Hawke Optics- Rokslide members thoughts/experiences?

[robby denning]

Hi all,
We get inquires from companies that often I'm not familiar with. Ryan and I want to make sure we only match good sponsors/gear with Rokslide members for obvious reasons. I also know not everyone can afford the high-end stuff so I'm willing to look at lower priced options if it's good and the company is reputable in customer service. I'm coming to you guys on this one first.

Hawke optics- anyone have any experience with them? Performance vs. cost, warranty experiences, anything?

Looks like a fairly big line of products--binos, spotter, tripods

Let us know, thanks!

Hawke Optics | About Us

 

[Bwana]

Hawke has a great reputation, and very well known for quality optics at a reasonable price...they are certainly better than many lower tier brands, have a good value for the budget minded buyer...the birders love them, and bird freaks know optics

 

[R_burg]

As said above, birders really like their glass for the money, especially their lower end ED line. My research led me to buy Vanguard over Hawke, Zen Ray, Vortex, etc... but I don't think you can go wrong with Hawke for the price, if you believe the forums.

 

[Comprido]

Never looked through a pair, but they are respected byEuropean birders for their value.

My understanding is that it's a U.K. company with production in China. Basically a Brit version of Vanguard/Zen Ray/Athlon/Alpen.

 

[gr8fuldoug]

Folks, one thing to note about Hawke riflescopes is that they are all Airgun rated which is not the case with most brands

 

[robby denning]

Doug, what does airgun rated mean. I guessed that all scopes would work on airguns, so I must not understand


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[gr8fuldoug]

the pressure from some air guns wreck many scopes but all Hawke scopes can handle it

 

[robby denning]

Did not know that!


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[beetlespin]

Doug, what does airgun rated mean. I guessed that all scopes would work on airguns, so I must not understand


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To expand on that, its a specific type of airgun and that is "Springer" airguns such as the ones made by RWS, Walther, Gamo, ect.... It used a strong spring on a plunger and when fired the spring is released and the plunger moves forward rapidly in an air chamber behind the pellet to create air pressure. that pressure then fires the pellet out of the rifle. Basically its a spring powered pellet gun. It is a great design but has the problem of creating a very unique recoil signature. Instead of just a push backwards toward the shoulder like a rifle or compressed air pellet gun, a "springer" creates recoil toward the muzzle and back toward the shoulder as the spring moves forward and the gun is fired. This can wreak havoc on a scope built only to handle conventional recoil. some muzzle breaks can have this affect as well if there is too much redirected muzzle blast on too light of a rifle. So if a scope is rated for pellet rifles that means that it is capable of handling recoil in multiple directions instead of just one direction. I hope this is not too confusing and helps explain the differences.

 

[robby denning]

Very helpful. Thanks!


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[HuntHarder]

Air guns recoil both forward and back towards your shoulder. Most scopes only reinforce their reticles for recoil towards your shoulder. This is why you can put a $500.00 scope on an air rifle and knock the cross hairs loose.

Beetlespin nailed it.

 

[Bwana]

Never knew that, great info guys.

 

[dotman]

Yup learn something everyday, I would of just assumed it couldn't handle normal rifle recoil.

 

[gr8fuldoug]

It's actually a great point that Hawke quality of build is great.