Who had one in stock? I've got one on order from CameralandNY but no estimate of shipping date.
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Athlon FFP Helos BTR G2 2-12x42 in hand!
- Thread starter steve123
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Called Doug Wednesday morning and he said he should have them anytime, went ahead and placed an order for one from him as well.
I brought my 6mmFatRat with the Helos G2 2-12x42 on it out to a long range spot and shot 300Y on paper, and, steel 500Y on a 1' circle, and at 785Y on a 1' wide 2/3 IPSC man silhouette.
I kept the scope on 12x the whole time. I dialed the solution for the two longer distances and also held over for all distances mentioned. Since the 3" orange bull was encompassed by the dot I held over one mill instead and those are the three high bullet holes. The three low bullet holes were with my 6mmBR bolt rifle and the scope on 25x.
Other than figuring out what the wind was doing because the wind was switching back and forth at 5-8 mph, the steel was hit often enough.
My take on the scope is it measures up to it's task of a point and shoot FFP scope. It's also good for holdovers and holdoffs. 12x isn't the best for small targets but gets the job done. For me this is a perfect scope for quickly seeing the reticle and shooting at medium sized targets in the 1.5 moa and larger range of size. Granted I like to holdover more than most but I liked the thicker hashes for this application too, basically big enough to see on 12x without loosing the reticle.
My dope was right on the money so it tracked well and came back to zero.
Next week I'm ordering some 30mm rings for my CZ 527 in 20-221FB AI "coyote rifle" and mounting the scope on it. This is actually the purpose I had in mind to begin with, a not to heavy and compact FFP scope, a point and shoot scope, a quick action type of scope, on a larger targets, but fully capable to use at longer distances for dialing or holding over/off.
I'm ordering another 2-12 for my Vulcan 2 PCP in the original pics because it's perfect for that rifle!
I sold my Burris XTR2 1-8 yesterday so I think I'm going to try the Helos G2 1-10 on that shorty AR.
The 6mmFatRat needs more like a 3-18x50 on it since I shoot it past 1000Y often but for now I'll put my Ares G2 4.5-27x50 back on it.
I kept the scope on 12x the whole time. I dialed the solution for the two longer distances and also held over for all distances mentioned. Since the 3" orange bull was encompassed by the dot I held over one mill instead and those are the three high bullet holes. The three low bullet holes were with my 6mmBR bolt rifle and the scope on 25x.
Other than figuring out what the wind was doing because the wind was switching back and forth at 5-8 mph, the steel was hit often enough.
My take on the scope is it measures up to it's task of a point and shoot FFP scope. It's also good for holdovers and holdoffs. 12x isn't the best for small targets but gets the job done. For me this is a perfect scope for quickly seeing the reticle and shooting at medium sized targets in the 1.5 moa and larger range of size. Granted I like to holdover more than most but I liked the thicker hashes for this application too, basically big enough to see on 12x without loosing the reticle.
My dope was right on the money so it tracked well and came back to zero.
Next week I'm ordering some 30mm rings for my CZ 527 in 20-221FB AI "coyote rifle" and mounting the scope on it. This is actually the purpose I had in mind to begin with, a not to heavy and compact FFP scope, a point and shoot scope, a quick action type of scope, on a larger targets, but fully capable to use at longer distances for dialing or holding over/off.
I'm ordering another 2-12 for my Vulcan 2 PCP in the original pics because it's perfect for that rifle!
I sold my Burris XTR2 1-8 yesterday so I think I'm going to try the Helos G2 1-10 on that shorty AR.
The 6mmFatRat needs more like a 3-18x50 on it since I shoot it past 1000Y often but for now I'll put my Ares G2 4.5-27x50 back on it.
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Just recieved my helos and so far I love it. Granted I just mounted it but I cannot complain as of yet. Reticle is usable at 2x which is what I needed for a hunting rifle.
You'd be surprised. It's not a scope for small targets but it's fantastic for medium sized targets on up. So it's not the best prairie dog scope, except maybe on a 17 hmr out to 200Y. It'd be great for coyotes, deer, elk, targets like this at medium distances to however far the size of the animal allows the dot to not cover the whole thing. The main thing is seeing the reticle with FFP on low mag.
