It doesn't really matter where they were made, the internal design is the same.

Old Lew's reels were made by Shimano, in case anyone was wondering. They were the some of the finest reels of the time.

Lew's where made by a few different companies in there heyday.

Browning is just one of 4 manufacturers that built Lew's reels. Shimano made the first ones for Lew Childre. Next Ryobi built the reels for Lew. After he was killed in an accident the Childre family ultimately sold the company to Browning...Browning was then purchased by Zebco and Zebco made the Lew's reels for a while..

Buddy of mine has quite a few of the old shimano lew's reels in his collection.I used them back in the day as did my Father.They where top of the line back in the day.

Anyone have a chance to compare to a 50Mg for casting light stuff?

I just sold one of my 50mg's after I got my 2nd Lews T-pro.  The 50mg's are great reels, based on personal experience, and cast light tackle with ease. I can throw 1/8 once lures all day with it and the Lew's.  You're rod is going to play a big part if you want to be successful at throwing light tackle though.