Hawke TAC 30 Sidewinder

Built to a price but with some practical features Deben’s latest scopes from their Hawke range are a lot more than meets the eye as Pete Moore discovers

As I said last month in my review of the MTC Taipan there’s no such thing as an airgun scope. OK airgunners may gravitate to certain makes/types, which gives the wrong message about employment and role. I have for about three months been looking at the new Hawke Sidewinder TAC 30 range from Deben and come to the conclusion that they offer an unashamedly tactical yet practical, multi-role design.

There are five choices; HK4034 10x42, HK4020 4.5-14x38, HK4022 4.5-14x42, HK4026 6.5-20x42 and HK4030 8.5-25x42. All except the 4020 offer a Mil-Dot reticule with ½ and 1-dot subtensions on the inner arms. This one has the SR6 ret, which I have to admit is more aimed at the airgunner as it was specifically designed for Deben by Nick Jenkins. All offer 30mm body tubes, side-focus, red/green illumination along with screw-off lens caps, transit box, lockable turrets and a fast focus eyepiece. A sun shade and 2” side wheel extension is supplied for all except the 4020, which has a 4” version.

Similar But Different

On test are the 10x42, 4.5-14x42 and 6.5-20x42, which for my needs translates to target and medium to longer range general use, hunting and target. Build, weight and style is identical with 30mm, one-piece bodies and 42mm objectives, the last of which offers a lower mounting position, which can be advantageous. The 10x42 is slightly shorter due to the lack of a magnification zoom ring.

Turrets are the now popular locking variety, which to a degree solves the problem of target-types in the field. In this case they pull up to rotate and push down to lock. An Allen screw in the top of the drum allows you to slip them to 0 after zeroing. Click values are ¼ MOA @100-yards with 60-clicks per turn (15”) and five full revolutions in both planes. Elevation is divided into 15 increment subdivided into 1/4s, windage starts at 0 and goes 7 ½ in either direction. Total movement is 75” top to bottom, side to side. They move easily enough and the clicks are positive and easily heard.

The magnification ring is nice and grippy with a raised blade to help. The fast focus is unusual in that it also features a lock ring for anti-recoil purposes; not sure about that as it rather defeats the object… The rheostat is combined with the side focus, the latter features raised lugs for ease of operation and is marked 10, 25, 50, 100, 200, 500-yards and 8. Set at maximum magnification the range markings conform reasonably well to actual distances out to about 200-yards then they veer off a bit. But this seems to be par for the course no matter what make…

Illumination offers five red and green settings with the whole reticule lighting up. Good for using Mil-Dot for rangefinding but you do get a minimal ‘out of focus’ effect due to the glare on the reticule picture. Which is not ideal for small targets in low light, for hunting, a central point only would be preferable! All the reticules are of the floating type with round dots and pointers indicating the full and ½-Mil subtensions, with the outer arms being skeleton-types divided into 1/5 and 1-Mil boxes. The 10x42 and 4.5-14x42 differ by being smaller in the view when compared to the 6.5-20x42, which is bigger.

Light transmission is good and using a torch shone through the scope the actual objective diameter projected is near on 42mm. Mil-Dot settings differ with the x10 and 4.5-14 being at x10, the 6.5-20 is x20.

I used the TAC 30s on a series of rifles from rimfires to fullbores with no ill effects and they are not bad. Low light performance is OK, but given and like many scopes of this class they are built to a price I think the whole package is more than acceptable. In daylight they do what they say on the box and it’s here they shine, with areas like the lockable/quick dialling turrets and well presented and marked reticule allowing a good degree of precision use.

These are no Night Force or similar up market/high-cost scopes, but they do the business well enough and all day long for a fraction of the price. To sum them up they are well featured and honest value for money and I feel many a rifle shooter - no matter what their game - will find them just that.

For: General good build and some useful features
Against: Not sure about the dual colour illumination
Verdict: Useful and good value for money

Hawke TAC 30 series
Body tube 30mm
Finish matt black
Red &green illumination
Side focus
Lockable turrets
Lockable fast focus
Reticule Mil-Dot or SR6 (4.5-14x38 only)
Carry case
Screw-on lens caps

PRICES:
10-x42 £229
4.5-14x38 £259
4.5-14x42 £259
6.5-20x42 £279
8.5-25x42 £299