A Tipton was the first gun vise I bought and for years it was my only one. I now have two bench mounted ones, a copy of Brownells multi vise and a patternmakers vise. (Come to think of it I have an original Bisley somewhere too, portable.)
The Tipton is OK for simple stuff, cleaning, and messing with sights, I mounted many scopes with it.
But that's it, it doesn't hold sturdy enough to do any real work. I even epoxied about 10 lbs of lead shot into the base of mine and it still moves around. Scope work is usually straight down so it wouldn't move much but any work that requires horizontal force will shift the setup. It doesn't hold as well when the gun is placed upside down as right side up. I found I was often picking up the whole setup and turning it around.
Woodworkers Supply has the copy of the $250 Brownells vise for about $60. Might need some tweaking but a good deal. And yes, it's made in China
Parrot Vise