my experience with the Athlons, you need to take off both the elevation cap and windage caps and wipe out the excess grease on the orings. it substantially increase how audible/tactile the clicks are
Rifle Scopes Athlon Ares ETR
- Thread starter levi8599
- Start date
These suckers don't need to be any more tactile or audible - you'll never have any doubts whether you've taken a click or not due to how distinct the feel & sound are on the elevation knob. The windage knob OTOH, is more subdued - actually perfect IMHO - wish the elevation knob was just like it.
Just placed my preorder with Doug. He said ETA till it ships to me is about 2 weeks. Looking forward to getting this mounted on my CZ 455 22lr.
I've got two on order with the fine folks there. Glad to hear he thinks the supply will meet the level of demand. Was a bit worried of these turning into the next Vortex PST G2!
He said they actually arent shipping the orders. All preorders are being sent to Athlon and they are shipping direct to customer till all the preorders are done then he will get stock.
Good to hear! I'm only a few hours away from them so whenever mine gets to the top of the pile I should have them the next day! Thanks for the info.
Well, I’ve had a scope paid for with Doug since Feb, and I haven’t heard a word. Dang line jumpers! ?
Nobody jumping in line there big guy. Athlon is filing Doug's pre-orders as they received them.... From all reports the first small batch was shipped by Athlon in the past week and waiting on second batch now.
I guess I uppity because I’ve been waiting so long. Also understand that I was THE first person to put this on preorder with them. I want my scope right now dammit or I’m going to throw a hissy fit. ?
I ordered mine just a couple months ago but was told that they would be able to fulfill them all with the first batch. So hoping...
We are moving into mid-August. Does anyone have an update? I think someone mentioned that the first larger shipment was due last Friday. Has anyone been sent a shipment notice on their pre-order? I think @gr8fuldoug mentioned preorders would be drop shipped from Athlon. Is the first "large shipment" expected to fill all the pre-orders? No answers are coming back from message left at Athlon (not a dig....I know they are busy).
The shipment headed to my dealer that had my order included had a random disruption. I believe that the shipment to Athlon was delayed a bit for our preorders. No for sure answer though.
As posted above I was told last Friday that second batch should be shipping in about 2 weeks. So based off that info, if accurate, and there weren't any delays than we are still looking at another week.
I have seen some reports of a few brown ones that shipped out to vendors. Just nothing on the black.
I haven't bothered to call & ask about when I can expect the matte black ETR that I ordered at the same time as the brown one. It'll get here when it gets here...
Have done some shooting with the brown ETR on my jelrod-converted 40XB - really like the optical quality, the controls, and the tracking - though I've yet to shoot a tall target & box tracking test with it. I do wish they'd have made the floating dot in the reticle a bit bigger though - it's hard for my old eyes to see unless I've got the power cranked up to 20-25x. But then, I'm used to the rather heavy crosshair in the center of the original Cronus reticle. I showed it around to the shooters who showed up at CKGC's 22RF PR match in Hutch today - comments were universally positive, from the appearance of the anodizing to the clicks on the turrets to the optical quality. A couple of us at this match were shooting Cronus scopes (one original, one BTR), and at least one other shooter was using an Ares BTR that I'd sold him last year. At least Athlon was well-represented in their home state of Kansas...
Have done some shooting with the brown ETR on my jelrod-converted 40XB - really like the optical quality, the controls, and the tracking - though I've yet to shoot a tall target & box tracking test with it. I do wish they'd have made the floating dot in the reticle a bit bigger though - it's hard for my old eyes to see unless I've got the power cranked up to 20-25x. But then, I'm used to the rather heavy crosshair in the center of the original Cronus reticle. I showed it around to the shooters who showed up at CKGC's 22RF PR match in Hutch today - comments were universally positive, from the appearance of the anodizing to the clicks on the turrets to the optical quality. A couple of us at this match were shooting Cronus scopes (one original, one BTR), and at least one other shooter was using an Ares BTR that I'd sold him last year. At least Athlon was well-represented in their home state of Kansas...
Any chance for a comparison between the Ares ETR and the Cronus BTR? I'm mainly interested in the glass and turret comparisons.
My Cronus BTR & Ares ETR scopes are both mounted on 22RF rifles - the Cronus on a V-22, the ETR on a jelrod-converted 40XB repeater. So far, I haven't taken either out past 300yds, and I don't intend to go beyond that with the 22s at this point. It wouldn't be that much trouble to move the ETR over to a Bighorn Dasher temporarily, and to replace the original Cronus on another Dasher with another new Cronus BTR. By doing so, it'd be fairly easy to compare these two scopes at 600 & 1000yds. On the same day, in the same conditions should give a good comparison, depending on how much mirage is present, and how each one deals with it at the same magnification. At this point, all I can say is that I'm not seeing much difference in the optical quality between the Cronus & ETR where resolution/clarity is concerned.
