All I know is what Matt that owns Precision Matthews told me 3 years ago.
He said that there are the standard parts and there are upgrade parts.
He says that my lathe, a PM1236, he says has the parts picked out of a catalogue you would expect; foot brake, same 3 Jaw and same 4 Jaw chucks etc The only thing that was a real upgrade for that class was the relays, because he had more warranty work on the relays that anything else.
He says some brands that cost twice as much [Clausing now made in China], but are the same as another Chinese lathe, come in with the wrong manual, because they get the different paint job, but the factory accidently puts the wrong manual in that box.
The Grizzly lathe I own has nothing unique about it, not even a unique choice of parts from a catalogue.
All know about scopes is what Gale McMillan posted or emailed me 10 years ago. He went to Asia, picked scope parts from a catalog, and got a contract with the US Marines.
The turrets on my SWFA Super Sniper are the same as on my Tasco scope.
That's what's dangerous about passing on information you heard from other people. It is easy to say "so and so said this" and repeat it on the internet as the "truth" without any personal knowledge about what goes on in the industry.
You are actually wrong on almost all counts of what your original post is about.
1) While the machines may look alike, and some may even come from the same manufacturer, the insides are quite often different. I don't know which Grizzly machine you own, but I can tell you that there isn't a single G0509G lathe rebadged under a different name
in terms of internal parts that we specify. Further, we have our own engineers, on our payroll, working at the factory to make sure a lot of the components are worthy of our lathes. In fact, we have a German engineer friend of mine, who worked as a QC person at Mercedes in Germany in his younger days, and is a master machinist, working full time at the factory making sure everything is done to our standards. It is not just another "rebadged" product.
2) We sell more lathes than any other company in the USA, or for that matter, in the World. You say there is nothing special about the Grizzly lathe you own - we have a huge selection of lathes, from a few hundred dollars to tens of thousands of dollars. Yes, there are hobby type lathes that we sell and, frankly, there isn't really anything special about some of them except for the quality control, but this thread is about Gunsmithing lathes and they are different - a lot different! Perhaps if you can tell us your full name, city where you live and the Grizzly lathe you own, I can verify that you did indeed buy a lathe from us and what is different about it, if anything. You can PM me that information.
Another thing, and this is for all other readers of this thread:
1) Please do not put your lathe on permanent casters to move it around. Over time, the bed will get a slight twist in it and will affect accuracy. This is regardless of which country the lathe is made in. Metal working lathes need to sit on a concrete floor and be properly levelled.
2) Please do not re-use headstock oil because "metal sinks in oil". This is not good for your machine. For Grizzly lathe owners, our instruction manuals have very good information about lathe lubrication.
Finally, for the guys that had kind words for me on this thread - thanks!
, it is damn near 12" taller than my present lathe. Not starting a lathe war, just stating that Grizzly had a great product at a reasonable price and held zero perfect. Now time to start making tooling, god help me, 
