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During my time answering rifle scope questions at my day job, hardly a week goes by without a customer asking a question pertaining to Redfield scopes. While the questions about Redfield scopes are varied, one of the more popular questions I’m asked is: were or have Redfield scopes discontinued?
Well, the Redfield brand of scopes has a colorful history, so the answer is a complicated yes, no, and maybe, based on the convoluted timeline of the Redfield Gun Sight Company. In order to accurately try to answer that question, I’ll need to provide some context from the history of Redfield scopes.
The company that would eventually become Redfield was founded by John Hill Redfield. Mr. Redfield was born in 1859 in Glendale Oregon. Legend has it, that Redfield had a great love of the outdoors, and spent much of his youth outdoors hunting and fishing. With a natural propensity for all things mechanical, in 1893, he set up shop as a gunsmith in Oregon.
Eventually his travels led John to start the Western Gun Sight Company in Denver in 1909. The gun sights he designed proved to be a success, and his son Wyatt joined the business.
Mr. Redfield designed a series of dovetail based mounts that were used during WWI, which furthered the reputation of the company. In 1932, Redfield opted to rename the company the Redfield Gun Sight Company so that customers knew they were buying a Redfield product. In 1944, John Redfield passed away, and his son Wyatt, took over the Redfield business.
The time period from 1950’s to the early 1970’s saw a number of technological advances in rifle scope optics, and Redfield was at the forefront of those changes. From the early 1960’s to the 1980’s, Redfield and Leupold were the two dominant American made rifle scope brands.
At that time, Redfield was offering a wide range of rifle scope models including the very popular fixed 4X model (which I had on an early model Marlin 22 bolt action rifle), a fixed 6X model, a 3-9 variable model, and some other specialty scopes that all performed well both functionally and profit-wise.
The 1980’s and 1990’s proved to be a challenging time for Redfield as the sporting optics industry was changing. Many rifle scope competitor brands were starting to use parts (including lenses) from outside the USA in order to reduce production costs to stay competitive. Although Redfield management was against this concept, they ultimately gave in and began using non-USA made parts around the 1994/1995 timeframe.
During the late 1990’s two developments occurred that led to the downfall of the original Redfield Rifle Scope Company:
(1) The introduction of parts that were sourced outside of the USA supposedly led to issues with the quality of the scopes and did some damage to the brand name.
(2) Water samples from the edge of the Redfield property in Denver were supposedly contaminated with pollutants from the Redfield plant, which led the EPA to levy charges and a major fine against Redfield management.
Redfield filed for bankruptcy, sold off all the company assets, and officially ceased operations in the summer of 1998.
About 4 months after Redfield went under, a sporting goods conglomerate called Blount International bought all of the Redfield equipment, patents, trademarks they could find out of bankruptcy. At that time, Blount also owned a number of other optics brands including Weaver and Simmons. Blount transported all the Redfield items they had purchased to a Weaver facility in Wisconsin and started offering Redfield branded scopes to the market.
Keep in mind, that the scopes produced during this time of Redfield’s history were not the same models that Redfield had been offering at their Denver CO plant. Depending on the specific Redfield branded model, these scopes are produced at either the LOW (Light Optical Works) facility in Japan, or at an optical plant in the Philippines.
Fast forward to 2002, when a company called Meade Instruments purchased all the rifle scopes brands owned by Blount, including Redfield, Weaver, and Simmons. If the Meade name sounds familiar to you, it’s because they are/were a major player in the telescope business. Supposedly, Meade had big plans to bring the Redfield line of scopes back from the dead, but those plans never really turned into anything solid.
The Redfield line languished in obscurity with Meade until the middle of 2008, when Meade decided to sell off all of its sports optics brands. An outdoor conglomerate called ATK (Alliant Techsystems) purchased the Weaver and Simmons line, while Leupold & Stevens purchased the Redfield brand.
In 2009, Leupold reintroduces the Redfield line of rifle scopes to the market, with those models being manufactured in Leupold’s Beaverton Oregon facility. Leupold would later expand the line by introducing several new Redfield scope models as well. Leupold still owns and operates the Redfield line as of 2020.
