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Rifle Scopes Huskemaw scope?

judgedelta

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Minuteman
Aug 22, 2010
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I just got an email touting a Huskemaw scope. The 5-20X50 is $1500. Anyone know anything about them???
 
Yea, save your money. They are way overpriced for what you get. I had one when they were selling them for around $900 and I thought they were over priced then! For 1500 you just about get into Nightforce, which is a WAY better option. Huskemaw is a big marketing hype ran by by The Best of the West clan.
 
My uncle has one and he loves it. It's designed to be a long range HUNTING scope however. Therefore it's got some
differences from tactical/long range scopes. Most hunters can't use a mil dot reticle. Simple BDC works better because they're faster. The Huskemaw makes it idiot proof basically. 1 MOA windage hashmarks and a BDC turret made for your rifle/bullet combo. I found the glass to be really good, but I'm also not accustomed to scopes in that price range. I shot with it, I liked it personally. For hunting they serve pretty well from what I've heard, but for tactical/long-range you'd probably be better getting something built for it.
 
Agree with above. Get into something with a mil or MOA system. You are about to NF and razor territory at that price.
 
I'd rather get a weaver tactical grandslam 3-10 or SWFA 10x for $300 than one of those things.
 
We probably got the same email! I see the guys over at Len Backus Long Range Hunting forum are into the Huskemaw. For hunting, for myself I am staying with what I know, Burris and Vortex, Leupold. I like the BDC reticles for hunting and while mine are't perfect I have earned where I can hold for certain workable distances within the cartriges and loads I use and practice with.
 
We probably got the same email! I see the guys over at Len Backus Long Range Hunting forum are into the Huskemaw. For hunting, for myself I am staying with what I know, Burris and Vortex, Leupold. I like the BDC reticles for hunting and while mine are't perfect I have earned where I can hold for certain workable distances within the cartriges and loads I use and practice with.

Not only are they into the huskemaw, backus drank some strange koolaid, if you've ever handled one, they are a "high grade" tasco, at best, they are WAY over priced, and WAY over hyped-by len backus, they should be priced around $250-300 at most. The way they are advertised reminds me of "slick con artists". How many shops carry these scopes? How many of the great places that run ads on this board, SWFA, Europtic, Opticplanet etc carry these things? As far as I know, zero. It's a shame when a guy that runs a board, is "in bed" with a mfg. to the point that he allows this "con" to continue. LRH, doesn't allow anyone to criticize huskemaw, don't just walk away from this junk, run. For the same money you can buy 10 times better optics from one of the places that support this board.
 
Not only are they into the huskemaw, backus drank some strange koolaid, if you've ever handled one, they are a "high grade" tasco, at best, they are WAY over priced, and WAY over hyped-by len backus, they should be priced around $250-300 at most. The way they are advertised reminds me of "slick con artists". How many shops carry these scopes? How many of the great places that run ads on this board, SWFA, Europtic, Opticplanet etc carry these things? As far as I know, zero. It's a shame when a guy that runs a board, is "in bed" with a mfg. to the point that he allows this "con" to continue. LRH, doesn't allow anyone to criticize huskemaw, don't just walk away from this junk, run. For the same money you can buy 10 times better optics from one of the places that support this board.
I have to disagree with this statement. I ran one back a few years ago when they sold for under a grand.very nice scope at THAT price range. I have since moved on to NXS and Steiner.
I think at the price they are now, you would be much better served to buy a used NXS for the same money.
 
Not only are they into the huskemaw, backus drank some strange koolaid, if you've ever handled one, they are a "high grade" tasco, at best, they are WAY over priced, and WAY over hyped-by len backus, they should be priced around $250-300 at most. The way they are advertised reminds me of "slick con artists". How many shops carry these scopes? How many of the great places that run ads on this board, SWFA, Europtic, Opticplanet etc carry these things? As far as I know, zero. It's a shame when a guy that runs a board, is "in bed" with a mfg. to the point that he allows this "con" to continue. LRH, doesn't allow anyone to criticize huskemaw, don't just walk away from this junk, run. For the same money you can buy 10 times better optics from one of the places that support this board.

The first time I looked through a Huskemaw I was embarrassed for the guy who had bought it and couldn't believe that they sold for almost 1k. The next one I looked through was their new blue diamond series and they are not even in the same ball park. The blue diamond is an extremely nice scope and they changed my opinion of Huskemaw. However for $1300 I would probably look for a used NXS.
 
