Will add that close to 20 years ago a well-known European optics firm introduced a lower-priced, but still optically very good, riflescope. They sent about a dozen to various gun writers, after engraving the writers' names on the scopes. I may not have been the only one to thoroughly test one, but suspect I was, putting it on an accurate .375 H&H and starting to shoot at a 100-yard target. The scope only lasted around 20 rounds before the groups opened WAY up.
I contacted the firm's U.S. public relations person and told about my results. In the meantime a well-known gunsmith friend had encountered a similar problem. As a result the company asked for the problem scopes back, and found a consistent problem with a synthetic inner part. They pulled all the scopes off the market--or at least all they could, as some had already been sold to individuals. The part was changed to metal and the scope went on to become very popular--but it was a simple set-and-forget scope, NOT a dialing scope that would be subject to a lot of up-and-down.
Since the trend toward dialing scopes started I have been sent quite a few for testing, including some that were relatively light. One of these gave up the ghost after a few ground-squirrel shoots on a .17 HMR, refusing to adjust consistently. Obviously recoil didn't have much to do with it. Instead the adjustments simply wore out.
Naw, there's no reason to make the innards of dialing scopes out of heavier, tougher stuff.
