{"id":1089,"date":"2020-02-21T21:38:42","date_gmt":"2020-02-21T21:38:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/riflescope-review.com\/?p=1089"},"modified":"2023-10-01T17:46:18","modified_gmt":"2023-10-01T17:46:18","slug":"were-redfield-scopes-discontinued","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/riflescope-review.com\/were-redfield-scopes-discontinued\/","title":{"rendered":"Were Redfield Scopes Discontinued?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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<\/a>. While the questions about Redfield scopes are varied, one of the more popular questions I\u2019m asked is: were or have Redfield scopes discontinued?<\/p>\n

\"Were<\/a><\/p>\n

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\u2019ll need to provide some context from the history of Redfield scopes.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"Redfield<\/a><\/p>\n

The time period from 1950\u2019s to the early 1970\u2019s saw a number of technological advances in rifle scope optics, and Redfield was at the forefront of those changes. From the early 1960\u2019s to the 1980\u2019s, Redfield and Leupold were the two dominant American made rifle scope brands.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The 1980\u2019s and 1990\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\"Redfield<\/a><\/p>\n

During the late 1990\u2019s two developments occurred that led to the downfall of the original Redfield Rifle Scope Company:<\/p>\n

(1)\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

(2)\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

Redfield filed for bankruptcy, sold off all the company assets, and officially ceased operations in the summer of 1998.<\/p>\n

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<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

Keep in mind, that the scopes produced during this time of Redfield\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\"Redfield<\/a><\/p>\n

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\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

In 2009, Leupold reintroduces the Redfield line of rifle scopes to the market, with those models being manufactured in Leupold\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s a break-down of the answer to that question using generations to help define the answer:<\/p>\n