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Redfield Scopes

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Acenturian View Drop Down
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    Posted: September/19/2009 at 23:18
I have been away for awhile so please bring me up to date.  A quick inter-net check showed that Redfield was purchased by Leupold from Meade as well as the Weaver name being bought by ATK again a good thing since I love the Grand Slam scopes and under Meade I heard quality started to drop off.
 
So my question is what is up with Redfield, has Leupold said if they are going to make any scopes under the Redfield badge? 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote brodeur272 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/20/2009 at 19:55
Not much has been offered as far as info on that at this point from my reading.  Others may have a bit more insight based on contacts.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote silver Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/20/2009 at 21:09
I do not expect there ever to be a new Redfield scope to made.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote fireroad Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/23/2009 at 17:33
I would second that.  Plenty of great deals on old redfields on Fleabay.  I still keep my 2-7x30 as a "just in case". If you do a google serch there is a company that still services them.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote koshkin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/23/2009 at 18:14
It looks like Leupold bought Redfield brand name in order to get rid of some competition.  I think that's a shame and I might ultimately be wrong, but time will tell.

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Oldtrader3 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/23/2009 at 23:55
Leupold will not discuss Redfield except to sat that they (Leupold) have no intention of even fixing the product for paid repair service, let alone making good on any "Lifetime Warrantee" on Redfield products.  Apparently, "Goodwill" is not what Leupold paid for and the word is not in the Leupold corporate lexicon. 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Acenturian Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/24/2009 at 05:10
Ok...well that is too bad...Also too bad about not willing to fix a product for "paid" repair service.  If I had a Redfield and got that reply I can promise you my next purchase would not be Leupold.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote REMF Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/26/2009 at 21:54
I have an older Redfield on a 10/22 set up for squirrel hunting.  I've never had a single problem with it, but I'm sad to hear that I couldn't get service for it if I needed it. 
 
I also own an old Leupold VARI-X III that is atop a 30-06.  It'll be the last Leupold I own - and I only keep it because it was a gift from my father. 
 
Is it just me, or does it seem that customer service has absolutely gone down the crapper across the board in this world?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Oldtrader3 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/26/2009 at 22:24
There are other companies that will fix Redfield scopes, despite Leupold turning their back on Redfield.  They paid Meade Optical good money for the Redfield brand which Meade ran into the ground.  I don't know how Leupold treated the purchase debit and asset on their books.  Some say that Leupold took a writeoff and bured the Redfield brand to keep others from using it.  In any event, whether Leupold retreads the brand or retires it, I won't buy their product because they won't stand behind it as Weaver has.
 
I still own two Leupold scopes (2-7x28 Vari-XII and a 4.5-14-40AO VX-III), plus a pair of Katmai binoculars, having just sold a third VX1 scope that I did not like.  Additionally, I have owned several Vari-XIII scopes in the past.  Leupold has worn thin with me and their prices for the VX-3 line are getting too close to the Germans to be a good value any longer.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Sandracer Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/27/2009 at 10:42
I don't know why Leupold bought the Redield name, but I don't feel they should be responsible for repair of the scopes they didn't make! How could you repair something  with parts you never made?  As far as the new VX-3 line, to me they are pretty much in line with others of the same quality. I have never had a problem with Leupold's service and feel they have gone overboard to fix things that were not even their fault. I still have an old Redfield low profile and would never expect Leupold to repair it since they never made it! I still have several old Vari-x II scopes and would take them over the chinese crap any day, guess what Leupold will fix theirs today that were made in the 70's, try this with your other brands!

That being said, I do have lots of other brands of scopes and like them too!
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Oldtrader3 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/27/2009 at 18:35
Sandracer, I was willing to pay Leupold to go over my Redfield scope.  They refused and said that they will not touch Redfield scopes, period!  Weaver on the other hand, is standing behind the warrantee on Weaver scopes made by made by Meade Optics.  Weaver will also service older scope not made by them!  That may not be the standard American, almighty buck first, thing to do but Weaver is doing it.  That is a class act!
 
Perhaps the optics dollars that I allocated in the past to Leupold will now go to Weaver for having class and a decent product!  I certainly do not need my Leupold binoculars anymore and never use them.  I believe selling them will be the next step in shedding myself of Leupold.  I will use the money from the binoculars toward buying a Weaver scope.


Edited by Oldtrader3 - September/27/2009 at 18:40
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Al Nyhus Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/27/2009 at 22:24
    When Redfield rolled up it's tent for good in 1998, subsequent owner Blount didn't honor any outstanding Redfield warranty issues. Nor did later owner Meade. They simply bought the rights to mfg. and sell scopes under the Redfield name. There was no tooling, spare parts or anything else sold along with the name. Ditto with the latest owner, Leupold.
 
     Spares and parts from Redfield were acquired by ABO in Florida. ABO still services Redfield scopes, so there's your source for having the scope fixed. I believe that Iron Sight, Inc. (not sure where they are located) also provides Redfield service.
 
