Home / Brand history
Brand history
The nameplate has outlived four owners. Which era a scope came from tells you who built it, roughly what glass is inside, and whether any factory still stands behind it.
Independent guide: we are not the Redfield manufacturer and cannot process orders, registrations or warranty claims. Shopping links go to Amazon, and as an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you. Full disclosure.
Why this page exists
The nameplate has outlived four owners
"Redfield" on a scope tube does not tell you who built it, where, or to what standard. It tells you which era it came from, and the eras differ enormously. If you are looking at a used scope, or wondering who to call about a broken one, the timeline below is the practical answer.
Company records from the 1998–2008 period are thin and secondary sources disagree on some details. We have flagged where that is the case. If you have documentation that corrects anything here, please tell us and we will amend it.
-
1909 — Denver, Colorado
John Hill Redfield founds the company in Denver. The early business is built on receiver and target iron sights — precision-machined, micrometer-adjustable, and aimed squarely at competitive shooters. That reputation for mechanical adjustment carries forward into everything that follows.
-
Mid-century — mounts that became a standard
Redfield's two-piece mount systems, including the windage-adjustable designs sold as the JR and SR and later the 5-Star line, become so widely used that the front dovetail pattern is still described as "Redfield-style" by other manufacturers today. It is arguably the company's most durable contribution.
-
1960s–1970s — the Widefield and the Accu-Range
The Widefield's flattened, television-shaped sight picture gives a wider field of view than the round image everyone else offered, and it becomes the scope a generation of American hunters recognises on sight. The Accu-Range reticle adds a stadia system for estimating distance decades before laser rangefinders were affordable. Through this period Redfield and Leupold are the two dominant American scope makers.
-
1980s–1990s — losing ground
The sport optics market changes. Overseas manufacturing drives prices down, imported brands improve quickly, and Redfield struggles to compete on cost while maintaining domestic production. Product breadth narrows.
-
1998 — the Denver plant closes
The original company ceases operations and the Denver facility shuts. The trademark and assets pass out of family and into corporate hands. This is the hard line in the timeline: scopes made before it have no factory warranty support from anyone today.
-
1998–2008 — the quiet decade
The Redfield name changes hands more than once during this period, ending up within a sports optics portfolio alongside other acquired brands. Little of consequence is produced under the name. Details from this stretch are the least well documented part of the story.
-
2008 — Leupold & Stevens acquires the brand
Leupold, itself an Oregon company founded over a century ago, buys the Redfield trademark when the portfolio it sat in is broken up. Weaver and Simmons go elsewhere in the same round of sales.
-
2009 — the Revolution relaunch
Leupold reintroduces Redfield as a value line built in Beaverton, Oregon, starting with the Revolution riflescope. The pitch is deliberate: Leupold-adjacent engineering and American assembly at a price below the parent brand. The line expands over the following years to include the Rebel, the Battlezone, Rampage spotting scopes and Raider red dots.
-
April 2021 — sold to Academy Sports + Outdoors
Leupold announces the sale of the Redfield brand rights to Academy Sports + Outdoors, describing it as part of a strategic focus on the Leupold brand itself. Academy develops and sells Redfield-branded optics exclusively through its own stores. Leupold states it will continue to support warranty obligations on legacy Redfield purchases from its ownership period.
Practical use
Dating a scope you are looking at
There is no single serial number decoder that covers every era. These are the markers that usually place a scope within the right period.
| Era | Look for | What to expect | Factory support |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pre-1998 (Denver) | "Denver, Colo." or "Denver, Colorado" markings; Widefield rectangular ocular; Accu-Range or Accu-Trac features | Steel and aluminium construction, older coatings, potential for seal failure and internal fogging after decades | None |
| 1998–2008 | Little product; markings vary by owner | Uncommon on the used market | None |
| 2009–2021 (Leupold) | Model names Revolution, Rebel, Battlezone, Rampage, Raider; Beaverton, Oregon associations | Modern multi-coatings, nitrogen purged, contemporary tracking and sealing | Leupold, for legacy purchases |
| 2021–present (Academy) | Sold through Academy Sports + Outdoors | Current production house brand | Academy Sports + Outdoors |
A Denver-era Widefield is a genuinely enjoyable thing to own and can still perform. Before you buy one, check for internal fogging or haze, spin the magnification ring through its full travel feeling for grit, look for a reticle that stays centred as you dial, and inspect the tube for ring dents. Assume it has never been resealed. Independent optics repair shops will reseal, re-grease and nitrogen-purge many of these models, and the cost of that service should be part of your purchase decision.
Working out who to contact?
The era decides the answer. We have laid out each route, including what to do when there is no factory left to call.