The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Gunset Training Group or its affiliates.
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I started carrying direct milled optic equipped pistols back in 2011 or so. My first one was an Sig 226R with a Trijicon dual illumination RMR milled into the slide. My Chief let me put my top end on the department Sig frame and carry it as a duty pistol. Finding a duty holster was impossible, so I ended up doing surgery on a Safariland 6280. Wasn’t pretty, but it worked. Since then, I’ve owned A LOT of optic equipped pistols – Glocks, CZs, Walthers, Sigs and S&Ws. And I’ve bought a lot of optics to put on them – Trijicon, Shield, Steiner, Holosun, Sig, Gideon, Bushnell, Leupold and Swampfox.
I have never been a huge fan of the RMR. I think the window is too small and I don’t care for the bottom loading battery. But when I started the direct milled optic journey, Trijicon was pretty much the only serious game in town. Since 2011, there have been a lot of new options added. Holosun was the first real contender to the throne with their original 507c with the bottom loading battery. Now, there are many other would be contenders to the throne. The trick is figuring out which optics are worthwhile and which are not. As far as open emitter optics go, Holosun and Trijicon are really the only optics I consider “duty ready”. But I don’t think EVERY optic needs to be duty ready. I know SWAT guys that could break an anvil and I’m sure military vets knew the same kind of guys in their units. But most of us will never need an optic that has to take the kind of abuse that police and military users subject their equipment to.
Four years ago I decided to see what other optics might be worthwhile for competition, off-duty carry or general pistol use. I was specifically thinking about an optic to put on a Glock 44/Nelson Precision slide combo. Which is what led me to take a look at the Swampfox brand of optics. The first Swampfox optic I purchased was the Justice 1×27 (red 3MOA dot). Swampfox has an LE program and I used it to buy the Justice.
I really liked the Justice and bought a second one that I put on my off duty/carry pistol. More on that later. I’ve had thousands of rounds through those two Justices without any issues. Recently, I’ve been looking for an alternative to the SRO and the 507Comp. I’ve owned both and just felt, “meh” about them. I tried a Bushnell RXM-300 last year. The LE pricing made it a very attractive alternative – if it worked out. I really liked it until it crapped out on me mid-stage (:53 second mark) after less than 1k rounds. So when I saw that Swampfox had released a Justice with a bigger window, I jumped at the chance to try one out. I shopped around and found one at Battlehawk Armory for a very reasonable price (less than $200 shipped). This one is the green 6MOA dot.
I won’t bore you reviewing all the factory specs. You can read all of the specs here. To me, the are some of the most important:
- 1632 battery w/ 50k max battery life
- RMR footprint
- 7075-T6 aluminum
- 1.79 ounces
- Top loading battery
- Shake awake on/off
- Windage/elevation adjustments are positive – you can hear and feel each click
As you can tell from the pictures above and below, compared to the original Justice (left), the Justice II housing has been beefed up a bit and the window is much larger.
Window size comparison below (left to right):
- Holosun 507c
- Gideon Optics Omega
- Swampfox Justice
- Swampfox Justice II
The Justice II deck height is a little taller than the Holosun 507c, which may be an issue if you’re mounting it on a pistol that doesn’t have tall enough BUIS. This can be especially true if you’re using a pistol that takes plates like the Glock MOS line. I added AIM Surplus steel suppressor sights as BUIS and they are plenty tall enough.
I received the Justice II in mid-April. I mounted it in a Remsport Glock 17 slide and barrel that I had Jeff Whitaker at PewPewCNC cut his GR8 ports into. I have fired roughly 3k rounds through that top end in practice, USPSA matches and the Rangemaster Master Instructor class. I have not had a single issue with the Justice II. The green 6MOA dot is plenty bright enough to see during bright sunny days; however, it is not as bright as the 507Comp green dot. It is just a shade dimmer. I tried to get a picture of the dot in bright sunny conditions yesterday with my iPhone and the pic below is the best I could come up with. It doesn’t do it justice (no pun intended) because it shows up much better.
I have an astigmatism, so pretty much all dots are a bit starburst shaped to me. But under the camera lens, the dot is pretty well defined.
Just like other big windowed optics like the SRO and the 507Comp, the dot never leaves the window when shooting fast. There is no noticeable tint with the naked eye when looking through the window. That was one of the issues I had with my 507Comp. It had a very noticeable purplish hue when you looked through the optic. But, like any optic which has the glass mounted out forward like the SRO or Justice II, the glass gets dirty. Fast. You can see how dirty it is after just a couple hundreds rounds in the video below.
Earlier I mentioned that I liked the original Justice so much I bought a second one. When I ordered the second one I decided to try a green dot for the second one since they had just released a green version. When it came in, I mounted it up and took it to the range. Unfortunately, the green dot was very dim. Pretty much useless on sunny days. I reached out to Swampfox and they exchanged it for a red dot version no questions asked in a timely manner. Great customer service.
I have no plans on doing a Sage Dynamics type drop test on it since I have no plans on using it for duty related purposes. I’m pretty sure I would get the same result I got when I accidentally dropped an SRO equipped top end on the concrete – the glass would break.
My daughter has just recently started shooting real pistols and has claimed the pistol the Justice II sits on as her own. She graciously told me I can borrow it if I need to. So I’ll keep putting more rounds down range with that top end and we’ll see how it continues to hold up. Right now, I’m extremely happy with it. So if you’re looking for a good optic that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg, give the Justice II a try.
