As far as optics manufacturers, Mueller Optics is relatively new to the market. Founded in 2003 by Richard Schlampp, Mueller has quickly developed a reputation for high quality scopes at reasonable prices. This has been accomplished through two unique strategies.

For starters, most all the Mueller products are produced overseas. However, this is certainly not new within the optics community. About the only optics company that still makes some of it’s products within the U.S. is Burris Optics. What seems to set Mueller apart from the rest of their competition is how they utilize these parts. Rather than outsource everything to one country, Mueller took a different approach. They searched long and hard for various vendors through the world that manufactured specific optical parts and selected the best that they could find. Each vendor that they use produces a specific item or part that is then shipped to an overseas plant and meticulously assembled. The result is a high quality product built with exacting tolerances. So much so, that Mueller optics offers a lifetime warranty on nearly every item they produce.

The second unique strategy that Mueller employs is done through their advertising (or should I say lack of advertising). Quite simply, Mueller spends very little money on advertising compared to most sports based optical companies. Next time you visit your doctor or dentist, take a moment to flip through any hunting or shooting magazines that they may have in waiting room. I’m willing to bet that you’ll see a number of various ads from different scope manufacturers, but you probably won’t see any ads from Mueller. They prefer to rely on their network of dealers, and word of mouth to effectively advertise their line. In doing so, they have been able to keep the retail costs of their products at a very attractive level.