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Mike was a good cheerleader but he went overboard. Saying they were being used by SOCOM, that they owned the factory doing all the OEM stuff, etc.
What really drove me away was asking Mike about a potential prism offering and him going off on some condescending tangent about how prisms suck, only to start pimping some 3 pound fucking brick prism not too long after. |
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I have a few and have been really happy with them.
I observed Mike being a quality human when no one was watching or even knew who he was - then I later found out who he was. I doubt he remembers our brief encounter at SHOT several years ago, but it caused me to think very highly of him. I hope his new endeavor is awesome for him. |
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I bought a used patriot 6-24x for my 22 benchrest rifle and it’s been solid but obviously not hard use.
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I knew Mike in real life a couple of decades ago when I lived in the States. Good dude.
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Quoted: They should use product names that aren't random nouns. That alone would allow me to take them more seriously. View Quote Their product names have revolutionary war themes as their company is named after Col. Marion, the swamp fox, as emulated on film by Mel Gibsons patriot. It's sad Americans don't know history. |
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Quoted: Their product names have revolutionary war themes as their company is named after Col. Marion, the swamp fox, as emulated on film by Mel Gibsons patriot. It's sad Americans don't know history. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: They should use product names that aren't random nouns. That alone would allow me to take them more seriously. Their product names have revolutionary war themes as their company is named after Col. Marion, the swamp fox, as emulated on film by Mel Gibsons patriot. It's sad Americans don't know history. That must be really cool to the 6 people that remember the correlation. |
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Why people come here and think they can justify their support of China is beyond me.
Laughable. |
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Their marketing was cringey, and I'll have to beg forgiveness for not making the connection between the Revolutionary War and ChiCom optics.
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I’ve liked the 1-10 Arrowhead I have. For the price point, it’s hard to beat.
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Larry Correia thinks really highly of them for non-serious use, and that guy is a SHOOTER.
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I had one of their pistol dots. It was okay. Felt kinda cheap, and there were no clicks in the adjustments. Never gave me any trouble and held zero, just not super impressed.
I still have a Arrowhead 1x6 LPVO and I love that thing. Adjustments feel good, has locking turrets, clear glass, good illumination. It is a bit heavy, but it's been a solid optic for me. It's on my varmint rifle and gets banged around a lot bouncing around in the RZR and have had no issues with it. |
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Quoted: Came on a used 43x package at GT distributors a year+ ago. It’s been fine for me. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/42509/IMG_5164_jpeg-2884859.JPG View Quote I have Swampfox Sentinels on a G42 and a G43 where I had the slides milled for the RMSc footprint. Was hoping to get something better eventually, but they seem to be holding up just fine so I'm sticking with them. ETA: if Trijicon or Aimpoint comes out with a little bity RDS that fits the RMSc footprint I'll probably switch, but my little bit of research ~18mos ago didn't turn up an obvious "RMR of the RMSc world" optic to go with, so I just jumped on the Swampfox offerings as place holders. Maybe the EPS Carry is that dot, but I'm not going to swap a working Chyna dot for a working Chyna dot at this point. |
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I have an Arrowhead LPVO on my .308 and a Blade prism on a 14.5, no complaints with either one…
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With a name like Swampfox how could they not be successful?! (With 13 year olds and those that wear affliction shirts)
Just another Chinese white label import. |
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They’re good optics for the money. The Dark Lord of Optics has been pretty impressed with them. I’ve used a bunch of them and been impressed but they’re not Trijicons.
The company took a different turn. Made it difficult for Swampfox Mike to work so he joined another company. At the same time they quit listening to customers. I used to be a dealer. As a small gun shop it was a good setup to be able to order on demand. They now have it structured where basically only online sites will have swampfox as the order minimums for dealer discounts is high. And their own sales match the small dealer pricing now. Honestly I’m indifferent to them. I think they have a lot of bang for the buck but not sure where they’re going. Going to watch Gideon Optics. Mike Branson is a really good guy, both professionally and personally and I trust his judgement. |
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I can't really speak to their main scope lines, but I did pick up one of their 3x prisms last year and compared it to others I have on the shelf- including a TA33, TA110, and PA SLx 3x micro. The Swampfox is a large prism design, so it it's bigger than the TA33 and SLx 3x, but optics were awesome. I'm honestly hard pressed to suggest ACOG money to people when the Chinese prism optics have gotten so good.
