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Was looking at a Vortex PST HD scope on a "short list" for it's turret and mid price point. They actually carry Vortex here locally in our small town. I got my hands on the 2-10X and checked it out.

Flipping it over revealed "Made in Phillipines". Was pretty disappointed in that. They still wanted $599 for the scope.

Are any of the Vortex optics USA made? If so, which line?


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Nope, none of them are. However, if you can get past that, they seem to be great scopes backed by a wonderful warranty.

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I do not want to comment on the quality of the glass. That is not the nature of your thread.

Vortex is simply a trade name. Just like so many other trade names. They don't make anything. They just buy from a mfr. and then they put their name on it.

So if you want to pay more and get less then buy them. Just remember there is one more middle man involved with the profits. And I consider that a bad thing.

I only buy glass that is made and sold by the same company. With their name on it!! This puts one less profit center in the sale. And hopefully you will be the winner in this deal.

Just remember the name Vortex, is just like other trade names like Simmons or Tasco or Bushnell. The name gets bought and sold. Once the name is sold the warranty becomes worthless. Tom.


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Originally Posted by Jesse Jaymes
Flipping it over revealed "Made in Phillipines". Was pretty disappointed in that. They still wanted $599 for the scope.


Jesse, maybe it's time to give up the mindset of "made in Asia = cheap and poor quality". That certainly doesn't apply to Vortex.

I don't give a bugger where they're made, I've got two pairs of their bins, two scopes and another two scopes otw to me.
I think they're excellent optics for the money.

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I only buy glass that is made and sold by the same company. With their name on it!!


What glass would that be Tom?

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Not much made in the good ol USA anymore optics included, Leupold and maybe Sightron are made here and I'm not even sure about Sightron, some of the Asian made optics are excellent it's just sad to me that we don't make anything in this country anymore............Hillbilly.

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Sightron products are not made in the USA.

Optics manufacturing went world-wide long ago, just like any other sort of manufacturing, from cars to televisions. Every company buys at least some components from another specialized company, whether screws or lenses.

I don't know of a single optics company that makes everything under one roof. Some companies may grind and coat their own lenses, but they don't make the glass itself.

A perfect example is the Zeiss Conquest rifle scopes. The only parts actually made by Zeiss in Germany are the erector tube and its lenses. The other lenses and main tube are made in the Czech Republic, and the major parts are assembled in the the U.S. Some of the screws may be made in China, along with the raw glass, since China has had a Schott glass plant for almost a decade.

Whether or not a company actually makes anything is irrelevant. What matters is the engineering and quality control.

Vortex is an American company that grew out of a parent company that sold optics from around the world. They don't "make" anything, but they tell optics manufacturers what they want, and then have those specific products made by those manufacturers. Vortex also tests and guarantees those products, and since the company has long been involved in selling top-quality stuff, they know what they're doing.



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Originally Posted by johnfox


Quote
I only buy glass that is made and sold by the same company. With their name on it!!


What glass would that be Tom?


It would be long established companies like Swarovski, Zeiss, and Leupold. All three are manufacturers. NOT TRADE name companies. They make, market, and warrant their own products. Not some one elses. Even though I will admit that Leupold has dropped their standards a good bit. But yet they still have their own proprietary line. However Leupold is still an independent manufacturing company that markets their own products(plus some from another mfr).

I have scopes by all three companies that are 30-40 years old. And they are still covered by the same company that made them. How many trade name companies can you say that about?? How many trade name companies have been around, and by the same owner for 30-40 years?? Tom.


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What about Burris? They have made scopes in the U.S. since the company was formed.


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Originally Posted by Mule Deer


Whether or not a company actually makes anything is irrelevant.




Tell me that in 20 or 30 years when you want to take advantage of that lifetime warranty you were told you had when you bought that trade name product. The trade name may still be around, but it will have probably been bought and sold a couple of times. So your warranty will not be worth the paper it was written on.

Ask the guys who owned the old trade name scopes that had lifetime warranties. Then found out the company was sold, and only the name remains. Then tell me how irrelevant it is. Try sending a 30 year old RedField(that also had a lifetime warranty) to the current owner of the trade name. And ask the current owner(which is Leupold) to fix that 30 year old scope or replace it for free. Good luck with that.

A very hot selling scope in the 80's was the Charles Daly scope. Because it also carried a full lifetime waranty. That is when CD was owned by OSHI. Try getting that lifetime warranty scope repaired or fixed. Good luck with that.

You are thinking short term. When I buy glass I am thinking long term. 30 or 40 years, or more. When Vortex gets a 30 year track record then I might believe you. ButI bet there is no way you will get your current Vortex fixed for free or replaced in 30 years!! But you will get your Zeiss or Leupold fixed. They have that track record. That is as simple as it can be put.

I have had scopes fixed or replaced by Leupold that was over 30 years old. Try that with other trade name scopes. It ain't gonna happen!! Tom.

Last edited by HOGGHEAD; 08/02/11.

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Originally Posted by Mule Deer
What about Burris? They have made scopes in the U.S. since the company was formed.


I know for a fact that Burris binoculars are made in China and Japan. I talked to a rep about it a few years ago. Their decent binocs are made in Japan by Bausch & Lomb, and their crap binocs are made in the same Chinese factory as everyone elses.

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Originally Posted by Ghostinthemachine
Originally Posted by Mule Deer
What about Burris? They have made scopes in the U.S. since the company was formed.


I know for a fact that Burris binoculars are made in China and Japan. I talked to a rep about it a few years ago. Their decent binocs are made in Japan by Bausch & Lomb, and their crap binocs are made in the same Chinese factory as everyone elses.
Yes and their Fullfield II scope line is made in the Philippines. Their Signature Select, Euro Diamond, and Black Diamond scopes are made in the USA. Where the parts come from I have no idea but everything is put together here.

