Picked up "Uncle Mikes" set of QD swivels...complete with logo "Demand the original" Complete with plastic locking knob!..Oh....made in China

"Blackman Outdoors" Made is the USA...nicely finished and every part is steel. Same price...go figure

I'm getting really, really tired of the shit coming in from China. I'm also getting really, really tired of what used to be quality US made products now being Chinese made, but still using the well respected US brand name. Uncle Mike's is just one example of many.

Ick...

Stay the f#ck out of walmart then (I do). Those bastards even have the gall to flash the american flag on the fourth of july.

Actually, bought this stuff from Brownells...I sent it back with a terse note to pass it on to "Uncle Mike"

If nobody complains, folks like "Uncle Mike" think they are the smartest, most savvy SOB's in the marketing world.

I won't buy a damn thing From this firm until they can advertise EVERYTHING as " Made in USA"

I wasn't passing judgement Duane - it's just that I never pass on even the slightest opportunity to rail against Americas greatest psuedo-patriotic retailer.

quote:

Originally posted by Nomo4me:
Stay the f#ck out of walmart then (I do). Those bastards even have the gall to flash the american flag on the fourth of july.

Yeah, and the flags they flash are made in China.

Duane.

Bushnell bought out Uncle Mikes a few years ago.

Interesting, I had a conversation with my stamping firm in Portland that I deal with, they still make two parts for the military loops for Uncle Mikes.
Also they have a part they make for Blackman swivels.

And another finishing firm in Portland I deal with Black Oxides the Blackman parts.

James Wisner

quote:

Originally posted by craigster:
I'm getting really, really tired of the shit coming in from China. I'm also getting really, really tired of what used to be quality US made products now being Chinese made, but still using the well respected US brand name. Uncle Mike's is just one example of many.

I don't disagree with you, but then tell the American People to be ready, willing, and able to pay higher prices for the American Made goods.

Well, I guess most of the attorney's must be made in China too cause they ain't worth a fuck either

quote:

Originally posted by jimmyd264:
Well, I guess most of the attorney's must be made in China too cause they ain't worth a fuck either

Hey Jimmy

Except for the fact that the word "attorney's" is an inflection to signify the possessive case, I agree with you.

22WRF: ACtually the Blackman, being made entirely in the US and of higher quality is the same price as the Chinese junk... The US is about on par with an emerging 3rd world country, I guess.

Maybe time to start hoarding Mexican pesos..

Mr. Wiebe

There are alot of folks that make a lot of money trading FOREX. I don't know if they do it with the PESO/DOLLAR trade, but they certainly do with other currencies.

It has truly become a world market.

And of course, one of the main reasons why Walmart, Target, and other retailers fill their stores with Chinese merchandise is because most Chinese corporations do not pay for their employees health insurance, 401ks, Pension plans, cafeteria plans, in house workout centers, spas, and the list goes on and on into the night!

Bashing China and Walmart is just stupid. Folks, face the facts: we did this to ourselves. We elected the government that pursued the policies that's effectively driven our industrial base out of this country. From the EPA putting minnows over people to OSHA placing obsurd requirements on virtually every facet of work, we allowed it to happen. I became aware of this over 35 years ago when I was in high school. So the real question is, what are we going to do about it now? Only time will tell,

John: In concept...I agree with your spin. I'm only one person and I'm fed up with the shit we get shoved down our throats from China

So...this one person out of millions is going to take up the gauntlet and throw it in the face of the bean counters and tell them in no uncertain terms that I refuse to buy this shit.

When it comes to a plumbing "Tee" or elbow"...I'm screwed...there just is no alternative...except to bitch, whine, snivel at the store manager. who must think he's dealing with an elderly lunatic

quote:

Originally posted by Toomany Tools:
Bashing China and Walmart is just stupid.

Bullshit. Walmart has the power to single handedly dictate their vendors manufacturing quality and barcoding and RFID marking standards. They are the tail that wags the dog in American small ticket retail commerce. They could work to improve long term trends toward a healthier American manufacturing outlook but they are pleased as pigs in fowl smelling shit to keep serving up the cheapest chinese shit they can shovel out. They are a plague on America and the purchasing values of American consumers.
Instead they drive American mfrs such as Rubbermaid to continually downgrade the quality of their products to hit WM's targeted price point. What Rubbermaid got out of the deal was eroded consumer perception of the quality of their brand and WM eventually left them anyway.

Vote with your wallet, right?

Duane, I do just as you do when I receive an product that is not what I was expecting. I think to a large extent what we see are companies which started out with leadership that were intimately knowledgable of the market they were serving and the products they were making (maybe the original "Uncle Mike"). Those companies over time were taken over by people without that basic knowledge and more interest in profits than quality.

