I did a similar comparison last weekend with three scopes, but really just wanted to see clarity and contrast, and didn't compare turrets, reticles, weight, etc. All three reticles are sufficient for hunting up to 100 yards, or further, so I wasn't too concerned about that, or about MIL - MOA, since using Strelok Pro it doesn't really matter. And yes, the Hawke is quite porky compared to the other two.
So, the three scopes were the Hawke Sidewinder 6.5-20x42, the Vortex Razor HD LH 3-15x42, and the Sightron Big Sky 4-16x42. I set all three lined up on a table on a clear morning in San Diego, and looked across the canyon area at houses approx. 700 yards away. I initially set all three scopes to 8x, and looked at all three one after the other, while looking at houses that provided good contrast. It was apparent that the Hawke and Vortex were better than the Sightron, so I removed the Sightron (the Sightron was good, just not great).
Next, with the remaining two scopes, I set the magnification to 15x, since that's as high as the Vortex goes. I looked from one to the other, over and over, looking at various houses, and I have to say, they were VERY close in clarity. However, in contrast, the Vortex was slightly better.
That shouldn't be too surprising, since the Vortex MSRP is twice that of the two other scopes, and it uses HD glass. What was surprising is that prior to doing this, I thought the Hawke and Sightron would be about the same, and the Vortex would be significantly better. The results didn't support my presumption.
Mike
