The new Redfield product line for 2007
represents the pinnacle of optical design, engineering and manufacturing excellence, and evokes the inventive spirit of company founder John Redfield.
Resembling a character out of an old western, John Hill Redfield, and the company he founded, grew out of America's western frontier. Born in 1859 on a farm near Glendale, Oregon, John was one of eight children of John and Adelia Redfield. Recent settlers in this untamed wilderness, his parents’ journey west by covered wagon several years earlier had required both his mother and father to fend off Indian attacks. Even after settling on 160 acres near Glendale, the attacks continued. During one such attack, John’s mother was wounded by gunfire as she fought to protect her young family.
As a boy, John loved to hunt and explore
the regions around the homestead. Eventually, teenage wanderlust took him to San Francisco and later the unpopulated expanses of Nevada and Idaho. Having developed into a skilled marksman—and a pretty good gambler too—John went on to become a meat hunter for the Northern Pacific Railroad, and eventually a United States Deputy Marshall.
His appetite for adventure satisfied, John returned to Oregon in 1893 and started a gunsmith shop in Medford. The following year John married Ida Wilcox. During this period of his life, a spirit of innovation awoke within him. Inspired by a mining boom in Colorado, John developed a unique rock drill and moved his family in 1906 to Colorado. He began making his new drill in a shop located on Blake Street in Denver. John’s other inventions included a timed shotgun that discharged at intervals to frighten coyotes away from sheep herds; a water-powered washing machine, and an instrument by which the date could be determined by viewing the stars.
In 1909, John started the Redfield Gun Sight Co. A small building behind his home on Gilpin Street served as his first factory. John’s novel line of open sights proved to be far superior to those offered by gun manufacturers, and soon John had more work than he could handle himself. Enlisting the services of his mechanically gifted son Watt, they worked together to design and build the special tools and machines required to manufacture the sights.
From this humble beginning, the company he started expanded its offerings to include scope mounts and eventually the premier line of riflescopes for which it is widely known. While John Redfield passed away over 60 years ago, the spirit of this great American frontiersman lives on in the company he founded. Inspired by this unique man, we are proud to carry on his tradition by introducing a new line of riflescopes we are confident would earn his approval—a line that will set the new standard for riflescope design and performance.
Two years ago, Meade Instruments, the leading U.S. manufacturer of high-end optical products, challenged its engineers to develop the most advanced riflescopes in the world bar none, employing features and patented innovations never before offered. We invite you now to read the story of how—inspired by the legendary Redfield brand—our engineers set the standard for riflescope performance.
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