Jim,
Both Morgan, and Reed produce vises in the US. You have to go out of you way to find either. Reed pushes their imports. Neither is cheap.
I can't find a current Reed made in the USA. And what they're selling now as a 'quality' import does not inspire confidence. Compare the current 4.5" Reed 2C to one from yesteryear. (83# vs 18#, eg). Calling both of these vises by the same name is rather pathetic.
The Morgan looks great. As you said, it's not easy to find, but at $550 + $75 shipping, it looks like a good buy. It would be interesting to compare the old Morgan's with the new. Online, it looks like they kept things pretty similar in the new vises
In a world of profits over quality, I would almost buy a Morgan just to support their staying out of the race to the bottom.
