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Rifle Scopes Athlon Ares ETR
- Thread starter levi8599
- Start date
Got an email notification from Athlon this morning - the matte black ETR shipped today. I'm about 350mi west of KC, and typically get one day shipping out of them, so will be looking for it tomorrow. However, when I click on the tracking link, UPS says they can't find that shipment, so we'll see what happens. Actually, when I saw the email from Athlon, I was hoping it was the Cronus Tactical spotter. Ah well - there's a semi-local PRS-style match this Saturday within easy driving distance - might as well take the black ETR along in case anyone's interested in buying a nice new scope...
My vendor told me today that they got shipping info from Athlon today as well. Said they would get it in hand on Friday... so closer but still waiting.
I’ve seen quality turrets and also not so quality! But if you send them in they’ll replace the scope for free! “Athlon”
Well, I've owned a number of BMW's over the last 35 years and actually still have one so I can say from experience that their quality is definitely not the same as it used to be... On the other hand, my 'beater' Toyota Land Cruiser with over 275,000 miles on it is still running like a champ with very little regular maintenance; I absolutely love that truck...
Back on topic, I have been lurking on the board for a long time and finally 'pulled the trigger' on a PRS rifle (Bergara 6.5 B-14 BMP) and want to put a decent scope on it to continue becoming more proficient in longer range shooting. I've read many posts... literally everything I could scrape up on various scopes and the Athlon line seemed to come up continually as a very good option among others as a pretty good quality scope for the money. The only reason I asked the question was that Steiner has an excellent reputation and has become quite close to the ETR in price and wondered if it was worth the extra couple of hundred bucks (or maybe there's something else at play that's responsible for the price drop?). Obviously there are differences but just wanted to ping the group for opinions which from your comment, sounds like the Steiner is a different league altogether?
Thanks for the group input, always appreciate the expertise from pros on the Hide...
Cheers,
CP
That's not going to happen for the lines already Chinese made. What has happened is over all quality has increased over time and what little problems that were present in the past have been sorted out.
I was quite surprised how nice the glass was in my Midas TAC when comparing to March and S&B. It's not at that level but it is close, especially on lower magnification.
As it is even the less expensive offerings have decent glass, good enough that I have no complaints considering the price of them.
I'll put it this way, I've seen worse glass on scopes costing much more.
I think people will be surprised at the quality and performance of the ETR, inlcuding glass.
I’ve had the send a few Argos scopes back because of the turrets but after two or three you end up with one that has decent turrets
They are shipping out. Mine is on the way to my dealer. They will get it sometime Friday
My dealer is getting my preorder in this week as well. Just got shipping confirmation from athlon to my dealer yesterday.
My backorders are coming tomorrow as well. Shipments are coming in and backorders are being filled.
Mine was sitting at the back door when I made it home from an appointment in Hays this afternoon. Only had two ordered - one brown, one black - and now have both. Don't know whether Athlon filled dealers' orders first or not, but I did place my order for these two either during SHOT or just after, so have been waiting as long as most of you non-dealers. Whatever - from what I've seen & experienced with the brown one that I've had mounted on two different rifles so far, they were worth waiting for. I believe they're going to sell very well after more individuals get theirs & the independent reviews start being posted online. Will be taking both mine along to a PRS-style match this weekend to let more shooters get a look at them.
That's awesome to hear! I ordered mine late compared to most in this thread...wasn't sold on them until I got to play with them in person at a shoot where the Athlon folks came to show off products and get feedback. I'm hopeful they will be shipping mine soon since I'll only have a day's wait as well, but I'm probably so far deep in the que that it wouldn't be surprising if I'm in the next batch to get my black and brown scopes in...time will tell. I'm excited to see reviews once folks start getting them delivered now that they're shipping.
Is there any dealers that have any in stock yet or are they just strictly taking care of the preorders at this point
I think your best bet is to find a dealer and place one in order that way you are on the list.
This picture was taken with a samsung s8 through the Athlon Ares ETR set on 25x. This bridge crane is around 370 Yards. You can see plenty of detail in the image and it's very bright. The reason its only 25x I was comparing to a Leupold mk8 3.5-25x56. I will say, the Ares ETR optically is great.
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I also like the small center dot (same as the Midas tac) . I think it would be beneficial for shooting tiny little groups. I prefer this reticle over the current offering in the Cronus BTR (I will be selling both of mine when this becomes available)
on a side note;
@jetmd and myself talked last night about doing a comparison between a couple ATACR's, S&B pmii, Athlon Cronus BTR, Leupold MK 8, Athlon Ares ETR, and probably my 6-30x56 Weaver Tactical.
For anyone waiting to order an ETR or any Athlon, I recommend you go to Albert at Southwest Virginia Arms. For the preorder he threw me free ARC M10 rings and an MK bubble level. The pre order deal is now over so he’ll work with you and include vortex matched rings. Just a heads up for someone looking for a great deal at a place with amazing customer service.
Yup, normal Ares lever should be what ya need! We've got both polymer and milled models.
Called Athlon. The latest: 2 more weeks. So.....we are going to be well out into September.....at least.
I take it the 2nd batch has all gone out and those of us without scopes at this point are probably going to be in batch 3 or 4?
I've yet to find a set that will work. On the Athlon Facebook group, there is a discussion about getting accurate measurements to Aadland so he can make his quality caps for the ETR.
Just had this same question. Reached out to Athlon via email and here is there response.
I already have these on order.
I already have these on order.
Here are the measurements, from Athlon CS in an email to me, in case that helps - "the eye piece measures 1.83" and the objective measures 2.5"".
I'm reading in the Facebook group that people are having a hard time finding caps for the ocular end. The measurements according to one dealer are 46.7mm (Ocular) and 63.6mm for the objective. The Cronus objectives will work. Some people say that the stretchiness of the Vortex Defenders helps overcome the difference for the ocular . . . but I'm waiting to order since my scope pre-order isn't here yet.
I'm reading in the Facebook group that people are having a hard time finding caps for the ocular end. The measurements according to one dealer are 46.7mm (Ocular) and 63.6mm for the objective. The Cronus objectives will work. Some people say that the stretchiness of the Vortex Defenders helps overcome the difference for the ocular . . . but I'm waiting to order since my scope pre-order isn't here yet.
Those are the same dim in the paper work with the scope. Cronus and ares ocular dim is 1.8. Not sure how much the .03 for ETR will change things.
But I ordered what Athlon said for BC caps. We will see if they fit. I will let y’all know.
Have any new owners had a chance to field test yet? Any additional report/observation(s) from the few that were made available in the initial shipment?
Yeah. Super clear glass, no distortion around the edges. The center dot in the perfect size at 10x and above. Can’t tell you about the illumination since they didn’t ship a battery. Turrets are super solid and precise. I have a coworker that owns a razor gen 2 and said , “hey this looks like mine!” When he looked through it speaking on the glass.
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It might depend on how long you are willing to wait. There are a lot of people that have not received their paid-in-full pre orders on this scope who are in line and waiting for their order to be filled. The deliveries on this scope seem to keep getting pushed out. Hopefully that will start to change soon. Fingers crossed.
