Hey good folks. New here and to “long” range shooting. I say long range loosely. Longest shot I have is around 500-600 yards. Anyway. I ordered this scope after great reviews. It’s an Athlon Argos btr 6-24x50. Mil. Mounted on a vanguard 270 wsm this morning. Took a few shots today and after each shot I have to adjust the parallax. I like this scope as it’s the first one I’ve ever bought with that much power and ffp but is this common to have to adjust the parallax after each shot? If so I’d rather go back to old scope just in case I miss and have to get back on target quick. Hard to hit a running deer if you can’t see em.
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Rifle Scopes Athlon question
- Thread starter Rooster Cogburn
- Start date
You shouldn’t have to adjust after every shot. I would call Athlon and talk to them about it.
Did you order it directly from them or a retailer for them? Either way I’d call them but I’d personally return it and see if I could find an Ares ETR gen1 for about the same price as the Argoes
just to be clear...when you set your parallax, you checked to make sure there was no reticle swim prior to taking the shot, and after shooting you are experiencing reticle swim and having to readjust the parallax?
I ordered off amazon. Think around 300 bucks. I thought that was pretty cheap for a long range scope but I didn’t wanna spend that much money with a 1 year old and another on the way. I’ll check into the ares. What are the differences between the two?
I feel you, I have a 6 month old and it’s amazing how quickly money gets tight with children. The ares is one of their top lever scopes, so it’s got the better glass, turrets seem to be tighter and overall a better build quality.
It seems they went back up in price, they were blowing them out when the gen2’s dropped for half price but I guess that was short lived.
No sir no recticle swim if you’re meaning everything floats around. Before first shot had target at 100 yds. Adjusted eyepiece against sky to get a good clear recticle. Got on target adjusted parallax to 100 yds. Looked great! Clear and bright and recticle was clear. Took shot. Everything went blurry. Had to adjust parallax to get target back focused. Bare in mind target is still 100 yds. Had to set parallax to 200 yds to get a clear image. Took second shot. Blurry again. In and out with parallax to get target clear again. To get target clear I have to adjust parallax anywhere from 50 yds and up. Helps if I adjust parallax to infinity and back down but it’s never on 100 yds where target is located. It’s anywhere from 50 to 200 yds. If this makes any sense.
Everything feels great on this one. Nice crisp audible clicks on the turrets. I only cycled through the elevation turret up to three mil. Shot where it was supposed to and back down. Only problem I’ve seen so far is that parallax issue. Hopefully won’t be much to it and they will fix or replace. As far as glass it’s pretty clear. I had a Meopta and I like the glass on this Athlon better than the Meopta. And it was half the price.
Return it to Amazon, buy one from Doug.
+1 for calling doug.
i’d also consider bumping up into the next weight class like the Ares BTR or Midas Tac line. Those are a lot of scope for the money andare a bit more robust.
i’d also consider bumping up into the next weight class like the Ares BTR or Midas Tac line. Those are a lot of scope for the money andare a bit more robust.
I guess I lucked out catching the blowout sale on the Ares for a little over 400
I think that was an Ares BTR not ETR
You’re probably correct, it’s somewhere in the box still in my reloading room but I know it’s the 30mm tube version.
I have an Argos that I was having that same problem with. I just sent it in, I will let you know how things turn out. I really liked the scope for the price, it had been functional and pretty clear.
Athlon will make it right no questions asked if it is one of their scopes. They are quick to reply as well!
If you're using the scale on the parallax adjustment, there's likely nothing wrong. It's rare that they match up. Just focus the parallax knob to your target and don't worry about what the adjustments say. This is common amongst all scopes and why some don't even mark it.
Just to be sure, you can be shooting at 100 yards and your parallax adjustment wheel may read 200. Again, common amongst all scopes.
Just to be sure, you can be shooting at 100 yards and your parallax adjustment wheel may read 200. Again, common amongst all scopes.
Agreed, but it is not proper to shoot at same distance and have to readjust parallax each time because image has blurred out from prior shot which is what is described as occurring here.
