolleyes: Won't be long at THIS rate, though, and they'll be beggin' the Chinese for rifle scopes. ROFL!

This verges on political, my bad, but you get the point. Money is no object to uncle Sam.
 
Let me elaborate for you! Americans are better with scopes and rifles!
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That is mere repetition, not elaboration. I had hoped that you would provide some actual support for your original statement.

Of course, like everyone else you are entitled to your own subjective, personal opinion. But stating it categorically, as an indisputed fact, is idle.

There are a lot of excellent American riflemen; but there are also many outstanding African, Australian and European riflemen. The current world record holder for long-distance sniping is a Canadian (Rob Furlong). And the Chinese and Russians have obtained quite a few Olympic and World medals in the 50m and 10m running target (running boar) events.
 
Reid73 said:
The current world record holder for long-distance sniping is a Canadian (Rob Furlong).
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And look at the scope he used .... a Leupold Mark 4 3.5-10x40mm with M1 adjustments ... not some fancy European model such as a Swarovski, Schmidt & Bender or Zeiss, but rather, a crappy, inferior, overpriced, unreliable piece of US made junk ... ;)

tac50.jpg


If the account of the actual events is true ... "He began firing at a fighter carrying an RPK machine gun. His first shot missed entirely, and his second shot hit the knapsack on the militant's back. The third struck the target's torso, killing him. The distance was measured as 2,430 metres (2,657 yd / 1.509 miles)." ... you might want to argue that he wouldn't have needed two sighters to complete the job had he been using a Swarovksi, S&B or Zeiss. ;)


:)
 
And look at the scope he used .... a Leupold Mark 4 3.5-10x40mm with M1 adjustments ... not some fancy European model such as a Swarovski, Schmidt & Bender or Zeiss, but rather, a crappy, inferior, overpriced, unreliable piece of US made junk
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No one said Leupolds are a piece of junk there have been many extreme long distance shots made with far inferior optics. The European glass is just better period. That being said I own a Bushnell 4200 and Nikon Monarch and they are fine for what I use them for.

If I ever have $1500 for a scope it will probably be one of the top euro brands or US Optics. If I only could swing $900 and needed a proven target scope I would get a mark 4.
 
lykoris said:
there is a world of difference between a Leup mk iv (their flagship model) and a Zeiss Diavari &/or S&B PMII.
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You're talking close to a $1000 more for an equivalent Diavari and almost twice the cost for an equivalent S&B PMII compared to a top-of-the-line Mark 4! For that price increase you'd expect superior performance. That superiority may not come in the form of superior optics though ... there are other equally important features. So let's compare apples to apples.

ArmedBear said:
That may be an American scope, but it's no cheaper than the others.
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What others ... specifically, what models are you comparing? If you look at S&B, Swarovski and Zeiss "tactical" models, you'll notice that they CONSIDERABLY more expensive than the equivalent Mark 4 models. All right, maybe not Zeiss Conquest models, but S&B, Swarovksi and the Diavari line for sure.

:)
 
lipadj46 said:
No one said Leupolds are a piece of junk
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Perhaps you need to review this thread ... it's clear what some think of Leupold scopes.

:)
 
There are many reasons a rifle costs money, and many reasons a scope costs money.

A $7000 custom rifle will do fine with a $1000 scope. A nice $700 rifle, though, probably is worth more than a $100 scope.:)
 
Ratio? I have a $550 Leupold on a $285 CZ American .22 WMR. And a $330 Leupold on an $1800 Cooper. Why? Because. And a $308 Weaver on a $1k Sako. Whatever works. Disclaimer: These are old prices, I don't know what they're going for today.

Scopes imported from Europe are hammered pricewise by the strength of the Euro. Or is it the weakness of the dollar?

John
 
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