I've got a new CZ 527 in .223 coming and am considering this scope.-
http://www.natchezss.com/produ...VAR251042M&src=tpMfg
I have Leupolds on all but two.One wears a Weaver the other a 10-22 has a $20 Tasco rimfire on it.I know these aren't in the same league as Leupolds but the price is right.Thing is the 20 dollar job on the 10-22 has never failed in over 25 yrs.It's not clear and bright.The turret caps expanded under the sun one hot day at the range and never fit right since.Both the front and rear tubes loosen regularly but it always hits the mark and never lost zero.I'm thinking it might be worth a try.

Most often when Tasco is mentioned it is Trashco. My gunsmith told me one day that in checking scopes on his colimator the Tasco World Class--made in Japan and Leupolds were about the only ones that held zero through the variable range. That was the first good thing I had heard about Tasco---but I do have a World Class on one of my rifles--and no problems with it. I do like the CZ rifles and I'd pony up for the Leupold. I find them cheaper in the long run. Your own report on your Tasco's would scare me away. It's not clear and bright--it comes loose. Why even try it? A few years ago I wanted a Leupold for an air rifle. The one I wanted 3x-9x compact with EFR was $307 new. On Ebay, even older ones always brought atleast $275. Many of those cost less than that when purchased. In effect that's $32. If a scope will bring that close to new later on---why waste $54 on one that might not work out? You bought a Mercedes--why put a Yugo engine in it. Put the extra $200 up and get the Leupold. BTW I ordered a cz in .223 for my nephew last year and we put the Leupold 4x-12x on it and everything fine. He got a whitetail buck the afternoon we sighted the scope in.

Good optical glass is cheap these days, and almost anyone can make a fixed power scope that performs adequately. It's a different story when you start putting magnification cams, extra seals, adjustable objectives, etc. on a scope. The cheap but serviceable Asian scopes in a fixed power become hunks of garbage when you try to turn them into variables.

Like Carpetman indicates, $100 spent on a cheap scope is $100 dollars gone forever. Three Hundred or Four Hundred spent on a Leupold represents recoverable equity.

I see what you guys are saying but it comes with a lifetime warranty and I can always fall back on Natchez' return policy.It also comes with a pair of binocs at that price.Again I'm not expecting much there either but I've read a lot of customer reviews at Cabelas and Midway and with very few exceptions they're all very positive.

BSA makes one called the Sweet 223. Now before everyone goes crazy and says "all BSA scopes are crap," I have a Sweet 17 on a Savage 17HMR and the combination will punch tiny groups all day long at 50 to 100 yards. The Sweet 17 scope is clear and sharp. I can see a fly on a stucco wall at 60 yards. Hell, I can even see the stucco texture on that wall. The BSA "Sweet" series are ballistically-calibrated to the round. You adjust the windage, then sight-in the elevation at 100 yards. If you like shorter than 100, you can do that, too. Once the scope is sighted, you just turn the turret on top for whatever range and fire. From a user-- it works...

Tasco Scopes - they are just not the same as they used to be.

I purchased a Tasco World Class 4x40 mm (the one with the reindeer on the side) in 1978, and I was quite impressed with it - it was clear and I never had a problem with over a period of some 15 years. Many people do not know that Tasco was just a marketing company, and in those days their scopes were made in Japan, unlike today. These Japanese made scopes could compare with today's Weavers and the like, and dare I say even on par with some Leupold models. This is because they were made in the very same factory and by the same people who I believe also made Leupold's lenses too.

The new Tasco scopes are no longer made in Japan and they are of mediocre standard today. Another problem, Bushnell won't honor any warranties put out by Tasco before Bushnell bought the name and intellectual property in 2002, when they were liquidated. By the way, Bushnell also bought Bausch and Lomb way back in the 70's and used the name till 2001, but offer these scopes now as their Elite range today, but under the Bushnell name (series 3200,series 4200 and series 6500). The original B&L models were made in Japan by Light Optical Works and that's probably still true. In 2007, Wind Point Partners sold both Bushnell and Tasco to MidOcean Partners, a private equity firm based in New York and London.

It is difficult for the public to keep track where a scopes are being made, as various brands have been moved to cheaper labour markets. This is especially true for the cheaper scopes that are made in Asian countries (China, Thialand, Phillipines,etc). Companies often outsource to economize and may assemble in yet another country - it seems this is exactly what Leupold is doing; they are buying the lenses in from Japan. Most Euro scopes (Swarovski, Kahles & Zeiss) are all made in-house with more expensive labour and generally with higher specs, hence a much more expensive product (even here might be some exceptions).

Tasco just made a terrible mistake by moving the manufacturing away from Japan, as it ruined their once good reputation. I will not even consider buying a Tasco today; it is garbage. Today we have lots of scope marketing companies, and a greater number of Asian countries with optics industries are making the scopes for them. Cheap scopes are just that - they are cheaply made. Very few companies make all the components for their scopes in-house.

And just as a closing thought ... just in the last couple years, most scope manufacturers upgraded their specs, but sadly Tasco is not even what it used to be 30 years ago. I have an inherent distrust about most things that are made in China.

Warrior

Okay this ones out of the running.
Thanks!