They are still using the same old "hussle" to sell these things. I'm sure that the Best places to buy optics-those that buy ads on this board-would be selling these if they were any good, they seem to sell all the other great brands, and even some "not so great" brands. When you have the owner of LRS pushing these things, as if he owned part of the company, and yet outside his little kingdom, nobody seems to think they are worth anywhere near what they charge for them, you can easily come to the conclusion that something is stinky in Denmark..... just saying.
 
Yeah I forgot, it WAS a Blue Diamond I shot with. I compared one side by side with a Zeiss today at a gun show and I think the blue diamond was a bit better. I wouldn't knock them too much before you've tried or talked to a hunter who's used them. Most places don't carry them because the turrets are custom made in shop for your specific cartridge with your rifle. They have just as good a warranty as Vortex. And they are made for long range HUNTING which is quite different than tactical long range shooting, and they're made to be simple. Which I can't deny they are. They are sold by a country-wide reputed custom gun shop and I know guys that own them over Nightforce ect and love them. So, to each their own.
 
It was a few years old but in really good shape. 4.5-14x(40 I think), mil dot, 1/4 MOA clicks and a side parallax adjustment. I know it was priced at $1000 (a good vendor, prices things at their value). I'm not highly qualified to judge glass by any means, but I just don't see how it's fair to judge a scope that is "over hyped" if they've never used one. The glass probably isn't as good as a Nightforce. I've never even seen a Nightforce. But a good number of men that were like second fathers swear by them. And in my family that's 150 years of hunting experience sitting around the dinner table. But maybe I'm the one that's off my rocker, who knows right? ;)
 
We can agree to disagree. Many great options in scopes these days. Too bad that you can't compare many scopes side by side. People's idea of quality and reasonable price vary. I know from Northwinds' other post that he has not handled any truly HIGH END scopes, but they are not necessary for the type of shooting he does. I want my shot 0.5 MOA or less at 100 yards. Need good glass with 24X magnification for my poor eyes and crisp repeatable turrets in a durable package. At the range I'm putting up 1&3 inch targets at 200 yards when those around me are shooting 12-18 inch targets or more. Most think I'm nuts until we go out retrieve targets and see how my 308 shoots! A few clicks and I'm easily on 12 inch steel at 500 meters.

I think we too often forget that many shooters have different goals than what many precision shooters consider the Holy Grail. I'll continue to buy for my needs and others can buy for theirs. Let's let our free market work. Some brands will win and some will lose and disappear. Nuf said. Good shooting whatever your style!
 
In the end it is up to the shooter to do their homework. Many new to Long Range shooting/ hunting "don't know, what they don't know" yet. So of course you watch a show with guys dropping deer at 1000Y using a HuskamyMilletStar and it must be true. Right?

I just watched an episode of "The High Road" with Keith Warren, he is been at it for 30+ years and hunted all over. This episode "Hit the Lopes" was interesting because he was hunting 113 in SE Colorado, the same area I have hunted for years. Point is he has a brand new Savage in 338 Lapua and its topped with a BSA Majestic scope. He is pimping BSA the whole episode, scope, binos etc. To the novice shooter, this is a scope that can be found locally and for $150, so its got to be legit, because Keith just dropped that antelope at 300Y.

Opinions will vary, but with optics the majority of reviews are very subjective. That is why it is important to see where the consensus lies and the credibility of the reviewer / forum. If you do a search on Huskemaw scopes you will read the same thing over and over, that they are a nice scope, but greatly overpriced. How does one get to that assumption, well by folks who have and purchased superior scopes in the same price range.

If a hunter goes from a Simmons, to a Bushy Banner to a Huskemaw, they will be overwhelmed. It is still Japanese glass, so the image should look like night and day as compared to their old scope. If the same hunter went from Weaver, Vortex to Nightforce or Swaro, they may have a different opinion of the same Huskemaw scope.


The point of these threads is to educate shooters to make wise decisions with spending their cash. Spending $1500 for an $800 optic is not wise.
 
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Roggom, great, well written post, I'd say your overly nice when you say $800, but I'm sure you mean MSRP!
Years ago, there was a scandle involving he music industy, many on this board are to young to remember it, but what it boiled down to was D.J.s (yea back when we actually had records) were being paid "under the table" to play various songs, thus promoting certain labels, artists etc.. A quick search of WIKI says the following:

Payola, in the American music industry, is the illegal practice of payment or other inducement by record companies for the broadcast of recordings on music radio in which the song is presented as being part of the normal day's broadcast. Under U.S. law, 47 U.S.C. § 317, a radio station can play a specific song in exchange for money, but this must be disclosed on the air as being sponsored airtime, and that play of the song should not be counted as a "regular airplay".

