Hawke
Releases the “Do Everything Scope”
The Hawke Endurance 3-9x40
Retailing at $229.99, the new Hawke Endurance scope is an illuminated reticle scope with a 1 inch tube, the red illuminated reticle being infinitely adjustable as it is on the new Endurance 30.
This 3-9 x 40 scope is part number HK6352, is 12.1 inches long, weighing 17 ounces, with a 29.1 – 9.6 field of view at 100 yards. In addition to the tested scope which has a 30/30 reticle, the same scope is available with the ".223/.308 Marksman reticle", reticle that matches the ballistics of most .223 and .308 ammunition, with aim points from 100 to 600 yards. The 30/30 Hawke Endurance is also available as a 2-7 x 32 and a 4-12 x 42.
There are three components that make it the “Do It All Scope”: the illuminated reticle, the generous 4.5 inch eye relief, and the modest price point. Eye relief can be a big problem, for shotguns, muzzleloaders, slug guns, and so forth. In the case of several firearms, short eye relief scopes cannot be mounted easily. Sometimes you have to resort to extension rings or custom scope bases to mount “that scope.” As a broad generalization, European-designed scopes largely don't have that problem. Yet, far too many otherwise very good scopes have a 3.3 inch or so minimum eye relief, enough to lift your shooting glasses off your nose at the bench and a good possibility of scope-eye on harsh recoiling firearms. You'll be able to mount this scope on your LHR Redemption muzzleloader, your turkey gun, your slug gun, your AR, and most center-fire rifles as well. Whether recoil or just where the gun tells you the scope must be mounted, this scope fits a quite wide variety of applications.
On many scopes with fully multi-coated lenses, the reticle is gone long before a good shooting image degrades. You won't always need an illuminated reticle, to be sure, but the times when you do they are priceless for quick target acquisition on a dark object against a dingy background. Black bear hunters will know exactly what I'm talking about. Many illuminated reticles are slow to cycle through brightness levels or are overly bright. The rheostat dial lets you infinitely adjust the brightness levels as you please. Nine power is plenty for most hunting applications. After all, if you can hit your target with iron sights at 50 yards, 9x gives you the same image at 450 yards.
The controls are smooth to operate, the adjustments are positive and audible. The scope itself is bright, with no visible stray light or significant flare. The 30/30 reticle can be used as a ballistic reticle, as on 4x the fine crosshair lines equate to 30 MOA (or 30 inches, contingent on scope) at 100 yards, or 30 inches at 8x at 200 yards.
While
there never can be the one size fits all scope (from rimfire you might
want a close eye relief scope), the Hawke Endurance 3-9x40 comes as close
as can be had in an all-round excellent scope that is priced right. Hawke
is going to sell a lot of these units and as more folks use them, the
word will travel quickly.
Copyright 2014 by Randy Wakeman. All Rights Reserved.
