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CartTRACT Optics’ 2016 Year in Review
TRACT Optics’ 2016 Year in Review. As with most businesses, TRACT began as an idea. Then there was the product development stage where we spent a year and a half putting together what we believe are not only some of the finest riflescopes and binoculars on the market, but also a quality business that hunters, shooters, birders, sporting-event goers and countless others can rely on as a resource for all optics and good customer service. As we take a look back at 2016, we’d like to thank each and everyone of you who support the success of TRACT Optics.
The following is a compilation of what other publications have said about TRACT Optics.
Outdoor Life: “The 2016 Binocular Review” by Andrew McKean
GREAT BUY: FULL-SIZE BINO
Score: 88.2
Price: $664
Upshot: Tremendous value
If this freshman effort from a couple of veterans of the sports-optics industry is any indication of their intentions, you’ll be hearing about Tract for years to come. The Toric is a wonderfully bright and durable premium optic that prompted the most telling quote of our test: “I expected this binocular to cost several hundred dollars more than it does,” said panelist Dale Manning.
The rest of us testers nodded our heads in agreement; the Toric was the unanimous choice for our Great Buy award. If that endorsement has you rushing to the store to buy a Toric, I’ll save you the trip. You can only buy Tract optics through the company’s website. The system is designed to cut out retailers and their marked-up pricing, say Tract co-founders Jon LaCorte and Jon Allen, both alumni of Nikon’s sports-optics division.
The Tract shares the solid build, tight controls, and edge-to-edge clarity that defines Nikon’s higher-end optics. Internally, the Toric was a top performer in our test, turning in one of the best combined low-light and resolution scores, owing to its high-end Schott glass and premium coatings. It also won points for its stylish graphite-and-black finish and its classy packaging.
Hunters will appreciate the Toric’s compact frame; its grippy finish; its tack-sharp focus; and its face-fitting eyecups, which adjust as smoothly and positively as a fine watch.
Outdoor Life: “The Optics Test” by Andrew McKean – June 15, 2016
Created by alums of Nikon’s sports optics division, Tract launched this year with optics featuring premium glass and sweet controls, and a distribution strategy that bypasses retailers and sells direct to consumers.
Tract’s freshman riflescope should generate plenty of buzz. The Toric had one of the highest combined low-light and resolution scores in our test, thanks to its high-transmission Schott glass and first-rate coatings. The 1-inch scope sports a distinctive graphite finish and comes with a high-profile lockable turret with zero stop. It’s clean and intuitive second-plane BDC reticle is compatible with Tract’s online ballistics program.
Gun Digest: “Scope Review: TRACT Optics TORIC Ultra HD” by L.P. Brenzy – June 6, 2016
Just in time for some early season prairie dog shooting, Gun Digest magazine requested I take a hands-on look at a new riflescope brand coming to the outdoor market labeled as Tract riflescopes. The scope provided appeared to be a tight package using quality materials and optic coatings that offered a good medium-range, big-game optic or varmint hunting system.
In terms of this review, I was sent a sample scope labeled as a “Toric Ultra HD.” This scope makes use of a 3-15x42mm objective lens and mounts a reticle design centering on the basic T-Plex etched glass system. As indicated by the manufacturer, the Toric scope can also be obtained with a BDC Reticle as a second option. More on this element of the scope’s design a bit later.
The scope makes use of a one-inch main tube and capped turret adjustments that would appear to be ¼ clicks per inch. The model tested was a prototype and directional marks weren’t readily apparent on the turrets, which made things a little more challenging; however, I addressed this by simply looking downrange at impact points and adjusting as necessary.
The turret housing on the Toric glass sight retains the third adjustment for parallax / focus correction at given ranges. The focusing eyepiece (at the rear of the scope) makes use of a full 4-inch eye relief, which will fight off “ring eye” from heavy, magnum calibers. Magnification graduations from 3x-15 were selected for use in this optical system. Tract Optics built this scope in the Second focal plane, which indicates that as magnification is increased or decreased, the cross hair or other reticule design will remain the same. Second focal plane scopes will change the size of those cross hairs as magnification changes. I personally like the first focal plane system.
NRA’s American Rifleman: NRA Gun Gear of the Week: TRACT Optics – July 3, 2016
Tract Optics enters the sporting glass market with an impressive catalog of smartly designed riflescopes and binoculars. The company’s Toric models utilize premium, fully multicoated glass and offer features that today’s hunters and shooters look for, such as tactical-style adjustment turrets on scopes and grip-enhancing rubber armor for binos. Best of all, Tract is committed to competitive pricing that will offer real value to consumers.