Just out of curiosity, how thick would you have wanted the dot?
Big upgrade! It's got nearly every feature a scope can have. 12x seems like a lot more magnification that 10x as well. And large FOV on 2x, 3x, 4x while seeing the reticle.
I don't like center dot reticles for the most part. I don't like not having any wind holds inside 1 mil. I dont like having a circle to pull your eye away from the center. Make the reticle thick, with simple dots with half mil hashes. No need to hang a bunch of goofy crap all over the place, some of which actually detracts from the usability. IMO
I like the reticle because on paper it lends itself to fast target acquisition similar in feel to a EOTech. Zero at 100 and it's good enough at 200. Hold one mil for 300 and so on. Matched my 77TMK drop data. I will not dial . I hold .
Not precision , just increased PID and reach. Hopefully usable at 2x. If not , I roll into my offset RDS. BUT AT 500 BUCKS I'M HOPING THIS THING IS NOT A FLEXI FLYER. Wish they had this in the $1k build out range for increased durability...
They should beef up the bold vertical and horizontal planes. Make it more obvious at 2x like a duplex. This is where the Bushy LRHSI crushes it in low power speed.
Not precision , just increased PID and reach. Hopefully usable at 2x. If not , I roll into my offset RDS. BUT AT 500 BUCKS I'M HOPING THIS THING IS NOT A FLEXI FLYER. Wish they had this in the $1k build out range for increased durability...
They should beef up the bold vertical and horizontal planes. Make it more obvious at 2x like a duplex. This is where the Bushy LRHSI crushes it in low power speed.
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liked it enough i sold my 1-5 on my AR, put this on it and ordered the 4-20 for that bolt gun. now if i could find 6.5 bullets
I may sell a couple of my scope I have and pick up a 2-12 and 4-20.
Oh and midway has some 6.5 bullets
Barnes Match Burner Bullets 264 Cal, 6.5mm (264 Diameter) 140 Grain
Barnes Match Burner is a line of affordable, extremely accurate match bullets. Providing competitive shooters with pin-point precision, the all-new...
www.midwayusa.com
I'm looking for 120-130gr.I may sell a couple of my scope I have and pick up a 2-12 and 4-20.
Oh and midway has some 6.5 bullets
Barnes Match Burner Bullets 264 Cal, 6.5mm (264 Diameter) 140 Grain
Barnes Match Burner is a line of affordable, extremely accurate match bullets. Providing competitive shooters with pin-point precision, the all-new...
I ordered one back at the beginning of April, touched base with him mid-month and he said he's just waiting for them to come in.
khuber84 wrote:
"This reticle is sweet, but a 0.3mil dot @ 100y is a lil heavy. With the donut of death, it makes short range shots easy, they could have went with a 0.15mil dot and given a guy more precise aim at longer distance. Shooting at a critter @ 600y that dot will cover a 1/3 or more of the shoulder on a deer."
I don't have the scope, what khuber brought up seems correct. They need another option for the center. Make it a .1 cross. Covering an inch at 100 yds sucks an a 1/2 moa gun.
"This reticle is sweet, but a 0.3mil dot @ 100y is a lil heavy. With the donut of death, it makes short range shots easy, they could have went with a 0.15mil dot and given a guy more precise aim at longer distance. Shooting at a critter @ 600y that dot will cover a 1/3 or more of the shoulder on a deer."
I don't have the scope, what khuber brought up seems correct. They need another option for the center. Make it a .1 cross. Covering an inch at 100 yds sucks an a 1/2 moa gun.
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I just ordered one of these to put on an airgun also, so it's nice to hear some positive feedback on this new scope. I was also looking at the Trijicon Credo 2-10 36mm but this was half the price and the reticle looks more useable under low mag scenarios. I am upgrading from a Nikon EFR so it's going to be a huge upgrade.
This is just my opinion but here goes. At 600Y, for example, those 1/2 moa rifles usually turn into 1 moa rifles in the excitement of the hunt and a bit more than that if we can't secure a perfectly steady position. But the .3 mil dot allows an easy to see aiming point at any distance, and on any magnification, so in low wind conditions you'll likely hit on the edge of the dot or inside it. You won't lose it and you won't wonder where it is in darker backgrounds - this is the advantage of a larger dot on lower to mid magnification.
