Hawke sidewinder 30 tact 4.5-14x42

[markha 99]

Ive had this scope for a few months now, Hawke sidwinder 30 tactical in 4.5-14x42.

 

First off its a long scope at 14 3/4" so bear that in mind when choosing this for a break barrel or you may well end up in tears as the scope is midranged priced!

Plus if you decide to you the supplied screw on sunshade, that adds another 4"

 

The solution to this sunglare in scopes is to fit an ARD - 'anti reflective device', I've used these on 'things' when I was in HM Forces and they are superb bits of kit. Made by a company called' Sungard' you choose a size that fits inside you flip open covers, they have sizes for butler-creek and bushwacker covers

 

 

In use its a great scope, green and red mildot illumination in 5 brightness settings, super sharp and very bright optics in all but the dullest condition, the image can be a little blurred at the extremities of the sight picture on the highest magnification, but hey, to get rid of that you need to spend a lot more money on expensive glass, besides, its realy only the centre of the glass we want to look through and when I mean 'a little blurred' thats an exageration, it hardly noticable.

One thing that is noticable compared to a few other scopes Ive used/looked through is the image quality, there is no 'halo' or 'rainbow' effect around images in this scope, damn good glass for the price

 

The scope also comes with a 2" side wheel for paralax adjustment and range finding.

The pre-printed range marks on the 2" wheel are accurate up to 45m, after that I would ignore them and paint your own on, I used a fine brush dipped in 'tipp-ex' works a treat

 

Range finding is best done on 14x nagnification as this has a very good depth of field to enable minute adjustments to bring the image in sharp then read off your distance. After that I drop the scope down to 10x mag to use accurate hold over/under.

However with a bit of practice its not to bad to get accurate paralax for range finding at 10x mag.

 

The mildot reticule is accurate at 10xmag and this was found to be spot on when using a calibration target at the range.

 

Turrets are easy to use for zeroing, simply pull up, adjust then push back down, you can also reset the zero mark on each turret by using the supplied allen key. 1 Click is 1/4" at 100yds, I havent checked at that range but they were spot on at 50yds. Turrets are marked in 1MOA increments up to 17moa per revolution which is handy for those who like to dial in, as it covers some long ranges.

 

The side focus wheel and the non-slip zoom have a very positive movement, they may feel a bit tight at first but they soon bed in a little.

 

So all in all the main thing is the very good glass/optics for the money, add to that illuminated ret' and decent paralax and zoom and you have a scope more than good enough for hunting or field target.

 

Down sides - Its a long scope and may not be the best fit on some rifles - The screw on sunshade adds to the allready long dimension, Dump the screw on sunshade and replace with an ARD.

Its also quiet a heavy scope, weighing in at 775grams.

Its a fidley job to put the 2" sidewheel on and its not held in place with any screws and relies on a toothed rubber collar to keep itself in place on the standard side focus wheel which is about the same size as the turrets.

Lastly its a big scope and I will be buying and new rifle slip as the gun and scope only just squeeze in now.

 

 

Plus points - Very good glass, good paralax/depth of field/range finding at 14x magnification and not bad at 10X magnification. Its a sturdy unit.

 

I like it and fitted to the aa s410 its not an overall heavy package, when it was on my HW80 I did notice the extra weight.

 

Pics below are: Left Sungard ARD and Right: showing how scope is mounted as far forward as it will go on the front mount.

 

Cheers

Mark