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NRA SHOW OPTICS

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ranburr View Drop Down
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    Posted: April/17/2005 at 13:24

I was at the NRA show yesterday.  Overall a very good show and there were some nice optics.  A couple of interesting stops were to the Sightron and Redfield booths.  Two things jumped out at me at Sightron.  First just how clear their optics really are.  Secondly, just what an ass they are.  This guy ran down everyone even remotely involved in the optics world, including SWFA.  He did say that if you buy from anyone other than Sightron, it should be Leupold.  I guess his brother-in-law works for Loopy.  He went on to tell me just how bad european optics really are.  Oh well, off to Redfield.  They claim that their new scopes will rival anything out of europe and they will be equipped with ED glass and made in the U.S.  One thing that I found disturbing was that they have no plans for an AO on models over 10X (which is most of them).  Th sample they had did not have ED glass , nor the correct turrents or finish.  Thus, I am a little confused as to why they were showing it.  Bushnell has some great looking stuff.  They do have a new ballistic Plex type reticle that actually looked more like the TDS to me.  If you need a new bino I was very impressed with the new Elites.  They appeared superior to the new Gold Rings.  Leupold had a lot of nice stuff, but nothing that jumped out at me.  Meopta had some nice looking stuff, but still no plans to hit the 1" market.  I don't see them being a real player without the 1" tube.  I did not see any of the other euros, but I didn't quite make it all the way through the show.  If they were there, they had really small booths.  Nikon had some nice stuff and Burris was there but I didn't make it to their booth.

 

ranburr 

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STWSniper View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote STWSniper Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/17/2005 at 14:45

Sounds like it was a great show. The new reticle Bushnell is coming out with definitely sounds interesting. Too bad the people at Sightron have to be such idiots. Cutting down other manufacturers doesn't exactly make me want to do any business with them. I find it funny that they can call European optics "bad" with a straight face. LOL I agree with you that the Bushnell Elites are a great bino and I plan on purchasing a pair in the near future.

I wish they had NRA shows around here.

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cheaptrick View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote cheaptrick Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/17/2005 at 16:41

Thanks for the review, ranburr.

 

Unfortunate to hear that Sightron has such morons working in their company,(especially at a show) but then again, don't we all.

 

Thanks for your time. 



Edited by cheaptrick
If at first you don't secede...try..try again.
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koshkin View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote koshkin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/17/2005 at 17:04
Who was the Sightron guy? I talked to Alan Orr a few times and he seemed like a nice guy to me.  Then again those were short conversations :)

Ilya
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ranburr View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ranburr Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/17/2005 at 17:10

Bingo!

 

ranburr

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Chris Farris View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Chris Farris Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/18/2005 at 10:50
What did he say bad about us?  We were just about to sign up with them at distributor level.
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koshkin View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote koshkin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/18/2005 at 12:11

I remembered that Sightron was rumored to be making some lenses for Leupold.  I guess that would explain why he would push Leupold a little.

 

Chris, do not do this to me.  I've been faithfully waiting for SWFA to start selling Sightron products.  Then again, I suppose it depends on what the guy said. 

 

I wonder if I should e-mail Alan and invite him to join the forum  :)

 

Ilya

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ranburr View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ranburr Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/18/2005 at 13:09

I asked the guy point blank if they had any connection with Leupold and he said no.  Don't worry Koshkin, I don't think that anything was said so major that would keep SWFA from carrying the line.  But, I was left with the impression that they did not want another distributor.  Who knows, maybe I caught the guy on a bad day?  Then again, maybe he is always like that.  I don't know.  If I wanted a scope from them I would still buy it.  This is a commodity product, the price is right and the quality is there.  

 

ranburr 

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Brewdaddy View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Brewdaddy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/18/2005 at 14:56
Ranbur, Where was this show at? Just yesterday someone told me about a large NRA convention going on in Houston.
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ranburr View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ranburr Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/18/2005 at 15:19

George R. Brown

 

ranburr

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cj17 View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote cj17 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/19/2005 at 10:30

I spoke to a female Sightron rep on at the NRA show on sunday and she was very personable.  We talked about Sightron's lack of market penetration and representation in TX and she agreed that they were actively working on doing a better job of getting their name out there.  I mentioned a few of the other scopes I had purchased in the recent past (Zeiss Conquest aand Burris FFII), she commented that they were both good products for the money.

 

She really seemed to be pushing the SII line with the turret mounted A.O. To my eye these scopes were very nice for the $ especially considering that they have an offer for a free pair of SII porro-prism binoculars and a camera bag with the purchase of one of the turret A.O. SII's.  The free bino's aren't something I'd replace my Pentax DCF SP's with, but as a freebie they would sure be nice to have for bouncing around in the truck or taking to sporting events etc.

 

The rep also told me that they are currently providing their warranty on a no-fault basis, so that however bad you were to trash a scope, they'd replace it with a new one even if it had been obviously neglected.

 

Anyway, I just wanted to note that the rep I spoke to was very personable, semi-knowledgeable and was in no way critical of any other optcs maker. 

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Brewdaddy View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Brewdaddy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/19/2005 at 18:25

Ranbur,

 

I didnt' know you were a fellow Houstonian!

 

I live in Cypress, what neck of the woods do you call home?

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ranburr View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote ranburr Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/19/2005 at 19:15

Pasa-get down-dena.

 

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Brewdaddy View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Brewdaddy Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/20/2005 at 04:53

Don't you mean Stink-a-dena?  Haha, just kidiing.

 

Thats good to know!

 

Great weather we have been having the last week! Someone forgot tell Mr. humidity that summer started.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote cj17 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April/20/2005 at 09:07

Brewdaddy, 

 

We must practically be neighbors, I live in the Lakewood area between Louetta and Spring Cypress.

 

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