Rifle Scopes Athlon Midas Tac or Bushnell LRHSI for varmint / pred AR?

[user]

Hi Guys,

I have many expensive scopes, but I am now considering the two in the header for an 18" or 20" ar as yet another hunting rig. I dont have a lot of experience with scopes in this class. Wondering about the consnsus on these two scopes in this role. Thanks.

 

[Bender]

Bushy. Skip the Midas. Not even the same league.

 

[supercorndogs]

Moving up to the Ares is going to get you closer to the quality of the LRHS/LRTS.

 

[steve123]

I have/had both those scopes but not the "I" version, and compared them.

Personally I think the glass is slightly better on the LRHS, but not by much, the TAC has very good glass.

I like the turrets better on the TAC, they line up perfectly, feel great, are more distinct than the LRHS, plus they are very audible.

For hunting alone I prefer the circle of death in the LRHS but the rest of the reticle isn't .2's so I never warmed up to it. IMO on lower mag the center dot on the TAC is too small for me, I can barely see it, old eyes, and I don't like numbers off the side of the vertical crosshair either.

The price on the TAC is crazy! That alone swayed me. I sold the LRHS because I prefer closer focusing parallax, 50Y for the LRHS vs 10Y for the TAC 4-16.

When it comes down to it I'll take 16x over 12x anyday.

I like the reticle in the Ares BTR line more than any other non Horus reticle. For that reason it's my pick for under $1000 FFP scopes.

 

[Poorboyr]

Personally, I do not like Bushnell. I had them and won’t buy them again. I think there are a lot better scopes for the money. The Midas TAC is the scope to get at its price point. To me, everything is better on the Athlon. The Midas seems to be built better with better turrets. I can’t tell a difference in the glass.

 

[supercorndogs]

I have/had both those scopes but not the "I" version, and compared them.

Personally I think the glass is slightly better on the LRHS, but not by much, the TAC has very good glass.

I like the turrets better on the TAC, they line up perfectly, feel great, are more distinct than the LRHS, plus they are very audible.

For hunting alone I prefer the circle of death in the LRHS but the rest of the reticle isn't .2's so I never warmed up to it. IMO on lower mag the center dot on the TAC is too small for me, I can barely see it, old eyes, and I don't like numbers off the side of the vertical crosshair either.

The price on the TAC is crazy! That alone swayed me. I sold the LRHS because I prefer closer focusing parallax, 50Y for the LRHS vs 10Y for the TAC 4-16.

When it comes down to it I'll take 16x over 12x anyday.

I like the reticle in the Ares BTR line more than any other non Horus reticle. For that reason it's my pick for under $1000 FFP scopes.

Of about 15 LRHS scopes that have run through my hands, all had more distinct clicks than both Athlon Ares I have had. My current Ares, new style with the splined turret, has to be spun back and forth several times before I can feel the clicks when I start the day. I haven't messed with the Midas Tac, The Nikon FX-1000 has the best turrets I have felt of the budget stuff, but no close focus for PCP and rimfire.

 

[steve123]

Of about 15 LRHS scopes that have run through my hands, all had more distinct clicks than both Athlon Ares I have had. My current Ares, new style with the splined turret, has to be spun back and forth several times before I can feel the clicks when I start the day. I haven't messed with the Midas Tac, The Nikon FX-1000 has the best turrets I have felt of the budget stuff, but no close focus for PCP and rimfire.

The silly thing is, the turrets are much better on the Midas TAC, than the Ares. I'll conjecture it's the new CNC machine and I'm guessing a turret redesign.

I will agree I like the turrets better on the LRHS over the Ares, though I can't fault the Ares turrets for lining up well and working fine.

The X1000's in our local store were absolute crap, as far as turrets go. You probably read my post in that thread. Yeah, it must have been a bad shipment. I'm going to head to the optics counter every time I go in till I run across the good examples.

It still amazes me I can't find a scope like I want for Field Target air rifle matches, or general use for that matter, without costing thousands of dollars. An Argos BTR 6-24 with the same reticle as the Ares BTR has would be it. The Ares 4.5-27 only focuses down to 25Y so it won't work for my purposes. Arg

 

[longshot2000]

Personally, I do not like Bushnell. I had them and won’t buy them again. I think there are a lot better scopes for the money. The Midas TAC is the scope to get at its price point. To me, everything is better on the Athlon. The Midas seems to be built better with better turrets. I can’t tell a difference in the glass.

This is more or less my take. I have been slow to appreciate the Athlon. I was not happy with the Ares BTR. The Midas TAC feels and performs on a slightly higher level than the Ares, at least that is my subjective take. I have always wanted to appreciate Bushnell, but rarely have gotten there. I do like what I am hearing about the Pro series.

 

[supercorndogs]

The silly thing is, the turrets are much better on the Midas TAC, than the Ares. I'll conjecture it's the new CNC machine and I'm guessing a turret redesign.

I will agree I like the turrets better on the LRHS over the Ares, though I can't fault the Ares turrets for lining up well and working fine.

The X1000's in our local store were absolute crap, as far as turrets go. You probably read my post in that thread. Yeah, it must have been a bad shipment. I'm going to head to the optics counter every time I go in till I run across the good examples.

It still amazes me I can't find a scope like I want for Field Target air rifle matches, or general use for that matter, without costing thousands of dollars. An Argos BTR 6-24 with the same reticle as the Ares BTR has would be it. The Ares 4.5-27 only focuses down to 25Y so it won't work for my purposes. Arg

I had not seen your post of the FX-1000. I am not crazy about the reticle, I like the APLR or what ever it is the Athlon reticle is called. Pretty interesting, it kind of sounds like they accidentally made something better than their next step up.

The turrets on my Nikon are just ok as far as turrets go, but for their price point its pretty good, compared Athlon Ares, SWFA non-HD

 

[bman940]

Nikon was on a mission to fill a void that longrange shooters have been asking for for years from Nikon. Make a quality longrange scope that can be used competitively. The gentleman who designed the BLACK FX1000 is a very good competitive shooter and spent a lot of time in Japan making sure they built a scope he would feel comfortable using. That is how the BLACK FX1000 came to be. It has many improvements over the BLACK X1000 which I have been using for a year and the glass on it is great. I have heard from others that they wish the parallax would focus down to 25 or even 10 yards for the rimfire/airfile users. Who knows, enough requests and that may be something Nikon would look into in the future. Nikon's BLACK FX1000 is currently under a Nikon Sponsored Promo right now where if you buy the scope you get a free $139 BLACK Series mount to go with it. A heck of a deal for a heck of a mount.

 

[user]

Lotta good dialog here. Thanks guys.

 

[EscapeVelocity]

I haven't had a bushy, although I have considered it many times. I do have a TAC and I'm not disappointed at all. That glass stacks up to a much higher price point, and it's functions are great. I try to get everyone behind this thing to get their opinion, just to validate mine!

I have a Cronus BTR and it stacks up with it as well. The eye box is more forgiving on the Cronus tho. I haven't met many shooters that haven't liked the TAC turrets either.

If I were you I would try it, and very worst case you resell to get most your money back. It's worth it for price difference between your two options at least. Also, I'm not a dealer for athlon, or have any ties with them. Take that for what it's worth I guess.