Swampfox Optics failure and Warranty failure

[357MAGNOLE]

If you are considering Swampfox optics and their "warranty" was part of your consideration maybe look elsewhere. I have had this Kingslayer for a couple of years now and it has lived on my turkey shotgun.  To be clear, my turkey gun only gets used for turkey season and is babied after being in the field. After the season I usually redo the 0 for slugs and it goes back in the safe. This optic has been out in the field probably 30 times max in the past two seasons. It has held 0 fine, no issues with the battery, however, the windage screw decided to completely rust out and it's now locked and can't be moved. I reached out to their warranty department asking if it could be fixed assuming they would fix it or replace it with new old stock or maybe even a current model or heck even if they offered me half off a current model I would have taken that. Instead, I got told this:

"We do not alter optics with new parts units are sold as whole unit. We do not offer custom work for our optics.
This is an after effect of normal use and wear and tear thus not covered under our warranty. Now if the optic experienced catastrophic damage from a situation that it should not have received impairing the entire function of the optic such as glass falling out or the internals losing connection and shorting out the optic not allowing it to power on and so on."

Again, to be clear..... They do not warranty normal wear and tear failure of parts according to the CS rep. So this will be my last optic from them and if they want to try to save face on public forums they can save the few $ it would have cost to honor their warranty.  At the end of the season, the red dot will be in the trash can and I'll move on to a trusted brand that values their return customers.


pichost

[ruination]

Meanwhile I smash a Fast Fire 3 with my own stupidity and have a brand new on in hand in 2 weeks.

I can't believe they wouldn't offer a repair or trade over an obvious design flaw.

[357MAGNOLE]

Yeah I would have just been happy if they replaced the screw. But I guess their "limited lifetime warranty" is pretty dang limited.

[bwhana]

Was the sight exposed to rain or moisture or just did that on its own?  Either way, they should have stood by their product.  I checked my Burris and AT3 after seeing this and zero rust on anything, but neither has been exposed to anything but air.

[357MAGNOLE]

Was the sight exposed to rain or moisture or just did that on its own?  Either way, they should have stood by their product.  I checked my Burris and AT3 after seeing this and zero rust on anything, but neither has been exposed to anything but air.

I mean yeah of course, in the turkey woods. But I also go home and wipe them down well and usually with a little clp. This was the only screw that rusted. Very strange, like one screw didn't get blued.

[Greg Massey]

I have 2 of them and so far i have not experienced this problem.

Thanks for sharing, i will make sure i take a Q-tip with some oil and rub it into these screw areas..

They no longer offer the Kingslayer anymore ...

[357MAGNOLE]

I have 2 of them and so far i have not experienced this problem.

Thanks for sharing, i will make sure i take a Q-tip with some oil and rub it into these screw areas..

They no longer offer the Kingslayer anymore ...

Yeah it sucks because otherwise I liked it. Great value until now. Now I need to start planning a replacement before next season. My basic requirements are the green circle reticle like what this one has. And also, a reliable warranty.

[Tom007]

Knowing the harsh elements that we encounter in Spring, you would think the 2 adjustment screws would have been stainless or plated to prevent that from happening......good luck with your new one, thanks for sharing.....

[hillbillyfab]

I hate to read this about Swampfox. I too use a Kingslayer and really like the green reticle. I'll have to keep and eye out for this issue.

[357MAGNOLE]

***update***

After a public post their damage control team swooped in to try and "come to an amicable resolution".

So at least they pay attention to their reputation when there are issues. Only took a little over 7K views on another public post for them to reach out.

I'm probably just gonna finish the season on this one and junk it. Yes, they want to warranty replace it now but now I have a bad taste in my mouth seeing as they didn't want to until it was to save face.

[grayfox]

I have the one with the green circle dot and it's been great so far. Thanks for the heads up! I'll keep check on mine.

[eddie234]

Since you have nothing to lose could you not try and put some type of "creeping" oil on it and see if it'll break loose?


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[Greg Massey]

In my opinion, i would let them replace this one with another one, it will definitely be better than the one your going to junk or send back.. The new one may even be an upgrade..  Why not take advantage of getting a new replacement.

[Vintage]

Have them replace it and I will buy it from you.LOL

[Tclipse01]

Look at Burris or Vortex, their warranties are worth it, and you can sometimes find the Venom/Viper around $125 on good sales (BF, Memorial Day). I dropped mine on a rock and they had a new one out to me within a week or so after determining they couldn't repair.

Had good experiences with the Sig Romeo series and Holosun too... lots of good options with companies that will take better care of you than that.