Hawke Sidewinder Tactical
On American Airgunner, I saw an episode where the shooter was able to use the side parallax adjustment to rangefind to the yard. He then had a card that he previously calibrated that told him how many clicks he would need to adjust for each distance. The distances were labeled in 1 yard increments out to 20. Then in 5 yard increments.
Does anyone have any experience with this range finding method? I am curious to know if that parallax adjustment is that sensitive that you can accurately know to the yard the distance to a target by how clearly it comes into focus. I am very much considering the purchase but it is not that cheap ($400).
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Agro,
Then you are soooo gonna want one of these….
Jim 😈 😈
i have a centerpoint 4x16x40, the hawke sw 30 will be replacing it i think? I like the idea of the sidewheel. Now its do i want the sw30 or the tactical one?
I’ve got an Sidewinder Tactical on my Rapid MFR. I will admit it’s no 4200, but it’s half the price. I am very pleased with it.
I can range-find accurately to 60 yds and feel comfortable that I am within 1-2 yards. When you do twist the sidefocus knob, remember to always come from the same direction…I go from near to far and stop just as the item in sight is about to go out of focus. That’s my routine.
Since it has mil-dots I’ve forgone any attempt at marking yardages. I sight it in purely on where the pellet hits. I put a box out in the yard with a target with a bunch of dots on it attached to a fishing pole with strong line. First, I set my top-of-pellet-flight-arc to 0 (center of crosshairs). Move the target out to as far as I want to sight in..60 yds since it’s a 28ftlb .177..and start shooting. I pull the target in until the first half-mil is the p.o.i. Mark that on the side wheel. Pull the target in until I’m aiming and hitting with the first mildot…mark that on the sidewheel..continue til I’m done. I don’t see the sense in marking 46 yards on the sidewheel, then figuring how many mildots down is 46 yards. It’s all about poa and poi for me.
Jim
I own a sidewinder 30 , 8×32, w/ the SR12 riticle and I’m very happy with it’s performance. It’s my understanding that when range finding, the highest magnification should be used to focus the target in sharply and the indicator marks are only a close estimator. I have only had mine for a short time now and am new to high power php’s, but I have no problem with saying that my scope is close enough at range finding out to 120 yards for my gun and personal abilities. I don’t have a laser range finder yet but I have spent the time tapping out my targets with a surveyors tape measure and the factory marks seem pretty close. With this scope and a full performance modded AAA condor from Tony parked under it’s ass my grin is ear to ear every time I shoot.
I own a sidewinder 30 , 8×32, w/ the SR12 riticle and I’m very happy with it’s performance. It’s my understanding that when range finding, the highest magnification should be used to focus the target in sharply and the indicator marks are only a close estimator. I have only had mine for a short time now and am new to high power php’s, but I have no problem with saying that my scope is close enough at range finding out to 120 yards for my gun and personal abilities. I don’t have a laser range finder yet but I have spent the time tapping out my targets with a surveyors tape measure and the factory marks seem pretty close. With this scope and a full performance modded AAA condor from Tony parked under it’s ass my grin is ear to ear every time I shoot.
Not really good at 5 yards. I have the 6-24 power version and at 5 yards its just too close. Perhaps if you had a 4 power scope. Also, at 5 yards, I’d have to aim about 3″ above the target to hit it as my line of sight (scope) sits 3.5″ above the centerline of the barrel.
Please, feel free to ask any questions. You’re not beating this to death, you and others are contemplating spending a lot of money on this airgun scope so ask away. Someone here will always try to help you. I even had a member here drive a good distance just to let me test out one of his guns that I was interested in buying.
John
Thanks JFK. That is extremely helpful. I am shooting at most out to 50 yards so it seems like it might work.
Not to beat this thing to death but, out to 50 yds, would you say you can sight within less than 5?
You definately have to use the side wheel to focus your target at different ranges. As Rob stated, the ranging is subjective, close but subjective. I wouldn’t rely on the ranging indicators as definative. For example, if I adjusted my side focus until the target was crystal clear and the range dial indicated 100 yards, everything from 85-115 would seem clear to me and MY EYES. Thats a 30 yard spread at a great distance (for an air rifle) and would not serve well for dead on accuracy. On the other hand, I find the range indicator is fairly accurate out to 50 yards. For the longer shots I use a laser range finder and have range cards made for my gun with 5 yard intervals of hold over for a given pellet.
Are your parallax adjustments sensitive enough to range find? Do you have to focus the side wheel for different distances or not necessarily?
Thanks.
For what its worth, I have two Hawke Sidewinder 30 tactical scopes and am very happy with them.
Thanks. That is helpful. Perhaps I’ll order one with a return policy.
and as an aside, that is a distinct advantage of a side wheel… the ability to ‘more’ precisely focus. HOW much more? Subjective.
To be honest, I’ve never seen it work quite that well either… and I have a few scopes.
Claims on shows like AA that exist to sell things should really be taken with a very small grain of salt. Entertainment value is often high, but educational value for anyone but a pure newbie is often lacking.
I have an AO on me Elite 3000 but it doesn’t focus in and out nearly as precise as the sidewinder and American Airgunner claim. I am just wondering if if it works that well.
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Then you are soooo gonna want one of these….
Jim 😈 😈
yes. I like the centerpoint scope I just don’t like the ao would rather have a sidewheel. Seems alot better.