Ever run into someone and know you should know them, but you can’t quite put your finger on where or when you know them from? That was my feeling when I opened the box from BlackHound Optics and took a look at the contents. Style and design of the scope looked familiar, but I couldn’t quite place it. Then I dug into the box and things became clearer.
For 40 years, the manufacturer that is now BlackHound was an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) supplier scopes for others. They took all of their manufacturing expertise and created a radical new distribution plan and business model to give their customers the most value for their hard-earned dollars. This simple but effective model allows BlackHound to provide high quality optics for substantially less.
I was fortunate to receive their 6-24×50 MOA scope to review. Unfortunately, the scope arrived in the midst of the first Covid-19 wave and subsequently all ranges were shut down for an extended period. All I could do was unbox the scope and take a look at what BlackHound packs into each box. When they say they pack everything you need to shoot, right out of the box, they are not kidding. In the box was the scope, the rings, levels, even the Allen wrenches needed to mount the scope. Nothing was overlooked.
I mounted the scope to a Mossberg Patriot Predator in 6.5 Creedmoor. As advertised, mounting the scope was very easy. The included bubble levels made keeping the scope level a piece of cake. Then all I had to do was wait until I could take to the range. It proved to be a longer wait than I thought.
So, while I waited for the ranges to open, I decided to dive more deeply into the features of the scope I was going to review and what kind of company BlackHound was.
First and foremost, the optic. Specs for this scope read like a product costing substantially more than the MSRP for the Genesis Series. The tube is 30mm and made of high strength aluminum. Lenses are multicoated and nitrogen purged.
Parallax adjustment is from 10 yards to infinity, field of view is 16.2 feet to 4.2 feet at 100 yards, depending on magnification setting. The open turret style provides ¼-MOA per click adjustment, with a 12-MOA travel per rotation. Elevation/windage adjustments up to 70 MOA.
The 6-24×50 Genesis includes an illuminated reticle powered by a standard CR2032 lithium button type battery. The illumination is adjustable and when turned up to the max, provides a bright red highlight to the reticle. This scope was built to perform and pack in as many features as possible into a working man’s optic.
As impressive as the features of the scope are, the guarantee that Blackhound offers is rather remarkable. In short, no matter where you purchase your scope, if it fails to perform or suffers non-cosmetic damage that affects its function during normal use, BlackHound will replace it free. Better still, the guarantee is fully transferable.
I took the Mossberg with the scope mounted and spent a pleasant Sunday morning getting the scope zeroed in. I should note that the Mossberg came with a picatinny rail mount system. After bore sighting the scope, I tried shooting to see where it would hit on paper.
Oddly, it appeared that where I thought the scope was sighted was not the case. It was rapidly becoming a puzzlement until our Editor-In-Chief suggested I switch the rings on the rail. Bingo! Once I swapped positions with the mounts the scope was shooting true at 25 yards. He stated that he had run into similar situations with Picatinny mounts in past. Regular mounts should be fine either way, but something to consider when you’re setting up your zero.
We moved the target out to 100 yards and began shooting for groups. My best was a one-inch group with Hornady ammunition. Other groups were a bit wider, but that was due more to other variables such as ammo preferences for the rifle, barrel heating and frankly, operator error on a couple of occasions.
Overall impressions, this scope will let you reach out and touch your target with confidence. As always, it is at the hunter’s discretion and personal ethos as to how far one is comfortable taking a shot on a game animal.
Bottom line, this is an excellent optic that won’t break the bank. In fact, you could buy two of these, a new rifle and have enough left over for a good cheeseburger. BlackHound Optics may be the new brand on the block, but they are rapidly making a name for themselves in the industry. Good scopes, great guarantee and at a good price. What’s not to love about that?–Randy Gibbs