Who Makes Cabelas Branded Scopes?

[jonp]

Black Friday is coming up and I was wondering who makes their store brand. I can't seem to track it down but someone out there knows. Are they from various manufacturers in China/Philippines/Japan etc or do they contract with one maker?

[Hickory]

A guy at the shooting club said once that they were made by Burris, but he's a democrat, so he might be lying.

[tazman]

It doesn't really matter who made their scopes.
When a company asks a manufacturer to make a product for them, they often specify many of the details and quality. Even when companies use a top tier manufacturer, the quality may not be the same as the manufacturer's flagship line.
Usually they are not simply a different label on the same product. Particularly on something as complex as a rifle scope. Lots of ways to cut corners there.

[pressonregardless]

It seems to me that I had read somewhere that Meopta was making some of their scopes, not
sure which ones or if this is still whats happening.

[NSB]

A guy at the shooting club said once that they were made by Burris, but he's a democrat, so he might be lying.

If he's a Republican he's definitely lying.

[NSB]

It doesn't really matter who made their scopes.
When a company asks a manufacturer to make a product for them, they often specify many of the details and quality. Even when companies use a top tier manufacturer, the quality may not be the same as the manufacturer's flagship line.
Usually they are not simply a different label on the same product. Particularly on something as complex as a rifle scope. Lots of ways to cut corners there.

Spot on! I worked in quality for aftermarket parts for several years. Branded products are almost always made to different specs. A good example is game cameras. Even the Primos cameras Dick's sells are different than the ones everyone else sells. They even have a unique part number even though they look an awful lot like the ones on Primos's web site. This happens in all branded manufacturing processes. One thing about Cabela's is that anything with their name on it is lifetime guaranteed (until Bass Pro tells them to stop that is).

[jonp]

It doesn't really matter who made their scopes.
When a company asks a manufacturer to make a product for them, they often specify many of the details and quality. Even when companies use a top tier manufacturer, the quality may not be the same as the manufacturer's flagship line.
Usually they are not simply a different label on the same product. Particularly on something as complex as a rifle scope. Lots of ways to cut corners there.

It matters to me or I wouldn't have asked the question

[tazman]

Okay. Good luck finding out.

[NSB]

It matters to me or I wouldn't have asked the question

I can understand wanting to know. I think the point being offered is that if you buy a scope from a company that doesn't make scopes, you're not going to get any guarantees that the same people are making it all the time. In the automotive aftermarket you could get a replacement part for your car from someplace like AutoZone and it might be made by ten different suppliers. Same with the scopes.....not dedicated suppliers who are brand name. You're simply getting Cabela's promise of a life time guarantee on a product they sell.

[country gent]

The specs and drawings are sent out to manufacturers for bids on x number of units. Then sometimes test units are submitted from the manufacturers and bids are submitted then accepted. Sometimes the test units are omitted from the process. But the bid process determines the maker. Look at the Store name firearms from Sears, Montgomery, Western Auto, and others Over the years they have been made by Stevens, Winchester, H&R, and others simply by who could meet the price point for them.
The Goverments Bid specs on the springfield was a medium sized book. In it was the drawings and dimensions, the machinery to be used, the processes to be used, acceptable finishes, the whole rifle step by step thru the whole process from bar of steel to test firing. Cabellas scopes are probably the same process on a smaller scale.

[DrewSeeg]

I'm thinking about taking the same risk ... The 6-24 FFP covenant for $230 is too good to pass up.

[RogerDat]

Best Buy computers are the same deal. Even if the brand and basic model are the same you will find they have a slightly different model number because they are made exclusively to Best Buy specifications and price point.

So a Nikon Scope may be a model only sold at that chain retailer. It does matter to at least some extent the maker. If nothing else there is little chance they will upmarket the store brand above their own and allow it to be sold for a reduced price. So Tasco is not likely to build a top end scope for Cabela's. However Cabela's is not likely to hire them to make an up market scope either and if you don't mind taking a little risk of having to make an exchange there can be some deals in store model products so why not scopes too?

[danmat]

There upper end used to be guide series I think made by Meopta, I have a pair of 10x42 binoc. got on sale and new store promotion 10 yrs ago.Only thing I have seen I like better are the zeiss and swaros and for the money got to look hard to see the difference.

[Jeff Michel]

I bought one a couple years ago, 4-12. It was made in China. Never would hold a consistent zero. I actually threw it away. For the same money I could of had a VX-1 Leupold.

[Lloyd Smale]

I know at one time at least some of them were rebadged bushnells.

Black Friday is coming up and I was wondering who makes their store brand. I can't seem to track it down but someone out there knows. Are they from various manufacturers in China/Philippines/Japan etc or do they contract with one maker?

[john.k]

Remember the claim..."if you find the same price on the same new item elsewhere,we will cut it by 25% or refund the difference".......they never payout,cause their goods are made to a unique spec.(or so they claim)

[lucifers]

If you look on the scope, it will say where it is made.

Really makes no difference. If you buy a "store brand" scope you best love it as it's worth very little downstream.

If you budget is limited, buy Leupold, if not there are many fine choices. Basic rule: If the rifle costs more than the scope, you have made an error.

It is also possible to move a fine scope among rifles. My 4-16x50 S&B has been on everything from a 22 RF up to a 1000 Yard 338 RUM gong ringer.

[waco]

I'm thinking about taking the same risk ... The 6-24 FFP covenant for $230 is too good to pass up.

I have a 4x16 Covenant. I put it on a Savage 12FV in .223
Works well for the money. And yes. Made in China......
http://www.cabelas.com/product/CABEL...ES/2339073.uts
Read the Q&A

[AllanD]

Back about 2005 I bought a Rem 700VSSF in 223Rem, NOT a Cast Bullet shooter ever, So I could make the neighborhood wood chucks DEAD, and the scope I bought for it is a Cabela's "Alaskan Guide" 6.5-20x44mm scope, which after considerable examination is believed to actually made (in Japan) by Sightron.

[tomme boy]

Nikko Sterling was the main maker of the standard line of scopes. The higher end ones I don't remember