Shepard Scope

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Shepard Scope

Post by marneth » 29 Nov 2018, 10:15 am

G'day all, l'm looking for a Shepard scope but can't find a retailer anywhere. Does anybody out there know where I can pick one up. I'm in Brisbane but anywhere in Australia is good. Cheers
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Re: Shepard Scope

Post by deanp100 » 29 Nov 2018, 5:08 pm

Never seen or heard of them here, but they have some good reviews and interesting features in the states. Optics planet has them and has been a good exporter in the past.
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Re: Shepard Scope

Post by SCJ429 » 29 Nov 2018, 5:54 pm

Why do you want one? Have you used one and they were better than other things in that price range?
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Re: Shepard Scope

Post by TassieTiger » 29 Nov 2018, 7:35 pm

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Re: Shepard Scope

Post by marneth » 01 Dec 2018, 9:10 am

G'day guys, thanks for the replies. I'll give optics planet a try. Why do I want one? Well because all the reviews l've seen impress me that much I want to give one a try. I think what makes a good scope is one that gets you on target with least amount of shots with great clarity and tracking ability. As for price anything is only worth what your prepared to pay. For what you get I think there quite reasonably priced.
Cheers.
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Re: Shepard Scope

Post by bigfellascott » 01 Dec 2018, 3:44 pm

What's their warrant like? how easy is it to get sorted if it does crap itself and is it a life long warranty like many other brands?
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Re: Shepard Scope

Post by SCJ429 » 02 Dec 2018, 12:58 pm

If I was buying a scope for $2,000 plus I would want to look through one, use the turrets and talk to a few owners. Not to say Shepard don't make a great scope but they are not a big player in the US from what I can see. That would worry me. Schmidt and Bender have a pretty good reputation but after using one I realised they were not for me.
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Re: Shepard Scope

Post by marneth » 02 Dec 2018, 1:01 pm

Shepard say they have a lifetime warranty. If you look at their site and parent Co. site they seem to be a company that values their reputation. If something did go south it would no doubt be a hassle getting it fixed given that the scope would have to be sent back to the U.S.A I don't think it would be much more of a hassle than if your expensive European scope stuffed up. I very much doubt it would happen in the first place anyway. Has it ever happened to you?
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Re: Shepard Scope

Post by marneth » 02 Dec 2018, 1:11 pm

Shepard actually make many scopes for different entities who then put there name on them and jack up the price. It's a bit like buying a generic oil filter for your car for half the price of a genuine one. The genuine one is made by the generic producer in the same factory to the same specs. It just comes in a different box. Shepard parent Co. has been making scopes and other optical equipment for the military and other uses for decades as well.
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Re: Shepard Scope

Post by bigfellascott » 02 Dec 2018, 3:48 pm

marneth wrote:Shepard say they have a lifetime warranty. If you look at their site and parent Co. site they seem to be a company that values their reputation. If something did go south it would no doubt be a hassle getting it fixed given that the scope would have to be sent back to the U.S.A I don't think it would be much more of a hassle than if your expensive European scope stuffed up. I very much doubt it would happen in the first place anyway. Has it ever happened to you?


Nope never had any of my scopes fail, but know quite a few who own expensive ones that have had to send em back for attention. :thumbsup:

The way I look at it is if ya want it buy it, you can be the guinea pig for the forum :D
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Re: Shepard Scope

Post by bigfellascott » 02 Dec 2018, 3:56 pm

SCJ429 wrote:If I was buying a scope for $2,000 plus I would want to look through one, use the turrets and talk to a few owners. Not to say Shepard don't make a great scope but they are not a big player in the US from what I can see. That would worry me. Schmidt and Bender have a pretty good reputation but after using one I realised they were not for me.


Yeah I can't say I've ever bought a scope before looking through it, at at that price I would definitely want to look through it and handle it to see if it's really worth the $$. :thumbsup:
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Re: Shepard Scope

Post by SCJ429 » 02 Dec 2018, 5:58 pm

I am not trying to talk you out of getting this scope and I know zero about them. I must tell you that there is a chance that the scope may not be everything you hoped for. They would get their glass from the same places other Japenese or American scope builders source their glass. They would not have any coatings that have any significant advantage over others. Their retical system may turn out to be a gimmick.

If your expectation is for a scope similar in quality to a Bushnell you might do OK. If you hope that it will be better than a Nightforce ATACR for a half the price you might be in for a surprise.
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Re: Shepard Scope

Post by SCJ429 » 02 Dec 2018, 6:03 pm

The only scope I have broken was a thirty year old Leupold which they fixed no questions asked. Big thank you to Leupold.
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Re: Shepard Scope

Post by Bazooker » 03 Dec 2018, 9:50 am

marneth wrote:G'day all, l'm looking for a Shepard scope but can't find a retailer anywhere. Does anybody out there know where I can pick one up. I'm in Brisbane but anywhere in Australia is good. Cheers


G'day Marneth,

I reckon I spotted one of those twin reticle things in the sale bin at Miall's Gunshop last Christmas, might be worth giving them a call.

The only reason I clocked it was I had read some stuff on them on the net a few years ago.

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Re: Shepard Scope

Post by marneth » 07 Dec 2018, 10:28 am

Well I contacted Shepherd in Tampa USA and they put me in touch with the Australian, New Zealand distributors. Steve McGuire is the point of contact at South Fort Labs in NZ. They manufacture high end products for the shooting community. He tells me he prefers the Shepard over the Nightforce. He's asked me for my load data and I'm waiting for him to come back to me with options and prices.
For those interested here is a post from the owner of Shepherd on a US forum

Feel free to ask me any questions, I bought my first shepherd 2 years ago and liked it so much I bought the company. My name is Patrick Bass and my company Salvo Technologies now owns Shepherd scopes. A couple of general pieces of info on the Shepherd. Dan Shepherd never put one tiny piece, not even an o-ring, from china or Taiwan or the Philippines in a single one of his scopes. Every part came from the USA, Japan and Germany and still does today. Though we make a lot more of the parts today. My factory is in Tampa Florida , just out side of Tampa. We are the only company in United states making scopes who has our own optics manufacturing facility (look it up salve electro optics, also owned by salvo technologies). The war over who has the best optics ended a year ago, just everyone doesnt know it yet. lol Reach out to many anytime if you want to discuss optics, hear whats coming or just ask a few questions. We are an employee owned small american business making scopes, not to many of us anymore as the big boys try to keep everyone out of the market so they can keep raising the prices. I hope you will visit our website at Home you will see we make optics for raptor drones, Apache helicopters and satellites and trust me the quality expectation for a satellite is much more rigorous than any traditional scope company has for a scope.
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Re: Shepard Scope

Post by TassieTiger » 07 Dec 2018, 12:15 pm

TassieTiger wrote:Check out post no 22

https://www.shootersforum.com/rifle-sho ... 369?page=2


I guess there is zero point in posting if going to be ignored...lol.
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Re: Shepard Scope

Post by SCJ429 » 07 Dec 2018, 5:36 pm

I will be interested to hear what he says and the prices. It is hard to get a feel for the product from the manufacture or the retailer, they both have a financial interest in you believing that it is a superior product. Just keep your mind open and if at all possible have a look at one or use one before you commit to buy. If it is $300 you have not lost much but if it is $2,500 that might be another story.
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Re: Shepard Scope

Post by SCJ429 » 07 Dec 2018, 5:38 pm

Southfort labs sell some beautiful carbon fibre products, you would hope that they would only retail other high quality products.
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