shibumiseeker
Grandmaster
What he is saying is more of a philosophical muse. Those of us who shoot a LOT and who have gone through a similar journey have piles of old glass that either broke or just did not stand up to our increasing appreciation of better quality. If you go that path you WILL eventually become an optics snob because you have the skill and experience to appreciate the higher quality and you will regret the money wasted in reaching that point.
On the other hand, MOST shooters never get to that point and while a better quality optic certainly performs better and if it does break (they all can break no matter how much they cost), the difference is what the company does: higher dollar optics get fixed or replaced free whereas low dollar ones are "you're on your own sucka!"
If you are the kind of shooter who will only shoot a couple hundred rounds a year and tenth of a minute of angle precision isn't that important to you (very few shooters are that good) then an option like the Simmons may give you a lifetime of service and you'll never know different. As long as you are clear that what you are buying is the low end and that you may end up with it sitting in a junk drawer some day (as opposed to the NcStar which is virtually guaranteed to do so) then it's an ok purchase.
