I see 'refurbished riflescopes' advertized for sale at attractive prices but most seem to carry a 90 day warranty. Some of these scopes are recently marketed models so they haven't been around long. What is the deal with these optics? Returns, show models, defects,? Have any of you used these and have you been 'burned' by a refurbished scope?

I can tell you about Nikon refurbs. Some stores allow returns within a certain length of time (30 days, etc.) with no questions asked. Some folks will buy an item and return it even though there is nothing wrong with it.

In that case, Nikon's policy is that it must go back to the factory to be thoroughly checked before it can be sold again. It can't be sold as a new item anymore, so it is then repackaged as a refurb.

Demo models get the exact same treatment and account for some of the late models being in the "refurb" category.

These come with a 90-day warranty, but I am aware of at least 2 instances in which an individual received no-charge warranty work well after that amount of time. Neither was a factory defect, either: One was a gouged lens while the other was a dented objective bell.

Natchez seems to have a lot of refurb scopes for sale.
Might be worth checking out...

Don

I don't think I'd have an issue buying one of the refurb scopes. I've bought other sensitive equipment that was refurbished (digital camera, PC) and couldn't tell them from brand new. If it's done properly, it's just as good as a brand new scope.