But, that's not China or Walmart's fault. I vote with my wallet and at the ballot box.

I have noticed that most of Uncle Mikes products are made in China . So for swivels I use the likes of "TITAN" and "TALON" from "the Outdoor Connection,inc." and hope the stay Made in USA.
China gets a lot of my money but they ain't going to get it all!

Don't forget China is producing cheaper products for the likes of "Uncle Mikes" American share holders.
Its up to you what and who you buy from.

Americans likes cheap rifles and scopes.

Like winchesters made in russia and portugal.
Weatherby made in Japan.
Remingtons made in Serbia?

But then a new rifle is expected to cost 350$. Like rem. 710 a cheap use and throw away rifle made in US. Then a Swedish gunmag tested it the barrel was loose from the action.

It's not just hard goods either, I recently bought a jar of mushrooms from a local Save A Lot grocery store, you guessed it, product of china, it went back, Dole, mandarin oranges from wal mart, same thing. Read the labels folks.

Stepchild

Ladies and Gentlemen:

Interestingly, I was in Walmart the other day, looking for a strainer to boil small parts in to be used for rust bluing. Guess where the strainers were made: USA.

This caused me to look at the rest of the utensil rack. Most of the stuff was USA made, some from India and almost nothing from China.

This was a Walmart, in Ehprata, Pennsylvania.

Unfortunately, for China, most of the stuff that I have purchased from their manufacturers over the past five years was of such poor quality, that it was almost useless. My experiment with Chinese made front disc brake rotors was a complete fiasco. They warped in 2000 miles.

I believe that China is on a one way course to extinction.

They have completely ruined their peasant working class ethic with socialist hand outs. Mao did this.

They have destroyed their demographics with the unsavory extermination of killing female offspring.

They have serious fresh water shortages.

They have put off their industrial waste and pollution problems. That will really bite them in the ass, and soon.

Lastly, their manufactured goods quality is going down, not up.

If you really want to understand the present condition of Chinese manufacturing read: "Poorly Made in China" by Paul Midler.

That book comported with my contemporary experience with Chinese made goods.

I don't buy Chinese made goods for two reasons: they are junk and I hate socialism and communism.

Sincerely,

Chris Bemis

Yale,
Well said and could not agree more. I come from the corporate world involved with heavy machinery, capital goods, and dealt with many foreign firms, locations, operations, etc. Boiled down to the essence, the entire corporate world is based on one thing and one thing only, greed. Profit is a good thing and always pursued it, but these days it is pursued in such a manner that our Nation is not given the slightest thought. Stockholders demand a return on investment and that is basic, but not to the point that it harms our very existance.
A complete turn around for me, but I am definitely an isolationist these days and there is nothing we in this country we can not source, mine, construct, invent, etc. that would require us to go off shore to source. And that applys double for communist or any nation that attempts to do us harm, or oil producing terrorist supporting Islamic nations. What idiotic notions that prevent us from drilling for oil off shore is beyond me. Most of the technology for doing so and the apparatus to accomplish it is derived from U.S. engineering and mfg. Our leaders are clueless and bought and paid for in every way. Iran putting their "secrets" underground and one has to have machinery to do so. Well, Caterpillar sells a very sophisticated boring machine. Guess what is used to construct these underground facilities. What do we do? Well, we develop bunker buster bombs to reach those underground facilities. Old saying, but I firmly believe "the inmates are running the assylum..."

Some chinese shit is good. The Apple MacBook I am typing on is a well designed and executed piece of shit. You will note, however, that the MAcBook costs MORE than comparable other brands, so I guess you get what you pay for.

I think the problem is that people (and companies) have a 'good enough' attitude about it and think that price point is the ONLY factor. I bought a pair of the UM swivels and the first thing I noticed was the crooked half-assed stamped "Uncle MIkes", then I noticed how friggin stiff the thing was to move, then I noticed that the tolerances of the pin to the hole were way off, then I flipped over the package and saw Made In China, then I said, "Fucking piece of shit, " Then I threw them in the trash.

Where an item is made can be of little to no consequence, but when the quality (or lack thereof) of the thing is commensurate with it's origin, this is the crux of the problem. For example, how many of us love our BRownings (and my old Miroku Charles Daly from the 70s) that come from Japan, the difference is that the level of quality is completely different and I think that is the majority of the issue.

Still I get weary every time I turn over a package and see made in china, a people who have no idea what the item is probably used for, nor any regard for those who may use it. Still, because of the greatest migration of people ever seen, from the hill country of china to the factories, their relative increase in lifestyle and wealth is worth it for them to allow themselves to be slaved out at wages that keep the buying public (US And the rest of the world) happy. It will take something apocalyptic to change it.

