SMK4-16x50AOE V's HAWKE NITE EYE 6.5-20AO

[THE GRIFF]

SMK4-16x50AOE V's HAWKE NITE EYE 6.5-20X50AO

I have recently bought both of these scopes and considering the Hawke scope is nearly twice the price I thought I would let you know my oppinion about them both.

I bought the SMK scope first to go on a air rifle, but to cut a long story short my FAC came through and it ended up going on my new cz .22 rimmy. I had a nikko stirling scope on my air rifle and compared to the SMK scope the nikko one wasn't even comparable. The SMK scope is very clear throughout all of the magnifications, the parallax adjustment fine tunes the image at a distance and seems to be quite accurate on the distance it says on the dial scale. The illuminated mill dot is spot on and can be adjusted through different brightness settings for different situations, although you only get the option of red in colour compared to the Hawke. They say that cheap scopes are not very good during low light(dawn/dusk) and sometimes not very clear under a lamp, this is not the case with the SMK, the first night I had the scope I found myself looking down my road under street lights with it and couldn't believe how clear it was, it also performs well at dusk and the image is clear under the lamp. The parallax adjustment and the magnification can be altered smoothly and the illumination knob clicks into the different settings as it should. The scope can easily be adjusted and set up by the turrets under the screw down turret caps. I was so impressed with this scope I was going to get one for my .22 hornet.
I have recently bought a .22 hornet and whilst in the shop I got talking to the sales assistant about a suitable scope for it. I was looking at some scopes and picked up the Hawke Nite Eye. The sales assistant told me to take it outside and have a look how clear it was, I came back in the shop and told him I have a SMK scope that is a noticeable amount more clear than the hawke one and it was nearly half the price. He said to me the the SMK scopes are not suitable for centrefire rifles and that the hawke would perform alot better under low light conditions than the SMK. I took what he said with a pinch of salt because at the end of the day he was a salesman and wanted to get a sale. The reason I bought this scope was because of the higher magnification, I wanted a slightly higher mag for the hornet as it will mainly be used for rabbits between 100 and 200 yards. SMK dont do a higher mag than the 16x. The quality and build of the scope probably feels slightly better than the SMK one, just daft things like the quality of the turret caps. The Hawke scope has 2 colour illuminations for the illuminated mill dot, a choice of red or green, the only time I can think I may ever use the green illumination would possibly be lamping with a red filter on the lamp but I have always managed in the past with a red cross hair, I think this is more of a gimmick than anything else.

All things considered the SMK scope in my oppinion in more clear than the Hawke in the daylight, dawn, dusk and under a lamp, the Hawke scope gets worse as you get into the higher magnification but in its defence it does have a sliightly higher mag than the SMK. The Hawke scope is not a poor scope to look through my no means, but compared to the SMK scope in my oppinion it not as clear. The feel and build quality of the SMK is in my oppinion not as good as the Hawke, but at the end of the day I buy a scope to do a job and thats to look through and see rabbits as clearly as possible. As far as the SMK scopes not being suitable for centrefire rifles goes according to reviews I have read on the web then the sale assistant was not telling the truth, apparently the SMK scope is ok for centrefires. I have now put 200 shots through the rimfire with the SMK scope on it and it has kept its zero spot on.

So to end this reveiw I would say if you want a reasonably priced scope for a air rile or rimfire the SMK scope is very clear and is very good value for money, in my oppinion its better than scopes twice its price. One reveiw I read on this scope in one of the airgun magazines said these SMK scopes perform as good as scopes in the £300-£500 price bracket, this is for you to decide but I would defanatly say this scope outperforms scopes twice its price.

[Amac]

Very thorough review Griff. I havent had one of SMKs offerings for many moons now, but I can remember in the mid nineties when I bought a basic 3-9x40 that it had a sight picture at least as clear as offerings from the likes of Tasco costing considerably more.

I reckon that most of the none Jap scopes probably originate in the same factory anyway, certainly the lenses. It just goes to show that you should check out the clarity of any potential scope purchase for yourself before making any decisions. I had an old "cheap" AGS scope on a Ruger rimfire for years that didnt rattle to bits and held its zero.

I think that SMK are worthy of consideration for a good quality relatively low cost scope from what you have found.

Have fun!

Andy

[THE GRIFF]

I have just got back from ferreting today, and had a daft hour shooting with it in the dark without a lamp, there was still alot of snow about and I shot a rabbit at about 60 yards with it and could see it ok. I also had it on full mag and shot one at 100 yards as it was getting dark so it seems to be just the job.
Alot of these chinese made scopes on the well known 'auction site' are probably made in the same factory as the origonals. There is one scope on there that looks exactly the same as the Hawke nite eye, it even has the 2 colour choice on the cross hair. It makes you wonder exactly how much we are paying for the name!!

[Amac]

A lot in most cases I think Griff!
Andy