So, to fully answer the original question about Redfield scopes being discontinued, the answer is really dependent on what generation of Redfield scope you are asking about. Here’s a break-down of the answer to that question using generations to help define the answer:
- 1st Generation, original Redfield scopes – These were manufactured in the Denver Colorado Redfield facility, and were discontinued when Redfield went out of business is 1998.
- 2nd Generation of Redfield scopes that were Simmons/Weaver models rebadged under the Redfield name: These really were not “Redfield scopes” in the traditional sense, and these models were also discontinued in 2002 when Meade Instruments bought the brand.
- 3rd Generation Redfield scopes manufactured owned and manufactured under the Leupold brand: Leupold still owns the Redfield brand, and is still (as of 2020) offering Redfield scopes. It should be noted that Leupold has discontinued nearly all the Redfield series of scopes, except for the Revolution series, and that doesn’t really sound promising for the Redfield brand going forward.
That being said, modern day Redfield scope models (made by Leupold) are still very much available, and here are a few of my favorite Redfield models:
FAQS
Here are a couple of other commonly asked questions that I get in regard to Redfield scopes:
What is the Redfield scope warranty, and is it still being honored?
Like most of the questions associated with Redfield scopes, the answer somewhat depends on the specific generation and maker/manufacturer of the Redfield scope in question. To provide additional context:
(1) Warranty on the original, 1st generation Redfield scopes that were produced at the Denver Colorado facility:
These scopes came with a limited lifetime warranty, which Redfield serviced until they went out of business in 1998. Since they went out of business, that warranty and warranty service has somewhat died. Although the Redfield brand changed hands several times since it went under in 1998, none of the companies who purchased the brand are/were recognizing or supporting the warranty on the original Redfield series of scopes.
(2) Warranty on the 2nd generation of Redfield scopes that were branded as Redfield under the Blount International brand:
When Blount owned the brand and was producing Redfield branded scopes, those came with a limited lifetime warranty as well, which was serviced by Blount while they owned the brand. When Blount sold the brand in 2002, they stopped offering or supporting the warranty on any of the Redfield badged scopes while they owned the brand.
(3) When Meade Instruments owned the Redfield brand from 2002 to 2008, they also did not recognize the warranty from any of the Redfield scopes produced prior to their ownership.
(4) Warranty on the 3rd generation, Leupold owned Redfield scopes:
At the date of this writing (2020), Leupold was offering a limited lifetime warranty on any of the Redfield scopes that were manufactured by Leupold (meaning any Redfield scope manufactured after 2008). However, their warranty only covers the Redfield scopes they manufactured.
Since Leupold now owns the Redfield brand of scopes, are they offering warranty support for the older, original Redfield scopes from the 1970’s and 1980’s?
No, they are not. Like I mentioned before, Leupold is only covering the warranty for any of the Redfield scopes that were manufactured or sold under the Leupold name.
Now, if you happen to be calling Leupold about warranty service on one of the Redfield models that they don’t cover, Leupold will make this offer: If you send the damaged scope in to them, they will offer you a substantial discount (something like a 30% discount off retail) on any of the Redfield models of scopes that Leupold is currently offering.
While it’s not the same as honoring the original Redfield warranty, it is better than nothing.
Can you offer or provide me with any references where I can learn more about a specific Redfield scope model history?
Unfortunately, I cannot. While there is a fair amount of information available dealing with Redfield’s company history, not much seems to be available in terms of the history of specific Redfield scope models. This seems to be further complicated by the brand changing hands so many times, and original records being lost or destroyed.
Is there a way to find out a Redfield scope date of manufacture?
For a Redfield scope made by Leupold, I’d say the chances are good that Leupold customer support might be able to help you, at least, narrow down the date of manufacture to a year or series of years.
For the Redfield scopes made by Redfield and by Blount International, I don’t think there is, for a number of reasons:
(1) Not all the Redfield models (made by Redfield or Blount International) are serialized. Some models are and some aren’t. Without a serial number, there isn’t really a reference point in time to help determine age.
