Cheap Chinese Junk!

 

That's part of our current balance of payments problem with the ChiComs. Much of their stuff is high quality and not junk. They price it below US made products and restrict the import of our products.

 

The Winchester brand don’t mean much anymore. You can slap that Logo on any piece of junk to help sell it. Remington is the same.

 

Ya, but "I'm just wondering if these scopes were any good when new?"

 

I have an older one that is Winchester brand, as spotting scopes go it is very poor, so much so, I do not use it any more. I agree the glass will not diminish but the coatings may. I think the one I have was marginal the day it was new. I will drag is out and make a revised comment if I can find it. LOL

My use was spotting game at hundreds of yards away, maybe mile or more, it was not good for that. FWIW

 

I had a Tasco from 70’s and it was cheap, but not bad. It eventually lost its nitrogen charge and got moisture inside. I have a couple Tasco scopes from back then in the same condition. They were OK for the price that you paid, and they probably lasted as long as any others. I doubt that a real name brand like Winchester once was , will ever mean anything again. I will add to that one thing. Tasco scopes made in Japan were inexpensive and OK, but I wouldn’t buy on today.

 

I also had a cheap Tasco back in the day. It was OK, I think it was only 30-40X but worked OK for using on the range at 100 yards.

I am one of those guys who has killed lots of big deer in many terrains and many states. Hunting scopes for big white tails need clarity at daylight and dusk and the ability to look into shadows and dark brush and timber out to 300-350 yards,, Beyond that counting inches on horns on a bedded deer or one moving in the brush is very difficult to measure horn size and quality. That said, you do not need a $1,000-$2,000 scope to do that and a 2% or 3% increase in light transmission is of little or no value. Shooting that same gun at 1,000 yard big white targets is a game without the shadow or other light effect, and in daylight the extra money may be worth it, but generally most people are wasting money if they buy them for hunting at 1/3 of that range.

That said, spotting scopes are different. If you are looking for the shine of a horn on a bedded deer at 1,000 yards or looking at tiny holes in paper, I think the added costs of better glass and better coating is probably money well spent. Three of us shoot the 257 Weatherby for hunting open country. We like to shoot at white paper at 330 yards for practice and sight in, you need a better spotting scope to even see those tiny holes at that distance.

The only way you know is to try it. On line reviews are not that helpful in my view. We have guys that have $2,500 spotting scopes that do quite well but they do not find or kill as many deer as those of us who do not use spotting scopes at all.

Just my opinion. Hopefully your new scope will do fine for range use.

 

I have a Bushnell from 50 years or so ago and it's still in fine shape. Don't let the name brand elitists scare you away from good cheaper scopes. Look at each one on its own merits.