Now that I've had the Frontier 30 4-20x for about a month and actually got a chance to use it I will speak to it's pluses and minuses as best I can. Sorry if this turns into a ramble.
The Frontier 30 FFP has been mounted on my Uragan Standard .30 since I got it. I'm using a basic Warne one piece mount which I already had.
I really like the metal flip covers. There's just something about the emotions that come from the tactile experience of lifting a spring loaded weighted lens cover. Very satisfying.
This is the first Hawke scope I've owned. I will compare this scope to the Nightforce NX8 4-32 which I have owned and the March-F 3-24x42, which I currently own two of and has become my standard for a long range scope.
Clarity and reticle. No it's not as clear as my March-F, but damn is it close. The brightness is still there at 20x and it is still clearer than most scope I've looked through but not as nice at the March-F. I would say VERY close to the Nightforce NX8 4-32. Now the Nightforce 4-32 has an issue where brightness starts to suffer from 24 x on up. So I'll compare the Nightforce below 24x with the Hawke 4-20. Clarity is very close. Also the reticle on the Hawke appears very similar to how the Nightforce Mil-XT reticle appear in the view finder. That is a good thing. I really liked the Nightforce reticle and how it illuminated. The Hawke is very close. Now the FML-1 reticle on the March is just different, but is still more appealing, to me, than the Nightforce or Hawke reticle. I don't detect any noticeable CA and edge to edge focus (on my sample) is very good.
I like the locking turrets. They have a soft but distinct click. In terms up best turrets I would go March, Nightforce, Hawke. They are not what I would call mushy though. Distinct, accurate and repeatable.
The focus/parallax knob. Ugh - I wish it was weighted a bit or they used a better helical grease. It suffers from some stiction to get going. Once on the move the knob is smooth and easy to get to the right focus. March and Nightforce much better.
Zoom knob. Again - I wish it was weighted a bit or they used some helical grease. Moves smoothly but has a little stiction to get going as well.
So random thoughts. I move away from the Nightforce NX8 4-32 to the March-F because it was clearer, had a better reticle, better feel on all knobs and was clearly shorter and lighter than the Nightforce 4-32. I didn't really need the 24x - 32x range anyway. I was able to get very good deals on the two March-F 3-24 scopes I have, but even owning two is a monetary stretch for me. So when I needed a third I had to look at less expensive options. The shortness and lightweight specs of the Hawke Frontier 30 FFP caught me eye. I have not been dissappointed.
To call the Hawke Frontier 30 FFP an everyday man's Nightforce NX8 would not be a far stretch.
