I would never admit to owning a Ford Pinto.
My dad had a Western Field 3x9 on his 30/06 he bought it at Western Auto in the 70's. The deer he killed never knew they were killed by a low quality optic.
I remember as a young boy looking through Dad's scope and thinking how cool Dad's rifle was. And later at 18-19 years old I bought my first Leupold scope, compared it to Dad's scope. The new scope was so bright, Dad's scope looked like skim milk. But Dad shot (high expert) in the Marines, he was a good shot.
But we never knew how poor it was until we had something to compare it to.
Tasco, Simmons, Redfield, and many other low to average quality optics are used everyday. More than any other high end optic. The same people that but one box of green (Reminton)box ammo, and keep that same box for years firing only 1-2 rounds a year.
But you brought your argument full circle... a guy buying one green box every few years is not buying another rifle or scope. The median scope buyer is going to have more than a few scopes.