It appears that the owner of the Long Range Hunting board, is in bed with the huskemaw huksters, I realize they pay to place ads on his board, and in a sense this is like "sponsered airtime", but just as being paid to play certain songs was recognized as being fundamentally wrong (on a public radio license), when LHR, deletes and bans anyone that has anything to say about huskemaws scopes that doesn't start out with, "I just got a huske, it's better than sex.....", is wrong, LRH a dishonest board. Why would anyone trust anything they find on a board that continues to push this "way" over prices barska? Leupold's custom shop will make you a BDC turret for many of their scopes (better scopes that cost less BTW), along with the Leupold Lifetime Warranty (from a company that will actually be there next year). For anyone that is thinking about spending your $$$ on one of these things, go to a "good" gun shop-compare some like priced optics from reputable mfgs, you'll be very glad you did.
 
I think the husky is a great scope. but not a good value at $1500 bucks or even 1k for that matter. the husky has some great features like a useful reticle and a zero stop. people complaining SWFA can't seem to get a zero stop on their scopes but everyone talks about how great they are. husky takes alot of heat because they show people taking long shots and appear to be very unskilled shooters. well they are unskilled shooters however they have a skilled spotter telling them what do to. its important to keep the context in mind. a turret system like husky has will work great for shots out to 600 yards at least, then changing conditions take over and you better be on your game. I like the 1/3 MOA clicks as well. I would like to see more scopes with wind hold off style reticles. I don't want hold offs on the vertical crosshair. still a nightforce is the way to go when you start getting much over 1k for pretty much any other brand of scope.
 
cummins cowboy the husky has some great features like a useful reticle and a zero stop. people complaining SWFA can't seem to get a zero stop on their scopes but everyone talks about how great they are. I like the 1/3 MOA clicks as well. .[/QUOTE said:
I have decided while it would be nice to have zero stop it just isn't needed with 10 mils per revolution on my scope, 1/4 MOA I can see that being much more handy. If you want 1/3 MOA why not keep it simple and go tenth MIL.... Just saying?
 
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In the end it is up to the shooter to do their homework. Many new to Long Range shooting/ hunting "don't know, what they don't know" yet. So of course you watch a show with guys dropping deer at 1000Y using a HuskamyMilletStar and it must be true. Right?

I just watched an episode of "The High Road" with Keith Warren, he is been at it for 30+ years and hunted all over. This episode "Hit the Lopes" was interesting because he was hunting 113 in SE Colorado, the same area I have hunted for years. Point is he has a brand new Savage in 338 Lapua and its topped with a BSA Majestic scope. He is pimping BSA the whole episode, scope, binos etc. To the novice shooter, this is a scope that can be found locally and for $150, so its got to be legit, because Keith just dropped that antelope at 300Y.

Opinions will vary, but with optics the majority of reviews are very subjective. That is why it is important to see where the consensus lies and the credibility of the reviewer / forum. If you do a search on Huskemaw scopes you will read the same thing over and over, that they are a nice scope, but greatly overpriced. How does one get to that assumption, well by folks who have and purchased superior scopes in the same price range.

If a hunter goes from a Simmons, to a Bushy Banner to a Huskemaw, they will be overwhelmed. It is still Japanese glass, so the image should look like night and day as compared to their old scope. If the same hunter went from Weaver, Vortex to Nightforce or Swaro, they may have a different opinion of the same Huskemaw scope.


The point of these threads is to educate shooters to make wise decisions with spending their cash. Spending $1500 for an $800 optic is not wise.

Ditto, Wholeheartedly agree :)
 
OK...so first things first. I'm new to this forum and only joined due to this thread.

A few facts about me.
I'm a retired Vet.
I just finished the gunsmithing program at Lassen CC.
I've never shot over 500 yards (before today) only every qualified with my M4.

A friend of mine had a Best of the West gentleman offer to give him a demonstration of how the Huskemaw's work and I was able to attend. Let me just say that I do not understand the complaints some of you have posted above. With little to no experience shooting long range I was able to consistantly hit a target (sub MOA) at 1000 yards. It was absolutely incredible in my opinion and I plan to buy one of their 5x20 blue diamond series for my custom 338. After some easy research it looks like Nightforce and US Optics are of comparible pricing....so what's the problem with pricing?

Thoughts?
 
Re: 111 Long Range Hunter in 300 Win Mag

OK...so first things first. I'm new to this forum and only joined due to this thread.

A few facts about me.
I'm a retired Vet.
I just finished the gunsmithing program at Lassen CC.
I've never shot over 500 yards (before today) only every qualified with my M4.

