First impressions: wide angle winner

Mike Morton looks at the Hawke Airmax 30 Touch 3-12×32 AMX IR – a short scope that offers an even shorter eye relief, but a wide field of view

No doubt about it, there’s a definite trend for smaller, lighter PCPs these days, as witnessed by the multitude of bullpups that are currently on offer – with plenty more still to come. So there’s been a corresponding desire for more minimalistic scopes to match, such as the Airmax 30 Touch.

In this case, minimalistic refers only to the size and weight of this scope, as its features and accessories are anything but. The Touch is referred to as a scope offering zero eye relief.

In fact the distance between your eye and the ocular lens is roughly 3cm when looking through this sight, but the ocular focus ring itself can be placed very close to your face, even touching it if you want, hence the name.

This helps create a scope with a wide field of view – how much of the scene you can see in front of you while looking through the scope – which will increase or decrease with any changes you make to magnification.

KEY SPECS

Manufacturer: Hawke (www.hawkeoptics.com)
Model: Airmax 30 Touch 3-12×32 AMX IR
Price: £319
Tube diameter: 30mm
Magnification: 3-12
Objective lens: 32mm
Reticle: AMX IR
Illumination: Red – six levels with off positions in between
Parallax: Side focus – 9m (10 yards) to infinity
Eye relief: 30mm (1.2”)
Length: 266mm (10.5”)
Weight: 572g (20.2oz)
Features: Waterproof, shockproof, nitrogen-purged

This is an important consideration for the hunter, as seeing more of the world in front of you while looking through the optic on your rifle will allow you to acquire a quarry animal more quickly and track it more easily if it moves.

Hawke has put together quite an impressive package, as the Touch includes target-style turrets that are capped and resettable, plus an illuminated reticle.

Switch it on and it’s lit up in red with six levels of brightness that have an off position between each one, making it easy to select your preferred level of illumination.

The AMX IR reticle is based on the spacing of a 10x mildot, and half-mil spacing on the lower post provides increased aim points for long ershots

The scope is equipped with Hawke’s AMX IR glass-etched reticle, which offers multiple aim points and displays true mildot spacing at 10x magnification.

A soft rubber scope enhancer is included as standard, as is a 3” sidewheel for extra precision when focusing the scope and adjusting parallax down to 10 yards (nine metres), and the scope is protected by a set of bikini-style lens covers.

The tiny Touch is certainly big on features, and we’ll be bringing you a full review very soon.

The ocular focus ring can either be left in fast-focus mode as seen here or fixed in place by turning the knurled locking collar
A scope enhancer is included with the Touch, as some shooters really appreciate the ability to block out distracting peripheral light
Another item included in the package is this small sidewheel, which is a friction fit, meaning it can be put on or taken off in the field
Unscrew the caps from the tall windage and elevation turrets and you’re left with a target-style system should you want to dial in your shots
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