Hey Tommy,
Thanks for the kind words pard, but it just means I had the privilage of being a part of what many can only read about.
No doubt handgun scopes have come a long ways since the 1X Phantom's of the 60's though, with endless improvements mostly geared around optical coatings/quality and adding endless extra bells and whistles (many that are not really needed). Sadly what they left behind in the process was the shear toughness of many of the early models, especially in the variables. When the pioneer's of handcannons upped the ante in handguns, many of the current handgun scopes could take their punishment. That soon changed though as old models fell away to make room for newer models. Having always been a "buy the best you can get" type of guy, I scoffed when first approached about buying a Tasco Pro Class (to this day I've never owned one of their rifle scopes). In those days Made in Japan was a bad thing (instead of way better than Taiwan or China). Sure glad I gave the TPC a try and eventually bought a bunch of them. IMO they have the best hunting reticle ever offered in a handgun scope too. I even went so far as to mount 6X TPC's on two 17 rimfire barrels I use for night varmint hunting because of their immediate target accussition abilities even in low light. Wonder if the 17HM2 or 17HMR will ever shake them loose?
L.
