quote:

Originally posted by Tirod:

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Originally posted by bubbatime:

quote:

Originally posted by Tirod:
The owner of Lucid remarked years ago while touring the red dot factory in China that Aimpoint was being made there.

I doubt that. Maybe what he was seeing was Aimpoint fake CLONES being made there for the black market. But I doubt that the Swedish Aimpoint company has sourced Chinese optics.

He's a reputable guy who's been in the optic business a long time and branched out on his own. He posted it openly online and there has been zero pushback from Aimpoint or any of the other companies over the claim.

The Chinese make a large number of optics - they have been designing new units and marketing them to the optics companies as exclusives with their brand on them. This industry isn't a bunch of cottage workmen, they supply the Yosemite binos to Leupold, among dozens of other products, including Nikon IIRC. Germany moved there over 20 years ago, I have a Grundig SW labeled Made in China.

I worked the commercial hardware supply chain bidding contracts to supply door hardware for large buildings. Stanley moved to China in the 90's, Schlage has their lower line units made there. Thinking China doesn't sell much means ignoring the labels on our cell phones and laptops - they own that market. Iphone tried to pull back some production but the lesser units are still being churned there.

I could go on for another half dozen paragraphs, but I will just list brands I know that are Chinese made or use Chinese components: Suunto, Iphone, Samsung, GM, Schlage, Stanley, most of the lithium power tools, Columbia, North Face, and Carhartt. Ford has been using Canadian motors and Mexican transmissions dating back to 1963 - the 289 is a Windsor, Ontario, Canada product.

I doubt very much some guy at Aimpoint CS is authorized to discuss Country of Origin and blab to every phone caller who asks. Much like prying into SIG and which parts are MIM from India - they may have been in the spotlight for that while the other gun companies just stepped back into the bushes and avoided the whole incident. They don't make profit selling the truth, their image is their Brand and it is what sells.

I picked up a Brownells AR15 parts catalog 10 years ago, one of the first they issued, and they marked every part with the US flag if it could be verified it was Made in the USA. Less than half were. Where do all those AR15 parts come from? There are over a half a dozen production plants exported by Colt and set up to make that country's armaments, they aren't sitting idle.

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Originally posted by Graniteguy:
Good info on Aimpoint - would have never guessed the manufacturing origin was Sweden.

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Originally posted by Tirod:
The Berry Amendment requires military suppliers to make their products in the USA to bid on contracts.

Therefore there is a US plant to assemble Aimpoints for contracts, or, they have a special exemption which allows them to skirt that requirement.

A lot of sources, including this one, state that there are only two plants, both in Sweden.

https://gunmagwarehouse.com/brands/aimpoint

It would appear that Aimpoint is shipping optics in from Sweden without having to comply with the Berry Amendment.

That leaves the quote by Lucid in question - an unfortunate resolution. I have found over the years tho, that off shore production of American goods does happen - certain firearms brands made in countries actually rollmarked Made in the USA because the few operations necessary under our law are done here. And those 1911's sell for $1,100.

The plants in Sweden may well be making the optics from "whole cloth" but it's a manufacturing fact that subcomponents can be sourced out of a county and completed in house which would conform to the letter of the law, as I previously noted with examples.

Without more information, largely proprietary and not likely to be revealed, it's a he said she said.

I've learned not to have a closed mind about international business.

quote:

Originally posted by Tirod:
The Berry Amendment requires military suppliers to make their products in the USA to bid on contracts.

Therefore there is a US plant to assemble Aimpoints for contracts, or, they have a special exemption which allows them to skirt that requirement.