Rifle Scopes Athlon Cronus BTR review

[mike4764]

I Thought that since I have thoroughly vetted my Cronus BTR I would give my opinion on it so that it may help someone else make an informed purchase. I am a PRS competitor so I have put this scope through the ringer, engaging targets from 100 yards out to past 1200 yards on a regular basis. The tracking has been perfect. The turrets are firm and the zero stop could not be easier to use or set. The illumination is daylight viewable and crisp. I also find that the eye box is very big and accommodating. The overall size of the scope is very compact and not heavy at all. The best part is the glass. I personally have not had a scope with better glass. I know there are more expensive scopes out there that I have not owned so I cant compare. However I was able to compare it extensively to the Vortex Razor Amg and Razor 2nd gen along with Night force ACTAR and a burris XTRii. I found with my eyes that the Cronus was slightly better then the Vortex models and about the same as the Night Force and in a different league all together over the Burris. I did notice that during a recent PRS match, my friends had trouble seeing some targets when I saw them clear as could be. That could be just our eyes but worth mentioning. It also rained pretty hard and had no affect on the scope. Overall I could not be happier. I think Athlon has made a great product at a very fair price.

 

[JR869]

How does the reticle look when illuminated? Is there any bleeding or does it seem off-center? I just received mine and it's nice but when I illuminated the reticle it didn't look good. I was told it's not a big deal they all do that, which I find a ridiculous comment. Do you have a photo of your scope with the reticle illuminated, if so, would you post it for me? thanks!

 

[Birddog6424]

You're saying you thought the glass was better than the Vortex Razor and AMG?

 

[Citius7]

I agree on all counts. I've run my Cronus BTR in 3 prs events now. And I couldn't be happier. I don't know where you'd be able to pick up a $1450 scope and have all the bells and whistles this does and the glass it has. Comparing to the Minox zp5. It has a slight disadvantage. But that's a 3300 scope. Zp5 is slightly brighter and slightly more resolution. But it's close. And for almost $2000 cheaper. The reticle on the BTR is much better than original. Thinner is better. If they went with a dot reticle this thing would dominate! Maybe next year. Tracks perfect as OP says. Glad to hear I'm not the only one singing Athlons praises.

Oh and illumination is some some of the best I've seen. Zero bleed. Best in the business. The BTR has their numbers not lit but the original has numbers lit. They changed it to make it less busy. I'd have liked them lit up I think.

 

[JR869]

Oh and illumination is some some of the best I've seen. Zero bleed. Best in the business. The BTR has their numbers not lit but the original has numbers lit. They changed it to make it less busy. I'd have liked them lit up I think.

Ok, that is good to know, thanks. I've returned mine and they are replacing it, as it looks like I got a bad one.

 

[mike4764]

How does the reticle look when illuminated? Is there any bleeding or does it seem off-center? I just received mine and it's nice but when I illuminated the reticle it didn't look good. I was told it's not a big deal they all do that, which I find a ridiculous comment. Do you have a photo of your scope with the reticle illuminated, if so, would you post it for me? thanks!

I dont have any pics and its not in front of me right now. I do not remember any issues with the illumination what so ever.

 

[mike4764]

You're saying you thought the glass was better than the Vortex Razor and AMG?

I had the scopes mentioned side by side out on the range. Please remember that I am judging glass by eye, I do not have any scientific method to measure them. To me the glass was slightly clearer then the Vortex scopes. What I noticed during the match was that others were complaining that they could not see some targets, when it was my turn I had no difficulty resolving the same targets. Take that with a grain of salt. I think all the higher end scopes are pretty equally matched and proven. I chose the Athlon because it was much cheaper. I was very pleasently surprised that it turned out so good.
Originally I thought there was something wrong with my scope as my 300 yard groups were much higher then what I dialed. I mentioned it on the Athlon face book page and immediately got responses from the powers that be at Athlon. Turns out I just had a bad carbon ring that was doing funny stuff to my rifle. I cleaned the barrel and did a tall target test and the Cronus was spot on. My point is that Athlon takes customer satisfaction pretty serious. It makes me feel good that they will go above and beyond to rectify any problems.

