Hunter Class Scope Recommendations For ~$600 Budget

[Sqwirl57]

I have a friend looking to get into Hunter Class Field Target and he's needs recommendations for an optic that best suites his needs. He has a Helix that he really likes already but we were both wondering if there was a better option in that $600 price range. Thanks in advance!

 

[drsquall]

Man, I like my athlon helos Gen 2 4-20 ffp mil. The reticle is fully illuminated and has .2 mil holdover hashes.it also has locking turrets which I'm a big fan of. I also have a Heras 2nd focal plane 6-24 that's okay but to me the helos snaps better for me at 16 and I actually think my argos gen 2 6-24 ffp is better than the Heras.

 

[Franklink]

Athlon Midas Tac for Field Target

For about a year and a half I've been working towards this final product on the first Midas Tac I picked up, and that grew to include the second one I bought from the classifieds more recently. The goal was to have yardage marks on the sidewheels for both 24x (max) and 16x so that the guns...

www.airgunnation.com

I've used them for a couple Hunter matches. Best Ive done in Hunter while using the Midas Tac was a 58/60 on a 34.6T course.

They'll work quite nicely, and right in the budget you're talking.

 

[Nico5999]

Midas Tac is great. Personally, I don't like FFP for field target. I don't think it makes sense vs an SFP option.

If I were to start shooting Hunter Class again, I would take my Hawke Sidewinder 30 off of my speed silo gun and use that. Depth of field on these really excellent. Even @16x they snap in and out of focus well especially for the price point. Before I sold my 6-24 Midas Tac, I compared the ranging to my 6.5-20 Sidewinder. @16x, the Sidewinder was noticeably better to my eye. For FT, I also like the slightly cleaner reticle in the Sidewinder since you'll be restricted to using holdovers in Hunter. Plenty of hold points for a 20 FPE gun out to 55 yards, but not nearly as cluttered as the APSR options in the Athlons. FFP reticles will also likely NOT be optimally sized at 16x (either too fine or too thick) compared to an SFP.

You can regularly find Sidewinders in the classifieds for around $450 or so. There's a 6-24 on eBay for about $500 that's virtually new in box. Seller would probably take $450. Hawke's warranty transfers between buyers if I'm not mistaken.

Hawke 17220 Sidewinder Scope 30 SF 6-24x56 20x Half Mil Dot IR Illuminated | eBay

The Hawke 17220 Sidewinder Scope 30 SF 6-24x56 20x Half Mil Dot IR Illuminated is a high-quality competition scope suitable for rifles. This scope is designed by Hawke Sport Optics and is perfect for hunting and shooting sports.

www.ebay.com

TLDR: Both are great scopes - really can't go wrong but I think the Sidewinder offers more to Hunter class shooters than the Midas Tac. For NRL, that's another conversation.

 

[drsquall]

FFP vs SFP is a big debate to some. I have shot FFP competitive way before air rifles and I can't stand a SFP now. It sucks because the SFP scopes are usually cheaper than a comparable FFP of same quality. But on air rifles I dont think high dollar scopes are needed for hunter class.

 

[XSUltimate]

Sightron S-TAC, Bushnell Match Pro and Vortex Diamondback Tactical are all good scopes less than $600 if you care to look at those and see how they fill your needs.
Meopta Optika 5 also!
Thx
Dan

 

[jwrabbit123]

I got a like new stac 3x15 mil ffp for sale great scope it is this one
this one https://sightron.com/collections/s-tac-series/products/s-tac-ffp-3-16x42-zero-stop
a few hunred off new pricing and they have lifetime warranty great scope , I also would say swfa 3x15 is decient scope in that price point i got a few of them

 

[MikeAndrews]

Bushnell Match Pro and Athlon Midas Tac have both served me well.

 

[jamxpr1]

Nope. You are right drsquall for air gun hunting you don't need an expensive scope. A good reputable company with a good and fair warranty is all you need for general use small game hunting. There are a lot for great options under $400 some as low as $200 (sale). Pinning your options to a $600 scope because it cost $600 doesn't make you a better shooter or improve accuracy. Maybe you meant to say that's your budget. It that regard it comes down to technique, ammo, and lots of practice. Watch for the Kool-Aid out there. If you have a good gun, good matched up ammo, a decent eye piece, As they say : If you can see it you can kill it! and again "dead is dead" whether its an FX or an Avenge X. The end result is the same.

 

[Solo1]

6-24x56 helos- ranges well very bright and clear

 

[NAProf]

FFP vs SFP is a big debate to some. I have shot FFP competitive way before air rifles and I can't stand a SFP now. It sucks because the SFP scopes are usually cheaper than a comparable FFP of same quality. But on air rifles I dont think high dollar scopes are needed for hunter class.

Just my two cents, but I think the winner in the Hunter Class AAFTA Nationals last fall was using a Nightforce NX8. A pretty high dollar scope, though not a March. Several of the other leaders were using Sightron SIII FT's which are around $1500 new.
Cheers,
Greg

 

[Sqwirl57]

Nope. You are right drsquall for air gun hunting you don't need an expensive scope. A good reputable company with a good and fair warranty is all you need for general use small game hunting. There are a lot for great options under $400 some as low as $200 (sale). Pinning your options to a $600 scope because it cost $600 doesn't make you a better shooter or improve accuracy. Maybe you meant to say that's your budget. It that regard it comes down to technique, ammo, and lots of practice. Watch for the Kool-Aid out there. If you have a good gun, good matched up ammo, a decent eye piece, As they say : If you can see it you can kill it! and again "dead is dead" whether its an FX or an Avenge X. The end result is the same.

