Tasco & Simmons Scope ?

[Hookeye]

I drive a beater vehicle and my .22 rf wear Leupold.
Priorities.
Worked in a decent volume shop and saw lesser stuff go back for warranty, some more than others.
Used to be the Bushnell Banners were usable, until production moved. QC issues after that.
Dunno if newer stuff is better.
Tasco...............the old gangly 4X that K Mart sold for 19.99 back in the day.............worked. Held up decent too.
Eye relief was not the best, but they held up and were used on slug guns (when $ was tight).
Leupold 4X compact was much nicer (but friction knob............they have a quirk).
Hint: tap tap tap

Bought a new 4x40mm Tasco back around 1990 or so.
It was junk from the factory.
Was even a poor hammer when testing the concrete of my basement floor.
Never again.

Got a used Simmons 2-7X AO way back.
Worked fine.

When Simmons brought out their Whitetail line there were a lot of problems.
Big shop had to send them back all the time.

By the time I figure in not working overtime, gas cost etc.............a shooting/hunting day is costing me a pretty good chunk.
Not gonna risk screwing that up by going cheap on an optic.

Cheapest scope I'll run, usable, nothing great......is Leupold VX1.

 

[Hookeye]

I did pick up an old M8 4x compact, mint, for an older rifle.
Got a Freedom VX 3-9X EFR for a .22..............not impressed.
The new turret body looks funky and the rear eye piece has no bell. Overall look might be fine on an AR...............but not on a reg rifle.

 

[LoonWulf]

One of those things with companies like Tasco or Simmons, and to a degree bushnell (tho third current line up seems to mostly be decent).
There's a huge difference between the bottom tier Scopes and the top.

I'd put a Tasco Titan up against any Leupold scope in it's price class, but it's a 5-700 dollar optic.
Same goes for the first run Aetecs, and Whitetail Expeditions. 2-400 dollars
Another good value, would be the 6.5-20x50 whitetail classic that Midway used to sell for 100 bucks. One of those rode around on my 7mag for years before I got tired of dealing with the extra weight and sold it.

The Chinese made scope are now generally decent. But QC seems to still be an issue. In my experience if it's good out of the box it stays that way, but a few I've gotten weren't functional on arrival.

 

[Kabic]

My brother in laws used to have Tascos on their 30-30. Every year deer season fire a few rounds to verify they are still on and then go kill deer.

These rifles did not see alot of use other times of year. At some point things are good enough, and spending more money for better quality is not worth the return on investment.

This point obviously differs for different people that is why some people will use these scopes and others can not stand them.

Im perfectly happy with the Bushnell Dusk to Dawn scope family for my hunting rifles. Various red dots for range toys.

 

[Hookeye]

Buying better scopes and putting them in Burris Signature rings............you can move them to other rifles down the road and there won't be ring marks.
Ring marks might not bother some folks, and there are varying degrees of "mark". I prefer none.

 

[LoonWulf]

Buying better scopes and putting them in Burris Signature rings............you can move them to other rifles down the road and there won't be ring marks.
Ring marks might not bother some folks, and there are varying degrees of "mark". I prefer none.

As long as I've kept to the correct torque values I've never left a ring mark on a scope. I did completely crush the tube on a scope with some Remington rings using the supplied Allen wrench and not paying attention to what I was doing.
Even with an oval tube that whitetail expedition held zero and traveled pretty accurately.

 

[doubleh]

"Another good value, would be the 6.5-20x50 whitetail classic that Midway used to sell for 100 bucks. One of those rode around on my 7mag for years before I got tired of dealing with the extra weight and sold it."
That was a pretty decent scope. I bought one and it's been on various rifles to determine how well they shot and to develop handloads. It just landed on another a couple of weeks ago. The new ones are not in the class of the old ones by a long shot.

 

[Walkalong]

"Another good value, would be the 6.5-20x50 whitetail classic that Midway used to sell for 100 bucks. One of those rode around on my 7mag for years before I got tired of dealing with the extra weight and sold it."
That was a pretty decent scope. I bought one and it's been on various rifles to determine how well they shot and to develop handloads. It just landed on another a couple of weeks ago. The new ones are not in the class of the old ones by a long shot.

Yep, I have one setup to check ARs. Very good for the money. Plenty good glass to check accuracy. Doesn't track all that great, but for stuff you adjust and then leave alone as you test, it works well.

Shown on a .22 LR AR.



I have an old 4X Simmons on a 10/22 that still works great, nothing special, it just works.


I had a Tasco World Class 20-60x60 spotting scope that was very nice that I bought 25/30 years ago. My older son has it now, still working great.

Much better than the current "World Class" model.