10 replies to this topic

[Brant]

Well I have a couple of scopes but not sure they really fit after reading VarmintAir and many other reviews of specifically the .25. They are shooting at considerable ranges at times but the trajectory is rather curvy at distance. I have my sons old Tasco 6-24x when he finally replaced it or i could move my Mueller 4-16x Tactical from my Rossi backyard 22 that is all set for CBs. Both have adj objs. From what I read Leapers seems to be the most popular and a few other big wheel scopes that are pretty reasonably prices. What do you recommend for the Mrod .25 and why?Thanks in advance

[ShooterJohn]

I like a Mildot for the trajectory you mentioned. You don't have to worry about recoil so any scope you choose will be fine.

[Brant]

The two things I was thinking about were minimum parallax adjustment distance (many are 10 yds min but a few are 5) and the second was the ease of correcting for trajectory quickly at different distances. (the wheel accessory). Not sure if they are really beneficial or just marketing. Never used one.

[CA Desert Dog]

Check out our Hawke line of scopes. They are the best selling scopes in Europe and preferred by air gun shooters. Go to our web store and contact me with any questions. There are also loads of Hawke/airgun videos on YouTube to check out.

[Brant]

I have spent 20 hours looking at scopes - a balance of quality, requirements, reticles, Popularity on the PCPs, etc and I am back to the Hawke Sidewinders. My question now is SR12 vs their tacticle 1/2 mil dot reticle. The Ballistics ssoftware is a bi bonus. Anyone have a sidewinder?

[Brant]

Neat display of Hawke reticles. I have settled on the Sidewinder 30 6-20x42 Tactical Mil Dot 20x. It works with their software and offers enough graduations to adjust for 200 yds from my Marauder. For a while there I briefly considered a Bushnell Elite 4200 6-24x40 mil dot for $550 because I expected it's optics to be a little clearer but the Hawke has a better all round package for the PCP and better customer service (Bushnell stinks). The Sidewinder is about $400.http://www.hawkeopti...einfo/index.phpGood demo of the scope out to 100ydsSparrows with the Hawke Tacticalhttp://www.youtube.c...mp;feature=fvwpCool pigeon shots with Hawkehttp://www.youtube.c...u/3/fV-8pdVAogg  Hawke_20Half_20Mil_dot_20Tactical_2020x.gif   16.17K   39 downloads

[CA Desert Dog]

I think you'll find the Hawke optics to be more clear and sharp than the Bushnell's. Most people, including me did. I replaced the Bushnell Elite on my Grendel with a Hawke Tactical Sidewinder. I love it.

[Brant]

Those videos from Ted In Madison (I ordered his camera and adapter) has the Sidewinder on a $1500 EDgun Bulldog 22 PCP so I think he could pretty much afford whatever he wanted. He is a tester for Airguns of Arizona.

[Brant]

I finally broke down and ordered the Sidewinder 30 6-20x42 Tactical Mil Dot 20x for the Marauder and rings after finally getting to look through one and a Varmint SF. I considered the new Varmint SF series but wanted to stay with the glass etched reticle and finer reticle lines not on the Varmint SF, etc. I only went with Pyramyd because I have ordered my Marauder and most of my past airgun stuff from them over the years and have a long relationship with one of their techs, they are somewhat close to me, and the price was only $360 after their 10% discount which is the best price I have seen. Pyramyd just decided to carry the Hawke Sidewinders recently.

[Brant]

A quick photo (camera is tilted) with my new Hawke Sidewinder tactical 6.5-20x42mm through the scope. I have now compared and studied this scope extensively side by side on my bench rest with my 20 year old Leupold Var-III 6.5-20 on my Rem Varmint 243 and the optics are simply overall better on the Hawke. Clarity wise they are very close at high magnification on the edges of the lens and I am using a test pattern with very fine detail at 50 yards to compare. Brightness wise the Hawke has the Leupold beat hands down and it is obvious. To be fair the Hawke is 30mm and the Leupold is a 1" tube. The eye boxes on both are sensitive at 20x but definitely usable. The big negative to the Hawke is that it is heavy (built tough) and not a scope for carrying around much (which I don't plan on doing). Of course the Leupold is on my heavy barrel Rem and the same situation exists. I will have access to a light meter so I am going to get a real reading on the difference between the two scopes. I suspect the lens coatings today are much better than 20 years ago so I would need to check a new Leupold but I am impressed with the Hawke. The etched glass reticle is no less than amazing. The primary lines are so fine that illumination is needed at very low light but the markings and dots are readily visible). Don't get me wrong in that I still own more Leupold's and Nikon's than anything else but the Asians have really come of age on their latest glass on the best scopes they are selling. I will post the light meter results and may check a few of my other scopes.  1.jpg   12.71K   20 downloads

[Brant]

My last post on this thread - I promise. I have been spending a lot of time on another optics specific forum that is the largest I have found on the web. They do objective reviews on all levels of scopes and are brutally honest and I have found their reviews for the most part right on the money with my own findings. They are generally pretty fond of Hawke scopes and the latest Sidewinder Tacticals (since this thread was about Hawkes) in the best bang for the buck category but they like and dislike a lot of other scopes as well. My point here is that they compare Nikons, Leupolds, Busnells finest, Swift, Muellers, Sightrons, to Hawkes, Vipers, Nightforce, Zeiss, and many other manufacturers. For the old Leupold and high end scope diehards like me the results as I have also found are pretty eye opening and spending $600-$1200 on a scope is probably no longer your best bang for the buck unless you just have the money to spend or it just makes you feel good. The optics across the line have really improved in the last few years and a fewer number of plants are making the lens and other critical parts for both high end and more moderate scopes and the testing is bearing that out. This means for considerably fewer dollars you can get optics that are so good they are too close to tell the difference between maybe a $400 scope and an $800 scope and both distributers may have excellent customer service in the US. My point is that the days of arguing that Leupolds are always the best are over and I own 5 of them. Just my 2 cents on the emerging scope market. Ok - there are are still some real junky scopes out there to avoid.http://www.opticstalk.com/forums.html