Yes the post was intended to mean a $600 max budget. Mostly I'm looking for best ranging ability here with relatively repeatable dialing, although I would rather have better glass and ranging than dialing ability for a Hunter class scope in this price range.

 

[drsquall]

Just my two cents, but I think the winner in the Hunter Class AAFTA Nationals last fall was using a Nightforce NX8. A pretty high dollar scope, though not a March. Several of the other leaders were using Sightron SIII FT's which are around $1500 new.
Cheers,
Greg

I've had Sightrons FT and don't care for it the temp shift was terrible with it. I refuse to spend that much on a scope for air rifle. If you want to talk quality scopes I can pull out my tangent thetas, S&Bs and ZC but those are for a different game where money was involved and not suited for air rifles. If memory serves me right I think a UTG scope won nationals one year as well. To each his own but just because someone wins nationals with scope A doesn't make it the best for competition. It's just what he likes to use and works for him and nothing else.

 

[Solo1]

I've had Sightrons FT and don't care for it the temp shift was terrible with it. I refuse to spend that much on a scope for air rifle. If you want to talk quality scopes I can pull out my tangent thetas, S&Bs and ZC but those are for a different game where money was involved and not suited for air rifles. If memory serves me right I think a UTG scope won nationals one year as well. To each his own but just because someone wins nationals with scope A doesn't make it the best for competition. It's just what he likes to use and works for him and nothing else.

Yes but for the average shooter without having been involved in ft for the last 20 years the most important thing in a hft scope is rangeing. No matter how good a shot you are if you shoot at the 3/8” @ 10 yds like its 12 its a miss same thing on the other end

 

[Franklink]

Yep, the 10-15sh yards is the most critical, can't even by off by a yard on the ranging estimation or you'll miss. 15-20ish can MAYBE get away with having it within the correct yard or two. After that, most setups only need you to be with about a 5 yard window of estimated versus actual distance and it'll still fall, with a good wind read and a steady hand.

Can get away with a budget friendly option if you're willing to spend some time learning the scope. As was stated above, even a UTG can win Nationals, provided the user really knows the scope.

Of course as you go up in the price range, image at all distances gets clearer, which generally makes range estimation easier.

 

[drsquall]

Yes but for the average shooter without having been involved in ft for the last 20 years the most important thing in a hft scope is rangeing. No matter how good a shot you are if you shoot at the 3/8” @ 10 yds like its 12 its a miss same thing on the other end

agree you need the right tool for the job. But in hunter class it's the far ranging that everyone hates. Most have a hard time telling between 45-55 yds and that is why people bracket at those farther distances to confirm their wheel. It's because of the 16 power limit. Open or Wftf don't complain. Most decent scopes goto 10yds and can be focused to that.

 

[Aimright]

6-24x56 helos- ranges well very bright and clear

I also use this Helos scope on my FT rifle also, it has a great Mil reticle with .2 mil graduations that is thick enough for my aging eyes. The 45-55 yards ranging is always a little sketchy for me. About $515 now at Cameraland.


A couple guys at my FT club have the Konus Pro F30 8-32x56. I had a chance to check one out a couple weeks ago at our weekly match - I was totally amazed how it snapped in focus at 16x even at 55 yds. This one club member actually swapped his Kahles $3000 FT scope for this Konus Pro since it ranges better at 16x at the 45+ yds than the Kahles. These are running about $450 now on Amazon.

A scope I recently purchased for a Mrod I built for my grandkids that I DON’T recommend for hunter FT is the Athlon Talos 6-24x50 with the Mil reticle. Its glass is pretty dark and ranging past 35 was tough. The reticle is very thin too.

 

[drsquall]

I also use this Helos scope on my FT rifle also, it has a great Mil reticle with .2 mil graduations that is thick enough for my aging eyes. The 45-55 yards ranging is always a little sketchy for me. About $515 now at Cameraland.


A couple guys at my FT club have the Konus Pro F30 8-32x56. I had a chance to check one out a couple weeks ago at our weekly match - I was totally amazed how it snapped in focus at 16x even at 55 yds. This one club member actually swapped his Kahles $3000 FT scope for this Konus Pro since it ranges better at 16x at the 45+ yds than the Kahles. These are running about $450 now on Amazon.

A scope I recently purchased for a Mrod I built for my grandkids that I DON’T recommend for hunter FT is the Athlon Talos 6-24x50 with the Mil reticle. Its glass is pretty dark and ranging past 35 was tough. The reticle is very thin too.

I don't have the 6-24 helos but the 4-20 helos gen 2 with same reticle and it seems to my eyes to range well. Some people eyes are better and can range better with the same scope others can't.

 

[Nico5999]

I don't know if it's been mentioned but the Mueller Tactical 8-32 was very popular for a while at my club back in NY. I knew some hunter guys that regularly shot 80%+ with that scope. Biggest downside is it's just a standard mil-dot (which can be VERY serviceable, but a 1/2 Mil Dot is a huge step up). You can find them for about $240 brand spanking new which is an absolute steal.

 

[cavedweller]

I got a like new stac 3x15 mil ffp for sale great scope it is this one
this one https://sightron.com/collections/s-tac-series/products/s-tac-ffp-3-16x42-zero-stop
a few hunred off new pricing and they have lifetime warranty great scope , I also would say swfa 3x15 is decient scope in that price point i got a few of them

Same scope at optic planet is almost $200 cheaper - see Amazon