No, oldelk, I was not directing that statment toward anyone in particular, just making a broad (maybe to broad) general statement, about the over emphesis that customer service may have in the decision as to what brand/make of scope that one may buy. That' s all. Leupold' s customer service is the best and every scope maker should be trying to emulate it. Like I said, the mark of a good scope is how many do not have to use the customer service, but it' s a good to know that a company has good customer service when and if it is needed.

As I said, Leupold is a good scope. I honestly don' t believe anyone could go wrong by purchasing one. I wish they did come with some kind of lens covers though. But I don' t buy off the shelf Leupolds for myself any more. I buy them from Premier Reticles reworked/modified to the way I like or want them. I strongly beleive that Dick Thomas makes a good scope even better.

I think that there is a certain gap that scope manufacturers fall in and fill in. Not every rifle is destain to wear a Leupold, Zeiss, S&B, Swarv., etc. Also not everyone can afford one, so someone has to step in and fill that gap with a decent scope at an afforable price. For instance, I couldn' t justify putting Zeiss or Swarv. on a NEF Handi-Rifle. Maybe some could, but I would lean toward a decent scope like a Nikon, Burris F-filed II, or Leupold VX-I or something along that price and quality wise. On the other hand, I would not consider putting a tasco or Simmons on anything, except maybe a 22 LR, but not a centerfire. Nor would I consider putting a $200 scope (not even a Nikon, Leupold VX-I, or Burris F-filed II) on a $800-$1000 rifle or one of my custom builts, either. My rough rule of thumb is, whatever price range the rifle happens to fall in, I look at paying about as much for a good piece of glass to put on it.

I also look at the application in which the rifle/scope combo is going to be used. For tatcial I think U.S. Optics are the best scope going at this time. For target and varmint rfiles, I like Leupold, from Premier Reticles, of course. For big game hunting I like Zeiss. On my muzzleloaders I use Nikon, but that doesn' t neccessarily make them the best, just very serviceable for the job. I also have a Nikon on my Mossberg 835 3.5" mag turkey shotgun, that held up well to the recoil of that shoulder thumper. Decent scopes, very servicable, and affordable, but not what I consider the best scope on there is.

The only scopes I have had problems with are Simmons. A few years ago I bought 8 Aetecs 3.5-10x44, because I needed 8 scopes in a hurry for testing 8 Savage 10ML-II' s muzzleloaders, and they were available. Over the course of 2 weeks shooting, all 8 were render to junk. I never bothered sending them back to Simmons, I just round filed them in the thrash can.