Mine is a 3-12 and it was a fantastic scope until it fogged up in cold weather. That’s why I returned it for repair.
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US Optics warranty service is horrible!
- Thread starter igolfat8
- Start date
Now possessing three S&B 5-25x56 PMII scopes .. yes indeed the most stellar glass I've ever witnessed in a Firearm optic ... Down side there BIG / HEAVY /34MM Tube and Ring clamping space is limited. If Receivers scope rail is short it becomes very difficult to get eye relief correct.
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Sorry you got burned by them. No offense, but seriously, do your research before buying an optic. It is so easy. The company called US Optics is not the company of the same name from california many years ago, they went out of business and the current company bought the intellectual property, use the name for marketing, and sell cheap chinese scopes rebranded, and some of the original USO designs built god knows where with god knows what. I wouldn't pay 250 dollars for one of their current several thousand dollar scopes, not in a million years.
The original USO scopes from california were very good scopes, just a shade under alpha scopes, a small shade. All american made, they even ground their own lenses. I have a real one, if I were dishonest I'd have two. When looking to scope my one and only true custom rifle, the choices were between Zeiss, Swarovski, hensholdt, and Schmidt & Bender, cost no object. USO was really not in the running until I found out the scopes I wanted would all be special order and over a year to get direct from overseas. So I called up USO, they were backed up just as long on orders but the guy I talked to asked me for specifics of what I wanted, he asked me if I'd hold while he checked something. 5 or so minutes later he picks the phone back up and asks if I'm still there, and tells me they have almost the exact scope I want currently going through QC to be sent on the magazine/writer circuit, only difference was the color of illumnination that I wanted and it was the other color. They would rather sell it than send it off to the magazines, and I had it at my door just a few days later. about 10 months later, after the new year, a package and letter arrives from USO apologizng for forgetting about my order, the paperwork was misplaced according to them. It turned up in their new year audit since the original rep screwed up the paperwork and it looked like I ordered and payed up front for one to be built. They built the new one in front of all their other orders and shipped it to me. I had trouble returning it, the people I talked to were hearing what they thought I was saying and not listening. I ended up on the phone with the owner, told him how I already had one days after I called, and the new one they sent me is not mine. He got it instantly and was shocked I would call looking to return a free scope, I'm not a thief. We talked a while about how I liked the one I origianlly got, and offered me a huge discount if I wanted to keep the new one, I didn't want another. So he got me a return lable and set me up with 1,000 dollar credit from them to use however and whenever I wanted just for bieng honest. They went out of business over a decade later and I had never used the credit line.
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STEVE COURIOUS WHAT FAILED ON YOUR ior , i HAVE A 3X18 FFP ior AND LOVE IT BUT IN SNIPERS HIDE NO ONE SEEMS TO LIKE THEM I NEVER HAD ONE FAIL BUT I HEARD SO MUCH NEGITIVE , WELL I LOVE MY 3X18 IT IS 35MM TUBE I WILL BUY A 40MM ONE OF THESE DAYS16 years ago I bought a used USO 3.2-17 FFP. After I received it and I looked through it the IQ was unacceptably bad so I sent it in for repair. It was returned back to me within a couple weeks very much the same.
Nothing about this $1700 scope was exceptional in any way and I haven't bought a USO since. Back then it was Horus, USO, or S&B if I wanted a FFP scope. Had Horus already which weren't very good either as far as build quality(poor tracking but great reticles for holds) and S&B was out of my price range, so I went with NF SFP for a few years.
Then I bought a IOR FFPwhich broke, LOL.
Man tough times back then but bit the bullet and bought a S&B as soon as I could.
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I'm not sure but the person I dealt with concerning warranty said it was the parallax mechanism. This was their 6-24x56 FFP.
When IOR started to become popular a friend of mine ordered their 9-36 and it broke right away so he sent it in receiving back another one which didn't last much longer. He demanded his money back or to try another one of their scopes, they opted to send him a different scope which he sold NIB and swore off IOR. Then used the money to by a NF NXS 5.5-22.
2 years later when IOR came out with a new 6-24 FFP scope I figured IOR had gotten their scopes squared away and the price was right so I bought one. It lasted about a year and of all things failed during a match. I went from a possible win to missing most of the rest of the steel. I sent it in, was replaced with a NIB, and I did exactly what my friend did buying a NF NXS 5.5-22.
I found out later that Val at IOR named a 3-18 "The Snipers Hide" edition which he didn't get permission to do and what pissed off Frank G even more is these were also failing quite often.
Also it became widely known of many Hide members also having IOR failures so people started making fun of them.
Nope not taking a chance with this Co again because it's not like IOR's scopes were inexpensive.
I also have a funny USO story. Same friend previously mentioned bought a SN9 10-42x80 for his 375CT ELR rifle. This scope is external adjust not unlike the March Genesis and old Unertl's. Problem was it was 2 feet long and even though the mounts were already super tall the 80mm bell would tilt down and hit the barrel by the time the elelvation turret was dialed for 1600 yards. He wanted to shoot out to 3000 yards so he sold it too.