Yes the large circle of death is for fast short range shots, or so you can see where 1 mil is from center for holdover/holdoff.
Holdoffs - I've been doing .25 mil increments which suits this reticle well but it's easier to estimate .5 mil.
Everybody is a little different in their personal requirements but you are more likely to "not see" a .1 mil sized center dot on low mag than you are a .3 mil sized dot on low mag for the precision shot.
It's one of those things where if you use this scope a lot you begin to like it more than you thought you would. There hasn't been even one instance where I couldn't hit what I was aiming at in spite of the dot.
You guys will laugh but I've been shooting flies with mine at 10Y mounted on a Steyr ProX semiauto pcp air rifle. Turns out flies like beer so we pore some on our targets and have a mini varmint hunt with my 3-4 friends who all have different scopes on their air rifles each with a different reticle. No problem doing trick shots with that thick dot or out shooting my friends for that matter.
A target scope it is not but most people would choose the normal scopes we already have for more precise shots anyway.
Pretty sure it's sourced from an optical glass manufacturer. 
Seriously, it probably comes from a Chinese source. I seem to recall that all of the Athlon scopes except for the Cronus are Chinese. I have Ares BTR and Midas scopes and a pair of Ares binos that, to my eyes, all have good image quality. Not Swarovski or Vortex Razor good, but each very good at their respective price points. Athlon seems to know how to get their OEM manufacturers to build to a consistently high quality standard.
Seriously, it probably comes from a Chinese source. I seem to recall that all of the Athlon scopes except for the Cronus are Chinese. I have Ares BTR and Midas scopes and a pair of Ares binos that, to my eyes, all have good image quality. Not Swarovski or Vortex Razor good, but each very good at their respective price points. Athlon seems to know how to get their OEM manufacturers to build to a consistently high quality standard.
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For me it isn't just about the optics quality. There are other political and economic considerations I try to avoid whenever possible. I knew Athlon had different levels of optics and assumed some of their lines were sourced without Chinese glass, but do not know enough about them to know which lines those are.
Understand about the political angle. I really hope Athlon is looking to eventually change their sourcing to OEM manufacturers outside of China. Some scopes made in the Philippines and South Korea provide good performance at a reasonable price.
All Athlon scopes other than the Cronus are made in China.
Sorry to hear that. Unfortunately this changes my perspective on getting one . Thanks for the update
My Ares BTR is holding zero and tracking just fine on my 18" 6.5 Creedmoor gasser. I have not heard of any major quality issues with Athlon, which is what convinced me to try out the Ares in the first place.
Managed to get one of these in hand this week, and man, what a great scope for the price. I'm now having a hard time researching anything over $500 until I get well over that. The reticle is reminiscent of the old Bushnell donut of death, and this time you get 2-12 vs 3-12 and a super wide FOV at 2x. The turrets may very well be one of my favorites I've ever had (I haven't had a ZCO or TT but I've had almost everything else), and that's amazing at this price point IMO. I'm patiently waiting to find a 4-20 version for another rifle.
I've got it on a suppressed 12" 6.5 Grendel I just built that I think will be hell on whitetails.
I've got it on a suppressed 12" 6.5 Grendel I just built that I think will be hell on whitetails.
Athlon Helos BTR Gen 2 and Grendels -- great combination, IMHO.
2-12x42 Gen2 AHMR2 mil reticle on a 16.5" AR, 4-20x50 Gen2 APRS6 mil reticle on a 20" Howa mini action.
600 yards, no problem. Great scopes for the cartridge and for the money.
I have the 2-12 on a 16” Grendel and the 4-20 on my T1x 17. They are great $500 scopes.
both clearer than a strike Eagle 5-25 I had previously on the 17. Turrets lock and feel about the same as the strike Eagle. 4-20 turrets are more tactile than the 2-12. The 2-12 is really compact and light. Parallax is accurate and day light bright illumination on both. Still able to shoot small groups at 100 yards with the 2-12, but gets tough at 200+. Not really the niche for that reticle tho, ideal for point and shoot as well as steel.
