Rifle Scopes SWFA 10x42 problem (please help!)

Brawny

Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Sep 21, 2011
214
0
Nevada
First off I just want to say that I love this scope, and think that it is a great deal for anyone looking for an entry level optic (or a less expensive optic for a trainer/ secondary rifle). Now that that is said, I have a SWFA 10x42 scope that was purchased a little over 2 years ago, and it has decided to go out on me. I recently made a trip to my folk's house where I can actually "stretch my legs" in terms of shooting distance. Sadly, upon arrival I realized that my scope turrets had somehow busted, leaving them spinning loosely instead of making that wonderful click that I am so familiar with, and the windage turret actually pops off very easily. I was just wondering if anyone smarter/ more informed than I had been able to fix a similar problem with their optic, and could perhaps pass their information along. SWFA has so far offered great customer service on the matter, telling me to ship the scope to them and they will fix or replace it for me, but I honestly hope that it is something I can fix myself so that I don't have to go without an optic for the next few weeks. If anyone has been able to fix a similar issue without doing anything crazy please let me know, as I would be very grateful.

Edit: Got the scope back from SWFA and it is good as new. Turns out one of my caps stripped out (probably my doing) but they replaced it fairly quickly. Very happy with their customer service, best quality for the price IMHO).
 
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Like Boxcar said, try tightening up the allen screws. I have a Leupold that did the same thing. The head of the set screw also stripped out so I recently bought some pointed set screws from McMaster and they hold much better.
 
Thank you all for the quick replies, that's why I love this forum. So I went to tighten the set screws back up, but can't get my windage turret to seat correctly. Every time I line it up and press down to get the setscrew on the notched part of the knob it stops before getting low enough. I backed the screw out first of course, but it doesn't want to fit right. I guess that's a problem for tomorrow when I have the patience (not to mention some sleep). The elevation knob appears to be good to go for now at least. Anyone care to speculate what could have caused both to pop at the same time? The rifle has been sitting in a pelican case so I doubt it could have been bumped hard enough to knock them off. My best guess is that the vibration from sitting in the back of my truck that long rattled them loose, would a dab of blue loctite be a bad idea?
 
Don't glue them. Yes, vibration rattled them out. Loosen the wind age and pull it all the way off. Inspect the cap, check all three screws for damage and reinstall. These scopes are tough as they come.
 
It's possible that if you went to a higher elevation than where you typically live, the small volume of air that is in between the turret caps and the turrets expanded causing them to pop off. Just a though, but I'm not too sure.