There have been so many changes in the way scopes are made today versus the way they were made 20-30 years ago that there can be little to no comparison. In today's global market, most scopes are made overseas to a "price point". The marketer (like Redfield, Simmons, etc.) gets bids on a specific scope model with specifications and cost, and takes the lowest overseas bidder (usually). This overseas builder then makes the scope to the marketer's specs. A "Widefield" made today will have little resemblance to one made in 1980. It may be better, it may be not so good. Like their website says, the current scopes are just "inspired by the legendary Redfield brand". In this global market, you usually really do get what you pay for.
BTW, this is fact with many products we buy. Walmart is notorious for beating down it's vendors on price, forcing many to go overseas (China usually) to meet the price demands of WallyWorld. If you don't meet their demands, you don't get shelf space. If you don't get shelf space with the world's largest retailer, you will have a tough time being successful. Often vendors will make "Wally-only" products of lower quality/cost than their usual line, just to make Wally happy. How else do you think that Wally can advertise "Rollbacks" all the time? Do you really think that they cut their profits to give you the consumer a price break? Wally isn't alone in this practice, but they are the biggest player.