    Hard to make a case for Leupold honoring warranties and/or repairing scopes from a company that's been closed for 11 years, has had two previous owners and for which they have no parts.....
"Marsupials scare me".
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Oldtrader3 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/27/2009 at 23:05
I was not aware that ABO had purchased the assets of Redfield.  I agree that the Redfield brand was run into the ground first by Blount and then by Meade.
 
I guess that I am just sorry to see a premium brand of scope be treated so shabbily.  I have (had) owned several of their scopes including Illuminator's and Low Pro's and it is a sorry shame of a proud brand decline.  It started even under the auspices of Redfield, Denver.  Very ugly, all around.


Edited by Oldtrader3 - September/27/2009 at 23:06
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Al Nyhus Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/28/2009 at 05:07
Originally posted by Oldtrader3 Oldtrader3 wrote:

I guess that I am just sorry to see a premium brand of scope be treated so shabbily. 
 
    I think anyone that's been around hunting and shooting for any length of time has a soft spot in their heart for the Redfield brand name. I sure do. There's something about a Redfield 6-18 Golden Five Star on top of a classic varmint rifle like an original Remington  Varmint Specials ....they just look like they were made for each other.
 
   Things were pretty hinky in Redfield-land for several years before the EPA deal proved to be the final straw. Quality had slipped badly and it seemed like they had lost their direction. When they made one final attempt to revive the line by introducing some pretty good quality stuff at the end, the fat lady had already sung.
 
    I dearly wanted to buy both a TX-27 5-20X40 and a 6-24X50 Varmint, but talked myself out of it until things looked a bit more stable out there. 
 
     Glad I waited.


Edited by Al Nyhus - September/28/2009 at 05:07
"Marsupials scare me".
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote REMF Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/28/2009 at 07:21
My only point was that Leupold was doing what has become a trend in a LOT of industries - not just optics.  
 
For example, Chase bank recently purchased Washington Mutual...but not all of Washington Mutual.  They did not purchase the "toxic assets," rather only the safer stuff while leaving the mess for taxpayers to purchase.
 
While it's not a perfect analogy, it's called "Cream Skimming," and the net result is that I have very little faith in a warranty of any kind anymore.  Same thing happened to us with some furniture we bought several years back.  The company had some trouble and sold the assets but not the liabilities, and we were left with broken gear.
 
I just don't ascribe a lot of financial value from warranties any more.  I even own a lot of Zeiss, Swaro and Leica gear, but I don't blindly assume that they will be around forever either.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote tahqua Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/28/2009 at 08:22
It sounds like Leupold saved the Redfield name from anymore trashing..........
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Oldtrader3 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/28/2009 at 09:34
The executives that thrashed these optics companies got their golden parachutes.  How come the American consumer has no protection of services promised, like warranties for instance?  You know why because nobody does anything about it.  The Consumer Protection Agency is too busy helping the US Congress steal promised entitlements like Medicare and Social Security surpluses.  This is after the US Congress has already stripped and raped the Social Security surplus fund every year since LBJ got in office.
 
Maybe companies should be required to set-up a financial reserve with a bank to protect warrantee rights for consumers before a company can pay their golden parachutes and have their pension fund siphoned off and sold as a simple asset (read: no pension for their workers, except from the Federal Insurance Quarantee Fund).
 
We allow these slimey thieves including our Senators and Congressmen to take anything that they want to steal and do nothing about it.  Someone needs to be an advocate for the American people since they won't be their own advocate.  We can have rights once again, you know.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Sandracer Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/28/2009 at 10:52
ShockedWhackoThe company I work for has done the very thing you are talking about! They sold all of their assets to other companies to ravage and reap the easy profit, then resell what's left. I may make it another year for retirement before all is gone and then again maybe not! The CEO of the original company took millions of dollars and retired, then left the rest of us poor bastards to go to hell! Is this the american way?

I don't look for Obama to help us out, maybe he could move Acorn to Oregon.Whacko
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Oldtrader3 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/28/2009 at 12:50
Just think that guy that did that to you, his parent's spent $150,000. sending him to MBA school to learn "greed is good". 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote REMF Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: September/28/2009 at 18:48
Don't get me wrong.  Yes, executives don't always make decisions that are in the best interest of their customers.  They are paid by the shareholders to make decisions that are in their best interest. 
 
Despite the shortcomings of these changes in corporate control, I still hold to the free-market principles which made this country great.  I would rather have business people making these kinds of decisions than our government.
 
Ladies and Gentlemen, your only out is to vote with your pocketbook.  If you don't like Leupold's decision...then don't purchase their product.
 
Again, I use Leupold as an example.  I'm not unfairly picking on them; however, they seem to be the target in the crosshairs right now.  If Bushnell or some other company chose to do the same, I would be talking about them.
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