 

[JR869]

I dont have any pics and its not in front of me right now. I do not remember any issues with the illumination what so ever.

Ok thanks, good to know.

 

[scudzuki]

I had one of the original Cronus scopes (now my buddy has it) and the illumination was (is) the best I've seen.
Basically that illumination has 3 ranges, the first few clicks very low, truly for night use, then a jump to the next few clicks which were suitable for dusk, then another jump to several clicks of true daylight bright illumination of the entire reticle with no bleed.

 

[JR869]

As mentioned, I had an issue with my reticle when illuminated. I called Athlon, sent a photo of my reticle illuminated, which clearly shows that there is an issue. I was never told that my scope was bad, I was told that blooming is normal but they will replace it. There was no question that they would replace the scope. In fact, he mentioned he would go through each of them to make sure he I get one with no issues. On one hand this is fantastic however, on the other, it kind of makes me think that they don't have faith in whomever is QC'ing the scopes. But kudos to Trent @ Athlon that it was a no questions asked replacement!

 

[chart1300]

For what it’s worth in my humble opinion it is the best scope on the market in that price range. It is quite honestly better quality glass than most of the scopes I own that cost considerably more. I.e. Razor GenII , Nightforce or Zeiss. Just my 2 cents.

 

[USMC 308]

I owned a Vortex AMG and an Athlon Cronus BTR at the same time. I compared them directly against each other looking at various objects at different ranges. I had no bias either way. If the AMG was superior to the Cronus, I would have sold the Athlon very quickly and gotten another AMG. The images I saw through both were very close. I thought the AMG had slightly better contrast, but the Cronus was slightly brighter.

The cincher for me was at the range, when changing rifles from the Cronus scoped one to the AMG scoped one.....I actually said "Awwwww" out loud.....as in a disappointed Awwww. I sold the AMG and bought a second Cronus shortly after and had money to spare for ammo.

Locking turrets mean nothing to me, but that is a feature the Cronus is lacking. If that's your thing, a Cronus is not your cup of tea. I found the AMG zero stop to be a pain in the butt to set, but it is innovative. The AMG is longer and sleeker, the Cronus is a little clunky looking.

I've been cursed at here for daring to compare an Athlon to a Vortex.....heresy!! Whatever, it's my opinion and I'm sticking to it. Optics are an emotional issue to some....it's been like that here since the beginning.....except back then it was usually involving USO.

Enjoy your scope and the Athlon Rebel status for the time being.....in a decade or so, I think they will be regarded as Vortex is now.

 

[Tunnuh]

Looking through my Cronus today, I notice that the resolution is probably up there with the best I've seen. Sam Millard got questioned for mentioning his xrsii had the best glass he'd seen after owning the atacr. I've compared my cronus with the Bushnell XRS ii my brother in law owns extensively, and I like the Cronus better for resolution, reticle, and overall design. I wish there was a locking diopter and the floating dot is coming but oh well. I'm happy with what I have and most importantly it works.

 

[hcsd54]

I just got a Cronus today and I'm impressed by the glass and illumination. Very clear and no bleed in the Lit Reticle. Smooth functioning and solidly built.

 

[cattleman99]

Can somebody post a picture of the Cronus BTR reticle? Wondering how it compares to the first gen. I know it’s thinner but just how much thinner?

 

[USMC 308]

Through a cellphone pic so not the greatest. The CA in the image was not visible to the eye when looking through the scope.

 

[cattleman99]

That’s quite a bit thinner!

 

[USMC 308]

I don't have the measurements but it looked to be the same as the Vortex AMG I compared it to side by side. The Athlon reticle is significantly thinner than the Bushnell Elite G3 in the LRTSi 4.5-18x that I had.