Definitely something wrong with scope!
Definitely something wrong with scope!
you need to raise the price. I keep stacking up shit I don’t fucking need.
Had the same problem with the Argos I had, I tightened the Larue rings to the recommended 30 in/lbs and it affected the parallax, I loosed them up and parallax was better but still not right. Make sure you're not over tightening the rings, Argos doesn't seem to like it, I'd say 25in/lbs max.
There should be a torque spec in the owners manual for what they want you to have the rings at
True, Larue states 30 in/lbs which was too much for this scope, DNZ states 25 in/lbs for cheap scopes and 30-35 in/lbs for higher quality scopes.
For the Argos probably look at the recommended for the rings you're using and start below that, when you start to feel some drag when rotating the parallax then the rings are too tight.
For the Argos probably look at the recommended for the rings you're using and start below that, when you start to feel some drag when rotating the parallax then the rings are too tight.
Rings are tightened to 25 in/lbs. so that eliminates that problem. Gonna wait till after season is over which is a little under a month and send it back. Just won’t be taking longer shots with it till it’s fixed.
Something is wrong with that scope as already said. I own an Athlon Argos BTR 10-40X56 and it is rock solid.
VooDoo
VooDoo
I had an Argos btr before upgrading to an Ares. While the Ares is a definite upgrade the Argos was a fine scope for the money and I didn’t have any mechanical problems with it. I agree with those suggesting giving Athlon a call and give them a chance to make it right.
Don't wait too long as you may miss the return date from amazon. I have several Athlon scopes and have been happy with all. I would send it back as soon as possible so there is no question it came that way from them.
Was reading reviews and a lot of folks said it was solid scope.
I’m sending it to athlon. They have a great warranty from what I hear. And if it takes a couple weeks that’s a pretty fast turn around.
Update on my scope I mentioned above with same problem. Athlon sent me a brand new one, and they did it really fast. New one works great, no more focusing between shots
Glad to hear Athlon has replaced your scope to your complete satisfaction.
In my experience, Athlon has been very quick to respond to issues with any of their products. Their staff has always been accessible, quick to respond, and willing to help!
Athlon is a great bet for value. I have 2 Midas BTR's - I am partial to SFP though, thinner reticle and Athlon made the reticle work @15X, so at full power the subtension values are ~halved. Glass is better to my eyes than the PST Gen2, but not quite as good as Bushnell HDMR II and further away from the Leupold VX5/6HD, or the Trijicon Delta Stryker rebrands.
For 750, perhaps a used Gen1 Cronus, or used Ares ETR. Or try to find a used Ares/Midas BTR (same glass, just FFP vs SFP) for much less. Athlon warranty is lifetime so no reason to avoid used. They don't, however, have any kind of upgrade program. People seem content with the Argos as well, but I found a very big difference in quality between the Midas/Ares glass and their cheaper options. Cronus is up there with the Leupold & Trijicon/Delta.
For 750, perhaps a used Gen1 Cronus, or used Ares ETR. Or try to find a used Ares/Midas BTR (same glass, just FFP vs SFP) for much less. Athlon warranty is lifetime so no reason to avoid used. They don't, however, have any kind of upgrade program. People seem content with the Argos as well, but I found a very big difference in quality between the Midas/Ares glass and their cheaper options. Cronus is up there with the Leupold & Trijicon/Delta.
I started with the argos. I liked is so much I tried the midas. It is finicky about eye relief. I then went with the ares etr. Great scope, clear glass. The floating dot sucked. Then I went to the cronus btr. Love that scope. +1 on calling Doug!
I took my Ares BTR 4.5-27x50 to the range today and after a few rounds could not get the parallax to focus. suppressed .308 Shooting from 100-500 yards. First time putting this scope through its paces and I was not used to that much magnification. Was thinking about sending it back. I got home and looked though the scope again and it was as clear as ever. I’ve concluded that I had the magnification too high and was picking up the mirage off the can, I was mostly using 20-25x. I did back it out to 15x once and it was a little clearer but zoomed back in to shoot at distance.