A friend of mine had a Best of the West gentleman offer to give him a demonstration of how the Huskemaw's work and I was able to attend. Let me just say that I do not understand the complaints some of you have posted above. With little to no experience shooting long range I was able to consistantly hit a target (sub MOA) at 1000 yards. It was absolutely incredible in my opinion and I plan to buy one of their 5x20 blue diamond series for my custom 338. After some easy research it looks like Nightforce and US Optics are of comparible pricing....so what's the problem with pricing?

Thoughts?

Sounds like alot of Huskemaw bashing going on here,I own a 20-50 blue diamound and I really like it and theirs 3 elk and 2 deer and a bunch of bulls-eyes that also hate it.If I wanted to add a couple of pounds to my rifle a nightforce would be a good option.
 
last two posters apparently joined just to tout the huskemaw? both with one and only one post in the month of their join date? very tactical posts...

maybe huskemaw will send out some of their scopes for unbiased reviews (maybe ilya)?

some of the old posts here have been lost, but I did dig one up on this:
http://www.snipershide.com/shooting...43-nightforce-vs-huskemaw-vs-mark4-lrt-2.html

and I think this is the video that brought a lot of the huskemaw hype about:
long range hunting 890 yard Alaskan moose kill using huskemaw scope - YouTube

Watch the video, around 28-29 seconds, why are there 2 shells already spent laying on his pack when he takes the first shot (and supposedly only) at the moose? I hope he did not take 3 shots to bring it down at that range just to pump the scope. I feel they are promoting shots that are beyond the range of most peoples' ability to responsibly take animals.

and if they (huskemaw guys) believe they are as good as nightforce, let them put their scopes up for a torture test against nf. If you are worried about 2 lbs, work out a little.
 
2guard....your analysis of the situation is amazing. I maybe new to the forum (due to this thread specifically) but what I posted is a true account my experiences. I own a variety of scopes from ACOG, Nikon, Leupold....now a huskemaw. Thank you for answering the question BTW.
 
The original Husekmaws were utter pieces of shit. A guy I know bought one and ended up with a few of them somehow and had problems with every one. They didn't track for shit either and everything about it was sloppy. The new blue diamonds IMO are a bit nicer, the one I tried had better turrets but still sloppy for a $1500 scope (the $300 weavers and SWFA's have better turret feel). It tracked well but for the price I'm not one bit impressed. If the blue diamond sold for the same as the original scope it wouldn't be a terrible value but still a bit overpriced. At $1500 they are smoking crack but they have a hell of a marketing campaign with that tv show making every bubba think they can hit a elk at 1000 yards with a $1500 scope on their 30-06.

I'm sure Len's wallet getting fat is the only reason he touts them. Why else would you go from a superior scope to an inferior scope?

It may be designed for long range hunting but there are plenty of scopes that I have chosen and will choose every time over the Husekmaw for that same purpose.
 
2guard....your analysis of the situation is amazing. I maybe new to the forum (due to this thread specifically) but what I posted is a true account my experiences. I own a variety of scopes from ACOG, Nikon, Leupold....now a huskemaw. Thank you for answering the question BTW.

if you own a variety of scopes, why not offer a comparison in glass quality, tracking, repeatability, etc. instead of just coming on here for your first post and saying how great they are with unsubstantianted claims. What I posted was information supporting why I believe they are probably not as good as nightforce, and why I think they advertising scheme promotes bad habits in beginning shooters/hunters for taking game at long distance. A lot of the big name makers offer their scopes up for review and take the criticism (if any) as constructive, and work to better their product line, and that is what I think they should be doing.

Your post stated," After some easy research it looks like Nightforce and US Optics are of comparible pricing....so what's the problem with pricing?" The problem is, Nightforce and US Optics are proven, so their price is justified. The Huskemaw is not proven, so $1500 is better spent on a NF of USO. If you were looking at $30k cars, and it came down between 2 cars, one that is from a well known brand that has been around a while and has good to great reviews and is reliable (and great customer service), or one from a company that has not been around as long with mixed reviews on it, which would you pick (price being equal)?

If you are knowledgeable about the scopes, post why and something to back it up. You said you now own a huskemaw, compare it to your other scopes and give us a rundown, pics, etc. I can say I looked through an S&B last weekend and it's the greatest scope ever, but until I qualify that with reasons to support it, that statement really doesn't mean much to anyone else.

and might I add, what happens when the weather changes (DA, and changes your POI) and the huskemaw turrets are off?
 
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