 

[spife7980]

That’s quite a bit thinner!

I don't have the measurements but it looked to be the same as the Vortex AMG I compared it to side by side. The Athlon reticle is significantly thinner than the Bushnell Elite G3 in the LRTSi 4.5-18x that I had.

The original cronus had this APLR reticle

The Cronus BTR has the APRS

 

[cattleman99]

I like the newer reticle a lot... may have to start thinking about getting the gen 2 now

 

[Blowby]

Comparison from an older picture I have.

 

[flatland1]

I'd shot quite a few 22RF PR matches with the original Cronus APLR reticle on my 40X & V-22 bolt repeaters before selling the original Cronus off the V-22 & replacing it with a BTR. I never felt that the APLR reticle was too thick or in any way hindered my ability to hit some rather small targets in those matches, but after only one match with the new BTR, I'm liking it very much so far. If the thinner ret makes it too hard to see on a target that's in cluttered surroundings, you can always dial in some illumination...if you've got time.

 

[BLKWLFK9]

So when is this floating dot suppose to come out?

 

[StringBender]

So when is this floating dot suppose to come out?

I have seen others post that it is expected to show up in the Cronus at the next Shot Show. It is first being used in the brand new Ares ETR which is just starting to be shipped.

 

[gr8fuldoug]

I have seen others post that it is expected to show up in the Cronus at the next Shot Show. It is first being used in the brand new Ares ETR which is just starting to be shipped.

Correct ^^^^^

 

[beenjammin]

You're saying you thought the glass was better than the Vortex Razor and AMG?

I also wouldn’t doubt this. The Chronus shocked the hell out of me. Great glass and reticle. The turrets were crisp and the price was extremely good.

... and this was in the non BTR that I had.

I recently shot my Midas on my AX in a match two weeks ago and out to a grand t tracked dead nuts compared to the ATACR it replaced temporarily. I have a feeling Athlon will raise prices after they have been proven in the field and established as a legit contender. Better get them while we can at these prices.

 

[BroncoMustang]

Correct ^^^^^

So is the Athlon Cronus BTR with a floating dot a newer reticle coming out? Sounds interesting.

 

[padom]

So is the Athlon Cronus BTR with a floating dot a newer reticle coming out? Sounds interesting.

Not for a while. I pulled the trigger on a BTR on Friday. I'm not waiting till 2019 for the floating dot. I have the Ares ETR ordered as well with the floating dot so will have both to play with.

 

[Dank27]

I like mine a lot.

 

[StringBender]

With the apparent struggle Athlon is having getting the Ares ETR out, I don't think I would bank on a smooth delivery of the new floating dot reticle in the Cronus for a long while.

 

[BurnOut]

Looking at the reticle diagrams and pictures, it seems like the reason that the APRS seems thinner is because it is somewhat less cluttered, and more symmetrical in regard to the hash marks on the crosshairs.

As a first-gen Cronus user, I have to admit that the newer reticle is more appealing to me... but for my purposes (this scope is on my primary prairie dog rig), the APLR (older) reticle works very well.

 

[flatland1]