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Once again I'm reminded of why I don't post on the optics forum very often:

The company that owns Vortex is (like Leupold and Swarovski) a family-owned company that has been backing up the products they sell VERY reliably for over 20 years.

Many scope companies sell binoculars made in Asia--including Leupold, which provides the same guarantee as for their scopes. This is because NO COMPANY makes binoculars in the U.S. anymore.

Ghostinthemachine: It would be a major miracle if Bausch & Lomb "made" Burris binoculars, since B&L is an entirely American company that doesn't make scopes or binoculars anymore, and hasn't for many years. They make other optical products, including contact lenses, but haven't made any sporting optics for at least a quarter of a century.

The last B&L brand-name scopes and binoculars were primarily made by Light Optical, one of the top Japanese firms. This started in the late 1980's, as I recall.





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Originally Posted by HOGGHEAD

Tell me that in 20 or 30 years when you want to take advantage of that lifetime warranty you were told you had when you bought that trade name product.


I am guessing that in 20 years, I will want a newer, and better scope.

On a side note, the Meopta Meopros are made in the USA. Although I believe the parts are built in Czech. I just cannot warm up to Vortex. Seems their marketing is more impressive than their optics that I have played with.

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In the business world(sale of a product) you basically have three types of companies.

These three types would be manufacturers of the product, distributors of the product, and retail sales of the product.

Swarovski, Zeiss, Leupold are all manufacturers of a product.

Vortex is a distributor of someone elses product. So they are a middle man or distributor of a product.

There is no correlation what so ever between Leupold and Vortex. Or Swarovski and Vortex. Family owned or not. They are two totally different and distinct types of companies.

Two are manufacturers, one is a sales company. Pretty simple. Tom.


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Originally Posted by Mule Deer
Once again I'm reminded of why I don't post on the optics forum very often:

The company that owns Vortex is (like Leupold and Swarovski) a family-owned company that has been backing up the products they sell VERY reliably for over 20 years.

Many scope companies sell binoculars made in Asia--including Leupold, which provides the same guarantee as for their scopes. This is because NO COMPANY makes binoculars in the U.S. anymore.

Ghostinthemachine: It would be a major miracle if Bausch & Lomb "made" Burris binoculars, since B&L is an entirely American company that doesn't make scopes or binoculars anymore, and hasn't for many years. They make other optical products, including contact lenses, but haven't made any sporting optics for at least a quarter of a century.

The last B&L brand-name scopes and binoculars were primarily made by Light Optical, one of the top Japanese firms. This started in the late 1980's, as I recall.





Just saying what the guy told me. Companies selling to companies.

Who makes these? http://www.amazon.com/Bausch-Lomb-Custom-Armored-Binoculars/dp/tech-data/B002NQJSWU

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Originally Posted by dogcatcher223
[quote=HOGGHEAD]

I am guessing that in 20 years, I will want a newer, and better scope.






I bought a Zeiss 6X42 West German one inch model scope in the late 70's. This scope is well over 30 years old. I can honestly say it is still an excellent scope. Maybe you don't want to buy products that last a long time. Personaly I only want to buy high grade optics once, not every 10 or 20 years??

And I definitley expect them to last my life time, and the lifetime of whoever I leave it to. But then I know I can sell that scope tomorrow for twice or more what I paid for it back then. Buy quality once, and you won't want a new one in 20 years. Tom.

Last edited by HOGGHEAD; 08/02/11.

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The late 80's for Bausch and Lomb sounds just about right.

I had a friend who worked in their manufacturing facility in Maryland(Oakland). He retired in the late 80's(early 90's-I don't remember the exact time) when they closed that plant down. He told me they moved all their lense facilities over seas, and were out of the sporting goods trade. Please keep in mind this is second hand information. Tom.


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Ghostinthemachine,

A lot of misinformation is spread by "what somebody told me."

There are some optics companies that sell whatever they buy cheaply. There are others that demand the manufacturer builds what they want. There are others that do the engineering in-house, and then have some other company build it. There are others that do the engineering in-house and the actual building in-house, whether with their parts or contracted parts.

Assuming that ALL companies that don't make everything in "their" factory sell sub-standard optics is really poor thinking.


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HOGGHEAD,

You remind me of a friend of mine. I gave him a Savage .30-06 with a Leupold 3-9 forty-eight years ago. He still has it. About thirty years ago I gave him a Remington 7MM Mag with a 4-12 Burris on it. He still has it.

In that same time I have had maybe a dozen rifles and scopes. The only one left is my Klienguenther K14 I purchased in 1977. It had a 4-12X Burris. It has had maybe half dozen scopes on it. Even the Savage .223 I had was converted to a .257 Wea Mag. In fact that one will get the newest z5. The barrel from the .223 became my .224 MBOC.

I told him I am way more dynamic than he is. It is not that he is thinking about the future, he just doesn't change much. he is more static than me. If you have read my threads, you know I have already bought and sold three Swarovskis and gone through three Bushnell 4 1/2-30X50 scopes until I got the one I now have. I already ordered another z5 in hopes of getting one that is as good as my Bushnell in normal day light.

Neither of us is doing it better than the other. We are just doing what we do. There is slim chance for you to convince those of us who will purchase a Vortex. I have one of their binocs (6.5x32); which is very nice and light. Of course it is for sale. I would buy another Nikon 7-15X35 for the pickup.


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Originally Posted by dogcatcher223
I am guessing that in 20 years, I will want a newer, and better scope.


+1

On second thoughts, I probably won't care, I'm 58 now, plus 20, I think my hunting days will be behind me. smile

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