Swampfox Justice RMR Pistol Red Dot Review
Swampfox Liberty & Justice Overview
The swamp fox Liberty and Justice models are mid tier pistol optic red dots aimed and marketed to budget conscious shooters.
The liberty model has a wider field of view at 27mm, thus is a little better suited for competitive shooting. The justice model on the other hand has a 21mm field of view, making it more targeted for concealed carry.
For those who are looking for a reliable red dot optic that’s patterned in the RMR footprint, Swampfox may have the answer for you.
Where to Buy?
Swampfox Justice
- The Justice is the slightly larger 1x27mm window RMR pattern red dot
Swampfox Liberty
- The Liberty is the smaller 1x22mm window RMR pattern red dot more suitable for concealed carry
Budget Friendly Alternative to the Trijicon RMR
RMR is by far the most popular slide cut pattern for many sub compact to full size handguns (think aftermarket Glock 19, 17, 34 slides).
It was a smart business move to model the red dot under the RMR footprint, as there aren’t a lot of budget friendly options in this configuration.
However, there aren’t many options in this cut and configuration, especially at the roughly $209 price point of the swampfox Liberty and Justice models.
Given the price of the Trijicon RMR floating around $450 to 500.
Above it all, Swampfox offers a “50,000” round guarantee. On paper, everything sounds incredible, but are the Swampfox offerings too good to be true?
Are the Swampfox Liberty & Justice models too good to be true?
Today we’ll set out to find that answer.
We judge pistol red dot optics on a number of criteria when coming up with a cumulative rating. We judge these products on the following criteria:
- Where it’s made
- Price
- Accuracy (or ability to hold accuracy)
- Ease of Use
- Concealability
- Features compared to competitors
- Clarity
- Durability.
Here’s how the Swampfox Liberty stacks up. We give the Swampfox Liberty an overall score of 3.56 out of 5 stars. After months of testing and about 600 rounds later, we’ll go into detail why, but in our opinion it is a descent range quality optic but not an optic we’d trust for every day carry.
Where It’s Made (2 Out of 5)
The Swampfox Liberty & Justice models are made in China. Most budget option products (especially pistol red dots) these days are made in China (with exceptions like the incredibly affordable, Japanese glass Sightron SRS-2). However, being a very pro-American organization, we do take this into consideration when reviewing products as in this industry there are always American or ally made alternatives.
Price (4 Out of 5)
The Swampfox Liberty & Justice models come in with an MSRP of $209.
This price puts the Swampfox well below many red dots on the market (e.g. Trijicon RMR). The price is still yet cheaper than Holosun (~$300 for the 507C / 507K, ~$240 for the 407C / 407K). And about on Par with the Vortex Venom.
However, the price is more expensive than ultra budget options like the Riton X3 Tactix MPRD.
Accuracy (5 Out of 5)
I really liked how easy this optic was to use. Performance wise, I was able to shoot very tight groups with this. While it worked (more on this later), it held zero very well.
Ease of Use (4 Out of 5, specific to Justice model)
The Swampfox is easy to use with its simple push button controls and simple controls. It was also easy to install and mounted sturdily to multiple slides I tried it on. The only reason I rate it 4 out of 5 is that the field of view is a little bit tight on the Justice model as compared to similar optics in an RMR pattern (e.g. Holosun’s 407C / 507C).
Conceal-ability (4 Out of 5, specific to Justice model)
The Justice conceals fairly well but it does sit a little high on the slide as compared to other optics now available on the market. The Liberty model being wider at 27mm is likely less concealable. As seen in the above image, the suppressor height sights just barely co-witness. Its still a very concealable optic, but there are a few red dot options available now that have a slightly lower profile.
Features (4 Out of 5)
Let’s talk about features. The Swampfox Liberty has some really high end features on it.
Pros:
- Shake Awake: The shake awake feature is awesome. Many other cheap red dots in this price range don’t have an automatic shut off feature.
- Battery Life: It really sucks to get to the range and find out that your optic won’t operate because your battery died. The Swampfox Liberty & justice models are rated at 4,000 hours on mid settings, which with the auto shut off feature is quite good compared to other optics
- Push Button Brightness Controls: The buttons are tactile and high quality
- Flat Blade Turret Adjustments: Allen wrench turrets suck, which most budget red dots have. The Swampfox has better turrets than most in this price range.
Could Use Improvement:
A few things could use improvement
- Placement of the battery compartment: The battery compartment is placed on top, which is very good, however the way it is positioned with standard mounting screws that come with two separate slides I’ve tested, the screws overlap the compartment (meaning you still have to unscrew the screws to replace the battery). This defeats the purpose of having the battery compartment on top.
- Caveat: You might be able to find smaller head screws that will work with your slide, but this is kind of a pain.
- The second very small issue that I have is a lack of reticle selection. This is a very small point as I never use other reticles, but I have to mention it since at the next tier red dots like the Holosun 5O7C have a configurable reticle which may be important to some people.
Clarity (3.5 Out of 5)
Overall clarity was solid for a budget optic, but the glass had a tendency to smudge quite easily. It seemed like it was a gun powder magnet, problem that I don’t have as much with other red dots I’ve tried.
Durability (2 Out of 5)
My first optic failed after about 600 rounds and after several months of every day carry. You can watch my review video for more details on this. It was working great until it didn’t. The emitter seemed to have come loose from the internal housing and it began losing zero after just a couple of shots.
I really liked the optic up until this point. Swampfox has a warranty of up to 50k rounds, and to be clear, Swampfox honored that warranty. They were quick to send me a return label and they had a replacement out with a very short turn around time.
For this reason, I think this optic is great as a range optic, but I personally would look elsewhere for concealed or duty every day carry.
Conclusion
I like the Swampfox Justice model that I evaluated for several months. It is a solid range quality optic and I’d definitely consider trying the liberty model on a competitive shooting build. However, for every day carry, the standard of ruggedness and quality must be extremely high. Because my sight failed after 600 rounds (sample size of one, your mileage may vary), I can’t recommend it for every day carry, but I’d definitely recommend it for a range gun any day.
Swampfox Liberty & Justice
Oftentimes this product is most affordable on Amazon, so I’d recommend searching here first.