(2) Any records from the original Redfield facility in Denver Colorado have been lost, misplaced, or destroyed when the company was disbanded in bankruptcy.
Who owns Redfield scopes?
If you mean who currently owns Redfield scopes, the answer is Leupold & Stevens (as of 2020). However, I’m not sure the future is all that bright for Redfield.
When Leupold first purchased the brand in 2008, they re-introduced the brand to the market, and then started expanding the Redfield line of scopes each year.
However, starting around 2013, Leupold began phasing out a number of Redfield series of scopes to the point where, as of 2020, they only offer the Redfield Revolution series of scopes now. Also, in addition to phasing down the number of Redfield rifle scope series they offer, Leupold also has not released a Redfield catalog or updated the Redfield portion of their website since 2014.
UPDATE – In April of 2021, Leupold & Stevens sold the complete Redfield brand to Academy Sports & Outdoors (which is more commonly known as Academy Sports). Academy will become the sole salespoint for all new Redfield scopes.
I have an older, vintage Redfield scope that is broken. Do you know or can you direct me to anyone who does Redfield rifle scope repair?
When Redfield was going through the bankruptcy process, a scope repair facility called Ironsight supposedly purchased all the remaining Redfield parts inventory and Redfield scope repair tools. They now specialize in the repair of 1st generation, original Redfield rifle scopes.
I’ve dealt with Ironsight on a number of occasions for customers who needed a Redfield scope repaired, and Ironsight does excellent work at what I consider very reasonable prices. Now they may not be able to repair every Redfield scope, depending on factors such as the specific model, availability of parts, and the nature of the repair, but they would be the first place I’d start if I were looking to repair a Redfield scope.
Here’s a link to the Ironsight website, and their contact info is as follows:
Iron Sight Inc.
4814 S Elwood Ave.
Tulsa OK 74107
scopeservice@tulsacoxmail.com
(918)445-2001
(918)521-7736
Note that I’m not affiliated with Ironsight in any way. I’m just providing the contact info for a potential resource.
Do you know where I can find Redfield scopes parts? Or replacement scope caps for an older Redfield scope?
Again, your best bet for Redfield replacement scope parts is probably going to be Ironsight as they have more original Redfield parts in inventory than anywhere else, I’m currently aware of.
Do you know or are you aware of a source where I can buy replacement original Redfield scope adjustment caps?
In my experience, you’ve got two options for that:
(1) You can keep your eyes open on a site like Ebay to see if someone posts any for sale
(2) You can check at the Ironsight facility I previously mentioned.
Those are about the only two locations that I’m aware of for sourcing original Redfield scope adjustment caps.
Which Redfield scopes are made in USA?
If we’re talking 1st generation Redfield scopes, then most all of those models were made at the Redfield plant in Denver Colorado.
If we’re talking the Redfield branded scopes produced for Blount International, then we’re talking none as all those models were manufactured in either Japan at the LOW facility or in the Philippines.
If we’re talking Redfield scopes made by Leupold, only the Redfield Revolution series of scopes were/are made in the USA. The other Redfield series offered by Leupold, such as the Battlezone, Revenge, and Counterstrike models were produced for Leupold at facilities in the Philippines or China (depending on the specific series).
Does Leupold still make Redfield scopes?
As as of April 2021, Leupold no longer owns the Redfield brand of scopes. They sold the entire brand to Academy Sports. I’m not completely sure where the Academy based Redfield scopes are being manufactured now.
I’ve had the chance to spend some time with several of the different Revolution scope models, and it seems to be a fairly good scope. That series is really marketed to hunters who want a good quality, US made rifle scope, without paying and arm and a leg for it.
I’ve been working in the firearms and sporting optics industry for over 20 years, with a personal and professional interest in all things related to rifle scopes, Through a combination of work experience, formal training, and personal experiences, I have extensive experience mounting, testing, and evaluating different rifle scope models across most major optical brands.