Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Canada Optics Are So Much Better Than Even Ten Years Ago, but…

Optics Are So Much Better Than Even Ten Years Ago, but…



An optometrist told me years ago that I needed glasses. I told him I would bring in a new rifle scope and he could check it too, but he said,

I only do eyeglasses. I test your vision, and we work together to determine what gives you the best sight picture. Is this clear? Or this? When it comes to other devices, you’re the optometrist and work with your eyes to determine the best sight picture.

Don’t judge how a scope performs by staring through it inside a building full of artificial light. Looking at the equipment rack on the other side of the store is not the way to check scopes! You will be using it outside, so take it outside! Look at some trees. Pick out a bird. Casually scan around. Look in shadowy spots. Check out areas that are fully illuminated by the sun. See what you can pick out of the background from a distance. How’s the sight picture?

Optics are so much better...

Interesting read for sure.

I have been taking scopes and binoculars outside to "try out" for many years. At least when the store has been willing to allow me to do so.
Mostly this has been smaller shops. In my experience, the larger stores just don't let you do this.....their loss I guess.
I have preference for Leupold products mainly. Having said that, my current coyote rig is a Fierce Firearms Edge CT in 22-250. It wears a Zeiss Conquest V6 3-18 and a Savage in 17 HMR that wears a nondescript Bushnell 4-12 that it came with. This may or may not get swapped out for a Leupold. Currently, the Bushnell suits it well.
Everything else wears a Leupold.

Binoculars are Leupold, Steiner, Nikon and Brunton. Again, all taken outdoors to try out pre-purchase.

Rangefinders, same thing.

I don't have a spotting scope, something I may or may not purchase at some point. My shooting is leaning more towards shot-gunning these days.

When you are dropping good coin on optics, you def want to use them outside. Even less expensive stuff as some them aren't bad.
The lighting indoors just doesn't do the optics justice.

Jeff

I preferred the smaller places, but they are almost gone. 🙁.

I have exactly one pair of binoculars now. Leupold Yosemite 6x30s and an RX-600 rangefinder. I like Leupold as well, but over the years they have been sold or traded off.

Are there any smaller shops around the Hat these days? Where do you go locally to nose around for hunting/shooting stuff?

The only shop left here is The Outdoorsman on Allowance Ave. I spend far too much cash in there is seems.
The next closest is the Marksman in Lethbridge. Another cool place.

I have a few sets of binos. I keep a small set of 10X Bruntons in my fly fishing vest, rest are in my hunting pack, range bag etc.
Steiners are in the house for bird watching at the feeder mostly.

Jeff

I still miss Wholesale Sports . We just lost our small sporting good store. It had an excellent fishing section. Cabelas came to town.

Our old postmaster used to hate my orders from WS. Twice a year they had bulk bullet sales, so I would order for myself and some friends. The orders would arrive in either two or three boxes that weighed about 60 lb each. I always got the stinkeye when they arrived.

I have to take exception.
A top quality scope from the 50-60s is every bit as good as what most people put on their rifles.
Zeiss, Schmidt Bender, Bausch & Lomb and Unertl can compete head to head with and scope in the <$500 range.

Yes.

I suppose a lot has to do with whether or not the older scopes remain sealed and the glass is up to par. Much like my 70s vintage Leupold. It had to go back for repairs, but they were free.

I miss Wholesale Sports deeply. Esp the Lethbridge location.
It was smaller than most I believe but the staff were great and the selection of gear of almost all types was pretty darn good.
They were close enough to Medicine Hat that I could easily rip down there if I needed anything the local guy didn't have; I don't think I ever mail ordered from them.
Jeff

Well, gentlemen. Count me in on that sentiment, I could not agree more. I miss Wholesale Sports in Edmonton a lot as well.

Seems like the only qualification you need to work at Cabela’s is to have pee’ed in the woods once in your life. Most of the staff at Cabela’s are clueless, with a few exceptions.

For my Fishing needs I go to Fishn’ Hiole, they are in the Know.

Thinking back, the flashpoint occured when firearms legislation was recognized by politicians as a way of mining votes in urban centres. Starting in the 1980s, we saw a shift in how outdoor stores and gun shops did business. Small, mom and pop stores were out, followed by the retirements or the passings of Canadian institutions like SIR, Ellwood Epps and Russell Sports.

Over a 10 to 15 year period, hardware stores stopped selling ammunition and firearms, products were chained or locked up behind glass and we saw the emergence of the "big box outdoor store".

