I'm not so sure quality has gone down all that much. Lot of scope's it seem's that work just fine. I have a couple newer Nikon's and haven't had a problem with them. I hear bad thing's about new Leupold but I'm not sure I buy it. What has seemed to have gone down is quality control. Seem's to me with pretty much everything, the quality control doesn't exist any more. Instead they send out a sub par product and when it get's returned simply replace it. For the majority of people a good scope that works right can be had for $300 and under. Are they higher quality than some older scope's? Not a clue but I do know they work well. I have two old Denver Redfield's I bought new and love them both. Nice but better than newer, I'm not so sure. Have a very old Bushnell Banner, wouldn't trade it for a new Banner but is it really better> Not a clue! I know that the newer scopes I have do all I ask of them and most I got for $200 and less! Have an old El Paso K4 Weaver on a 22 mag. Good scope but I doubt it's any better than a good number of newer one's. By the way, Seem's Weaver is gone so this scope has become a collector's item. On sale today for a mere $2500 plus shipping and handling! I think if you want a scope similar to those old one's your gonna pay out the nose for it, way to much hand work today and to costly to make! And are they really better? I don't think so.