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Hawke Vantage - worst mil reticle available?

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Kragman1:
Just received a new Vantage 4-12x40 AO with their Mil Dot reticle, and the dots themselves really just tiny bumps along the crosshairs, that barely protrude from the crosshair wire.  They are not "defined", they are barely visible even against a contrasting background. 
A quick check against a wooded background showed me how badly the reticle dissappears, and will make this scope nearly useless in the woods.

To all you Hawke people out there - is the reticle in thie pic below normal?

Right now, I wish that I had bought a Burris Droptine for the same cost or an Athlon Argos for a few dollars more...

PasadenaMike:
There’s no pic but I know what reticle you’re referring to. To me that’s a good reticle for hunting but not precise target work. Find a reticle that works for you.

Kragman1:
Thanks Mike

I am finding that hard to do, as so many of the less expensive scope models are restricted to duplex or BDC reticles by their manufacturer.

The scope that comes closest to what I'm looking for is probably the AMX reticle in the AirMax line but they are much too expensive for me to populate my air rifle collection with.

The best I can hope for it seems is something like a 12X scope with a mil dot reticle that subtends correctly at 10X.  A Mil Dot with half-Mil hashes would be much better for me, but l don't know of any affordable ones outside of some Nikko Stirlings, and I don't know much about their quality beyond what I can infer from their low price and country of origin.

The AMX reticle may be a little fine but its generally easy to use, and gives me enough graduated reticle to shoot past 100 yards with a 25 yard zero.  It's a little heavier than I want, and certainly more expensive (pushing $300 pretty much everywhere) but it does work the way it should, and my lone 4-12 AirMax hasn't given me any trouble since I got it 2-3 years ago.


ps - I recently had Vortex adjust the parallax to 50 yards on a 4-12 Copperhead with their BDC reticle.
It's not a perfect solution but it did do a nice job of making an inexpensive scope "airgun appropriate" I think.  Time will tell - I'll get it mounted on something and see how I like it after.some.practical use.

PasadenaMike:

--- Quote from: Kragman1 on March 14, 2024, 04:42:40 PM ---Thanks Mike

I am finding that hard to do, as so many of the less expensive scope models are restricted to duplex or BDC reticles by their manufacturer.

The scope that comes closest to what I'm looking for is probably the AMX reticle in the AirMax line but they are much too expensive for me to populate my air rifle collection with.

The best I can hope for it seems is something like a 12X scope with a mil dot reticle that subtends correctly at 10X.  A Mil Dot with half-Mil hashes would be much better for me, but l don't know of any affordable ones outside of some Nikko Stirlings, and I don't know much about their quality beyond what I can infer from their low price and country of origin.

The AMX reticle may be a little fine but its generally easy to use, and gives me enough graduated reticle to shoot past 100 yards with a 25 yard zero.  It's a little heavier than I want, and certainly more expensive (pushing $300 pretty much everywhere) but it does work the way it should, and my lone 4-12 AirMax hasn't given me any trouble since I got it 2-3 years ago.


ps - I recently had Vortex adjust the parallax to 50 yards on a 4-12 Copperhead with their BDC reticle.
It's not a perfect solution but it did do a nice job of making an inexpensive scope "airgun appropriate" I think.  Time will tell - I'll get it mounted on something and see how I like it after.some.practical use.

--- End quote ---

Have you tried focusing the reticle with the rear focus ring to work with your eye? I have a bunch of these scopes because they’re simple reticles for hunting. They are blurry a bit until focused

Bayman:
I have a Vantage 3-9x40 AO, a Vantage 3-9x40 non AO and a 4X non AO with the same MilDot reticle. My wife's Hw30 has a Vantage IR 2-7 32 AO with an etched MilDot reticle. I also have 8 Airmax scopes with AMX reticles.

I have no problem with seeing the dots on the Vantage scopes. They work better for hunting for me. They're thick enough to pick out against dark busy backgrounds where as AMX reticles get lost real quick. I love the AMX reticles for precision and long distance range shooting. The standard Vantage MilDot reticle is kind of coarse for that kind of work. The Vantage IR has a thinner etched standard MilDot reticle it's probably the best compromise. Unfortunately the glass on the Vantage IR line isn't as quite as good as the regular Vantage line.

I think your assessment is either based on a single defective scope or possibly unrealistic personal expectations. There's way too many people happy with these scopes that there's something inherently wrong with them. A standard MilDot reticle is and always a fairly simple reticle.

FWIW I just down sized scopes to three Vantage 2-7x32 scopes with 30-30 reticles for my wife's and my centerfire rifles. Overall the Vantage scopes are simple reliable units that IMO are a good value. Here's my Hw50 squirrel gun with the 4x MilDot Vantage. I love this combination because I can remember my holdovers and it's always focused from 11 yards out. I have no problem hitting 1" spinners at 25, 1.5" at 50 yards, pill bottles at 75 and beer cans at 100 because the reticle works fine for me.

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