RAW REPORT

[Ranger08]

All this talk of scopes has me wondering, what magnification do folks use for 75-100 yard benchrest competition? Is 6-24x enough?

I'm considering a new scope for my .30 and it will be used exclusively for target shooting so I want to get the right thing.

 

[SMH77]

Well, I don’t shoot competition (yet), but my scope has been stuck on 24x whenever shooting at 50 or 75 yards. The Hawke FFP scope has great clarity so it is plenty of magnification for the 75 yard shooting I do. It was also fine for when I shot 100 yards. However, I would always take more magnification if I had the option...


Sean

 

[Hynzie]

thanks guys for the printable target sights.i printed over 100 each 25 and 50 metere USARB card and more to come ill do the 75@100 meter ones next,way cheaper than buying so far im liking the egg shell instead of bright white color ,,110 # paper card stock,,,ive printed squirrels zombies and there are thousands more ,, theres even ones to make range cards ,gonna give that a try,,man theres just so much to learrn,,im just now understanding how to make a scope work with me as one ,,theres so much to learn and this is really my second season having my stuff together ,im still a rookie when it comes to scope knowledge ,ive done some research about shooting clubs i git the oldest shooting club in the usa ten miles from me ,,and theres more ,,i would love to get in the HOLBROOK sportsman club ,there membership is full maybe i can get in as a associate member,,did some reading on theese guys ,there the best of the best,,HYNZIE

 

[Brian.in.MI]

"SMH77"

"Brian.in.MI"@imold 
I sold the 8-32x Elite 4200 off of my .30 RAW and replaced it with an Athlon 8-34x FFP and have zero regrets. It’s a fairly heavy scope, but the glass is good and the reticle is..awesome. Did a 75 yard bench rest match with it on a very windy day and the reticle was a huge asset. It’s at the top of your price range at $600, but I thought it was worth mentioning. Happy scope hunting!
Brian
@airgunner.usa

Just to be clear (Brian), at that price point, I think you're referring to the Athlon Helos BTR (FFP) 8-34 x 56 scope, correct? That one runs just shy of $600. The Argos (being similar) is in the upper $380's, if I'm not mistaken? I would opt to go with the Helos myself for the locking turrets...
Sean

Ye
p, I was referring to the Helos BTR. It’s ideal for bench rest on a reasonable budget. Good scope, great reticle. Can’t imagine ever being held back by it for 100+ yard shooting. 

Brian
@airgunner.usa

 

[jps2486]

Re: scoping a RAW 30.

I saw some Athlon scopes at a recent gun show. Nice, but....if you really want to do this gun justice, mount a Sightron S3 10-50X60 on it with a milhash reticle.

 

[Hynzie]

"jps2486"Re: scoping a RAW 30.
I saw some Athlon scopes at a recent gun show. Nice, but....if you really want to do this gun justice, mount a Sightron S3 10-50X60 on it with a milhash reticle.

Are they that nice ffp or sfp. I been reading sauns scope reviews good stuff .I BEEN STUDY*NG HAWKE SCOPES....IT MAY BE TIME TO GET ONE... THE FFP MODELS.. I SEE THE SIDEWINDER IS OUT. THE FRONTIER IS COMING SOON. IN FFP.I SEE A LOT OCF GUYS GETTING THAT SIGHTRON MODEL THANX

 

[terrymc]

So my thoughts regarding scopes on a 30 cal RAW for 100 yards.

Personally I like all the magnification I can get for bench rest.
I know some very very good shooters (much better than me) that use 24x, however I love my 10-50 Hawkes.
You can always dial back at which point they give outstanding contrast and image quality.
They only get a little less contrasty and soft focus at 50X for me. However depth of field (focus depth for you non-photobugs)
is really really shallow at 50X making the even the movement of a 30 cal. recoil impact the focus of a target. (think less than 1/2")
The shooter that I know that is way better than me that uses a 24x also uses a S&B so it is a much higher price point than my Hawkes.
Also regarding Sightrons, I would love to try one, and they have a great reputation however I know of 1 person that changed from them to the Hawkes and they are significantly more expensive (50%) believe me a tried to get one at the same price or close to what I can find the Hawke ($769) but could not.

To me FFP is useful for shooting different ranges at different magnifications, but if you shoot at one magnification (which is likely on the bench) 
it gives you no additional advantage.
That said if I could find a single magnification bench scope of 50X or 60X with even better
image quality for the money that is what I would do for bench work.

Just my opinion.

 

[SMH77]

Great thoughts Terry. I’ve probably read some of the same comments you have regarding the Sightron vs Hawke.

I like my Hawke FFP-a lot-but I would love it even more if it went to at least 32x, and had a 60mm bell.

Since I both shoot target and hunt with mine, I really, really like the FFP scopes. Having said that, I could live with a SFP scope as long as the conditions below are met...

One thing I will absolutely insist on from this point forward: consistent units between the reticle and the turrets (and probably MIL). I can live with the measurement only being correct at a single magnification, but I need to be able to use my reticle as a tape measure, to measure how far off I am, and dial in the correct adjustment FAST on my turrets. This is a way new experience now, and I won’t go back to mixed units again-not going to do it. Note: I could work with MIL or MOA as I really don’t care what the distance is when measureing-I just want to measure, adjust, and shoot-and be SPOT on immediately.


Sean 

 

[jps2486]

The Sightrons optical clarity is excellent from min to max magnification. Not so with the Hawkes, especially the 8-32 and 10-50. They get dim and fuzzy at the upper end. I have several of each. For BR, the Sightrons can’t be beat. As good as the Night Forces or Marches IMO. The Hawke Sidewinder 30 6-24 is my favorite for FT because it ranges well and the 1/2 20x mildlot reticle is perfect for HFT.

