I get what your saying, but Leupold is not the only quality scope on the market. Most scopes in the 200 dollar range are going to be very good scopes if you keep the power low and don't go for all kinds of do dads. Bushnell 3200, Nikon, Burris and others all make very good scopes.

You probably had an older tasco, simmons or bushnell that was cheap to begin with.

Paul