RE: Alpen anyone?
I don't have an Alpen scope, nor have I even looked through one. I do have a set of Alpen binos, though. To be perfectly honest with you, I'd never heard of them until my wife bought them for me as either a birthday or Christmas gift a few years back. My initial thought was that they were some cheap no-name brand, but they're actually pretty nice. Most of my hunting buddies have mid-level Leupolds or Nikons and (they agree) the Alpens I have are the same (if not better) than theirs.
Some of the guys I've talked to at Sportsman's Warehouse have said that they have a tough time selling other brands for quite a bit more coin when the Alpens compare so favorably. (That doesn't appear to stop them from pushing the hell out of Nikons, though! Is there an explanation for that, btw?)
Again, I don't have any experience withAlpen scopes, but my point is that I wouldn't dismissthe companyas being low-end junk stuff.