Huskemaw Tactical 5-30X56 Riflescope Review
The next round of testing found the Huskemaw Tactical 5-30X56 in a freezer for a 6 hour period. After noting that the scope is indeed waterproof, at least to a depth of a normal kitchen sink, I wasn't surprised to find that the scope experienced no internal issues with being frozen. There wasn't any internal fogging present, only the normal moisture buildup on the exterior lenses after being removed from the kitchen freezer. All adjustments, except the magnification ring, turned with a little bit more resistance than prior to the freeze test, but not so difficult as to hinder normal operation. The magnification ring however, was extremely difficult to turn, but smooth throughout the adjustment range and did not give any binding. I didn't have a collimator available to check actual reticle displacement from turret adjustments.
Freeze test.
I had a short delay in the evaluation while I waited for a set of American Rifle Company rings to arrive, so I spent some time evaluating the optical quality. Bottom line up front is that the optics on this new Huskemaw Tactical 5-30X56 scope were quite good, right up there to be directly comparable to another high magnification optic of European manufacture that I have been using extensively. The optics were sufficiently bright, clear, and crisp in image quality. The field of view was crisp to the extreme outer edges and provided a nice flat image. Color fidelity in bright sunlight was excellent and resolution seemed to be identical to my other scope as well, being able to resolve individual blades of tall dead grass at 900 yards. The only optical property of little concern is a hint of Chromatic Aberration (CA) when looking at contrasting objects, such as a grassy skyline, and only when my eye was off center. This amount of CA isn't a big issue nor did I find it to be of any distraction while actually using the scope to engage targets out to nearly 800 yards.
After checking the optics, I tested the parallax control to see if the numbering on the parallax turret corresponded to the actual distance on that particular day. This is one of the only problems I experienced with the scope. The parallax turret didn't coincide as closely to the indicated distance as I would like to see. While looking at a 200 yard target, the parallax turret was set to the 300 yard marking, once parallax was eliminated.
Similarly, a 300 yard target required the turret to be on the 500 yard setting for a parallax free image. As a final note, past 950 yards, the parallax could be set to the infinity indication and provide a parallax free image. Given the discrepancy, I should have tested the parallax turret coming to the indicated yardage markings from the other direction. I hadn't thought to check for this until well after I was complete with the analysis of this scope. I would normally recommend to simply loosen the set screws on the parallax turret and reset it so the numbering coincided exactly with a given distance, but this scope used a different system and did not allow for this end-user adjustment.
This was my first experience with the American Rifle Company rings, but I found them to be of the highest quality. While mounting the scope, I ensured the rifle was level side to side and placed the scope in the open rings. Another level was placed on the top of the elevation turret cap and I tried to establish proper eye relief with the scope on maximum magnification of 30X. While sliding the scope rearward in the rings to establish proper eye relief, the objective bell of the scope contacted the front of the scope base. The best I could do was situate the scope in the rings with a hairs width gap between the objective bell and the scope base. My eye relief was close, but I had to creep forward on the stock almost a half inch for proper eye relief. If this was my personal scope, I would require the LOP to be shortened or utilize a different scope base that didn't extend forward of the action face.
View of the windage turret, zero lock ring, and adjustment markings.
Zeroing this new scope was straight forward and completed in five rounds total. My initial zero was established with the excellent The Best of the West 300 Winchester Magnum 180 grain Accubond ammunition. An accuracy check and return to zero was also completed with this ammunition prior to switching to the other ammunition supplied for testing, The Best of the West 300 Winchester Magnum 190 grain VLD. For more information on this ammunition, please see the end of this review. The scope adjustments seemed to be accurate and it returned to zero exactly as it should. The return to zero checks went through a total adjustment travel of 30 MOA, so this tested out the practical adjustment range. This initial check was abbreviated though, and I knew I would continue testing the adjustments as I went through the Huskemaw process of gathering data for a custom RFBC turret. So far in the evaluation, this scope was performing as good as many other high quality optics I have used.
