WB
I discussed this with a friend who purchased a 3-9X 40
Friday, May 22, 2020, 07:31

Leupold for $125 new online. We were pretty sure it was a clone copy but he wanted to try it anyway. The box and everything was almost perfect. The optics were crisp and clear, indices on the turret seemed to mimic what we would expect from Leupold. In short it was basically indistinguishable from a $500 version.

It made me wonder if Leupold was not having them made in China then importing them and doing enough to legally call them American scopes (Do they literally claim "American made"?) or "American Designed, Craftsmanship, etc.". The legalistic world is money driven and they hesitate not at all to mislead when the payoff is positive. If you are too stupid not to catch the trickery then too bad. The crafty Chinese are getting experts at copying, if it is a good design they copy and they use sound materials (such as manufacturing an item to contractor specifications) it is pretty hard to fault for the cheap. In reality it's the same item, although obviously a manufacturer would only warranty a true contracted piece. They are simply continuing after a contract is met, in an underhanded by US and Western World standards. In Commie land they likely don't see anything wrong with it and can't understand why anyone would object in any form.

Other folks in the world do NOT think like Americans, we have to remember that. I'm NOT claiming Leupold is covertly having things made in China, I know some other manufacturers were, but I simply do not know.