The Problem of Trying to Sell MADE IN USA

[3Sigma]

Generally speaking American products are high priced and low quality. Take vehicles for instance. Buy a Ford, Dodge, Chevy today along with a Toyota. In 10 years with similar mileage and maintenance the Toyota will have a higher resale value, even if it is assembled here. Heck, a lot of 10 year old Ford, Dodges, and Chevy's will be in the junk yard. There is no optical glass being made here. I don't think we even make a lightbulb anymore. The best glass is European, then Japanese, then Micronesia/Philippines/Korea, and last China.

The average age of a car in the US is 12. This isn't the 1980s anymore. Toyota and Honda have rested on their laurels and the domestic manufacturers have caught up. There is no significant separation in build quality or durability IMO. Design quality is something else, but that is another convo.

Quality optic manufacturing just isn't done here, be it regulatory, labor, or capital related, trying to get quality glass that is 100% US made is a dead end. Best you can hope is for assembly and mechanicals.

FWIW, my current truck was assembled in Mexico, our car Germany, 2 motorcycles in Japan, one from the UK, one from Austria. My soon to be purchased new truck will be made in KY. My first vehicle in 13 years that will have a VIN that starts with a 1.

 

[3Sigma]

Well, maybe for production scope assemblies. There are a good amount of American co. Making the very best optic in the world. Just not for consumer markets. Mil contract optics made here are top shelf. If one was to use the same quality in a rifle scope, you and I couldn,t afford it.

True. High end lasers and nearly all specialty military optics are made here. It is required... .mil contracts anchoring the work by law. Anything else was shipped off long ago.

 

[Alan Warner]

True. High end lasers and nearly all specialty military optics are made here. It is required... .mil contracts anchoring the work by law. Anything else was shipped off long ago.

I'm by no means an optic engineer, just a lowly toolmaker, but I venture to say if current best electro,computer controlled optic tek was employed in rifle scopes, es and sd values would less than half of where we value them now.

 

[snert]

urbanrifleman, you have to sell what your customers want. In many cases, American made goods are just not available. We need to instill, buy American, back into the culture. With recent events, pride in America seems to be under attack, again. As a matter of habit, I attempt to buy American and am thankful for people like you that attempt to deliver it. If we don't rebuild are manufacturing base and need to fight a large war, we will be up sugar creek.

Come on! We got lots of guys that can whip up a good latte'

 

[Hal]

. Making the very best optic in the world. Just not for consumer markets.

The average age of a car in the US is 12. This isn't the 1980s anymore. Toyota and Honda have rested on their laurels and the domestic manufacturers have caught up. There is no significant separation in build quality or durability IMO. Design quality is something else, but that is another convo.

Quality optic manufacturing just isn't done here, be it regulatory, labor, or capital related, trying to get quality glass that is 100% US made is a dead end. Best you can hope is for assembly and mechanicals.

FWIW, my current truck was assembled in Mexico, our car Germany, 2 motorcycles in Japan, one from the UK, one from Austria. My soon to be purchased new truck will be made in KY. My first vehicle in 13 years that will have a VIN that starts with a 1.

On Shepard web site they say their lens and scope parts are made in the U.S.A.

 

[JFrank]

I'm pretty sure these were made in the USA. Too bad they don't fly any more. It was something to see them taking off from Kadena AB.

Yes Sir' that right there is Made in the good o l USA except for all the parts that aren't.
I figure my wood stove is made in USA cause who in the hell would ship that thing across the water.

 

[urbanrifleman]

I LIVED the "huge sucking sound". I remember the snickering of the Texans when I moved from Ohio after watching it being raped for a decade in the 1990s, and they said "good I'm glad they moved those jobs, stupid unions... they deserve it!!"

I remember listening to the guy at the golf store in Plano Texas in 2000 explain to everyone in the store his he had just outsourced an entire product line at Texas Instruments to China because "it just made sense"... I told him, you just fired yourself and all your workers you foolish man... he didnt care. Of course, it was only a few years later TI didnt make a single chip in Texas. Yes, that's right Apple computer boards were made in Texas.

I could go on and on. This is something I know something about. But my views would be far from popular because they are the truth, and not some lie from the TV.

The truth is that people would rather believe the lies. And lies they are...

 

[davidjoe]

And now the latest reported in the Bulletin, CZ has acquired Colt. Another European parent (Česká zbrojovka a.s. Uherský Brod - Czechoslovakia was in fact a Warsaw Pact member when Colt made the M-16) firearm company purchasing an iconic American legacy maker.

I like CZ just fine, that’s not my point, and the purchase of Colt shows how smart they really are, but I’m just amazed that not only does every American arms company get sold off, but who the buyers are time after time.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

And now the latest reported in the Bulletin, CZ has acquired Colt. Another European parent (Česká zbrojovka a.s. Uherský Brod - Czechoslovakia was in fact a Warsaw Pact member when Colt made the M-16) firearm company purchasing an iconic American legacy maker.

I like CZ just fine, that’s not my point, and the purchase of Colt shows how smart they really are, but I’m just amazed that not only does every American arms company get sold off, but who the buyers are time after time.