The remainder of the scope testing utilized the supplied 190 grain VLD ammunition. I also removed my external cant indicator and relied solely on the internal level in the scope. Obtaining ballistic data was straightforward. I placed a target at 770 yards that measured 7.9 inches square. Range day had a decent 8-10 mph breeze blowing from the 3 O'clock position. My atmospheric data came from a reliable Kestrel 4500 so I knew I had a good altitude and temperature to input into the Huskemaw online tool so I could get a custom RFBC turret ordered. I utilized my ballistic program with an estimated muzzle velocity and sent the first round down range. My elevation and windage were both off as the impact was high and right. I needed to know my exact drop so I made elevation corrections as well as windage corrections on the scope instead of holding for a follow up shot. Two rounds later and I had a solid impact on my steel target. I sent two more rounds in rapid succession and had two more solid impacts. Upon arrival at the target to check my group, I had a sub ½ MOA group of three rounds that was a couple inches high of center. Using my confirmed 100 yard zero, atmospheric data, and exact number of clicks to get on target at 770 yards, I was ready to order the custom RFBC turret from Huskemaw.
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to input the data online as I couldn't locate the turret for this new scope on the Huskemaw web site. One quick email later and I was instructed to simply email the data and my contact would get the turrets engraved and headed my direction. I was also informed that they engrave the inner turret for any other set of atmospheric data, so I could have two turrets done up for my specific load. This allows for a user to have one turret for their primary location (outer) and a second turret (inner) for another location that is significantly different in altitude and temperature. This is the heart of the patented dual interlocking turrets and is a very innovative feature found only on this Huskemaw Tactical 5-30X56 rifle scope.
Dual interlocking turrets with RFBC data.
One other very nice feature found on these turrets is a second set of numbers surrounding the upper portion of the turret, which represent a windage correction required for the corresponding yardage, assuming a 10 mph full value wind. I found this feature to be excellent as it provides an accurate windage correction with a simple glance at the top row numbers after dialing to the determined yardage indication. This feature has obvious benefits, especially while hunting or under a time constraint. Once a distance is known, a windage reference is easily visible without the need to bring out a separate ballistic program, so long as the data the RFBC turret was built with matches the current altitude and weather conditions.
Freeze test.
I had a short delay in the evaluation while I waited for a set of American Rifle Company rings to arrive, so I spent some time evaluating the optical quality. Bottom line up front is that the optics on this new Huskemaw Tactical 5-30X56 scope were quite good, right up there to be directly comparable to another high magnification optic of European manufacture that I have been using extensively. The optics were sufficiently bright, clear, and crisp in image quality. The field of view was crisp to the extreme outer edges and provided a nice flat image. Color fidelity in bright sunlight was excellent and resolution seemed to be identical to my other scope as well, being able to resolve individual blades of tall dead grass at 900 yards. The only optical property of little concern is a hint of Chromatic Aberration (CA) when looking at contrasting objects, such as a grassy skyline, and only when my eye was off center. This amount of CA isn't a big issue nor did I find it to be of any distraction while actually using the scope to engage targets out to nearly 800 yards.
After checking the optics, I tested the parallax control to see if the numbering on the parallax turret corresponded to the actual distance on that particular day. This is one of the only problems I experienced with the scope. The parallax turret didn't coincide as closely to the indicated distance as I would like to see. While looking at a 200 yard target, the parallax turret was set to the 300 yard marking, once parallax was eliminated.
Similarly, a 300 yard target required the turret to be on the 500 yard setting for a parallax free image. As a final note, past 950 yards, the parallax could be set to the infinity indication and provide a parallax free image. Given the discrepancy, I should have tested the parallax turret coming to the indicated yardage markings from the other direction. I hadn't thought to check for this until well after I was complete with the analysis of this scope. I would normally recommend to simply loosen the set screws on the parallax turret and reset it so the numbering coincided exactly with a given distance, but this scope used a different system and did not allow for this end-user adjustment.