Did some shooting on steel at 600yds late yesterday afternoon in overcast & humid conditions, with wind of 7-9mph from about 4:00. Had an early Cronus on a Bighorn in 6 Dasher, and a new Ares ETR on a custom M700 in 7-08 Improved 30*. This was the first time I've had the Ares on a CF rifle, as it's been riding on a jelrod-converted 40XB 22RF repeater up until now. I had both scopes on 25x, and was a little surprised to see that the Ares ETR was slightly brighter & clearer than the Cronus in these conditions. As I said, this was an older Cronus, with coarser parallax settings - I've noticed that the four of the pre-BTR Cronus scopes I had have different numbers engraved on the parallax knobs, with the finer distance graduations being the newer ones. I'd sold the newest pre-BTR off my V-22 & replaced it with one of the new BTR Cronus models. Next time I get a chance to compare these scopes, I'll make sure I've got a newer pre-BTR & a BTR along to compare to the Ares ETR. Based on past experience with several of these pre-BTR Cronus scopes, I had no reason to expect the ETR to be superior in optical performance, but that's what I saw. Need another day with heavy overcast so I can compare early & late pre-BTR Cronus models to the BTR Cronus, ETR Ares, and a Gen 3 Kahles AMR. Also, my prior statement here that the floating dot of the new Ares ETR reticle was too small & difficult to see on steel with lots of impacts should perhaps be retracted - at least with the scope set on 25x, I wasn't having that much trouble seeing the dot. Would like to have an opportunity to compare a Kahles K624i SKMR3 to the ETR - for all I know, there's not that much difference in size between the two reticles' floating dot. Whatever - unless the Kahles' dot is considerably more distinct than the ETR dot, I'd probably stick with the crosshair aiming point - not so much criticizing the dot as praising the crosshair, at least with my old (67yrs next month) eyes.

 

[gr8fuldoug]

So is the Athlon Cronus BTR with a floating dot a newer reticle coming out? Sounds interesting.

If my experience in the industry is worthwhile (I've been doing this for a few decades) I would say that Athlon will announce it at SHOT Show 2019 with a Summer 2019 delivery

 

[Dank27]

If my experience in the industry is worthwhile (I've been doing this for a few decades) I would say that Athlon will announce it at SHOT Show 2019 with a Summer 2019 delivery

Spoken like a man wih an inside track lol

 

[gr8fuldoug]

Spoken like a man wih an inside track lol

I have just been doing this for too many years, lol.
There's some companies that will show something at SHOT and it doesn't show up available till after the next SHOT Show (with 2 or 3 price increases while we wait), there are some companies that show something at SHOT and the next 2 years it's a back order nightmare with deliveries few and far between, there are some companies that actually wait to show at SHOT & already have inventory ready to ship and then there are some companies with realistic delivery dates.
Having been here part and then full time over 40 years I kinda have a pulse for what will occur.

 

[cuz]

Can someone explain the difference between the Chronus BTR and the Ares ETR? Pricewise the Ares is cheaper so I assume it's less of a scope, but it has a locking windage turret and a dot reticle which are both features I like.

Thanks.

 

[gr8fuldoug]

The Cronus is optically superior and made in Japan vs the Ares ETR which is made in China. The reticle in the Ares ETR will most likely be announced at SHOT Show in January as available in the Cronus.

 

[cuz]

Thanks, I don't plan on waiting until late next year for it to show up in production models. Based on discussions on this forum I'm going to add the Chronus BTR to my quickly shortening list of scopes to put on my Ruger Precision Rifle in 6.5 CM. As of this morning the list has been whittled to, in no particular order:
Vortex Razor HD 5-20x50
Vortex Razor HD Gen II 4.5-27x56
Nightforce ATACR F1 5-25x56
Athlon Cronus BTR 4.5-29x56

Can anyone provide more insight as to how the Cronus stacks up against my short list? I would guess the Cronus would price out around the same place as the Razor HD 5-20. I've just never heard of Athlon and am having a hard time with the idea of spending over $1,000 on a brand I've never heard of.

 

[RNWRKNP]

Thanks, I don't plan on waiting until late next year for it to show up in production models. Based on discussions on this forum I'm going to add the Chronus BTR to my quickly shortening list of scopes to put on my Ruger Precision Rifle in 6.5 CM. As of this morning the list has been whittled to, in no particular order:
Vortex Razor HD 5-20x50
Vortex Razor HD Gen II 4.5-27x56
Nightforce ATACR F1 5-25x56
Athlon Cronus BTR 4.5-29x56

Can anyone provide more insight as to how the Cronus stacks up against my short list? I would guess the Cronus would price out around the same place as the Razor HD 5-20. I've just never heard of Athlon and am having a hard time with the idea of spending over $1,000 on a brand I've never heard of.