As far as I know, nobody else is taking the large prism design philosophy the way Swampfox is, and it's a nice little market niche for them. |
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I have a few Swampfox optics and they have done well for me, no complaints. I knew Mike a couple decades ago, he is a good guy who went through some rough times. Quite intelligent too. I hope he is doing well.
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Quoted: Their product names have revolutionary war themes as their company is named after Col. Marion, the swamp fox, as emulated on film by Mel Gibsons patriot. It's sad Americans don't know history. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: They should use product names that aren't random nouns. That alone would allow me to take them more seriously. Their product names have revolutionary war themes as their company is named after Col. Marion, the swamp fox, as emulated on film by Mel Gibsons patriot. It's sad Americans don't know history. Yeah I get the references, no worries there. A couple things: 1. It's a product line, not a jeopardy category. The names don't make any fucking sense. Arrowhead? Tomahawk? George Washington's Raging Boner? These names are meaningless. Other brands of scope I know what kind of glass they are using and what the build spec is just from the model name. I am not going to spend the effort to figure out what a "Tomahawk" is. I don't care. 2. It's Chicom shit so the revolutionary war theme is pretty cringe. I would be more likely to buy if it was Chinese Communist Revolution themed. That would be authentic and hilarious. |
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Quoted: They’re good optics for the money. The Dark Lord of Optics has been pretty impressed with them. I’ve used a bunch of them and been impressed but they’re not Trijicons. The company took a different turn. Made it difficult for Swampfox Mike to work so he joined another company. At the same time they quit listening to customers. I used to be a dealer. As a small gun shop it was a good setup to be able to order on demand. They now have it structured where basically only online sites will have swampfox as the order minimums for dealer discounts is high. And their own sales match the small dealer pricing now. Honestly I’m indifferent to them. I think they have a lot of bang for the buck but not sure where they’re going. Going to watch Gideon Optics. Mike Branson is a really good guy, both professionally and personally and I trust his judgement. View Quote What are the chances Gideon optics are made in the same Chinese facility as Swampfox? Seems like Gideon is currently undercutting Swampfox by $20-$100 in the ACRO/RMR/RMSc footprint optics, presumably to get some market share, but I can't imagine the two brands are all that dissimilar when it comes to reliability. I guess time will tell... |
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Quoted: That’s just stupid. How many options are there for non Chinese phones, computers or devices? How many options are there for scopes? In general, I don’t use Chinese devices to save my life and doesn’t really matter how dependable they are. The firearm with scope, dot or what have you is a different story. Dependable “is” the number one rule. If someone says grab a rifle the shots going down, #1 has an acog and a micro T-1. #2 is a Trijicon accupoint 3x9. And yes. I do own a couple of vortex LVPO’s. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: The people that crap on their optics are generally the people that don't own them and have never used them and are just going off "muh Chyna" while posting from their Chinese made phone or computer. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/68140/20220828_161643_jpg-2884893.JPG Mine has been 100%, never lost zero, and the glass is crystal clear. That’s just stupid. How many options are there for non Chinese phones, computers or devices? How many options are there for scopes? In general, I don’t use Chinese devices to save my life and doesn’t really matter how dependable they are. The firearm with scope, dot or what have you is a different story. Dependable “is” the number one rule. If someone says grab a rifle the shots going down, #1 has an acog and a micro T-1. #2 is a Trijicon accupoint 3x9. And yes. I do own a couple of vortex LVPO’s. Agree, I avoid Chinese products when possible, but it’s often difficult to do so. It’s easy with gun accessories. The only Chinese gun parts that I have are the ones that make up my SKS. |
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I just heard from Mike.
His account here was closed when he departed Swampfox. He will need to open another to respond in this thread. |
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Quoted: I just heard from Mike. His account here was closed when he departed Swampfox. He will need to open another to respond in this thread. View Quote Thanks for that. I'm genuinely curious. When Mike was there, the Swampfox name was all over the forums, getting reviews (and good ones), but I remained skeptical. Then when Mike left, it was radio silence on Swampfox. I'm not "young" by any means, so when I said their marketing was "great", I suppose I should've used the word "effective". Was it my style? Nope. But it did certainly get their name out there. |
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One of our employees were in love with their magnified optics, a bunch of other guys bought their stuff too.