Geez Duane, you've started the uprising to an international incident!

I do buy Talon Swivels nowadays, will buy some of the Blackman's next try....

You people scared the sh*t out of me, describing the that Uncle Mike now is made in China.
I just recieved 2 bulks(1000set) of Uncle Mike non detatchable swivels, and guess WHAT it said Made In China
I have been using those swivels for the last 30years, and so fare i have been resonably satisfied with the made in USA quality.
And Now they tries to cheat me with this awfull Chineese stuff.

Then i just gave it a try, and took a few handfulls to compare against the Original Made In Usa swivels. And guess what.


The Chineese had a higher finish, more correct loops with less wobels, and at the end i tested strength and again the Chineese was way better

Guess it would be werry constructive to evaluate ones patriotisem, and learn the leasson, "if one don't wake up and improowe quality one would learn that the rest of the world has driven past one"

There should be no reason why domestic company can not compeete with the chineese. But they has to wake up, and realize that it is a modern world, and you cant live on your own isolated island, beliwing that as long as we ignore the otheres, there is no problems.

So you like those plastic parts???

No i dont like the plastik parts on the QD swivels, that was one of the resons that i went to use the NON DETACABLE , they are all steel, and dont rattle like a rattlesnake every time you mooves

I just could not resist opening this thread when I saw that jørgen had posted.

I fully expected him to claim to have personally made 2 million Chinese QD swiveles(forged by hand, at a rate of 78 units per minute), and to have tested them at 17 times the strength of the made in the USA competition.

Imagine how disappointed I was to hear that he merely purchased them.....

I want to believe you guys, really I do. The problem is that when I go to a gun show like a I did 2 weekends ago I see people buying lots and lots of crap. People crawling over each other to by crappy $20 scopes, $150 rifles, and anything to make them look "tactical" and all of it made by slave labor overseas.

Americans love cheap crap, the more the better.

I'd also love to blame it on some current administration but this isn't new, even the toys from 35 years ago were made in "Hong Kong" or "Taiwan" guess where those places are? Yup, China.

So while this lip service on the web looks great it just isn't reality, Americans WON'T pay a premium for American made goods. Hell it is hard to get Americans to pay a premium for quality made goods from ANY country.

There is no money in trying to make crappy items for less then a 3rd world country. There IS money in producing the best.

Convince Americans to buy only quality and we can carve out some production for American workers.

Sadly I don't think the day will come when Americans finally realize buying something that is the cheapest is not a good value and does not make you a wise consumer.

quote:

Originally posted by JBrown:
I just could not resist opening this thread when I saw that jørgen had posted.

I fully expected him to claim to have personally made 2 million Chinese QD swiveles(forged by hand, at a rate of 78 units per minute), and to have tested them at 17 times the strength of the made in the USA competition.

Imagine how disappointed I was to hear that he merely purchased them.....

Hi Jason
Dont you guys over there ever doo anything when at work since you have sutch a hard time understanding what others doo for a living.
Here in Europe we are not so privileged that we can lean back blaming every problem on those damed foriginers or illegal imigrants.
We actualy has to become so efficiant that we can compeete on a open world marked. Unfortunatly we have to fight a little harder becauce of the horrible exchangerate against the us$. At the moment the european marked is floodded with cheap american made rifles of mediocre quality and finish. Basicaly because that the value of the $ has dropped by almost 40% over the last 8 years. That has totaly destroyed the marked for rebuild mausers.
The only way nowadays is to produce medium to high end factoryrifles, where there is almost no competition from lowcost and low value currency producers like the Chineese and Americans

PS the reason that we has always purchased those swivels, is that a simple thing like that, even chineese and americans can handle.
Maybe because they actualy makes 78 units pr minute on automised equipments

PPS i just read that BMW has landed a contract of over 2billion$ for supplying engines for most new police viehecles in US. Baiscaly based on performance, reliability and a fueleconomy 40% better than available in US

Wow...can't wait for those BWM Fords to hit the market..this is all news to me and
I'll bet another 40 million Americans

Gotta admit I get a little pissed when wrapped in the same won ton wrapper as the Chinese.

I think this is the same stuff that makes grass grow green.

Your counry is a wonderful example of hotbed socialism..So what automobiles do you guys make there..typewriters...computers..Jet Engines.ball point pens...and oh yeah..sling swivels or even rifles. The most dismal rifle ever to hit the bricks was the Schultz and Larsen..

Not to be ashamed, nor was it my intention to demean our counry..you just headed down a different path...with the present administration, we may not be far behind