Yup.... must be brand new...

http://www.opticsplanet.com/tasco-elite-4500-4-16x40mm-riflescope.html

Bushnell?

Bushnell owns the Tasco Name plate in the USA...

figure they are trying to give the name a leg up, both in the quality and marketability departments....

they've been selling the same old tired products ( which still work well in many applications)

They also have some new products that are upscaled over the 6500 series stuff, which look pretty darn sweet...

If I wanted to give a scope a "leg up" the last thing I'd do is label it TASCO!

BIG MISTAKE. Chevy once bought Toyota Corollas and put the Malibu name plate on them, hoping Toyota quality and reliability would give the whole Chevy line a boost.

No one bought them. Why should they? Chevy has no resale value and a crappy reputation for quality control.

Bushnell is making the same mistake with Tasco.

How many are you going to buy?

A $600 Tasco!

I don't care who you are, now, that right there is FUNNY!!!

Thinking it is a mistake by opticsplanet. Tascos website shows no such scope. Bushnell does. Product number optics lists for the tasco matches the number bushnell shows. Also several retailers I checked list the same product number but as a bushnell not tasco. Price listed for the busnells are the same as what optics is listing the tasco for.

I may be wrong but I believe that Hawke bought the Tasco brand name recently.

Just to digress a little. I was in a gunsmith school in Denver when they first came out. If I remember right, their price for a four power was $12. Guys bought them up like crazy. Our school held a sight-in day just before Deer season at the range where we helped guys sight in their rifles for $1. They kept bringing in rifles with these scopes mounted all different ways. After we mounted the scope right they went to shooting. We could not adjust them to change impact point. Then a guy came up with the solution. You would adjust them for windage and elevation then hit them with a rubber mallet. Worked perfect after that.

Sounds like someone is out sourcing overseas once again, don't it?

Like Pete E, I thought if you want to sell a product at $600, I would use another name besides Tasco....

kinda like way back in the 60s, Chevy tried to sell NOVAs in Mexico, but gave them some name, that was slang in Spanish, for Won't Go....

Something just didn't look right, so I thought I'd share it with you guys and see what you thought....

and how many am I buying? half a dozen or so, when the prices drop from $600, down to the usual $29.95....

I guess I'll take one for Tasco. Earlier in my life when I was not nearly as affluent as I am today I used a number of Tascos . I will say most were in the Japan days and most were 4x but I will have to say they gave me good service. Actually I only know of one that failed as most were in use 2-3 years then lost in a trade . The one failure was one I sold to a co worker on a 243 for his kid. It fogged probably 5 years after I sold it. But for the $20 or so I spent on them they did a good job. Were they as clear as the nicer scopes I have today ? No but they were not bad and all I had would dial in and hold their zero just fine. I can't remember the last time I touched the 4x on my 22 and it must be 20 years old.
So I guess it's a bit silly to me to read someone that swears they can't compare to their Leupold costing 5-10 times as much, but to each their own. I can't howvever remember seeing a post where someone posted that a similar priced product was that much better. Maybe the old Bushnell sportviews made in Japan but that's about it in my experience. Having said that I am not in the market for a $600 tasco either though the SWFA are the old Titans if I recall. They aren't cheap either and seem fairly popular.

It wasn't that long ago you would have said the same about Bushnell...

I thump every scope I own after adjusting, just a bit, and its worked fine.

I did have a bushnell, that would not take the adjustment correctly until you had fired an actual shot or two.

I just wanna know if they are blister packed....

Yes, I could buy two USA made Leupold VX2's for that. Or 3 VX1's.

I dont care what name is on the box. If its a good scope and good value I will buy it.

Ive got US and Jap and Euro made scopes but also a couple Chinese made and a Phillipines made one as well.

If they let me down I pursue the warranty and where thats not valid just chuck them away.

Tasco & $600 in the same sentence ??

Didn't you read the "ELITE" script on the objective? Clearly this model will come with both a real box AND see-thru covers.

TASCO's (and Nikko Sterling) fairly dominate the mass scope market here in the UK and have done for years.

The trouble started when they began switching production around the Pacific Rim and eventually ended up with China. You could have two scopes sperated by a couple of years production and one would be ok, while the other would be junk..
When I started shooting I had a Tasco World Class on a .22 air rifle, which got moved to a .22LR and then a .223Rem..That scope must have been back and to the company three or four times in about 18 months and never would hold zero more than three or four shots..

On the other hand, I had a TASCO 4x32mm that lived on an air rifle for years and it was bombproof. The inside of the tube was a really flat black, and the reticule was a nice bold plex..The scope killed a lot of rabbits in a friends orchard….

