Hawke 3 MOA Wide View Red Dot Sight

The parallax-free, 1x (non-magnifying) generic red dot sight has been around since the 1960s, used by sports shooters and the police/military alike. I have an original, British, Single Point design (circa 1960), which is a world away from today’s sophisticated systems, but probably the first to prove the concept.

Tube or reflex?

I was looking for a compact red dot for my Marlin 1894 lever-action rifle and thought of Hawke Sports Optics. The reflex uses an L-shaped open frame, with the dot reflected onto a vertical front screen. I chose the Wide View with Weaver clamp, at 1.5” wide, 1.8” high, 2.3” long and a mere 3oz (including base) in weight. On a .22” semi-auto, AR15-type, with a ring mounting, it could be fitted in parallel, to a low power scope, or in an angled mount on a Picatinny forend rail, for fast and close work.

Wide angle

This is a bit of a misnomer, as you are not so restricted as with a tube-type. However, it does offer a wider frame to gather and view the red dot, which I like. The red dot itself measures 3 MOA (minutes of angle), so at 100 yards it will cover a 3” area on the target. Basically, it is big enough that you can see it clearly and quickly, but not so big that it obscures the target or makes accurate shots difficult.

Sitting a low 1.6” above the base, the black-anodised aluminium chassis feels strong, with two flush-fit adjusters, at 12 o’clock for elevation and 3 o’clock for windage, both offering 1 MOA click values at 100 yards, marked D for down and R for right.

Screw off

Power comes from a CR2032 battery that sits under a plate that’s retained on the right side by two screws. Hawke supplies a micro-Phillips screwdriver to change it and two spare screws. On the left are the rheostat controls, press either to turn the unit ON/OFF and individually to raise/lower the eight levels of brightness. A snap-on rubber cover is also included.

Seeing red

The optic worked well in most lighting conditions and on most illumination settings. However, in really bright light you do struggle to see the dot a little. In low light, there was enough reduction to dial it down as required. In all settings, it retains its size and shape, and the circuitry has a standby (power down) mode if it hasn’t been used for five minutes.

When zeroing, the dot will physically move in the view, with all corrections working in reverse. Moving the dial in direction D pushes it up, forcing you to bring the rifle down and vice versa. Equally, in R it moves it left, so moving the rifle right to compensate. You get 30 clicks per turn and six full rotations. Overall, a well-priced and made red dot, that is well-suited to both hunting and range use.