Rifle Scopes Hawke Frontier 30 4-20 FFP?

[Fanon]

I am wondering if anyone has any experience with Hawke's 4-20 FFP scope. I have their 1-6x, which I bought on Ilya's recommendation here. It has a bit more CA than I'd ideally prefer and thr illumination could maybe stand to be slightly brighter on the top setting, but otherwise it is a killer scope for the money with excellent 1x performance and a perfect reticle (IMO).

The 4-20 is pretty lightweight (it'd be mated with a Tikka T3x Lite in 6.5CM and I don't want to bulk it up too much), I like the reticle and mag range, and I've been happy with the quality of the 1-6 Frontier (the locking zero-stop turrets, illumination dial, and included throw lever and flip caps are all nice, and it generally just feels solid). But I can't find any reviews of this specific scope or comparisons with others in its class. I'd really appreciate any insight folks may have into glass quality, reliability, competition, etc.

 

[Kevins750]

What is the street price? I see on their site $1k is quoted. Lot of known good scopes new and used in that price range.

 

[Fanon]

$800 new. It would be replacing a Zeiss V4 4-16x which is fine - it's light and the glass is decent. I just want a bit more magnification, mils instead of MOA, FFP, and a better reticle without adding much weight, and this scope seemed to have the specs I wanted.

 

[Kevins750]

I think Doug at cameraland carries hawke, if that's the direction you go he could help you out.

 

[gr8fuldoug]

I think Doug at cameraland carries hawke, if that's the direction you go he could help you out.

Absolutely our pleasure, please give us a call

 

[Fanon]

I have one, glass is good. Locking turrets on elev and wind is sweet. Clicks are decent. Parallax does well at all ranges, low light performance is average. The reticle is GREAT for hunting, but for precise target work it's not ideal. Illumination is good. Lightweight/compact with great features and overall good execution. Another scope in the class of price is the trijicon 2.5-15x42 credo. It actually has slightly better glass, better reticle but is SFP.

Thanks a lot for your evaluation. Hard to find info on this one! This is pretty much what I was hoping to hear (though I am curious why the reticle is not great for precision).

 

[jakelly]

I called, they’re Chinese. FWIW. Sweet specs though, wish someone would do it right. Hear me Vortex?

 

[Fanon]

I called, they’re Chinese. FWIW. Sweet specs though, wish someone would do it right. Hear me Vortex?

Yeah I've read that. So are my various Holosuns, though, and they're great. Country of origin doesn't really bother me assuming the glass is decent and the QC is on point - we'll see how it stacks up to the Zeiss scope that's currently on the rifle.

 

[Fanon]

Just circling back to this because I bought one and figured I might as well share my impressions. I liked it, especially for the price, but didn't end up keeping it. It felt well made, the turrets and rings were very good, all the accessories were very nice (flip caps, integral throw lever, and sun shade), and it was lightweight for an FFP scope in this mag range.

I didn't keep it because, although the glass was clear and bright enough, it had more CA (which I am sensitive to) than the Zeiss V4 currently on the rifle, so it felt like a side-grade (a bit more magnification and MILs instead of MOA, but maybe a little step back in glass and a little heavier). I also didn't personally love the reticle at the magnification extremes, but that is subjective and was not a huge deal. The illumination helped make the reticle more easily visible at 4x, but there was some uneven bleed when it was cranked up all the way. That isn't uncommon and I didn't really care, but I figured it was worth mentioning if you're OCD about such things.

Overall, I thought it was a very nice scope and a great value, but it wasn't quite right for me. The flaws were minor and if I didn't already have a solid optic I would have happily overlooked them - it just didn't feel like enough of an upgrade to make the switch.

At this point, I am probably going to save up for a Tract Toric 4-20 PRS and just deal with the weight, and maybe keep the Zeiss for any hunting that involves a lot of hiking.