BSA and newer Tasco are just horrid. On the other hand there are some inexpensive scopes that work quite well. One of my Marlin .30-30's is an honest MOA rifle, it wears a Swift 1.5-4.5x20 which costs around $100.00. After years of clambering up and down tree stands and Kentucky temperature swings it still holds zero. The glass is surprisingly clear for the price too. The favorite scope of one of the best hunters I've ever known was a 3-9x32 Simmons that looked like a Redfield copy. I have no idea how many critters had fallen to that cheap mart special but it was a bunch. This guy owned his own jewelry store and could have purchased any scope he wanted.
In my experience, most cheap scopes from known brands (Simmons, Bushnell, some Tasco) do ok as long as they don't get too big and complicated or they are put on a hard kicker. It's not that hard to make a 4x32 or perhaps 3-9x32 that will hold zero on a .30'06 or less, especially since most rifles attached to these scopes just don't get fired that much. The average owner also isn't going to care about a few extra percentage points of light transmission as long as something goes dead when he presses the trigger. Cheap scopes really start to fail when you add more magnification, bigger lenses, parallax adjustments, illuminated reticles, and similar gadgetry. There is a tipping point where one needs to adjust their expectations for the price they are willing to pay, especially if the rifle is a hard kicker and/or unusually lightweight.
I am surprised that, for all the bad press cheap scopes get, you seldom hear gripes about cheap scope mounts. The worst offenders are the aluminum see through mounts which seem to have been installed on like 95% of all deer rifles from 1950-1990. Tall, thin, and made of very flexible aluminum: I really have no idea how anyone would expect a rifle and scope to remain pointed in the same general direction with these things. When my best friend got his first centerfire rifle he bought some of these awful rings and a heavy Bushnell 4-12x50 AO scope to go along with it. Fortunately, he was happy to accept my gift of a set of standard Weaver mounts and bases for his birthday. I use Leupold dovetail bases and rings on my rifles and have had good success with them, they aren't terribly expensive either. I would honestly take a cheap scope in quality mounts over a nice scope in crappy mounts any day.