I've never had much complaint about the Cronus turrets' detents/clicks - they're not as distinct as those of my Kahles K624i scopes, but I don't have any problem dialing the corrections that I want with them, and the zero stop is very easy to set. When I first got the Ares ETR out of the box & started clicking on the elevation turret, I thought the detents were a little too distinct - by the time I'd applied enough force to move the knob, I'd sometimes get two clicks instead of one. But, since I've mounted this scope on the 40XB & shot a bit with it, I'm getting used to these more distinct clicks. The windage OTOH, is about perfect in this respect - easier to break a click, yet still more than distinct enough to know exactly how many clicks I've put on or taken off.
I do wish they'd have made the floating dot in the center of the reticle about twice as large as it is - I have a hard time seeing it at magnification under 20x when shooting at steel that's been whacked several times since the last coat of paint was applied. No problems seeing the dot on paper. In all fairness to Athlon, I'm going to be 67yrs old in a month, and my eyes aren't nearly what they were back 35yrs ago when my vision was still 20-10. I really like the appearance of the anodized finish; think it'd be fairly easy to match with air dry burnt bronze CeraKote on the rings. Need to get a 4oz sample of this stuff coming so I can test to see whether air dry or oven cure burnt bronze would give the best match.
I've never had much complaint about the Cronus turrets' detents/clicks - they're not as distinct as those of my Kahles K624i scopes, but I don't have any problem dialing the corrections that I want with them, and the zero stop is very easy to set. When I first got the Ares ETR out of the box & started clicking on the elevation turret, I thought the detents were a little too distinct - by the time I'd applied enough force to move the knob, I'd sometimes get two clicks instead of one. But, since I've mounted this scope on the 40XB & shot a bit with it, I'm getting used to these more distinct clicks. The windage OTOH, is about perfect in this respect - easier to break a click, yet still more than distinct enough to know exactly how many clicks I've put on or taken off.
I do wish they'd have made the floating dot in the center of the reticle about twice as large as it is - I have a hard time seeing it at magnification under 20x when shooting at steel that's been whacked several times since the last coat of paint was applied. No problems seeing the dot on paper. In all fairness to Athlon, I'm going to be 67yrs old in a month, and my eyes aren't nearly what they were back 35yrs ago when my vision was still 20-10. I really like the appearance of the anodized finish; think it'd be fairly easy to match with air dry burnt bronze CeraKote on the rings. Need to get a 4oz sample of this stuff coming so I can test to see whether air dry or oven cure burnt bronze would give the best match.
Thinking really hard about selling my IOR 3-18x44 MP8 reticle scope to fund one of these. Despite the opinions on this forum, I really like the scope but have outgrown the reticle. Trying to figure out if it would be a step down in other ways though. I had an issue with an older version of the IOR and had a newer generation one in my hand 5 days later no questions asked. If Athalon will warranty like that it may be worth the risk.
I mailed mine to them and they got it on a Thursday. I had a new scope in my hands Monday (TX). May not always be like that though.
I’m running a Nightforce ATACR F1 as my primary and considering the Athelon Ares BTR as a secondary. My question to you guys familiar with the line is would you go this route vs vortex pst G2 and how does the optical quality compare? Comparing the reticle I’m leaning toward the Athelon as the entire reticle is illuminated vs just the vertical and horizontal in the vortex. Also concerned about vortex due to tracking complaints throughout the comments that I have read on the Hide.
Currently my Ares BTR 4.5-27x50 is my favorite mid priced scope.
The glass in it is good, not great, I would put the glass in the PST2 slightly above it.
I'd rate the turrets slightly better on the PST2 as far as distinct click feel but there is nothing to complain about with the turrets on the Ares, all the ones I've tried line up well and feel fine, just less distinct.
No question in my mind the reticle is superior in the Ares, I think it's the best .2 mil tree reticle on the market. Vortex - I just think numbers right next to the verticle crosshair is a bad idea when trying to holdoff for wind and I don't want a number possibly getting in the way.
I like that the Ares is both lighter and shorter.
To me the rest is a wash except for price and of course the Ares can be had for much less at street price.
The Cronus BTR is going up for sale because I dislike that the .2's transition to .5's 1 mil below center and I will buy 2 or 3 Ares BTR 4.5-27's.
The glass in it is good, not great, I would put the glass in the PST2 slightly above it.
I'd rate the turrets slightly better on the PST2 as far as distinct click feel but there is nothing to complain about with the turrets on the Ares, all the ones I've tried line up well and feel fine, just less distinct.
No question in my mind the reticle is superior in the Ares, I think it's the best .2 mil tree reticle on the market. Vortex - I just think numbers right next to the verticle crosshair is a bad idea when trying to holdoff for wind and I don't want a number possibly getting in the way.
I like that the Ares is both lighter and shorter.
To me the rest is a wash except for price and of course the Ares can be had for much less at street price.
The Cronus BTR is going up for sale because I dislike that the .2's transition to .5's 1 mil below center and I will buy 2 or 3 Ares BTR 4.5-27's.