That change to the business model was upsetting to many. Glitz and bling became the new way of selling hunting stuff. A lot of stores got bigger. That included grocery stores and hardware places too. Retail was changing.

One of the things that bothered me personally was a trip to Canadian Tire in the mid 1990s. I went to the sporting goods section to buy some 22 ammunition and the young clerk wondered aloud why ammunition was even sold there. A change in thinking was happening too.

Part of that not so good evolution was the sale of SIR to Cabela's. Wooden floors and wood smoke disappeared. The former small-town feel of gun shops was changing to fit the modern age. Of course, the Internet arrived as well, which changed how consumers spent their money.

A confluence of events, or a series of changes if you will, that influenced who we were and would become in the future. Change is inevitable and always bumpy.

... the prices for scopes, range finders have gone thru the ruf too

... Wholesale Sports ... LeBaron ... SIR ... and a lot of smaller Canadian gun shops ... gone ... SIR wasn't the same after Cabelas bought it ... couldn't blame old Earl Robinson though ... he was in his 90s and wanted to retire ... the legal hassle to run a gun dealership is more than most want to deal with ... a lot of the Canadian Tire stores have got out of guns and ammo

Pretty much the same in all retail venues. Mom and pop independant stores are dying out, big box and chains are walking all over them with their purchasing power. Mom and Pop simply can't compete against the big retailers and others like Amazon.

And with the price of things escalating so much, it's hard to remain loyal to small stores. A little bit of a difference is okay, but too much and you look elsewhere.

... Ellwood Epps is still going strong in Orillia, Ontario ... there was once 3 Ellwood Epps stores in Ontario but Epps currently operates 1 gun store and 1 fishing store on Hwy 11 north of Orillia

I think it's safe to say that mom and pop stores have more difficulty not only in price of what they want to sell, but also the presentation. Places like Cabelas have websites and most of the big stores do real time inventories. They have software that automatically inputs new stock, deducts items that are sold, adjust for sale items, etc. Smaller businesses often have an employee typing everything in. It's more labour intensive.

I miss Lebaron. Bought many rifles and scopes there. You could actually handle what you bought, without feeling like you're annoying the sales staff. They even let me take various optics outside to test them.

Progress has brought us better, more accurate rifles and equipment, but sometimes I think that we've lost more than we've gained.

If we had fewer bullets and powders, and old, wooden stocked rifles, I think most hunters would still be happy. Going into old time gun shops, long before the new "Big Box" stores arrived, meant a person could pick up and inspect more things, nose around the shelves and swap lies with the staff and other customers. For me and many others,what we bought was only a small part of the time spent visiting. The business model has changed. Get 'em in and out quickly. Grab their money and show them the exit.

High powered scopes, "tactical gear" and premium bullets are what most hunters and shooters crave these days. With very few exceptions, game is still harvested at close range - like under 150 yards - with basic equipment. I haven't seen the latest sales reports, but a few older cartridges are probably in the top ten, despite recent design changes.

When I die, part of heaven will be an old time gun shop, with a wood stove and creaky wooden floors. My friends will be sitting around or leaning against the counter shooting the breeze and enjoying each others company. No one will worry about the time, bag limits or having the latest rifle or cartridge.

It's about the journey, not the destination.

Hi Steve,

Hope all is well in your neck of the woods. Busy here putting finishing touches to some articles.
I'm having surgery on my right shoulder Friday morning. Waited 15 months so when the call came I grabbed the date. It puts me out of commission for at least 6 weeks in this crazy sling that totally immobilizes my arm.
Lots of time to sit and cruise the "Fire" coming up. Will be learning to type left handed too. No driving, no shootin, no fishin....yikes.
Off work too, can use that break, kind of trial retirement run maybe?

I'm headed to Calgary's Cabelas tomorrow. Last road trip before Friday morning. Not after anything in particular but I do plan to look at spotting scopes. will see if they let me take them outside.
Nothing old school there any more though although there was one good guy at the gun counter a few weeks ago. I forgot my reading glasses in the truck. Was looking for powder, he had a list, too fine of print so he ran through the entire list for me. I got my coveted Varget!!
Sure hope you are right about that old school gun shop in heaven!
If there isn't an old school fly-shop attached to the gun-shop, I'll open one when I get there!!!
Heck, I hope there is an old drive inn movie theater, old school A&W style joint with the pretty girls on roller skates. And lots old guns, ammo and bamboo fly rods in the back windows of old pick-up trucks!

Just dude getting old,
Jeff