Poll: Vortex Viper or Hawke Sidewinder

[WBY MAG MAN]

I have 2 of the Vortex Viper 6.5X20X50 Dead Hold B.D.C scope's. They are an outstanding unit.I have one mounted on A 300 Ultra Mag 28.5" barrel pushing 180 Scirocco's @ 3450fps without the brake on. It is A Christensen Arm's lite wt custom, so to say the least it has heavy recoil. The other is mounted on A 338-378 Wby Mag that one speaks for it self. Both have several hundred round's behind them now and are working flawlessly. I also have A Leupold Mk 4 8.5X25X50 that cost me almost $2000.00 and the viper's are every bit as good at 1/4 the price! hope this help's...Jerry PS I'd love to unload the Leupold and get 3 or 4 more Vortex's.gun)

 

[300rum]

Hi,

I own 2 pc - Hawke Scope 6.5-20x42 1/2 Mildot .
One is on 7mm Mag and another on 17HMR.
I put down the tube 500rds and they are tracking Flawless.
I wish to have it in MIL/MIl or MOA/MOA.
So I play with the magnification and at 18x the reticle is 2 MOA (every 1/2 MIL = 2MOA)
Now I have a very good scope with MOA turret and 2MOA reticle.

 

[thehulk]

Vortext Viper PST 6.5x24 50, worked awesome on my 7MM and currently on my .300 WSM.

 

[Nimrod1203]

I'm also on the fence here. The one thing i've heard about the Hawkes i don't care for is there isn't any markings on the elevation and windage to see how many rotations you've turned. if not for that, I'd have one probably. If they fix that it sounds like a great scope. I've also looked at the Falcon Menace. They look very great for the money. All that being said, I have the Viper HS 4-16x50 and it's GREAT! I wouldn't even look anywhere else if they had a 5-20x or something along those lines. The Falcon Menace has FFP and looks amazing for the money. just my .02
Nimrod

 

[300rum]

I'm also on the fence here. The one thing i've heard about the Hawkes i don't care for is there isn't any markings on the elevation and windage to see how many rotations you've turned. if not for that, I'd have one probably. If they fix that it sounds like a great scope. I've also looked at the Falcon Menace. They look very great for the money. All that being said, I have the Viper HS 4-16x50 and it's GREAT! I wouldn't even look anywhere else if they had a 5-20x or something along those lines. The Falcon Menace has FFP and looks amazing for the money. just my .02
Nimrod

That is trough about Hawkee turetts. To compensate for missing lines I have market on the scope with marker at how many MOA my zero is.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Ok guys, thanks for all of the help narrowing down my scope selection for me. This newbie to long range shooting really appreciates it. I am down to two scopes I'm trying to choose from and they are these two:

Hawke: Hawke 6-24x56 Sidewinder 30mm Riflescope

Vortex: Vortex 6.5-20x44 Viper 30mm Rifle Scope

Which one of these will be my better option? I like the mildot reticle on the Hawke but am tempted to try the Dead Hold BDC reticle rather than Mildot if I go with the Viper...any thoughts??

There is another thread running concurrently with this one and we've been discussing the Viper and the Hawk and a couple others.

Looked at them all, Own a couple Leupy's and bought a Viper, but a PST in 4.5-18 Mil/Mil.

Personally, I wasn't impressed with the Hawke reticle, nor the fact that the design was initiated by an airgun marksman, not that foof guns are all bad, just it's not what I shoot.

The optics company Hawk is UK based but the scope is all about China whereas Vortex Optics is US based but the scopes are made in the Philippines (I know that, my PST is clearly marked in the bottom of the bell). I'd prefer a US made optic but the Leupy's are a bit much for this retiree.

I don't understand the Hawke's plastic side wheel for parallax adjustment, not my thing and overall, I just wasn't impressed. Not to say I would never buy one as I might in the future. Not just now.

 

[trailrider121]

I have a Hawke 4.5-14x42 tactical sidewinder 30 and a vortex viper 6.5-20x44.

The vortex is lighter, has nice turrets that have good click to them. Glass is clear, overall a very good scope for the money.

Hawke scope is nice, a little on the heavy side. Turrets dont have a pronounce click to them. A little on the big side. Glass is clear from edge to edge. Has a few options like different color reticle.

I have taken them both out to 1000 yards and both preform flawless. Its really a toss up, but if I was looking at both I would lean towards the Vortex Viper. That's my view on the two brands.

 

[liltank]

Check out my review in my new "Gun Review" thread.

 

[SidecarFlip]

I have a Hawke 4.5-14x42 tactical sidewinder 30 and a vortex viper 6.5-20x44.

The vortex is lighter, has nice turrets that have good click to them. Glass is clear, overall a very good scope for the money.

Hawke scope is nice, a little on the heavy side. Turrets dont have a pronounce click to them. A little on the big side. Glass is clear from edge to edge. Has a few options like different color reticle.

I have taken them both out to 1000 yards and both preform flawless. Its really a toss up, but if I was looking at both I would lean towards the Vortex Viper. That's my view on the two brands.

I'm still patently curious about the sidewheel on the Hawk, does yours have it??... and on the reticle, your opinion? I have the Hawk ballistics calculator on my laptop. It's fun to play with but candidly, the G7 (on here) is light years better....

One good thing about the Hawk is their physical location (Fort Wayne, Indiana) to me. Problems are a short drive. That's it. Not that I'd anticipate a problem....

I may still get one. My Leupy's didn't get too PO'd in the gun safe when I parked the Viper beside them......

 

[trailrider121]

I have the sidewheel for it, never used it. I'll have to try it out soon. The parallax needs to be adjust for range and dont use the markings,they are off. The reticle is nice and has 1/2 mildot marks in it. I like the reticle, perfect and easy to read. Very clear from edge to edge out to 14 power. I think the quality goes to the viper, better fit and finish.

 

[sullivt]

I have the hawk Sidewinder and a viper PST... the viper definately edges out the Sidewinder with clarity. But I do not think you would be disappointed with either.

 

[bruce_ventura]

My observations at the the last two SHOT shows we're that the Hawke Sidewinders had much better glare performance and aberration than the Vortex Vipers. I was stunned how good they were.

I understand that Hawke has made design improvements in the Sidewinders during the last three years. The age of a given scope may be important. The performance of older scopes may not be as good as the newer ones.

I expect to get my hands on some Sidewinder scopes for test and eval later this week. I'll post whatever I learn.

 

[encore man]

i have a viper hs on a 300 wm love it . i cant comment on the side winder never had one before

 

[Muttt]

I own a Vortex Viper 6.5-20 x 50 PA and it is by far the best scope I have ever used. And, that includes Zeiss and Leupold. The tracking and turrets are top notch. The glass is superb. This is now my go to scope. You CAN'T buy a better scope for that money.

Stay away from any scope made in China