Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Optics Beware of Simmons scopes.

OK Seafire,

I had a 53 Buick, 2door. Dyna wouldn't Flow after 72,000 miles.
I had a 64, 65, 67(12Volt) 69, 71(Super Beetle) VW's.
My wife of nearly 50 years reads these posts .....

Jim

Saying beware of Simmons scopes is like having to tell someone not to kiss a rattler In the mouth.

And you would know that, how?

Jim

Common sense poindexter....

We seem an odd assortment of creatures. Some see our firearms equipment as specific tools for specific purposes and we covet the best tool for the job - and brand status, eye appeal or quantity are not very important. Just one good performing firearm for that job - best performance one can afford.

Others among us are interested in:
eye candy and/or rarity and collectability;
having esoteric custom chamberings that seem a "smidge" better;
braggin' rights about name/costly brands or total guns owned;
having one of almost every chambering known;
etc., etc., etc.

All of the above makes our interests, hobbies and acquisitions more enjoyable - and the shooting as well. It's interesting to read about a person's "1st Tier, 2nd Tier and 3rd tier" rifles with comments about some optic related items being "easy on the budget". Among the many guys I have hunted,reloaded and shot with, if we were so flush as to group our rifles into "Tiers" and then had "budget" decisions about scoping a certain Tier - we probably would agree that any among us with that many rifles would not be much driven by the cost of an individual scope.

IMHO there is not nearly enough performance difference among modern scopes to justify anything like the cost spread. If so, status figures into that equation somewhere. When this all started for me in 1961, I barely could afford a scope - the first one new cost about $8 ("United Optical - made in Japan) and the crosshairs moved with scope zeroing - never quite centered in the circle. But, it spotted deer, elk, bear, javelina and coyotes, never fogged, never broke, never quit. It still sits on the 7X57 on which it was first mounted, and I would take in on a hunt today - even on a costly safari in Africa were I so fortunate.

As time passed I seemed to graduate to "better" scopes where the crosshairs were centered - mostly Tascos, a few Weavers and once a Redfield- and most purchased used as takeoffs at gun stores or at gun shows. Only once in all those years has anything on a scope not worked well - the innards of a side/windage turret just plain fell out. The maker replaced it - even though I told them I bought the scope used. We have quite a variety of relatively inexpensive scopes around here now.

I do have one Leuopld, one Burris and one Ziess - each came here already mounted on a rifle. I like them, a lot, but not one of them seems noticeably better at work than most of the assorted other glass, and don't think I ever would buy a high-priced scope for that reason. Maybe my eyes are so poor that the "quality" of a scope does not make much difference - in which case, my logic seems OK.

Vive le differences !

I take it you don't spin turrets too often....

There is quite a bit of difference in cheap and more expensive scopes when it comes to tracking.

There are quite a few other differences as well.

It is important to have "stuff" that is at least one step above that of those with whom you regularly shoot/hunt/converse. The reason here is that when something of theirs fails (as it will), you can sneer at their cheap equipment and when something of yours fails (as it will), you can fall back on the old stand-by position that "well, you have to expect a bit of failure along the way", delivered in such a way that no one dares to point out the fact that the emporer isn't wearing any clothes.

dammit John haven't you ever heard Larry Weishuhn say "All you need is an Aetec and good taxidermist".... ..............Hb

I sure the hell don't. Just zero the damned thing and go forth and kill stuff. I could give a schit what the "turret twisting" performamnce of a scope is so long as it holds zero. Ain't no place to shoot anything past 300 yards around here anyhow.

I think his actual quote is "All you need is an Aetec, a good taxidermist and a high fence to hunt in".....

ouch!

It is preferable to have your mother, wife, and daughters as the top revenue producers at the local whorehouse than to use a Simmons rifle scope.

I got a great deal Many years ago on one in the shape, power of a 1.5x5 leupy and put it on a Win. model 63 for squirrel hunting. It never gets off, possibly because I don't use it since to see a squirrel with it the animal has to get in sunny spot on a limb and stand up. I can make someone a real good deal. PS one cold morning the little 'gold' medallion popped off after the glue holding it failed. other than that, it's minty.

John,
I readily admit that I may not be as knowledgeable about rifles and scopes as you are so I may not understand spinning turrets. Is that what inferior shooters do who can't figure out Kentucky Windage?

Jim

Well if all of that were true, then you could afford a better scope than a Simmons...

Well Jim, you could have always got the tranny repaired on the old 53 Buick...

But if all the ones ya mentioned, if you were ever in an accident, the one that would be hurt the least is definitely the 53 Buick..

My aunt ran a stop sign in a 67 Mustang, and got hit by a 53 Buick...the Buick had to have the front fender bent back into shape along with the left front fender...

the 67 Mustang was far beyond totaled..and my aunt spent two weeks in the Hospital...

and VDubs.. I've owned like 15 air cooled versions... Bugs, Buses, Squarebacks and Fastback..got thru college buying them cheap with shot motors, went to the bone yard and got a motor out of a wrecked one and mated them together...

in college, I was a traveling fool on school breaks...dorms closed, folks lived in Hawaii..so I use to put 40 to 50,000 miles a year on VWs...touring up and down the east coast, and all over Canada from Ontario to Newfoundland..

and may God smile on your lovely bride of 50 years...

This comment is directed to the entire thread, not Seafire:

The Optics forum is always interesting, especially when people start discussing certain "brands" of scopes that aren't really brands at all, in the sense of being made in the same factory.

Simmons scopes have probably been made in at least a dozen factories over the years, and right now are no doubt being made in at least two or three. Like many optics imported from Asia by American companies, they're made wherever the best deal can be found. Over the years the best deal has changed from Japan to other countries such as Thailand, the Phillipines, Korea and (these days) China.

The quality of any scope depends on how it's made, not the name on the outside. I've used a bunch of Simmons scopes over the years. Some have been junk from the get-go, and some have been very good--including one model that featured VERY accurate turret adjustments, and was designed to be used that way.

In fact I used it for a number of years on several rifles, shooting thousands of rounds of ammo, and it kept working perfectly. (The only reason I eventually sold it was that Simmons no longer offerred it anymore, and for a gun writer it makes no sense to use recently discontinued products, because readers won't be able to use it--and sure as snot on a baby's nose, some readers will write into the magazine, asking about the scope on page 77.)

Saying all Simmons scopes are cheap junk is like saying all Toyota cars are trouble-free.

Hmmmmmmmmm, your friend made a gesture of appreciation for your time spent in the workshop and you in turn took a hammer to it because it didn't meet your lofty standards.

IMHO,you're an ungrateful [bleep] azzhole that doesn't deserve friends. I'll wager you even checked the price.

284.

284LUVR,

I think you're taking this far too seriously.
I'm sure you'd happily put this same scope on your main hunting rifle?

Truth is, everyone is from different economic classes. I remember being a poor college kid and getting excited because Walmart had a Simmons marked down to $29! haha

I bought it, because I had a gun that really needed a scope. It always worked correctly, but the coating on the lense was actually coming off from simple cleaning.

Now I am not as poor, so i wouldn't even consider a $29 scope. Then again, I am still not able to afford something like a Schmidt.