A year later most of them regretted it and have something else now. |
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Quoted: One of our employees were in love with their magnified optics, a bunch of other guys bought their stuff too. A year later most of them regretted it and have something else now. View Quote I only have exposure to a couple of their RMSc footprint red dots. What are/were the issues with the magnified optics? Were they LPVOs or fixed magnification prism scopes? |
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Quoted: I only have exposure to a couple of their RMSc footprint red dots. What are/were the issues with the magnified optics? Were they LPVOs or fixed magnification prism scopes? View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: One of our employees were in love with their magnified optics, a bunch of other guys bought their stuff too. A year later most of them regretted it and have something else now. I only have exposure to a couple of their RMSc footprint red dots. What are/were the issues with the magnified optics? Were they LPVOs or fixed magnification prism scopes? Yes Ryan, could you elaborate on the details of the failures observed? I'm genuinely curious. I've got a couple of their pistol dots, and they're doing quite well. 1,300 rounds on one, nary a problem. Hell, their warranty service is top notch. I bought one of those from a jackhole here who claimed it was in great condition, but it ended up having a scratch on the lense. I contacted them, sent me a RMA and exchanged it for a brand new one. Amazing. Aaron Cowan put one through hell, it's in one of his white papers. It survived where several others failed. He finally managed to destroy it in the latest iteration. So for my own experiences, they've been exactly what I needed, at a price I could afford. I'd buy from them again for sure. I'd like to know why their Industry Forum section isn't there anymore. Obviously something went on there before my time. |
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Ive had some and havent had any issues. I have the justice or whatever that i like as much as my DPP.
Unfortunately the only thing id be interested in now is the Kraken, but it has not had good durability and keeps failing with water intrustion/humidity from what ive seen. kind of a bummer. i really wanted it. |
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Quoted: "Great" marketing? Not really. Weird, viral internet marketing full of straight up bullshit all over boards and social media? Absolutely. I'm just glad the influencers have gone quiet. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: It seemed like when Mike was with them, they were blowing up the boards/social media...now, not so much. Were they a case of just great marketing (ie...Mike)? "Great" marketing? Not really. Weird, viral internet marketing full of straight up bullshit all over boards and social media? Absolutely. I'm just glad the influencers have gone quiet. I put mine on a suppressed G34. I point it at a target, pull trigger, round hits the intended spot. The Wake on Shake works, I've never caught it off, turn off on its own after sitting for a bit. Battery life seems lengthy... I honestly haven't seen any of the marketing. I found them via google while searching for GDSs to go on my Glock. What did they claim in their marketing that was "Straight up bullshit"??? |
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Poor choice of a business name, but I would assume they're just as good as the other Chinese optics in the same price range.
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Quoted: Their product names have revolutionary war themes as their company is named after Col. Marion, the swamp fox, as emulated on film by Mel Gibsons patriot. It's sad Americans don't know history. View Quote We know history. We also know a Chinese import scope company has absolutely nothing to do with that |
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@SIASL
Quoted: I don’t do gun games, maybe I’ll get my ass out there one day, but for those that do - do you see their optics in matches? What’s the info? Do they hold up to the abuse and high round count or is money better spent elsewhere? Think the answers to those questions are relevant. ETA: A “range only” gun isn’t a good enough example. Something that’ll take gun game abuse - the bumps, bangs, and drops plus high round count is most likely good enough for daily carry. View Quote @SIASL I've been using their stuff on my "budget" 3gun setup for a couple years now - Replaced similar budget Vortex optics with their Justice dot on my pistol & shotgun, Arrowhead 1-8 lpvo on my rifle No issues with guns being thrown in barrels, bumped on barriers, wind/sand/rain/hot environments I'd love to have top-of-the-line Assembled in America™ optics on everything but it'd cost 4-5x as much and the cost/benefit isn't there for me I'll happily accept sponsorships of Razors & Deltapoints though |