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when i bought my uso scope I thought they had same quality of the ifxed 10 power , it was called S-10 with was 10x37 this was a military scope to replace the Unterl both were indestructible in the day
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Another friend has one like it called the USO MST100. It's a copy of the original USMC Unertl though I think doesn't have the quality of the original. It has something wrong with it because the crosshair cannot be fully put in focus and its otherwise blurry. This friend has never sent it back for repair which is annoying to me and our other friends. When he brings the M700 based M40 sniper system out and asks me if I want to shoot it I politely decline. He's nice guy and a friend so I don't mention it anymore.
It's just how he is because he's got hundreds of guns since he's a collector in mostly vintage guns and many haven't even been shot by him, probably never will be.
Years ago he sponsored me with 3 different WW2 sniper rifles having vintage scopes mounted. This was to compete in Vintage Sniper matches. That was fun times because I won a match with his Swedish M41B and at a later date won the VS division with his M1903M4.
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That's unfortunate that someone at USO won't even pick up the phone or answer your emails, especially now that you've sent your scope in. While large and heavy, some of their designs and features were - at the time, very good. Unfortunately, QC always seemed to be a problem. I don't want to bash on them (USO ALWAYS treated me fairly), when I' owned two (2) USO SN-3 3.2-17X44 ERGOs' many years ago when they were in Brea, California), but I call it like it is.
USO's CS (Customer Service) was roughly 50/50. Why 50/50? On the one hand, I'd say 100% because if you had a problem with a USO scope you could send it back and USO would fix it - no questions asked, even if you weren't the original purchaser. In my book, that's F'in awesome CS. However, I minus 50% because I saw that over the course of several years I read about many BRAND NEW USO scopes were sent to customers with obvious issues that should have been caught and corrected by QC before they went out the door. To me, a major part of CS is that care is taken during fabrication/machining, etching, and assembly to ensure that a scope (or whatever the product is), is as close to 100% as possible before it arrives in QC. At the very least it should be 100% when it leaves QC and before it's packaged for shipping to a customer.
Here's my personal account of USO's CS from many years ago (remember how earlier I said USO always treated me fairly)? While, in 2007 I bought a brand new, un-used SN-3 3.2-17X [44] ERGO with 0.1 MIL EREK Elevation Knob, U.S. #1 0.1 MIL Windage, Green Illuminated GAP Reticle (11 Position Rheostat), and 4" Sunshade off of The Sniper's Hide Forum. The Seller said that he won it a a competition, but decided to go with a different scope, OK. The Build Sheet, which spec'ed a 34mm Tube was included as well. This was to be my first high end scope, and after vetting the SelIer I sent off my Cashier's Check via Certified Mail I was extremely stoked knowing that my new USO would soon be on it's way to me. I had my (34mm) rings ready to mount my new scope.
My scope arrived in a wooden box, and after I opened the box I immediately set about to position the scope for best eye relief. Unfortunately, when I tried to drop the scope in the rings I discovered that the scope was actually built on a 35mm Tube. Oops. I called the Seller, and he said he never noticed the discrepancy between the specs on the Work Order and the actual Tube as he never mounted the scope. The Seller said he'd take the scope back and refund my money, but I'd gotten a good deal and decided to keep it. I thought about buying 35mm rings, but I preferred to stick with 34mm to save the weight. I then called USO and told them my situation and emailed them a scan of the Work Order. USO then offered to build me a new 34mm Tube scope! Again, I wasn't the original purchaser. Since USO was going to build me a new scope, I specified the Windage Knob 0.1 MIL US #3), be mounted on the left side of the Tube so I could adjust the Windage while keeping my hand on the grip. This moved the Illumination Control to the right side of the Tube. In my book, that's great Customer Service. They said it would be about two months before my scope was ready. OK.
My scope was ready within the estimated two months, and it was beautiful. USO uses Schott Glass (same factory the finest German scope and camera lenses are ground from, though not all are the same grade). The image quality was excellent, and the EREK and US #3 Turrets were solid and crisp. However, there was a noticeable, slightly "gritty" spot you could feel when you turned the ERGO (Objective Focus). It wasn't terrible, but it was there.
There was also was an obvious green tint when the Illumination was turned "on" above Position 5 (of 11). I'm not talking about "bloom" from cranking the illumination up. USO reticles are etched into the respective lens, with the reticles of illuminated models filled with iridescent material. The material is then carefully wiped away from all areas of the lens except the reticle, and the lens cleaned again to ensure that the iridescent material is only present in the reticle. The reticle lights-up when the Illumination is turned on. Apparently, my reticle lens wasn't sufficiently cleaned before the lens was installed in the Tube, because my scope had the obvious green tint.
But USO could and did produce great scopes without issues. Case-in-point: After looking through that SN-3 3.2-17X[44] ERGO and shooting the FN A3G said USO was mounted on, a friend of mine ordered a (USO) SN-3 3.2-17X[44] T-PAL (side-focus SN-3) with Illumination. My friend's USO had no issues at all, including the illumination tint mine had, even when the Illumination was cranked-up.
Hopefully, USO will take care of you. I wish you luck.
Keith
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