Price mainly.
I hold over a lot, the reticle has the transition from .2's to .5's for holdover past one mil like I complained about concerning the Cronus BTR. I'm staying with all .2 mil reticles throughout from now on, well as best I can, I'll work on it anyway.
Otherwise that ETR is a killer scope!
I haven't received any shipping notices from Athlon on either the remaining matte black ETR or the Cronus 7-42x60 Tactical spotter yet - just checked my inbox for the first time today.
Haven't seen anything either. Was really hoping to have one of them in by the weekend so I could play with it while I RO at a shoot. I'm sure someone will get some updates soon.
No notice for me either. It’s a shame because I’ve got a three day weekend with my wife gone to the beach. Perfect time to get “gun work” done.
Dustin's hide name is ThunderRun.
Dustin
Athlon Optics Rep
https://athlonoptics.com/product-category/rifle-scopes/
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Wanted: someone to spend quality time with. I’m into sending 140 pills on long walks in the mountains. I like a rugged woman, who can take a little abuse, but still be gentle and precise. I enjoy clicky knobs, and women with large objectives. Me? I’m a robustly built man looking for a long lasting relationship. Solidly built,quality throughout, but very, very lonely...........if You can hear this, please show up on my doorstep so we can start our beautiful relationship......please.....
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I did some shooting from 600yds late afternoon Saturday with the ETR mounted on a custom M700 in 7-08 Improved 30*, and the oldest Cronus I have mounted on a Bighorn in 6 Dasher. We had a fairly heavy overcast with humidity at 50%+, light wind (7-9mph) from 4:00. I was surprised to find that the Ares ETR was slightly brighter & clearer than the Cronus with both set at 25x, but again, this is an early Cronus with coarser markings on the parallax, while the newer pre-BTR scopes have finer yardage markings on the parallax knob. Next time I get the chance to compare scopes on an overcast, slightly dark day, I'll make sure I have older & newer pre-BTR & BTR Cronus scopes along with the ETR, plus a Gen 3 Kahles K624i AMR to compare brightness & clarity. For my vision, these slightly dark, overcast days make it far easier to compare optical quality than a bright, sunny day with lots of mirage.
Still haven't done a tall target and box test with the ETR, but had plenty of opportunity to dial elevation & windage with it, and have very good confidence in its tracking after getting it dialed-in at 600. I'd made a comment about finding the floating dot in the ETR's reticle difficult to see on steel with lots of hits between painting, but didn't seem to have that problem while shooting with it at 600 - at least, not to the extent I'd seen while shooting with it mounted on a 22RF repeater at 200yds. I've never gotten behind a Kahles with the SKMR3 reticle, so have nothing else to compare the ETR's reticle to. For all I know, the Kahles SKMR3's dot may not be any more distinct than that of the ETR. Much as I thought I'd enjoy having such a small, fine aiming point for use on small targets, I'm leaning more towards the crosshair aiming point of the Cronus - either the heavy one in the pre-BTR scopes, or the finer one of the BTR reticle. That's obviously a personal preference, one highlighted by my experience with the Kahles AMR reticle's four small dots in the center of that reticle - which will cover up a very small target. Even though the early Cronus has a fairly heavy center crosshair aiming point, I've never had it completely obscure even the smallest targets we've engaged in 22RF precision rifle matches - and there's never been any difficulty in seeing it on steel that's been whacked so many times that the paint is completely gone.
Still haven't done a tall target and box test with the ETR, but had plenty of opportunity to dial elevation & windage with it, and have very good confidence in its tracking after getting it dialed-in at 600. I'd made a comment about finding the floating dot in the ETR's reticle difficult to see on steel with lots of hits between painting, but didn't seem to have that problem while shooting with it at 600 - at least, not to the extent I'd seen while shooting with it mounted on a 22RF repeater at 200yds. I've never gotten behind a Kahles with the SKMR3 reticle, so have nothing else to compare the ETR's reticle to. For all I know, the Kahles SKMR3's dot may not be any more distinct than that of the ETR. Much as I thought I'd enjoy having such a small, fine aiming point for use on small targets, I'm leaning more towards the crosshair aiming point of the Cronus - either the heavy one in the pre-BTR scopes, or the finer one of the BTR reticle. That's obviously a personal preference, one highlighted by my experience with the Kahles AMR reticle's four small dots in the center of that reticle - which will cover up a very small target. Even though the early Cronus has a fairly heavy center crosshair aiming point, I've never had it completely obscure even the smallest targets we've engaged in 22RF precision rifle matches - and there's never been any difficulty in seeing it on steel that's been whacked so many times that the paint is completely gone.
Curious if anyone has any feedback on how the Ares ETR compares with a Steiner T5Xi 5-25 as I've seen them come down in price to around the $1450 range or so...
Thx in advance.
CP
Thx in advance.
CP
Still waiting by the way. I think the guys at Cameraland put my order on the bottom of the stack just to be mean.
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