Hi all

I recently bought a Hawke Panorama EV 4-12x40 IR with half mil dot ret which I intended to use on my s400 . Firstly the scope sits really low to the barrel with low mounts which is great as you don't have to strain your neck to get a clear image when prone . I have also scooped out the cheek-piece and I have to say it is the best set up I have ever used for comfort and eye relief .

As it sat so low I thought I would give it a test on my prosport and with low mounts it sits a ' films width ' ( 35mm not betamax ) from the action. It's also lighter than scopes I am used to which is a boon when shooting a springer especially if you are a weakling like me .

The scope was parallaxed at 23 yards on 9 mag and seemed to be spot on with 45 yards being blurred , 8 yards wasn't too bad at all which is handy . I tested the scope at 25 yards and with this set up the mil dots were true at 9 mag using the pre printed mil dot targets.

I have never liked red illuminated rets and always found that on high settings they would blur and obscure a small kill zone where as the lowest settings were fairly useless but the Hawke has a blue ret which works surprisingly well . The half mil dot it a real gem and I didn't lose the ret at all , the optics were also right up there easily equal to my bushnells and better than a lot of scope I have owned or tried over the years .

I am not saying these scopes will be for everyone but of all the people who tried in only one said he wouldn't buy one as he favoured a 30/30 ret ( the weirdo . lol )

All in all I am extremely impressed , well done Hawke its a corker !

atvb

Dave

UPDATE : Also took this out and tested it between 8 and 50 yards in low light using the blue IR , simply superb IMO . Optically very impressive !