did i break my scope???
 

So I was out shooting my savage .243, and as luck would have it with two months before the hunting season out here, my simmons 3-9x40 just goes blurry after one of my shots... I didn't drop it or anything and the focus lens won't work. It just looks completely blurry and I.can't see a thing! Did my scope crap out on me or what? I already have a Pentax Gameseeker 4-12x40 brand new coming in the mail on Monday only cause I need a scope asap to sight in, and can't afford a really good one now. Can someone please tell me if there's a way to fix my simmons, or is it finally just crapped out? Had the simmons ever since I bought the savage used maybe 5+yrs back (same scope came with it and had no issues before). Thanks guys for any and all information!

Just send it back; because I'm sure you got a lifetime warranty.


Buy it once !

Its done, dead, history, gone with the wind like scarlett o'hara. I have two simmons scopes. Neither one will hold a zero, one of which never did out of the box, the other one was subjected to the abuse of a braked 7mm mag, and an unbraked 300rum. The latter also is blurry. To me, it is typical of the quality of simmons and their price point. The pentax hopefully will be better quality. If you have a warranty on the simmons, use it, get it fixed, then sell it. I've had good luck so far with the new redfields, I stuck a 2-7x on my 375H&H, and managed this 4 shot grp
Other than that, you get what you pay for on cheap scopes. Best to save the money and get good glass, so it is less likely to fail on an import hunt.

Once again, I didnt pay for it... it came with the rifle. And when it was working, it held zero and worked flawless.

Doesn't matter who paid for it, it performed as typical with simmons, when they do work. Worked one minute, not the next. Imagine being on a hunt of a lifetime, or just a hunt when the trophy of your life walks in front of you, and this happened? You can't polish feces, so turn the scope into a hammer. Get a good scope, or save the cash to get a good scope. They say, spend as much on the scope as you did on the gun, and there is some justification to that. Most guns are capable of great accuracy these days. Two things that keep them from doing so, the shooter, and the glass on top.

+1 Sheridan!

I have a couple Simmon's scopes in the box of parts that have come off of rifles I bought...I shot through one of them once, it was supposedly pretty new and I was so unimpressed I didn't even bother using it on a 22 or anything else, just tossed it in a box with a few other crappy scopes (BSA anyone???...hahaha). You get what you pay for with Simmons.

Save a few bucks over the next year and invest in something with a lifetime warranty...a good 3-9x40 can be had for under $200 from places like Swift (Premier line) and Nikon (Pro-Staff 5's) and a few other places on sale.

I have never had nor looked through a Pentax...hope it gets ya through your hunt.

I had a Simmons Aetec that just went out of focus when I turned the power ring up. Moving the power ring, I could get it to focus, but the power was not moving. That was on opening day a few years ago. Luckily, I didn't get a shot that day. When I got back to camp we set up a target and shots were more than a foot apart! I called Simmons even though I was sure I did not want a Simmons again. Their customer service was horrible! Which made me more determined to get the scope replaced. I finally got one about 7 months later, never mounted it on a gun! I threw it in the trash!

Exactly, what good is a lifetime warranty if you are just going to get another POS that you can't trust. I had similar problems with 2 Bushnell Banner Dusk to Dawn scopes. Admittedly, one was on a muzzleloader that I was pushing 150 grains through (down to 100 these days, lol) and the other a 12 gauge slug gun. But, after having 2 fail, I didn't want to put another on my gun , particularly my slug gun where it costs $2-$3 per round to shoot, spend a bunch of money on ammo to zero, and have it fail again and have to start over (maybe a week before season!!). I now spend a little more on my scopes, not necessarily as much as the gun, but I think there's a floor that if you go below, you are asking for trouble.

Very true. At this floor, you have bought a lifetime warranty that you are far less likely to ever need.

Does this sound like a lifetime warranty ??

http://www.simmonsoptics.com/global/repair_services.cfm


I prefer the "no questions asked", lifetime warranties !


I like it even better when you NEVER need it.......................

This doesn't sound good. Almost sounds like something failed internally? Based on what Sheridan provided about the warranty, I don't think I'd recommend you utilize it - you'll end up with a bill to repair a scope that you'll always question. As far as fixing it and selling it, you might consider what you're passing along to the next guy?

Hope you have better luck with your Pentax.

BTW - It's sounds like the seal broke and the gas escaped = cloudy (blurry as you call it).

Leupold makes great scopes...I have one on my Ruger M-77, one on my Knight Disc and one on my Remington 541-T...Never had a problem...

I have a buddy that has a Simmons, he is on his third...Sends them back, they send another...I don't have the time for such....

I didn't get a bill. Just took forever to get through to their customer service! Just ended up being hard-headed enough to go through it for the principal of it!


I considered selling the new one that they finally sent me, but I don't wish a bad scope on an enemy! So I threw it in the trash!

I think that you pretty much get what you pay for!
Cheap=JUNK
Quality=Quality
Expensive=How much do you need? Diminishing returns for the $$$

You said that you need one for sighting in and them swap out when the new one gets here. It won't matter what this scope or any other do if you are going to swap them out later. You will still have to re-sight when the new one gets here anyhow. Just save the ammo and wait for the new scope.

Welcome to the world of Simmons optics. I have come across several .... scopes and binos. Bought one $150 Simmons scope decades ago. Terrible at low light but has held up OK. Witnessed first hand an Aetec's guts come apart at the range ... first time , out of the box sight-in effort on an 8 mm Rem. Mag. Fifth shot ... toast. Could hear parts rattling inside the scope. The guy sent it back, received another in relative short order ... and same thing. A hand full of shots and the scope failed again. Could not withstand the recoil I guess.

I realize many folks swear by Simmons as a good, economical choice ... and I do not mean to offend Simmons owners ... but I have not been satisfied with any optics branded "Simmons". And I do not recommend anything that thay make.

If you are on a tight budget like most of us are, you can find a good value out there in the $300-$400 range. Leupold, Vortex, Burris, Bushnell, Nikon to mention a few.

Any of you have any experience with Cabela's or BassPro's house-brand scopes?

Swift Optics are quite good for the money.

I have a Cabelas Alpha 3-12x40 on my Savage 93 in 17HMR...It was on a super sale (think I paid like $79 3 years ago)...it's OK...It has held zero and is clear and I like the reticle...I'd rank it just a little lower in over all quality than the Nikon Pro-Staff...but for the money and for what I ask of it it has done the job flawlessly for a couple thousand rounds. I'd buy another one on-sale, but the regular price seems a bit high for me. I have heard the Alaskan and Euro scopes by Cabelas are better but have never really looked through one.

I much prefer Swift Premier scopes for the money...and warranty.

+1 for this....I currently have 4 Swift Premier scopes on rifles....

3-9x40 on a Rem 700 in .243
3-9x40 on a Rem 700 in .270
6-24x50 on a Savage 10 in .308
6-18x50 on a Rem 700 in .257 Roberts AI (currently being finished by my smith...I am getting gitty like a teen girl headed to prom! LOL)

They all perform well...but the real proof is in how they handle their warranty...even the best scope manufactures occasionally have a bad scope sneak out. I got one of those. About 15 years ago I had a 3-9x40 Swift on my 7mm Mag that was bad...took it off and returned it to the dealer, they replaced it no questions asked and off I went...that scope is now on that .243 above...and the one on my 270 has been there for 18 years without fail and has been hunted with at least one hunt every year since.

Thanks for the info, was looking at a couple on sale. I'll check out Swift.