Need your opinions on Millet scopes.

[7222 Hawker]

I have read several reviews on Millet scopes. Many love them, some not so much. I am looking at getting a 6-25x56 Varminter for my AR. You guys have any opinions as to the quality of Millet?

[maxicon]

Current Millett scopes represent the status of mid-range Chinese optics, IMO.

Contrary to popular belief, the Chinese can build good quality gear, and lots of decent scopes are coming out of China. However, quality control costs money wherever it's implemented, and the Chinese factories have a reputation for cutting corners when the contracting manufacturer's not looking, requiring constant attention (which costs more money).

So, Millett's Chinese production generally has decent quality for the money. Like much Chinese production, QC is good but not great, and Milletts have their share of early failures and problems out of the box. They're nowhere near as bad as the bottom feeders, and most people have been happy with their Millett gear.

Historically, Millett's been very good at customer support. However, Millett's been bought out by Bushnell, and there are reports that customer support has fallen off since then.

My only Millett is a DMS-1 1-4x, and I've been happy with it. The glass isn't the best, but that doesn't matter as much in this zoom range, and it's got good features for the money.

I haven't tried their higher power scopes, but my experience with inexpensive high-magnification optics is that the drawbacks of inexpensive glass and designs really start to show at high zooms. Dark field of view and very tight eye relief are two typical problems with high-mag scopes in this price range.

You might want to contact Scott at Liberty Optics to see what he suggests - he posts regularly on this board, and has good suggestions on value optics.

http://www.libertyoptics.com/

[7222 Hawker]

Current Millett scopes represent the status of mid-range Chinese optics, IMO.

Contrary to popular belief, the Chinese can build good quality gear, and lots of decent scopes are coming out of China. However, quality control costs money wherever it's implemented, and the Chinese factories have a reputation for cutting corners when the contracting manufacturer's not looking, requiring constant attention (which costs more money).

So, Millett's Chinese production generally has decent quality for the money. Like much Chinese production, QC is good but not great, and Milletts have their share of early failures and problems out of the box. They're nowhere near as bad as the bottom feeders, and most people have been happy with their Millett gear.

Historically, Millett's been very good at customer support. However, Millett's been bought out by Bushnell, and there are reports that customer support has fallen off since then.

My only Millett is a DMS-1 1-4x, and I've been happy with it. The glass isn't the best, but that doesn't matter as much in this zoom range, and it's got good features for the money.

I haven't tried their higher power scopes, but my experience with inexpensive high-magnification optics is that the drawbacks of inexpensive glass and designs really start to show at high zooms. Dark field of view and very tight eye relief are two typical problems with high-mag scopes in this price range.

You might want to contact Scott at Liberty Optics to see what he suggests - he posts regularly on this board, and has good suggestions on value optics.

http://www.libertyoptics.com/

Thank you for your comments. I have a friend who has a Millet zoom dot on his .450 bushmaster and I have shot it personally. Thing is as accurate and reliable as I have ever seen. I can't imagine their rifle scopes would be that much worse.

[Jonathan Doe]

I was never fond of Chinese made anything although you cannot escape form it these days. I will try Bushnell, or Nikon scopes that are made in Japan.

[LibertyOptics]

I have a friend who has a Millet zoom dot on his .450 bushmaster and I have shot it personally. Thing is as accurate and reliable as I have ever seen. I can't imagine their rifle scopes would be that much worse.

Unfortunately, they are. Per my latest blog post http://libertyoptics.blogspot.com I'm not recommending Millet at all EXCEPT for the Zoom Dot. The Zoom Dot is made in the USA and is a military quality rifle sight, IMO. The "DMS-1, TRS-1, and LRS-1" are Chinese made and the ones I took delivery of were pretty bad out of the box. I had to cherry pick the batch for my backorders and I sent the rest back. Endorsing them after what
I saw could ruin a man's reputation.

Like most things, not all are bad, and I'm sure someone will chime in here how much they love theirs. But I'm not going to offer them to my customers.

Scott

[brando]

I shot a buddy's Millet 1-4 yesterday. You get what you pay for - it's cheap and it works, but it is lacking in my opinion. Eye relief was my biggest problem as it was too short and required me to constantly squirm between shots to get a clear sight picture. The distortion was also very noticeable. Still, it's probably fine for the average hobby shooter, but honestly I would say save your money and try to get something better (with regard to 1-4x).

[l_Z_l]

I have the TRS-1 on my AR. Its what i was looking for a not so expensive scope w/ variable zoom + illuminated reticle. I threw it on one of the la rue spr mounts and i think it's been holding zero pretty well (steel targets at ASR out to 600). I have the PRS stock on it so i don't have the eye relief problem as much. I chose it amongs the cheaper ones after reading some reviews @ snipercentral.com. the mil dot - bar reticle is a lil weird...i'll probable have to look at the manual again to figure it out.

for a rush purchase (i bought the AR and was just itching to shoot it) it's not bad. 500+ for the mount n scope.

i haven't tried any other scopes but a few people who've tried mine said it was ok for what it is and i'll see a difference when i upgrade to a higher quality scope.

[DedEye]

I had a DMS-1. It was decent, but definitely a get-what-you-pay-for affair.