[Wavytone]

Jason, I’ve owned an M703 and two SW 180 maks, and also looked through several more. Quality of all is variable and this is true also of the Russian scopes, ie there are few outstanding ones, a lot of fairly average ones and some poor ones.

The only exception to that is Questar but you’ll have to sell both kidneys to buy a 7”. Then there is TEC, they make a few invariably excellent but also expensive, and occasionally a big one comes up secondhand (an 8” and 10” recently on astromart).

As per below look for a SW180mm Mak, learn how to tell good from not so good because a good one can be very very good indeed - better than 8” SCTs or a 150mm APO.

However the SW quality is variable:
Some are excellent, as near as dammit to perfect in all respects and better optically than 8” SCT’s;
On some the optics aren’t quite fully polished and appear a bit grey near the edges when you point a torch at them;
On some the diffraction image isn’t perfect at high power (300X).

If buying secondhand always ask to star-test the scope at high power and try to ascertain it’s age. If optically excellent but the mirrors look a bit grey (10 years or more) it might be worth considering having the mirrors recoated - this is possible, and doesn’t cost a fortune.

Of the Russian scopes, Intes, Intes Micro and Intes Alter are all different companies and production is dependent on what the Russian military allow. Intes ceased to exist some years ago, and of the rest production stopped 2 years ago for the time being. So be wary of websites claiming to sell them as they’re probably just not maintaining the webpage.

Of the one I had and the others I’ve seen through, the Russian maks are optically OK to good, but mechanically the OTA are relatively heavy and fairly crudely built. In this respect the Skywatcher ones are distinctly preferable. The Russian finders are junk, and if it has a fixed mirror and rack & pinion focusser be prepared to replace that too.

You’ll find the Intes Micro scopes from time to time secondhand. A few new ones might still be possible from APM in Germany depending on what optics sets they have left (they are built to order) but the prices are eyewatering.

Some years ago Meade built LX200 7” f/15 maks, if you find one buy it because optically these were pretty good. Why they stopped production I have no idea.

Another rare oddball one is the Saxon 200mm mak, either f/15 or f/20. Occasionally one comes up on IIS secondhand though I have no idea what these are like, though quite possibly a bargain.

Orion Optics in the UK, Bosma and iOptron are also selling smaller maks up to 150mm, I’ve had a brief look at a couple of the iOptron ones, nothing wrong (the iOptron ones are Bosma rebranded).

Then there are also Maksutov Newtonians around 150-190mm aperture from various sources, might be of interest to you.

Lastly there are a few rare legendary ones - the Santel 9” f/13 Rumak I have being an example, this being the sole reason I sold my smaller SW 180mm mak.