Bob Shell's Blog: Hawke Scopes

Model 70 in 7mm-08 mated well with Hawke Scope

Hawke Scopes

For over 30 years Hawke Sport Optics, the leading optics supplier in Europe, has been providing innovative, benefit rich products to sporting men and women in over 40 countries around the world. While still relatively new to the North American marketplace, Hawke has proven to have the staying power to become a force in sport optics in the United States and Canada. With their extensive product line coupled with good quality I see a winner here.

Hawke offers a complete line of sport optics. From rifle, crossbow, shotgun, black powder, and air gun scopes, to binoculars, spotting scopes, and accessories, Hawke is sure to have a product to suit your individual shooting, hunting, or viewing needs. For more info on their extensive line of fine products you can go to http://www.hawkeoptics.com/ You can buy their products through a local dealer or buy directly from them. You can go to their site to find a nearby dealer which will allow you to physically examine the product.

Adjustments are easy to see and use

I received two scopes for testing. One is a Deer Pass (point and shoot system) model HK 3254 a 3 X 9 X 40 EVIR. It is intended for a muzzle loading rifles or shotgun shooting slugs at the ranges expected from them. The optics are clear and all of the adjustments are easy to use. It has the usual up ∧ down plus the left & right It also has a focus adjustment at the rear of the tube. There is an instruction booklet printed in several languages that gives good detail. The Deer Pass scope also comes with a pamphlet that helps you in determining the range that a deer might be at. They give 6 X as an example out to 225 yards. That would be an extreme range for most slugs and near the top range for an inline bullet. The pictures show how to judge the range using a typical shotgun slug. I would strongly suggest that you study this helpful chart prior to hunting. Any edge that a hunter can obtain is a good thing provided that it is legal and ethical. Most slugs have a curved trajectory especially past 100 yards so using this chart will enhance your chances of a good shot. You can also use it for muzzleloading projectiles. You can make the necessary adjustments according to the trajectory you are working with. To make Hawke scopes more attractive they offer BRC Ballistic Reticle Software free of charge. You can go to their website to download the software. Of course the scope can be used for other game such as a bear or wild hog.

Hawke and Ruger American make a good combo
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I have a Knight rifle which has two barrels a 45-70 and a 50 caliber inline muzzle loading barrel. I plan on using the scope on both barrels. I mounted the scope and started with the 45-70 using some Black Hills 405 grain lead bullets. I wanted mild loads to approximate the trajectory of a slug. After bore sighting I shot at 25 yards and had no trouble getting it on the target. The clarity was great once I adjusted the focus. At 100 yards the scope performed flawlessly as I would expect. Clarity was great once the adjustments were made. The Black Hills ammo also performed well and was consistent through the chronograph as well as being accurate. They make a lot of good quality ammo and you can check them out at http://www.black-hills.com/ for a complete list of their stock. I have fired a verity of their calibers and have always had good results. As I always do I had several people fire the gun with the Hawke scope to get feedback. Everyone commented on the clarity and the ease of adjustments. No one had anything negative to say about either scope.

The ladies found both the Hawke and Winchester model 70 in 7 mm-08 easy to use

The other scope is an Extreme View Riflescope model HK5160 IREV which is also a 3 X 9 X 40. It also has a red or blue reticle besides the usual black and they showed up very well against various backgrounds. That enables you have the best color for the shooting conditions you might encounter. I mounted it on a Winchester model 70 in 7 mm-08 which I was testing at the time. It is a nice light weight model and if you want more info you can go to http://www.winchesterguns.com/ to check out their extensive line of firearms. We took it up to the Rio Salado shooting range which I am a member to test both products. After adjusting the scope we started shooting 100 yard groups with various types of ammo. It was pretty windy but we were still able to shoot groups in the 1” range. The adjustments are easy to work with and clarity is great at all ranges tested. The 300 yard target showed up real well and as a result hitting the gong wasn’t much of a challenge. Despite the target blending in with the background the scope brought it up clearly. We took a second trip to the range and due to the good optics I was able to get the rifles full potential. I had a novice shooter try the rifle with the Extreme View scope and she really liked it. In fact she was able to hit a small rock at a measured 200 yards without much difficulty which spoke well of the rifle and scope. A couple of other shooters really liked it and stated that they would buy one when they need a scope on their next rifles.

I returned the Winchester 7 mm-08 so a new scope the HK 5164 3 X 9 was put on a Ruger American which is a new model released by that company. It is a low cost rifle and bears no resemblance to the model 77. Anyway the rifle performed very well and if you want more info you can go to www.rugerrifles.com. The caliber chosen is the 30-06 and of course the scope performed to expectations, meaning that it was flawless and easy to sight in. Since I plan on keeping the rifle the scope will also remain with it as it will be my main hunting rig. I would reccomend the Hawke Panorama EV HK5164 in 3 X 9 for general hunting use. I did switch scopes from rifle to rifle as part of my test. The Hawke scope responded well. Through use on several rifles the Hawke have earned my trust and will be going on various hunting trips. this scope has red and blue illumination and is water and shock proof, making it more hunter friendly.

Hawke, Knight and Black Hills Ammo all peformed well

I transferred the scope from the Knight to a Circuit Judge rifle. It is a novel firearm well worth looking into if you want a 410 gauge shotgun and a 45 Colt round. Since you can use it for woods hunting I thought that the Hawke scope would be perfect for it. I wasn’t disappointed It will extract all of the accuracy potential that this rifle is capable of. I shot some 305 grain hollow base bullets in this rifle and they produced excellent accuracy for this type of rifle. The Eclips 30 1.5 X 4 with its large dot and wide field of view is a perfect match for the Circuit Judge and similar firearms. For more info on the Circuit Judge you can go to http://www.taurususa.com/.

Deer Pass HK 3254 1.5 X 4 on Circuit judge. Perfect Combo Hawke scopes show their versatility by being useful on a verity of firearms. My view on the Hawke scopes is two thumbs up. They are a quality product well worth the price. I would suggest anyone looking for a good scope or other optics to check them out on their website. I think that you will be impressed. I am looking forward to using them on some hunting trips. For more info on their fine optics you can go to http://www.hawkeoptics.com/