With these idiots suing gun makers for their guns being used in crimes its no wonder an american company tends to steer clear. Im not sure if i had the money id buy a manufacturer of firearms that may be used in crimes

 

[davidjoe]

The irony just doesn’t end for a guy of my age and interests. To me, this is akin to a blurb buried in the news that “Mikoyan Gurevich has purchased a controlling interest in General Dynamics.” Such words would read as pure gibberish to 98% of passing skimmers, but would be fairly paradigm shifting to the other 2%.

Dusty, if the Europeans can navigate American pitfalls undeterred, we could too. So Smith & Wesson, you’re the last of the Mohicans, the old guard. Ruger and newer, well on the way, but still very, very young.

 

[Fuj]

My 3 1/2 cents went out to Weaver growing up, and had a early
model Redfield on a vintage Savage 99. Could'nt get more
American then that. Had a chance to look at my first Nikon and
was hooked. My Dad being a WW2 vet along with all my Uncles
said if I brought home anything Japanese he'd make me wear a
dress to school !! That's the way it was. Now my primary optic
has been Japanese glass. No getting around it, other then Schott.
Awhile back I picked up a Night Force 42 comp, and on the bottom
was a sticker saying "Made in Japan". I was put back a bit seeing
that it was a Night Force. Further along, I have just recently picked
up a Night Force 15-55x52 Comp / DDR-2. On the bottom of the
scope is a sticker saying "Made in Japan".......Your damned if you do
or damned if you don't !!

 

[284winner]

so then it is a partially bogus claim that they are all US made

Lots of companies making that claim. Not all are 100% true

 

[davidjoe]

^^ Night Force has a location here, but it was started and remains in Australia, as Light Force, by Australians, who do a great job here is the USA promoting the shooting sports with sponsorships as well as dedicated products.

 

[Alex Wheeler]

If your bored,call around and try to get a quote for liability insurance as a "gun manufacturer "

 

[Dusty Stevens]

If your bored,call around and try to get a quote for liability insurance as a "gun manufacturer "

X insurance

 

[rmr]

I've worked remotely for the last 10 years, of a 30 year career in I.T. with CV-19, many companies are getting onboard with this concept, realizing the benefits of reduced expenses. the next step is simply to offshore all of the remote workers. why pay $150k a year for a network engineer, when you can get one in india for $30k? from a latency perspective, you can't tell the difference and their engineers are Top Teir. the days of Dell support "do the needful" are looonnnng gone. the guys i work with in Pune are shit hot.

it used to be that engineers from india came to the US because of the high pay / interesting work. now its starting to flow back to india. lots of high quality engineers here in the states are going back to china and india, because that is where the interesting work / family / culture is.

Don't get me wrong, there is still a lot of high quality engineering / innovation being done here. but the *new* silicon valley is Pune and Hyderabad. I'm not sure what the industry (any high level engineering) will look like in 10y here in the states.

it may not seem like it now, but we are living in a golden age. Make hay while the sun shines.

 

[NZ_Fclass]

But don't forget to buy US made Cameras and Lenses - what, none?

 

[davidjoe]

But don't forget to buy US made Cameras and Lenses - what, none?

Guns are different than other products to us here, in the states. We have had the steel, the wood, the trades, the space, the game, the heritage and the favor of the 2A. We lay an early and old claim to high output line manufacturing, interchangeable parts, capitalism, free enterprise and a big population to support scales of economy. Then there is the fact that the ingenuity of guys like Colt and Browning flourished here.

The nexus of all of those things has been personal firearms. We didn’t need to export a single one for companies to survive. It’s tough to see this change in my lifetime. These investors offshore - counterpart firearms makers, mainly, - that see a value in these legacy American companies, - they are kindred spirits, there’s no doubt about that, and a far better alternative to oblivion.

But that’s just it, not only are these companies, left to their own devices, not doing well enough to survive let alone thrive after taking root in the perfect soil and climate, but others have shown they can do better with them. This affront to sensibilities here is a little like a foot that can manage to step on all your toes at the same time. The native cottage industry here, it is being colonized.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

I've worked remotely for the last 10 years, of a 30 year career in I.T. with CV-19, many companies are getting onboard with this concept, realizing the benefits of reduced expenses. the next step is simply to offshore all of the remote workers. why pay $150k a year for a network engineer, when you can get one in india for $30k? from a latency perspective, you can't tell the difference and their engineers are Top Teir. the days of Dell support "do the needful" are looonnnng gone. the guys i work with in Pune are shit hot.

it used to be that engineers from india came to the US because of the high pay / interesting work. now its starting to flow back to india. lots of high quality engineers here in the states are going back to china and india, because that is where the interesting work / family / culture is.

Don't get me wrong, there is still a lot of high quality engineering / innovation being done here. but the *new* silicon valley is Pune and Hyderabad. I'm not sure what the industry (any high level engineering) will look like in 10y here in the states.

it may not seem like it now, but we are living in a golden age. Make hay while the sun shines.

Yet another side effect of the covid lockdown

 

[Ccrider]

The other side of the world has some truly humble people with a work ethic that is out of line with their meager to modest standard of living. Our unemployment benefits provide a better standard of living than their overtime factory workers enjoy. I can’t begrudge them even in the abstract when in so many areas I’m a beneficiary of their labor.

You can presently buy a 75 inch Roku flat screen television for $500.00, my son recently mentioned. If I were to just UPS that same box from Texas to China, I’d probably be paying a third or more of that. Who knows how much we’d have to shell out for an American made 4K UHD 82 inch screen lining the floors at Cosco.

Astute observation. Most do not know these things.