Talos BTR review and tracking.
Got my first Athlon last week: Talos BTR 4-14x FFP
1st impression-
-Windage has nice clicks left and right.
-Elevation knob is mushy, more mushy with adjusting down, than with adjusting up? Have no idea why that would be. I tried the fix of removing the cap, removing old grease, putting new, thinner grease. Hasn't really helped much. The feel is not too bad and I'm OK with it. With cap removed, turret seems to have perfect clicks. Maybe it will tighten up later. I did notice that old grease on the O-rings did seem very sticky. I tried to remove it, but not sure I was very successful. I may have gotten an old model with the old grease? Has Athlon worked/changed this out recently?
Anyway, for price paid, it's not a big deal for now. I can adjust elevation fine, I just pay attention to my clicks.
-Parallax and magnification adjustments are firm and good. I like the position of the magnification # on the adjusting bell. Easy to see while behind scope, unlike my Sightron.
-Reticle is nice. I really like the floating center "+", and the "Xmas tree" windage, as well as 0.2 mil hash marks. I like having the mil numbers also instead of just plain unmarked hashes. In fact, I was looking at the Argos, but wasn't in love with the reticles, and I don't think I need more than 20x power.
I did not want any sort of BDC reticle.
I was willing to pay up to $400. If Argos had a 4-16x option, with the Talos BTR reticle, that would probably have been my choice.
-Cons so far (mostly minor):
1) Mushy elevation turret knob.
2) Illuminated reticle cannot be seen in daylight, even on 11. *I'm actually fine with this as I think it will be plenty bright in a dusk or dawn lighting situation. When looking through scope inside my house, illumination is good.
3) Reticle does not get too large at 14x. I kinda wish it actually got a little larger, but I realize hash gaps and proportions would have to be changed for proper ratio. Its OK. Under about 9x, I can't make out the hashes or numbers, so scope functions more like just a plain duplex crosshairs below 9x for me.
I am no expert marksman and have no experience with high end scopes. I have a Sightron SII 6-24x that is my point of reference. Turret clicks on it are more discernible but almost too easy to turn. I have to pay attention with it as clicks are very easy.
Tracking TEST:
I set up a large piece of cardboard. 2" bull target in center. Used 24" Carpenter's square to create 4 rectangles from center bull. Target board was tacked up with a level so verticle/horizontal lines were true. Shot 8, 3-shot groups. All aimed at center bull with scope crosshairs lined up with target vert/horiz lines. My turret adjustments did not follow a simple box pattern. I wanted it to be more real situation applicable, so as you can see, I bounced around the entire board. Settings listed are each from the original 0,0 scope turret zero marks.
-Shot at 101 yards.
-1 Mil = 3.636" @ 101 yards.
-AR 15 with ADI Outback 69gn SMK ammo.
-Aero precision lightweight scope mount.
-Used Caldwell front and rear bags.
-Light winds.
-My 1st group zero was about 1/4" high and 1/4" right of center. Adjustments to all groups is taken into account in list.
-3-shot group size ranged from about 0.7" to about 1.5". I measured to approximate center of groups for results.
Given the lack of tack driver accuracy of setup, I think results are still very good. Variance could be from wide group size estimation.
I will try again soon with my handloads...I think I can get better groups and thus, more precise results.
Given that group sizes here averaged about 1.2" and deviations of expected vs resulted tracking was almost always well within 1", I think results are pretty great and am very happy with this $300 scope. I suspect most of the deviation is from my shooting/measuring and not the scope turrets/tracking.
Here are my results:
Group------ Turret adjustment in mils from 0,0 (elev,wind)
1----------------- 0,0
2---------------- +2,0
3---------------- +1,+1
4---------------- -3,-1
5---------------- -5,+2
6---------------- 0,-2
7---------------- +2.5,+1.5
8---------------- 0,0
Expected grp location
1---------------- 0,0
2---------------- +7.27",0"
3---------------- +3.64",+3.64"
4---------------- -10.91",-3.64"
5---------------- -18.18",+7.27"
6---------------- 0,-7.27"
7---------------- +9.09",+5.45"
8---------------- 0,0
Resulted grp location
1---------------- 0,0
2---------------- +8.25",0"
3---------------- +3.125",+4.125"
4---------------- -11.375",-3.25"
5---------------- -19.25",+8.25"
6---------------- 0,-8.125"
7---------------- +9.875",+5.5"
8---------------- 0,+0.125" (see pic)
Attached is photo of center bull. Grp 1 has black sharpie marks.
*I have no affiliation with Athlon at all. Do not work in the firearms industry. Just a regular guy who likes to shoot and load ammo. Usually looking for best bang for my bucks.