Rifle Scopes S&B 5-25 PMII Warranty Question

[ThePretzel]

I recently purchased a used S&B 5-25 PMII and was trying to figure out what the warranty situation looked like, though I don't imagine the need to use it should ever arise. I've heard conflicting reports ranging from a 2-year warranty all the way up to a 20 year warranty, though it looks like the Schmidt site currently says 2 (saw 20 on a video for the limited edition PMII PSR, heard 10 from the dealer).

I don't plan to abuse the scope, just trying to figure out what to expect if an unfortunate situation ever arises.

 

[Kiba]

I want to say it's 20 years now. IIRC the 2 year warranty was for some EU requirement.

I just had to send my 3-20 in for repair... it lives on my Sako Quad .22lr that I hadn't shot in about 6 months. Took it to the range just before Christmas and didn't hit the paper on the first shot. WTF? Aimed at the berm and saw a splash about 13 mils low... already suspected an issue because it was zeroed the last time I shot it. Went to crank the elevation turret up to rezero it and while I got another 12 mils of elevation out of it and was back on paper the elevation turret locked up and wouldn't go any higher than the 12 mil mark right where the little second revolution indicator button starts to pop up, and on a 44MOA base I know it's not maxed out on elevation travel at 50Y. Went to dial it back down and it had lost all the 0.1 mil clicks and only had the 1.0 mil MTC clicks. Setscrews were still tight. Called S&B, they said send it in and give them 2-3 weeks. Got it back 3 weeks later good as new along with a free cleaning kit and they also fixed the stiff magnification ring I mentioned on my note. No checking invoices for warranty status or registration, no charge for the work or for return shipping. Painless as dealing with Vortex for warranty work in my experience, I wouldn't worry about the S&B service center if you ever need them in the future.

 

[ThePretzel]

From what I've heard from other S&B owners (experiences similar to yours) the 2 year warranty seemed to always be a guideline more than a hard and fast rule if it was a defect clearly not due to abuse. Again I'm not too concerned since this rifle won't be drug through the mud and dirt and the roughest conditions it'll ever see are PRS matches, just looking for clarification so that I know what to expect years down the line should something ever happen.

I am loving the scope so far though, especially the Tremor3 reticle. I was always a fan of holdovers whenever possible because they made it faster to engage multiple targets on a single stage. Having the wind dots is helpful since I can calibrate them once and then just measure and estimate the wind, rather than having to deal with 3 sets of numbers for my holdovers (1 for elevation, 1 for low wind value, 1 for high wind value). Now for any stage I can just write out the high and low wind speeds (2 numbers total, regardless of the number of targets) and my elevations for each target, then appropriately bracket my wind between the dots. It also reduces the desire for more cant in my rail since holdovers are easier and I'm not dialing as much as before.

 

[bgolf92]

As far as the process goes it's pretty easy. Sent my PMII in to get the oil/grease cleaned off the glass and it was back in a week and a half or two weeks. They service the scopes in the US so turn around times are pretty reasonable.