Athlon does such a great job of getting you everything you paid for.
both clearer than a strike Eagle 5-25 I had previously on the 17. Turrets lock and feel about the same as the strike Eagle. 4-20 turrets are more tactile than the 2-12. The 2-12 is really compact and light. Parallax is accurate and day light bright illumination on both. Still able to shoot small groups at 100 yards with the 2-12, but gets tough at 200+. Not really the niche for that reticle tho, ideal for point and shoot as well as steel.
Athlon does such a great job of getting you everything you paid for.
Interesting, guess there is some variation. I’ve had a 5-25 SE, and the 2-12 Helos Gen 2 I have right now makes the turrets on the SE feel like a cheap Wal Mart blister pack scope. Never was impressed at all by the SE, the turrets on the 2-12 I have are on a different planet.
The turrets on both of my Athlons are nice and crispy. I'm not a huge fan of the zero stop but it works. Love the turret locking feature.
both of my samples blow away the SE overall. Anything Athlon I’ve played with has been superior to the comparable vortex product.
My friend has a Strike Eagle that has turrets that don't line up well as well as a not so good indistinct feel???
Glass was decent though. I didn't dislike it but I do like the Helos G2's a lot.
Glass was decent though. I didn't dislike it but I do like the Helos G2's a lot.
I took a chance and got one. Put it on my 308. Zeroed, brought it out to 800 and back to 100. Data lined up where it should, returned to zero. Will know more on durability after this hunting season. Initial impression is great for the money but I agree with the above comments about the center dot being too big. They put the donut in so IMO there was no need for such a big center dot.
What mount/rings are you using, I only use picatinny rail/rings on my Tikkas now but I don't think you'll have any issues.
The forward tube mounting area on the 2-12 is a lot shorter than the rear but theres still a reasonable amount of room there.
It' almost a case of the rear tube section being obscenely long rather than the forward section being too short, the small objective bell doesn't help with the optical illusion.
Agree. I pull the pin on all the ones I have, just try to keep the ring base from overhanging the action port.
I bought a 4-20x50 and unfortunately had an issue with the entire eyepiece rotating with the magnification ring after about 60 rounds on a creedmoor. It seemed to lose zero and wasn't tracking like I thought it should, took some time and ammo before I actually saw what was happening. Sent it back and it was replaced quickly. I work offshore and wont be able to put it back on the rifle now until about a week before I go on a colorado mule deer hunt. Here's to hoping the replacement works out better.
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Vivacious Stallion
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I've had the 2-12x mrad for 4 months now on an 18" .223 wylde build. For the $450 I paid for it I am impressed and feel that it was the right size and mag range for the gun. Illumination is pretty weak IMO and when I zoom out all the way to 2x it seems like it goes a little too far and it gets a little too much tube effect. But if I leave it slightly above 2x it's fine, not worth sending it back.
The reticle is very usable, I wish the dot was smaller but its good to shoot on steel, probably not so good for groups. Turrets feel nice and crunchy, tracking seems to be fine, locking turrets are nice. Scope shadow is worse than a pst2 at equivalent mags but it's not bad.
I'm not thrilled its a chinesium scope but that doesn't mean that it is not a solid optic, especially given the price. I would recommend this to someone looking for a $500 or less optic of this mag range.
Target is a standard IPSC silhouette at 100m on 12x during sight in.
The reticle is very usable, I wish the dot was smaller but its good to shoot on steel, probably not so good for groups. Turrets feel nice and crunchy, tracking seems to be fine, locking turrets are nice. Scope shadow is worse than a pst2 at equivalent mags but it's not bad.
I'm not thrilled its a chinesium scope but that doesn't mean that it is not a solid optic, especially given the price. I would recommend this to someone looking for a $500 or less optic of this mag range.
Target is a standard IPSC silhouette at 100m on 12x during sight in.
Anybody been using this while it’s cloudy and 20-30 minutes after sunset? I’ve got one in hand and will use it for hunting as it’s main focus and am curious about shitty light conditions.
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