Being born under a lucky star never hurts, but doing a bit of homework helps too.

For example, the last couple dime store optics I purchased-- Primary Arms MicroDot. I can read hundreds of posts about them, a majority having been mounted on centerfire rifles, and they get consistent positive reviews. So I figure if it can hold up to some centerfire abuse it ought to do well on a .22 rifle. They do.

There are some things to stay away from. For example, some people buy variable high magnification dime store optics and expect them to look decent at high magnification-- they will often be disappointed. Fixed low power dime store optics will typically deliver the best optical results. This is why I bought the Primary Arms compact 4x and put it on another .22 rifle. They had such a good reputation on centerfire rifles that PA could not keep them in stock. They just came out with a new 3x compact scope. Not sure about that one.

Doing some homework, keeping these cheap optics on .22s and buying from good vendors will usually yield good results. For those who don't care to spend much time with these things, and just pick out a tacticool something from Optics Planet or Amazon.... then I agree that they should be cautious of cheap stuff because there is a higher likelihood of being disappointed.

The Redfield is great, and so is the one piece mount. Speaking of used scopes... SWFA takes trades and sells used scopes. http://swfa.com/Riflescopes-C1443.aspx