Rifle Scopes Amazon...for Athlon?

[Wannashootit]

So I'm flip-flopping trying to decide whether the Ares ETR, is worth the extra coin to me over the BTR (4.5-27).
Pricing seems to be the same at the typical retailers, $850 vs. $1,200..
Then I see the BTR at Amazon, for $731., shipped Prime. With the spread closer to $500- it's becoming less of a difficult decision.

Tell me I'm not missing something, 'cause I'm thinking of picking up three of these at this price to upgrade another, and one for the next build...

https://www.amazon.com/Athlon-Optic...hlon+ares+btr&qid=1558136525&s=gateway&sr=8-3

 

[Whiplash6.5]

Give Doug at Cameraland a call
516)217-1000. He will be able to help you figure out the best optic for the best price.

 

[Atomic_Lobster]

Check in with Doug at Cameraland
Me thinks you will be pleasantly surprised
Plus they are good folk to deal with

 

[Atomic_Lobster]

Touche Whiplash
you got here a second before me

 

[gr8fuldoug]

The Ares BTR 4.5-27x50 - APLR3 FFP IR MIL goes on sale Monday for $549.99

Give us a call, 516-217-1000

Doug

 

[Wannashootit]

^^^
Well, shit...that didn't take long!
Calling ya Monday!!

Seriously, Doug- if you've been behind them, is the ETR worth the xtra coin- especially with the BTR at half the price? (Guessing they're discontinuing?) I might still go with the ETR for one, as the available vertical might be needed for ELR

Came across this retailer's review...
https://bluelineoptics.com/athlon-ares-etr-vs-athlon-ares-btr/

 

[gr8fuldoug]

The ETR has much nicer turrets and more popular reticle. Both will track perfectly. At higher magnification you'll see an optical difference, below 15x you will not.

 

[padom]

ETR is best value for your money on the market today. Glass is above its competitors in that price bracket, nicer turrets and RETICLE is awesome!

Doug will take care of you

 

[Precisiondada]

Doug, looks like the Hide’s got you covered go ahead on and take a vacation.

 

[gnochi]

Doug, looks like the Hide’s got you covered go ahead on and take a vacation.

But actually. Lurked for months, saw the “Doug is awesome”, talked about and bought a scope, and turns out that Doug is in fact awesome, so bought a couple more.

As far as OP’s question is concerned, the Ares BTR certainly isn’t a *bad* scope, and for $549 it’s an great scope. Would you realistically need the increased elevation adjustment (i.e. trying to dial a mile with Creedmoor)? Are you trying to spot your own shots (or someone else’s) at 1000yd? Are you picky about turret clickiness? Do you have a strong preference one way or the other on reticles? Does the $500 difference really matter in your budget?

 

[patriot07]

I can also confirm that Doug is good people. I've bought one scope and at least 2 pairs of binos from him - great communication, great prices, and very knowledgeable as well.

 

[Kickin45]

my first high end scope purchase was from Doug about 8 years ago. Service excellent and shipping was fast.

 

[Sieg]

Personally, I cannot trust Amazon any more. Too many questionable pricing and review issues, not to mention counterfeit products.

They've become too powerful. I quit buying from them about 7 months ago, though I do own their stock.

Buy it from Doug

 

[OLD308]

AMAZON buyer be ware. I bought my NF SHV off Amazon. It came in as a counterfeit. Junk scope in a fake NF box with a NF bumper sticker on it for identification. Good news. Emailed amazon with pictures and they refunded me all the money. Optics Planet was the supposed supplier, emailed them too. They had no record of it and said they would contact Amazon about the issue. Hope this helps.

 

[gr8fuldoug]

Doug, looks like the Hide’s got you covered go ahead on and take a vacation.

Thank you. I would love to but I'm not exactly sure what a vacation is anymore

Thanks for all the kind words. Always glad to "meet" and work with the members here

 

[schlaiek]

+1 for Doug and the guys at camera land. They know optics and support this community.

Will the Ares 4.5-27 ffp sale starting Monday include a moa option?

 

[gr8fuldoug]

Will the Ares 4.5-27 ffp sale starting Monday include a moa option?

Just MIL, no MOA's are available at this time

 

[Fret]

Hey Doug, is the sale only for the Ares? Will there be a sale for the Midas BTR Gen2 soon?

 

[gr8fuldoug]

Hey Doug, is the sale only for the Ares? Will there be a sale for the Midas BTR Gen2 soon?

It would be my pleasure to discuss this with you. I am in today till 5
Doug
516-217-1000

 

[TriggerHappy0125]

AMAZON buyer be ware. I bought my NF SHV off Amazon. It came in as a counterfeit. Junk scope in a fake NF box with a NF bumper sticker on it for identification. Good news. Emailed amazon with pictures and they refunded me all the money. Optics Planet was the supposed supplier, emailed them too. They had no record of it and said they would contact Amazon about the issue. Hope this helps.

I agree buy from Doug who is a known entity. But Amazon tries to have an open market place which is good for consumers, but also good for counterfeit operations which is what this sounds like. In my experience companies take this sort of thing very serious. Its the sophistication of these operations that prevents Amazon from completely eliminating this type of activity. E-commerce fraud and scams are huge business. Case in point, OLD308 thought he was getting something from OP, a very reputable organization

 

[beetroot]

Its a shame you can't ship these internationally!

 

[HammyHamHam]

I just researched an Athlon spotting scope (Argos 20-60 x 85 HD). Amazon's price, through the totally legit sounding reseller name of "ABCD Sales" is $229, where every other reseller on earth is in the $375 - $399 range. There are some other "curious" things I discovered when going down the rabbit hole that I won't get into here. It seems really sketchy though. I don't think the product you would get on Amazon is the same as you would from a mainstream reseller, OR, if it is, Athlon has some kind of thing going on where they sell "lesser" products with their name on them through Amazon for way less. Other than the over-the-top glowing 5 star reviews on Amazon, most of the negative reviews on Amazon seem to be MORE negative than similar negative reviews on mainstream seller sites.

NOTE: the above is just speculation at this point, I am making no affirmative statements here. I have emailed Athlon for a clarification, and filed a notice with Amazon about suspiscion of counterfeit. If I find out any more I will update this.

 

[Kegan]

Howdy HammyHamHam, Kegan here with ABCD Sales. Saw your post come up and just wanted to say that we're legit and do work with Athlon directly. I purchased...alot of these and we were forced to compete with Vortex. Vortex dumped so much product for so cheap this last fall which was a shame. Forced the hand of a great company. . Product has HD Glass but the Ares and Cronus are awesome if you haven't checked them out. Doug at Cameraland does a great job at guiding to what you need and there's tons that Athlon has to offer.

Even though we sell authentic products, Prime is something that can't be trusted 100% because of fraudulent returns that get re-shipped out to other buyers. This is where most of the fraud actually happens.

Bottom line, even though I run online marketplaces, shop and support your local gun shop everyone.