S&W optics made in Japan

[stantheman86]

Any info on these? Japanese made rifle and pistol scopes with the S&W logo.......are they any good, and besides the S&W logo on them, for what reason do these bring $200+ on the auction sites?

 

[firearmsunlimited]

First, on mid to high end scopes, there is nothing wrong with Japanese production. The optics industry in Japan and a few other counties is based upon a cottage industry. What this means is that most of the grinding and polishing of the glass is done by mom & pop operations that are held to high standards by the companies. If they produce poor work they are simply out of a job. Second, there are no $200.00 scopes manufactured by anyone that are good, reliable with an expected long life. Over the years we have done extensive testing of scope optics for repeatability, optic clarity, light transfer and ability to sustain heavy recoil. Without going into details relative to specific brands and models acceptable scopes with reasonably good glass are found in the current mid price range of $450+.

 

[Dragon88]

Man you're right, that Leupold I have is such a piece of junk.

 

[stantheman86]

I have a Leupold M8 2x and it's second to none, also have a vintage Redfield 1.5x from when they were made in Denver on a 6" M28. Vintage Bushnell is also pretty good.

I'm honestly wary of Japanese glass these days, bought some Japanese stuff and it was crapola, since many of the former US made brands have went to Japanese production.

I was looking to put some S&W branded glass on a 617 so I'm not worried about it's ability to handle recoil. I just thought it would be neat to have a "S&W contract" made scope, just for looks, on the .22 revolver.

 

[firearmsunlimited]

Man you're right, that Leupold I have is such a piece of junk.

The low end ones are certainly not very good but we have found the VXII, VXIII and VXVIIs to be excellent. I can't say that the price difference between the VXIII and VXVII is justifiable.

 

[firearmsunlimited]

I have a Leupold M8 2x and it's second to none, also have a vintage Redfield 1.5x from when they were made in Denver on a 6" M28. Vintage Bushnell is also pretty good.

I'm honestly wary of Japanese glass these days, bought some Japanese stuff and it was crapola, since many of the former US made brands have went to Japanese production.

I was looking to put some S&W branded glass on a 617 so I'm not worried about it's ability to handle recoil. I just thought it would be neat to have a "S&W contract" made scope, just for looks, on the .22 revolver.

The Japanese glass is usually good - it is the Japanese, Chinese, Mexican, etc. assembly and internal mechanisms that are not the best.

IMHO it would not consider a S&W, Winchester or any other gun maker's scopes if I were looking for good reliable
performance. We have never tested one that was any better than a Simmons.

 

[stantheman86]

I have the Leupold M8 on my 617, I feel a Leupold is "wasted" on a .22 LR revolver, so I had been thinking of putting the S&W branded glass on the .22. The 2x handgun scopes turn up on FleaBay once in a while for $100 or so.