sam vimes
Well-known member
A mate of mine imports telescopic sights, under his own brand name, from one of the Chinese optics factories. They are built to his own unique specs. Unsurprisingly, you can buy scopes, from other brands, that look superficially quite similar. Chinese factories will generally do as the customer requests. If the customer pays for it, that can include top level QC and different levels of exclusivity. If the customer wants cheap, they can do that, but QC and exclusivity is likely to go out of the window.
Just because a blank might be sourced from China doesn't mean that is available for any other brand to buy. Drennan blanks may, or may not, be sourced from a Chinese factory, but they could easily have a tight exclusive deal. An exclusivity deal may be the reason why Drennan are reticent to even admit where their blanks are sourced. However, if the Acolyte blanks appeared under another guise, I'd happily take a look. The design and lightness of them should mean that they'd be fairly easy to spot, even with different graphics, colour schemes and handle designs.