Remember kids.... "Lifetime Warranty" means the lifetime OF THE COMPANY, not the lifetime of the product.

Anyone can shit in a box and slap a warranty on it.-Tommy Boy-

This type video is where you shine as a channel

I had a pair of Swarovski binoculars and the rubber eyepieces needed to be replaced due to excessive perspiration from use. They replaced them but I remember that they didn't seem very happy about it. I had a 40 year old Leupold Vari X lll fail and Leupold sent me a brand new scope no questions asked except I had to return my old scope. Leupold is a great American company!

Leupold has the "forever warranty" for decades before Vortex was even a thing they deserve credit for setting the standard.

There are 2 large plants in said red country that manufacture the scopes you mentioned. These manufacturers have parts availability and give the “scope company” options to integrate the parts they see fit to make it “their own.” That includes turrets, glass, tubes, mirrors, etc. So, many scopes will have common parts but not be completely identical build outs. This is how red country manufacturing works. Same with bicycles, insulated mugs, designer purses, auto parts, and so on. My request is that Jim visit a large red country scope manufacturer and make a vid just like you did with Burris. Also, do a side by side review each one that you suspect to be the same and let us know the differences or if they are indeed identical. Thanks for the videos!

a friend was hunting with his nightforce, the sling broke and the gun fell off his shoulder and hit the dirt, his front objective lens cracked, he called NF and they would not warranty it and the price to fix, wasn't cheap..
another guy a shoot with had tracking issues with his NF.. he sent it in and didn't get is back for over 3 months, that ruined all his summer shooting..

i crushed my turret and destroyed my tracking on a gen1 razor when i had it attached to a 22 pound gun, sitting in a 30 pound backpack and had it leaning on the side of my car... it fell over and slammed all that weight hitting a cement floor right on the top turret..

i sent it to vortex on a monday and had it repaired and back in my hands by friday...

People don’t realize how much private label stuff they’re buying from the same factory. Now to be fair it’s what’s on the inside of a scope that really matters so the frames could be shared.

A simple truth many people forget, which I'm glad you touched on, built in the same factory does not mean built to the same spec.

This is why this channel is a step above the rest to me, the honesty ! Thank you sir.

Many years ago I managed a little gun store in Kodiak, AK. People would buy a nice rifle and then want a cheap Tasco or Bushnell scope and we'd try to steer them to mid-priced scopes like Leupold or Burris that would hold up. The thing with high end hunts in Alaska is that you're mostly flying out of Anchorage through high passes into the western part of the state, and that quick pressure change in a little bush plane meant low end scopes would frequently pop the seals and fog up. Most people would listen, but others would think we were trying to gouge them and buy the cheap scopes no matter what we said. Nothing like ruining a 5K moose or bear hunt because they wouldn't spend a couple hundred extra for a decent scope.

That’s always been the reason Vortex warranty is so good. Wholesale is a few dollars. I’ve returned three. Never returned a Leuopld. My hunt is worth more than a cheap scope.

Leupold -USA machined and assembled. Gotta respect that

The problem is, it isnt necessarily an "innovation", but a race to the bottom. Everything is fine now but once the companies making quality products in ethical conditions and not trying to simply make something for cheaper survive longer than your Leupolds and Swaros, then they have free reign to jack up prices while still giving you attractive junk that will fail but have a forever warranty because it costs them nothing to make. Weve seen it in other industries and we'll see it time and time again.

Remember back in the day when the Rule Of Thumb was.....  Whatever your rifle cost. You should buy a scope that is double or triple in price. I use to buy $500-$700 rifles and then buy a scope that was $1500-$2000 .  NOW I'm doing the opposite

Gun manufacturers did that for years in the past. Marlin, Glenfield, Stevens, Savage, Ted Williams, etc. They would make the same name brand firearms & stick another name on it to be sold for retailers like Sears, Montgomery Ward, Western Auto, Otasco, K-Mart, etc.

Sunglass companies do the exact same thing. 99% of ALL brands are manufactured in the same 3 factories using the same materials and sold at drastically different price points.

Your American car is only assembled in America with 60%+ of the parts made in other countries

Love seeing how this channel has grown over the years, but honestly, this is the type of content that made me start watching Backfire in the first place. Jim being honest, to the point, bringing great insight to consumers. 10/10.

I just purchased an arken after years of using Leupold.  Im not saying the arken is better.  But for the price point its very impressive.  The tracking was spot on.