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Quoted: I only have one Swap Fox GDS, so I am no expert on them. I put mine on a suppressed G34. I point it at a target, pull trigger, round hits the intended spot. The Wake on Shake works, I've never caught it off, turn off on its own after sitting for a bit. Battery life seems lengthy... I honestly haven't seen any of the marketing. I found them via google while searching for GDSs to go on my Glock. What did they claim in their marketing that was "Straight up bullshit"??? View Quote Typically it’s been things from “influencers” or people I suspect to be internet “influencers”. Off the top of my head: -The whole SOCOM APPROVED thing. Granted, this was not a claim directly from SwampFox but to my knowledge it was never corrected and I’ve seen overblown/misleading statements associated with it. -SwampFox owns the factory is a claim I’ve seen repeated on the internet. They are actually made at Shanghai Changhong Optoelectric which is an OEM manufacturer in China that also does work for Vortex. -I’ve caught several people on Facebook making the exact same claim about durability of their handgun optics when questioned. Essentially that they dropped their gun in the kitchen and the only thing it did was chip the tile. I’m not saying that’s a lie, but it’s certainly a coincidence and sets off my bullshit detector. -I’ve lost count of the claims I’ve heard about how they’re in use by “high round count” “serious dudes” or “competitors” without any detail as to what these round counts are or who these people are. If they’re serious competitors, I probably know them. In a handful of cases these people turned out to be nobody of any particular skill or notoriety who shot some locals. The entire attitude of overinflated claims is a tremendous turn off at any rate. Like I said, I haven’t seen SwampFox directly make some of those claims but it’s been a steady buzz in forums and on social media which, in my opinion, feel like a viral marketing effort. Luckily I haven’t noticed the same chatter for several months. If that’s a coincidence or just the fact that I’ve tuned them out and no longer participate in the conversation, I can’t tell you. I’m sure they make a serviceable, budget optic. But from my view everything that comes with it has left a bad taste in my mouth. But that’s just my opinion, do what you will with it. |
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Quoted: The people that crap on their optics are generally the people that don't own them and have never used them and are just going off "muh Chyna" while posting from their Chinese made phone or computer. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/68140/20220828_161643_jpg-2884893.JPG Mine has been 100%, never lost zero, and the glass is crystal clear. View Quote Wow, clear glass?! Now that’s a high bar! Their stuff is garbage. |
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Quoted: Yes Ryan, could you elaborate on the details of the failures observed? I'm genuinely curious. I've got a couple of their pistol dots, and they're doing quite well. 1,300 rounds on one, nary a problem. Hell, their warranty service is top notch. I bought one of those from a jackhole here who claimed it was in great condition, but it ended up having a scratch on the lense. I contacted them, sent me a RMA and exchanged it for a brand new one. Amazing. Aaron Cowan put one through hell, it's in one of his white papers. It survived where several others failed. He finally managed to destroy it in the latest iteration. So for my own experiences, they've been exactly what I needed, at a price I could afford. I'd buy from them again for sure. I'd like to know why their Industry Forum section isn't there anymore. Obviously something went on there before my time. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: One of our employees were in love with their magnified optics, a bunch of other guys bought their stuff too. A year later most of them regretted it and have something else now. I only have exposure to a couple of their RMSc footprint red dots. What are/were the issues with the magnified optics? Were they LPVOs or fixed magnification prism scopes? Yes Ryan, could you elaborate on the details of the failures observed? I'm genuinely curious. I've got a couple of their pistol dots, and they're doing quite well. 1,300 rounds on one, nary a problem. Hell, their warranty service is top notch. I bought one of those from a jackhole here who claimed it was in great condition, but it ended up having a scratch on the lense. I contacted them, sent me a RMA and exchanged it for a brand new one. Amazing. Aaron Cowan put one through hell, it's in one of his white papers. It survived where several others failed. He finally managed to destroy it in the latest iteration. So for my own experiences, they've been exactly what I needed, at a price I could afford. I'd buy from them again for sure. I'd like to know why their Industry Forum section isn't there anymore. Obviously something went on there before my time. I believe their red dots are GTG. Our one guy did try to remove one and strip one of the screws and proceeded to dremel it off, but the reddot still worked I believe there was zero shifting issues that they ran into. It was either a 1-8 or 1-10 scope they all bought. BUT they all used the swampfox mount too. So I Cannot sit here and attest to the optic or mount being the issue... hell it could of been the itios mounting them and user error. |
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Quoted: Wow, clear glass?! Now that’s a high bar! Their stuff is garbage. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: The people that crap on their optics are generally the people that don't own them and have never used them and are just going off "muh Chyna" while posting from their Chinese made phone or computer. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/68140/20220828_161643_jpg-2884893.JPG Mine has been 100%, never lost zero, and the glass is crystal clear. Wow, clear glass?! Now that’s a high bar! Their stuff is garbage. I've never owned a swampfox, but I was impressed when I looked through the LPVO, it was clear, but it wasn't as good as a vortex razor or leupold. |