RifleShooter.com: “223 Ackley Improved (223AI) loads and review: A better 223?” – November 28, 2016
During the load development process I used two different scopes on the same rifle. For the 77 grain TMK loads I used a TRACT Optics TORIC 3-15x50mm scope. TRACT Optics is a new company founded by a couple of guys who left the Nikon sport optics program. TRACT’s business model is new to the industry, they sell direct to the customer, no middle man, this means the end user ends up with more optic for the money. Right now they make hunting style scopes like the TORIC shown above and they are a solid value. If you are looking for an optic for a hunting rifle, check them out.
Rifle Shooter Magazine: “The Genius of TRACT Optics” by Bryce Towsley – August 1, 2016
The great innovations in our world rarely come from big, bloated, long-established companies. Rather, they come from people with a vision. Sam Colt, Henry Ford, Gaston Glock, Bill Gates, Arthur Savage and Steve Jobs were not some faceless drones in a giant corporation. They were individuals who started with a dream and a shoestring budget, and they changed the world.
Sometimes, though, the drones grow weary and break free. They start with a dream, a shoestring and a headstart from deep knowledge of the products from all those years they worked as a drone. That’s the case with Tract Optics.
Jon Lacorte and Jon Allen worked for Nikon Sport Optics for many years. They loved the brand, but were unhappy in the often-bizarre world of huge corporations and how they operated. Frustrated, they resigned and when their non-compete agreements expired, they started Tract Optics
NRA’s Shooting Illustrated: “TRACT Optics RESPONSE 4-16x42mm Scope” by Bryce Towsley – September 21, 2016
Jon LaCorte and Jon Allen worked for Nikon Sport Optics for years, so they know the optics business very well. Frustrated with the restraints that come with a huge, global corporation, they thought they’d found a better way. So, they put it all on the line, resigned and started Tract Optics. The company’s optics can only be purchased from Tract via its website, cutting out several layers of middlemen and saving the consumer a significant amount versus products of similar quality.
Tract’s products use the best glass and coatings available. The scopes are clear and bright—far better than the price point would have you expect. But, perhaps even more important than the optical quality in today’s tactical shooting world, is how well the adjustments track and repeat, so I took one of Tract’s scopes to the range to find out.
The Truth About Guns: “Budget-Friendly Optics Brands at NRA Annual Meeting” – May 26, 2016
TRACT Optics is a new company with a unique — at least in this field — business model: they’re direct to consumer. The only way to get ’em is right through the TRACT website. With no distributor and retailer markups, their pitch is high-end optics at half the cost.
Bowhunter: “ATA Show 2016: 5 Hot Companies You’ve Never Heard Of” by Tony J. Peterson – January 15, 2016
It’s pretty hard to believe that the optics industry isn’t saturated, and anything that can be done, has been done. This was the feeling I had when I sat down with a few of the folks from TRACT Optics during ATA Show 2016. As they described the impetus behind starting the company, I played with both their 8×42 and 10×42 binoculars.
Staring down the show floor through each, it was pretty clear the quality was there and just as importantly, the weight wasn’t. It was also clear that the eyecups on the Torics and Tekoas were different. It has always been a pet-peeve of mine that bino companies use quality lenses, coatings, and overall materials to produce decent optics, only to drop the ball on eyecups. The minds behind TRACT didn’t… Continue Reading
American Hunter: Hardware: “TRACT Toric” by Bryce Towsley – December 28, 2016
One of the many wonderful things about capitalism is we are free to innovate and adapt in the marketplace. Often those most successful have the vision to see change coming before it happens and have the courage to act.
Jon LaCorte and Jon Allen are good examples. They both worked for a major optics brand for many years before they left to start their own company called Tract Optics. These guys understand the industry and realize that while many of today’s riflescopes are good quality, the way they are sold could use improvement.
Tract is innovative in its approach in that the company takes its optics direct to the consumer via the Internet. While other brands have multiple middlemen that erode value from the optics, Tract scopes and binoculars are sold to the consumer by the same people who own the company. There’s no distributor, sales rep, marketing group or brick-and-mortar store. With Tract Optics, the supply chain has one link rather than several, and the savings are passed on to the end-user.