Not sure how common it is to pick up that much blur off of a suppressor, I’ve never had it get that bad with my Steiner 4-16x shooting all day suppressed.
Not sure how common it is to pick up that much blur off of a suppressor, I’ve never had it get that bad with my Steiner 4-16x shooting all day suppressed.
I have experienced the same thing....was shooting great and things looking good and then after 25 rounds shit started going south with blurry view. Thought it was eye fatigue so took a 1/2 hour break and it all looked fabulous...then I started seeing focus problems and blurry target view again after 20 rounds.
Touched the barrel and realized it was hot enough to be uncomfortable so I wrapped a damp cloth over the barrel and fanned it and in seconds the view cleared up. At high magnification the barrel heat makes things difficult. If I backed the magnification down below 20 it looks great...above that the mirage gets progressively worse.
Barrel Mirage Shield. Shit like barrels and suppressors get hot and the rising air creates mirage that is really hard to define. I thought I was crazy but F-Class shooters know the score. Get a mirage shield if yer gonna shoot at high magnification with a hot barrel.
VooDoo
Touched the barrel and realized it was hot enough to be uncomfortable so I wrapped a damp cloth over the barrel and fanned it and in seconds the view cleared up. At high magnification the barrel heat makes things difficult. If I backed the magnification down below 20 it looks great...above that the mirage gets progressively worse.
Barrel Mirage Shield. Shit like barrels and suppressors get hot and the rising air creates mirage that is really hard to define. I thought I was crazy but F-Class shooters know the score. Get a mirage shield if yer gonna shoot at high magnification with a hot barrel.
VooDoo
I was never a fan of suppressor covers, I always wanted my can to cool off as fast as possible. I might consider a cover now.
Update: sent scope back two weeks later got a brand new one. Now to put it on and send it.
I often have to wait until after work to take rifles down to shoot on my 600yd range, and unless there's no front coming or just passed, there's usually enough breeze or wind to keep mirage off a hot bbl from degrading the image through a scope. But several times I've started shooting when there's still a breeze, only to have it die down to a complete calm, and then I might as well pack-up & go home, as without a mirage band on a rifle, the scope image will go to crap. Have seen this on both cheap & expensive scopes, it's just a fact of life. Though I don't have covers for my 22RF suppressors, I wouldn't shoot any of my CF cans without one. The sloped scope rails most of us use just make it worse, as the slope points the scope down at the bbl.
Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but I was searching for Athelon Argos problems and found this..
I bought a Argos BTR 8-34x56 FFP earlier this year, but have only used it at longer ranges in the last month or 2.
Last month I was shooting at 300yds and thought something wasn't right... when i turned the magnification up, the target went blurry, but the focus/parallex knob did nothing.
If I turned the mag down again, the target came back into focus.
Yesterday i was shooting at 600 and 1k yds and that confirmed it.... up to about 16x was fine, but over 16x the target blurred, and turning the focus knob didn't make any difference... I turned it through the full range, but at no point would the target come clear.
I even had another shooter look through it, and they agreed it was faulty.
I bought it from a reputable Optics retailer here in the Uk, so tonight its been packaged up ready to send back to them... we'll see what they say.
I bought a Argos BTR 8-34x56 FFP earlier this year, but have only used it at longer ranges in the last month or 2.
Last month I was shooting at 300yds and thought something wasn't right... when i turned the magnification up, the target went blurry, but the focus/parallex knob did nothing.
If I turned the mag down again, the target came back into focus.
Yesterday i was shooting at 600 and 1k yds and that confirmed it.... up to about 16x was fine, but over 16x the target blurred, and turning the focus knob didn't make any difference... I turned it through the full range, but at no point would the target come clear.
I even had another shooter look through it, and they agreed it was faulty.
I bought it from a reputable Optics retailer here in the Uk, so tonight its been packaged up ready to send back to them... we'll see what they say.
I had one of my scopes where the zero stop disc wouldn't hold. Called Athlon and they sent me a new one next day no questions asked. Good customer service.