 

[Brian.in.MI]

"jps2486"Re: scoping a RAW 30.
I saw some Athlon scopes at a recent gun show. Nice, but....if you really want to do this gun justice, mount a Sightron S3 10-50X60 on it with a milhash reticle.

Yes, the Sightron you mentioned was definitely in the running. I agonized over it for weeks! In the end I chose the Athlon 8-34x for the FFP and really sweet reticle. Also, my RAW isn’t strictly a bench queen, she does get to go hunting now and again. FFP is the way forward, IMO. So much less thought involved, and for me that’s a good thing ?

Brian
@airgunner.usa

 

[zx10wall]

Hello guys, I've just received my .25 HM1000X polygon barreled RAW. I have a few questions please:

1) For those of you with the polygon barrels, how often do you recommend cleaning?
2) With all my other regulated gun (mostly european bullpups), when dialing in/tuning, I've always found my peak fps with the HST for a given regulator set point. After finding the definite peak, I decrease HST to lower the fps 10-15 fps from the peak. Do you guys recommend this same "style" of tuning for the RAW?

Thank you in advance for the advise. 

 

[jps2486]

Every 2-300 shots

 

[Imold]

Afternoon, I finally got out today with the HMx 30 with the Aztec 5.5-25x50 on it and the more I shoot it with that scope the more I like it and needless to say I had no problems hitting sub 2” at 100 yards and I’m sure I could do moa with no problems if I tried but I was just having to much fun hitting my AR500 plates at 50 out to 100 yards and it’s way more funner then shooting from my living room out onto the frozen lake like I was doing this last winter and I will try and get a 125 yard target in without having to shoot from a different area on my property, I forgot how fun it is being outside under the canopy shooting away tethered to my 74 cf tank and getting constant hits on targets, I definitely needed this day to get back into the swing of shooting.
I did put my name down for notification of the FFP sidewinder 6-24 when it becomes available, I believe that will be my next big purchase for my Airguns but for now I can’t complain on what I have so it’s time to just enjoy and shoot.

 

[crgabel]

Jim,
Great to hear that you had a good time Jim. I still have another month of long hours before i can really get to do some real shooting.

zx10wall,
I too clean about every 300 rounds. It seems to work out well for me. As for the tune i really can not speak to that Ken will be doing that for me when he gets it from Martin.

Craig

 

[zx10wall]

Thanks guys. I’ll clean every tin or so. I ended getting the left hand RAW that was in the Classifieds a few weeks ago. Lefty thumbhole stock and lefty action. 

About the tune, the RAW delivered shooting the 34 gr at 860 fps. The reg looks to be set at 150 bar. I dialed in HST to find peak fps at this reg setting. Got up the 905 fps and then began to fall as 1/4 turn more HST was given. This let me know that peak was 905. So I targeted 890 for my set HST set point. 
This was all done in 75 degree weather. 

The RAW is very nice. Trigger is so light. 5-6 ounce second stage break. I’ll be competing with it Saturday in a benchrest silhouette competition. 1/10 scale silhouettes at 60 (chickens), 75 (pigs), 90 (turkeys) & 100 (rams). 

 

[Sell682]

I clean my barrel when I see groups open up. I don’t clean it frequently , I don’t touch what’s not broken.

 

[SMH77]

"Sell682"I clean my barrel when I see groups open up. I don’t clean it frequently , I don’t touch what’s not broken.

That is the same method I use as well.

 

[SMH77]

Not sure about posting the pics here or not, but I had my first chippy kill with the .30 cal setup the other day. I saw the target and ranged it at about 35 yards on the ground, setup on my retaining wall (awkwardly-using only one leg of a 'fake' Atlas bipod), took aim with the scope set to about 16-18x mag, and gently squeezed the trigger. After the thud, and twitching rear foot, I walked over to see the precisely placed heart / shoulder shot (slightly quartering away) on the entrance side, and low neck (on exit side-a rather good size hole, I might add). The gun was like a laser, and there was zero suffering involved. There was no attempt to move, and a laser line in the dirt behind the chippy showing the pellets travel through and into the ground where it was perched.

Sniping chipmunks at longer distances is challenging work-normally I do this from seated or kneeling positions (occasionally standing too). This was one of the first with a bi/monopod setup.

Very effective and the accuracy it presents on paper is obviously still there on quarry / varmints as well.

I can post pic's if desired...

 

[Hotbrass]

As stated before, I am a hunter and hunt with the RAW HM1000X .25. I will clean the barrel when accuracy changes. I received the gun in Dec of 2018. Forgot to clean it and shot it about 50 shots. Cleaned the barrel, and have been through 2 tins of 33.95`s, misc others to see how they shoot. Have not cleaned it since. When I can pick off ground squirrels with head shots at 82 yards, there is no need to clean the barrel.

 

[Imold]

Afternoon all, well today I went out with the Wildcat .25 with the Tec Optics fixed 10x42 and at 50 yards my 1st shot was dead on(the hole in the bottom was from yesterday with the 30 from siting it in)and then I was using hold over for 75 and 100 yards and hitting the AR500 targets with no problems, the scope work very nicely but my main reason for shooting the Wildcat was to see if I really want to sell it to buy a HMx .25 or just buy a HMx .25 right out and keep the Wildcat but anyway I ran out of air being I forgot to refill my supply tank.
Im getting ready to go out with the HMx .357 and I just filled my tank so I can shoot tethered, I have another Aztec Emerald 5.5-25 on the 357 so again I’ll see how that scope works with the 357. I took a few pics and you can see where I opened up my field for the home I want to put out there and now I just need to win the lottery hahaha but anyway can’t wait to get out with the 357 and if not again today maybe tomorrow but I can’t wait.