This was my first experience with the American Rifle Company rings, but I found them to be of the highest quality. While mounting the scope, I ensured the rifle was level side to side and placed the scope in the open rings. Another level was placed on the top of the elevation turret cap and I tried to establish proper eye relief with the scope on maximum magnification of 30X. While sliding the scope rearward in the rings to establish proper eye relief, the objective bell of the scope contacted the front of the scope base. The best I could do was situate the scope in the rings with a hairs width gap between the objective bell and the scope base. My eye relief was close, but I had to creep forward on the stock almost a half inch for proper eye relief. If this was my personal scope, I would require the LOP to be shortened or utilize a different scope base that didn't extend forward of the action face.
View of the windage turret, zero lock ring, and adjustment markings.
Zeroing this new scope was straight forward and completed in five rounds total. My initial zero was established with the excellent The Best of the West 300 Winchester Magnum 180 grain Accubond ammunition. An accuracy check and return to zero was also completed with this ammunition prior to switching to the other ammunition supplied for testing, The Best of the West 300 Winchester Magnum 190 grain VLD. For more information on this ammunition, please see the end of this review. The scope adjustments seemed to be accurate and it returned to zero exactly as it should. The return to zero checks went through a total adjustment travel of 30 MOA, so this tested out the practical adjustment range. This initial check was abbreviated though, and I knew I would continue testing the adjustments as I went through the Huskemaw process of gathering data for a custom RFBC turret. So far in the evaluation, this scope was performing as good as many other high quality optics I have used.
The remainder of the scope testing utilized the supplied 190 grain VLD ammunition. I also removed my external cant indicator and relied solely on the internal level in the scope. Obtaining ballistic data was straightforward. I placed a target at 770 yards that measured 7.9 inches square. Range day had a decent 8-10 mph breeze blowing from the 3 O'clock position. My atmospheric data came from a reliable Kestrel 4500 so I knew I had a good altitude and temperature to input into the Huskemaw online tool so I could get a custom RFBC turret ordered. I utilized my ballistic program with an estimated muzzle velocity and sent the first round down range. My elevation and windage were both off as the impact was high and right. I needed to know my exact drop so I made elevation corrections as well as windage corrections on the scope instead of holding for a follow up shot. Two rounds later and I had a solid impact on my steel target. I sent two more rounds in rapid succession and had two more solid impacts. Upon arrival at the target to check my group, I had a sub ½ MOA group of three rounds that was a couple inches high of center. Using my confirmed 100 yard zero, atmospheric data, and exact number of clicks to get on target at 770 yards, I was ready to order the custom RFBC turret from Huskemaw.
Unfortunately, I wasn't able to input the data online as I couldn't locate the turret for this new scope on the Huskemaw web site. One quick email later and I was instructed to simply email the data and my contact would get the turrets engraved and headed my direction. I was also informed that they engrave the inner turret for any other set of atmospheric data, so I could have two turrets done up for my specific load. This allows for a user to have one turret for their primary location (outer) and a second turret (inner) for another location that is significantly different in altitude and temperature. This is the heart of the patented dual interlocking turrets and is a very innovative feature found only on this Huskemaw Tactical 5-30X56 rifle scope.
Dual interlocking turrets with RFBC data.
One other very nice feature found on these turrets is a second set of numbers surrounding the upper portion of the turret, which represent a windage correction required for the corresponding yardage, assuming a 10 mph full value wind. I found this feature to be excellent as it provides an accurate windage correction with a simple glance at the top row numbers after dialing to the determined yardage indication. This feature has obvious benefits, especially while hunting or under a time constraint. Once a distance is known, a windage reference is easily visible without the need to bring out a separate ballistic program, so long as the data the RFBC turret was built with matches the current altitude and weather conditions.
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