58 AIRGUN WORLD http://www.airgunshooting.co.uk
L
ast month, I was discussing something of a
new direction in airgun scopes, which is
running counter to the general trend of scopes
becoming ever bigger and heavier. Some lighter
and neater options are coming along, which in
my world is a very good thing. I mentioned one
in particular that appealed to me – the new
Hawke Airmax 30SF Compact – and I have
their 3-12 x 40 here on test. Although this is a
much smaller and lighter optic than many of
today’s top-quality scopes, it doesn’t scrimp on
quality or features in any way.
For those who are unaware of the Hawke
brand, it has been a mainstay of the airgun
industry for decades. They have supplied
thousands of people like me with high-quality
scopes that deliver on their promises out in the
rough and tumble world of hunting, even in
the worst weather and harshest conditions.
You don’t get a reputation like theirs easily, so
they defend it with a passion by supplying one
of the most generous warranties in the game.
The magnification range of 3-12x might
seem low by modern standards, but it worked
perfectly for me. At the bottom end, I was able
to spot feral pigeons up close in a shady barn
and I know it would be ideal for ratting around
buildings, too. I typically shoot on 7x which is
a versatile setting for general walk-around
hunting. If time permits and ultimate precision
is needed, such as with shots over 30 yards,
I’ll wind the mag up to 10x and at the range I’ll
occasionally go all the way to 12.
EXTRAORDINARY CLARITY
High mag’ asks a huge amount from the
lenses, and all too often the image quality
suffers dramatically when you get above 10x.
Only the very highest quality glass, polishing
and coatings can handle high mag’ and deliver
an image worth having. Another challenge of
high magnification is that the field of view, the
width of the image you see, becomes very
narrow. With all the time in the world at the
range that might not matter, but in the hunting
fields getting on aim promptly can make the
difference between a squirrel in the bag and
frustration. With this in mind, Hawke’s
designers added some 20% width to the
Compact’s field of view, a feature I value highly.
The 40mm objective (front) lens looks small
in today’s world, but offers lots of light
transmission in a much lighter package than
the more common 50mm ones. Even on some
particularly gloomy days, I noticed just how
bright the image was, on top of which, the
sharpness and clarity were extraordinary! Even
at the maximum 12x mag’ my view was pin
sharp on the dimmest day. Some of the credit
goes to the 16-layer coating system that
eliminates reflections on the lens surface and
maximises light transmission. The best
coatings are expensive, but worth every penny.
Reticles seem to have become ever more
complex these days, so I was glad to see that
Hawke employed their AMX IR one for this
range. Although it has lots of aimpoints to help
you with hold-over and windage corrections,
it’s not unnecessarily complex and is therefore
clear and practical to use in field conditions.The superbly sharp image quality is also a
great help with precise aiming, so this
combination is a win-win.FINGER-FRIENDLY
The windage and elevation adjusters are a
happy combination of finger-friendly drums
secured perfectly inside traditional screw-on
metal dust covers. I like this set-up a lot
because once I have my zero set, I lock it
down and leave it alone. With the covers on, I
feel certain that my zero cannot be lost and no
amount of bad weather can threaten the
scope’s integrity.
On the left of the central saddle we find the
side-focus parallax adjuster, the compartment
that holds the battery for reticle illumination
and the brightness control. You can chooseTHE HAWKE AIRMAX 30SF COMPACT
SEEING THE LIGHT
Is this compact, lightweight model from Hawke Optics
everything we need from a hunting scope?
The Compact avoids that top-heavy feel bigger scopes cause.