In the same boat and I will say that if you choose Athelon that gr8fuldoug is as straight up as they come and deserving of your business.?

 

[USMC 308]

All your answers are here and repeated ad nauseam. Do a search and read away.

 

[flatland1]

Copy that USMC 308 - guys on this site have been bashing and/or praising Athlon since the brand made its debut - only I don't recall what year the former Bushnell employees fired-up & started the Athlon brand name? They've made strides, improving quality & features, and filling a lot of niches in the market in the process. I've compared my Kahles K624i AMR scopes to the Cronus & Cronus BTR several times, and am now doing the same with the new Ares ETR. Love my Kahles scopes, no doubt about that at all. And a lot of guys will still tell you the Cronus scopes are a "great deal at their price level". But the more often I have the opportunity to shoot a Cronus or Ares ETR side-by-side with one of my Kahles Gen III scopes, the more I think they're good enough to stand on their own without regard to price point.

 

[padom]

Thanks, I don't plan on waiting until late next year for it to show up in production models. Based on discussions on this forum I'm going to add the Chronus BTR to my quickly shortening list of scopes to put on my Ruger Precision Rifle in 6.5 CM. As of this morning the list has been whittled to, in no particular order:
Vortex Razor HD 5-20x50
Vortex Razor HD Gen II 4.5-27x56
Nightforce ATACR F1 5-25x56
Athlon Cronus BTR 4.5-29x56

Can anyone provide more insight as to how the Cronus stacks up against my short list? I would guess the Cronus would price out around the same place as the Razor HD 5-20. I've just never heard of Athlon and am having a hard time with the idea of spending over $1,000 on a brand I've never heard of.

I have all but the NF on your list. I just sold my Gen1 Razor which has been an amazing scope for a long time. I purchased a Cronus BTR and Ares ETR from Doug @ CamerLand. Just waiting for both to arrive. I have big expectations for the Cronus BTR from all the reports I've read. It's going on my 223 trainer. The Ares ETR is replacing the Gen1 PST on my CZ 455.

 

[cuz]

Can someone confirm for me if the whole tree on the MOA reticle is illuminated or is it just the vertical axis? The reticle pics on the Athlon website show the whole tree lit up on the MIL version but only the horizontal and vertical axis lit up on the MOA version.

Thanks.

 

[hitman]

Is the Cronus the only model make in Japan and the rest are made in China? Or do they have other models that are made in Japan? Thanks

 

[flatland1]

AFAIK, only the Cronus models are made by LOW in Japan.

 

[padom]

I just got mine in the mail an hour ago. So far, its nice. Mounted it up on my TL3 223 and looked through it briefly. While it looks good for the money, I would not agree the glass is better or equal to the higher end optics people have been posting about. Ill get it out to the range probably Wednesday on my CZ 455 and test it out more thoroughly.

 

[gr8fuldoug]

Can someone confirm for me if the whole tree on the MOA reticle is illuminated or is it just the vertical axis? The reticle pics on the Athlon website show the whole tree lit up on the MIL version but only the horizontal and vertical axis lit up on the MOA version.

Thanks.

Yes, the MOA does not have the full field illumination like the MIL which does.

 

[cuz]

Yes, the MOA does not have the full field illumination like the MIL which does.

Thanks Doug.

 

[chasedeer]

I will give it to Athlon on the cronus Glass is crisp clear this has been a Best Buy for me at the right price.

 

[padom]

I will give it to Athlon on the cronus Glass is crisp clear this has been a Best Buy for me at the right price.

I am not trying to take anything away from the Cronus, for the money it's a killer optic.

I just dont agree with all the comments that the glass is as good or better than Gen2 Razor, S&B, etc. But that's just my eyes.