Who makes Cabela's line of scopes?

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Had a friend that had one of their Alaskan Guide scopes - 4.5-14x something IIRC. I didn't look bad for the money to my eye but my friend was disappointed. For some reason, he seemed to think that it was the same as the Simmons Aetec or Expedition line of scopes... not sure if someone told him that or he just though they looked alike. It really seemed OK to me... maybe the older Burris Fullfields or something like that.

I don't talk with him any more but I'm pretty sure he kept it... just the kind of guy he was.
 
Cabelas Scope

I use a Cabelas scope on my deer rifle. It's the "Alaskan Guide" model in 3.5-10X50. I bought it at a Cabelas retail store in Minnesota. The optic guy there told me that it was made for them by Leupold. (wink wink) Who knows what a salesman will say to get a sale but it looked good to me. I can't say that the optics are as clear as my "real" Leupold or Nikon scopes but they are much better than the average Simmons or Tasco to me. The price is right and it's been accurate and durable through several Minnesota hunting seasons. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another one.
 
China!!!!

I called Cabela's customer service today. They said their Pine Ridge 3-9x 40mm matte was made in China.

Cabela's staff said they are verboten to release the manufacturer of their products, but will state country of origin.

With the talk of multi-coatings and made in China, sounds like Tasco to me. I'll stick with that on the Pine Ridge Series until proven wrong. I dare ya.

Alaskan Guide may be a Leupold, but also may be a BSA:neener:
 
Not to pick nits (man, I've been saying that a lot lately :p ) but Tasco doesn't, nor have they ever made scopes in China. They buy them from various manufacturers and brand them as their own but I wouldn't doubt that they are from a manufacturer that supplied Tasco.
 
tasco

cratz
hey man, the tasco world class on my '06 was made in china, says so right on it ,and the box it came in. seems like it is built well enough. i try to stand by principle's too, but anymore i would miss out on many things in life to he too rigid in that regard. peace.
mothernatureson
 
cratz
hey man, the tasco world class on my '06 was made in china, says so right on it ,and the box it came in.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry... I think you're missing what I'm saying. I mean, to the best of my knowledge and from what I've read and heard, there was never a factory in China with a big Tasco sign on it. Tasco bought scopes from various sources and branded/had them branded with their name and sold them as their own. This is probably the primary reason why there is so much variation in Tasco scopes. I've seen Tascos that were nice and bright and others in the same price range that looked like crap.

Trust me, I'm not a Tasco/Simmons/Bushnell/BSA basher. ;)
 
bought a cheap ($50) scope once, Bushnell.
fogged up internally, didn't get a shot at the deer.
took it back and the merchant cheerfully mounted a new one. tested it as thoroughly as I could before deer season.
fogged up internally, didn't get a shot a the deer.
took it back and exchanged it for a Leupold. No problems.

Expensive optics don't look like they are worth the expense, until you need them.

My bino's are Swarofskis. Tested all the majors, wouldn't buy cheap optics for hunting again.

There is a good review of binos at eagleoptics.com, wherein they compare and contrast all of the high end binos
 
BIG BUMP from the ghost of Christmas past. :)

Just wondering if any new info has emerged as to who makes the Cabela's scopes..specifically the Alaskan Guides.

brad cook
 
Here's to keeping this bumped up in the honor of the Christmas spirit.

I was looking at the Cabella's optics as well the other day. Was considering a purchase, but without a local store, I am very hesitant to purchase a scope without looking through it first.

That, of course, doesn't mean I haven't before. I purchased a Bushnell Rimfire scope for my 10/22 from Natchez - probably the most satisfying scope I've ever purcahsed - but I am looking for a more heavy duty center fire scope and thats at an entirely different price point.
 
who makes cabela's scopes is held pretty close to the vest. i've yet to find a trustworthy source that surely knows. i even have a couple good friends that work for cabela's and they don't, either.

i can tell you that the pine ridge series is garbage, and to be avoided. the lower magnification alaskan guides are good scopes for the money. the higher mag alaskan guides are, optically, pretty good, but come up short in many other regards - but many of these other things are also where scopes like sightron, burris, etc drop the ball, too.

they'll make great gifts for people looking for a scope for their hunting rifle, where 10x or so is as much magnification as they'll need. for the varmint hunter, they come up short and will necessitate replacement.

cabela's scopes have also been hashed over at www.baitshopboyz.com/forum in the optics forum...
 
Rumor Range

I don't know about Cabella's but I read one scope shopper to say he had seen scopes of one brand, one power, one stock number made by three different Asiatic contractors. If so, you can't assume a scope today was made the same factory as the scope last month.
 
One of the larger manufacturers of riflescopes in Red China is Hubei Changjiang Optoelectron Instruments Factory. As of 2002, they were said to be manufacturing about 1,000,000 riflescopes annually of various types. Since I've never seen a riflescope with the "Hubei" label, I'd say it's a pretty good guess that their products are marketed under any of a number of other labels.

What those labels actually are . . . well, your guess is as good as mine.

And subcontracting abounds, and knows no borders - Zeiss has factories in Japan, and I've seen Leica lenses being manufactured in Japan.

So just because something was made in China, you don't really know who made it . . . or how much of it was made at one company. As Charles DeGaulle said, "China is a big country, inhabited by many Chinese."
 
when I worked at Cabela's it was said the Alaskan Guide scopes were made by the same people that made the Sightron scopes. they do have a lot of similar machining and looks to them. I have a 4.5 - 14 x 44 Alaskan Guide on my Ruger #1B in 22-250 and for the money I think it is a pretty good scope.
 
Steveno,

That sounds about as good as anything else I've heard. Thanks for sharing. That 4.5-14x44 sounds like the exact same model that my dad is about to buy off of a friend of ours. It may end up on my rifle so I was wanting some more info.

brad cook
 
Hey I believe the Cabela's scopes come from China. Get real people our companies send all of the stuff there to be assembled. That way they make even more money for themselves. Now I think that it would be hard to not use anything made in China. That's just the way things are right now so you better go read the made in China print that's on your expensive scope.
 
dont know bout rifle scopes manufacturers, but I recently bought a pair of $250 Leupold binoculars, first thing I noticed was "china" on them. big disappointment that a supposedly American made product like Leupold was made in China.
 
Good Golly, you dragged this thing up from 2003 ...

BAck when this thread was new (8 years ago !!! ) I didn't own a Cabela scope. So I couldn't participate in the thread.

But now I have one, so I can join the fun!

Mine says MADE IN PHILIPPINES.


So much for all the damn theories.
They buy from whoever was low bid.

As for the salesman who said Leupold, he
should be hung upside down with weights on his hands
and his crotch dusted with itching powder.
The lying sack o' turds.
 
Cabela's will put out the specifications they desire and give the job to the low bidder. This is the way nearly all private label contractors work. Manufacturer may change from one contract run to another.
 
It used to be that the Alaskan Guide line was made in Japan and the rest were made in China. At some point, some of the lines went to the Philippines. Currently, or at least as of 2 weeks ago, all Cabela's branded scopes are labeled as Made in China.
 
TexasPatriot.308 said:
dont know bout rifle scopes manufacturers, but I recently bought a pair of $250 Leupold binoculars, first thing I noticed was "china" on them. big disappointment that a supposedly American made product like Leupold was made in China.
Click to expand...

It's no secret that Leupold bino's are imports, that's been reported all over the net for a long time, but none of their scopes are.

DM
 
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