Pretty sure Optics Planet goofed and this is really the BUSHNELL 4500 Elite. I use their 4200 Elite series scopes and have had great luck with them. The 4500's are side focus.

Just a note to point out that Tasco doesn't "make" anything, as some have said on other Campfire threads. They have always been simply a brand name, with the products made wherever they can get them made to their specs, at a price they can sell for profitably. Some Tasco optics have been pretty good (even very good) and some haven't, and sometimes the "same" product was changed from one factory to another, which could affect quality either way.

Bushnell is the same sort of company. When Dave Bushnell started in the company in the 1950's they basically imported copies of Weaver scopes, and most were even better than Weavers. In 1993 I went on a safari in South Africa and the owner of one ranch was originally from Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and had been a control shooter and PH all his adult life. The scope on his .458 Winchester that had killed thousands of elephant and buffalo was a 2.5x Bushnell purchased in the 1950's, and it had never given him a spec of trouble.

On the other hand, I have tested products from several importing companies (including Tasco and Bushnell) that changed so radically between the prototype stage and actual production that, other than appearance, they could have been different optics.

USA made is really stretched when it comes to Leupold. They're great scopes but the important part of the scope is the glass, and that's not made in the USA.

Thats a common business model in the sports optic sector..

Hawke is another that springs to mind, although they seem to watch QC fairly closely..

Going back to TASCO, I believe originally their better quality stuff was built by Hakko Optics of Japan and the made some pretty decent scope.

Hakko produced scopes for a lot of other companies, but eventually lost business to other Pacific competitors.

I believe Hakko went out of business some time ago, but a new company Japanese Optics Limited is now using the Hakko name again. I’ve no idea whether this was a take over or whether “Hakko” is now just a marketing name?

I have no idea either.

Most optics companies these days are actually subcontractors/importers. Very few make everything under one roof (or even in several factories), and even those that do usually have some of the work done elsewhere, or obtain major parts from elsewhere. So quality control and customer service are actually the biggies, no matter what the name of the company.

Thanks to MD and Pete for accurately cover what I've learned about TASCO and Pacific Rim production.

The original Tasco Titan was made by Hakko according to Chris Ferris at SWFA for them, and was/is very good. I have several and have virtually no complaints - maybe better eye relief if I want to be picky. Fully multicoated lens, sturdy construction, hold zero very well even after transcontinental travel, good in low light, what's not to like?

Shows how products change, especially as owners change.

Years back, Tasco went toe to toe with the Alpha Euro's with their Japanese Titan. It was 30mm, a very well made glass. I think their price point was around $600 and it probably was a $600 scope quality wise.

With the Tasco name, it flopped. I have two of the mid range Titans, think I got them for less than $200, used on Ebay. They are still a bargain when you can find one. I'm talking about the early Jap Titans, not the later Chinese version.

Bushnell bought B&L and continued their Elite series. I have a B&L Elite 6-24x40, recently sold a Bushnell Elite 6-24x40. I couldn't tell any difference between the two, same specs both made by the same factory.

I think using the Tasco name on anything other than low end glass would be a marketing error, based on past history.

DF

The great thing about a $600.00 Tasco would be the high resale value!!!

Yep...

That's what makes the early Jap Titans such a good buy on the used market. Most people don't know how good a scope it really is and are turned off by the Tasco name. I don't see them available that often. They're sorta big and bulky, but for a big gun, they're OK. Lots of glass for the buck.

DF

I have several of the old Tasco Pro-Class pistol scopes and those things were pretty solid. I've got one that's survived 600-700 full house loads from a 375 JDJ that scrambled a couple other optics previously.

I've ate a lot of venison taken with the aid of a Tasco scope.

Wouldn't you say the important parts of a scope are the erector systems, parts quality, and quality control?

not when your scopes are like Lone Wati's piece of hard rock candy, "It's not for eating(using), it's just for looking thru"......

Worked for SWFA Super Sniper..

$600 Tasco.. That's Lot Coins For a Pain Stirrer...

That is the problem. Hypothetically speaking his can be NF quality, tracking, clarity, durability with Leupold VX3 pricicng........................BUT with a name like Tasco who wants to risk it?

Like the Bushnell elite 6500. Bushnell name but these turned out to be awesome scopes. I have a few.

Great scene!

What he said..

I know the bushnell scopes are top notch but the name is ingrained in my mind as junk form years ago....can't help it....Sam with tasco. Just can't buy em...