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Quoted: Typically it’s been things from “influencers” or people I suspect to be internet “influencers”. Off the top of my head: -The whole SOCOM APPROVED thing. Granted, this was not a claim directly from SwampFox but to my knowledge it was never corrected and I’ve seen overblown/misleading statements associated with it. -SwampFox owns the factory is a claim I’ve seen repeated on the internet. They are actually made at Shanghai Changhong Optoelectric which is an OEM manufacturer in China that also does work for Vortex. -I’ve caught several people on Facebook making the exact same claim about durability of their handgun optics when questioned. Essentially that they dropped their gun in the kitchen and the only thing it did was chip the tile. I’m not saying that’s a lie, but it’s certainly a coincidence and sets off my bullshit detector. -I’ve lost count of the claims I’ve heard about how they’re in use by “high round count” “serious dudes” or “competitors” without any detail as to what these round counts are or who these people are. If they’re serious competitors, I probably know them. In a handful of cases these people turned out to be nobody of any particular skill or notoriety who shot some locals. The entire attitude of overinflated claims is a tremendous turn off at any rate. Like I said, I haven’t seen SwampFox directly make some of those claims but it’s been a steady buzz in forums and on social media which, in my opinion, feel like a viral marketing effort. Luckily I haven’t noticed the same chatter for several months. If that’s a coincidence or just the fact that I’ve tuned them out and no longer participate in the conversation, I can’t tell you. I’m sure they make a serviceable, budget optic. But from my view everything that comes with it has left a bad taste in my mouth. But that’s just my opinion, do what you will with it. View Quote View All Quotes View All Quotes Quoted: Quoted: I only have one Swap Fox GDS, so I am no expert on them. I put mine on a suppressed G34. I point it at a target, pull trigger, round hits the intended spot. The Wake on Shake works, I've never caught it off, turn off on its own after sitting for a bit. Battery life seems lengthy... I honestly haven't seen any of the marketing. I found them via google while searching for GDSs to go on my Glock. What did they claim in their marketing that was "Straight up bullshit"??? Typically it’s been things from “influencers” or people I suspect to be internet “influencers”. Off the top of my head: -The whole SOCOM APPROVED thing. Granted, this was not a claim directly from SwampFox but to my knowledge it was never corrected and I’ve seen overblown/misleading statements associated with it. -SwampFox owns the factory is a claim I’ve seen repeated on the internet. They are actually made at Shanghai Changhong Optoelectric which is an OEM manufacturer in China that also does work for Vortex. -I’ve caught several people on Facebook making the exact same claim about durability of their handgun optics when questioned. Essentially that they dropped their gun in the kitchen and the only thing it did was chip the tile. I’m not saying that’s a lie, but it’s certainly a coincidence and sets off my bullshit detector. -I’ve lost count of the claims I’ve heard about how they’re in use by “high round count” “serious dudes” or “competitors” without any detail as to what these round counts are or who these people are. If they’re serious competitors, I probably know them. In a handful of cases these people turned out to be nobody of any particular skill or notoriety who shot some locals. The entire attitude of overinflated claims is a tremendous turn off at any rate. Like I said, I haven’t seen SwampFox directly make some of those claims but it’s been a steady buzz in forums and on social media which, in my opinion, feel like a viral marketing effort. Luckily I haven’t noticed the same chatter for several months. If that’s a coincidence or just the fact that I’ve tuned them out and no longer participate in the conversation, I can’t tell you. I’m sure they make a serviceable, budget optic. But from my view everything that comes with it has left a bad taste in my mouth. But that’s just my opinion, do what you will with it. Bro no one is going to listen to you. Poors love poor shit, only know poor shit, and will defend their poor shit. They wouldn't know what good is. |
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I liked my arrowhead 1-10 for the price. Pretty good glass and locking turrets were nice, but I wasn’t a fan of the reticle. I used their mount and never had any issues with loss of zero but I didn’t abuse it really.
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It is a little known fact that Francis Marion was a well known fan of crappy Chinese optics.
As was said about him "Come, my boys! Let us go back and we will use the tri hawk. But as for this damned old justice red dot, the devil himself could not zero him!" |
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So what happened to their Industry Forum section?
Was that Mike's account, which was closed when he left? |
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Quoted: It is a little known fact that Francis Marion was a well known fan of crappy Chinese optics. As was said about him "Come, my boys! Let us go back and we will use the tri hawk. But as for this damned old justice red dot, the devil himself could not zero him!" View Quote +1 learned this in history class. Lots of people don't know. |
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Quoted: The people that crap on their optics are generally the people that don't own them and have never used them and are just going off "muh Chyna" while posting from their Chinese made phone or computer. Attached File Mine has been 100%, never lost zero, and the glass is crystal clear. View Quote |
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View Quote The Omega looks like it is trying to be a SRO knockoff. |
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