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Rifle Scopes Athlon Scopes
- Thread starter dhamby
- Start date
I would agree. Nothing stands out in mind about the scope except mine has a parallax issue. Not trying to dump on teh thread but passing word that the dealer I spoke to said he has heard of 4 with the same problem. The cross hairs move if you move your eye behind the scope. I have been chasing accuracy issues with a CZ and I think most of it came from the scope. I can get the cross hairs to move 2 inches at 100 yards by moving my head around.
Anyhow athlon wants me to box her up and send it back in for repair or replacement. Just to be clear, this is the 6-24X50 in MIL FFP one.
Interested in the Talos BTR 4-14 for some mid range AR plinking. Anyone have some feedback on this model? Does it tunnel much on the low end?
I havent really turned it down to 4 other than playing with it initially but I dont remember any tunneling or unexpectedly poor image issues. I have it mounted on my 22 bu I think it would be great for a budget plinker. Just dont expect it to be the quality of a thousand dollar scope and I expect you would be pleased. Its a nice scope in a pleasant package for the 200 upper something I paid for it. Blows a crap nikon out of the water.
I just began testing of the new Ares today. So far this is a solid winner. Outstanding glass and functions well. Rifle is zeroed and ready for a 10 mile ruck and match this weekend. Results coming soon, this will be a great match to put the scope thru its paces.
Still trying to figure out photos on the new old site and now Tapatalk.
Sent from my XT1635-01 using Tapatalk
Still trying to figure out photos on the new old site and now Tapatalk.
This is my 10-yo son using the Ares BTR.
Sent from my XT1635-01 using Tapatalk
Sent from my XT1635-01 using Tapatalk
How did you get your hands on an Ares so Soon? My pre-order site, USA optics, is now saying may or june for delivery.
Sure would be nice to get the Athlon sponsored fan boys out of every damn Athlon thread so people asking legit questions could get legit answers from folks who paid for their scopes and didn't get a free fucking handout so they would be fan boys.
I've ran one of these and have a few customers running them as well all very happy. No tunneling down at 4x and glass is bright and clear. If you are interested shoot me a pm and I'll take good care of you.
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where do you live so i can buy you a beer?
I'll be testing out the ARES and I'm not sponsored or affiliated with Athlon at all. I intend on testing the tracking, resolution, build quality and my likes/dislikes. Like many, I'm a diligent consumer who wants to get the most bang for their buck. My assessment and review will be that of the scope, free from any bias due to monetary or material gains.
I am really thinking about buying a chronos. Is it true that they have a new generation that has better, more substantial detents in the turret clicks? and was the original run of scopes turrets mushy to the point of being hard to use? or are people just finding certain things to critique?
Waiting on the 4.5-29x56 Cronus BTR as well. Supposed to be arriving stateside and entering delivery stream very soon!
As far as I know Athlon does not give anything away for free. They have a few test scopes out but they are required to be sent back after a period of time.
The turrets are a bit better on the new Cronus BTR as well as a revised reticle and battery compartment cover. That said I've been running one of the original Cronus and the turrets have been very positive after changing the grease on the orings(which Athlon has now done as well).
I bought an Athlon Cronus 4.5-29 that I will be installing on a rifle I have coming. The reviews I have read have generally been good and the price point is very attractive to someone on a fixed income. Also, their warranty seems to follow the Vortex business model which is a huge plus in my book. I am not affiliated with Athlon in any way and I purchased my scope on Amazon. No freebies. Once I start putting the scope through its paces, I will share my feedback with my brothers here on the forum and I will report the truth...good and bad.
Good luck at the CBC. I was supposed to go but had emergency back surgery and had to drop out due to the ruck portion. I ran a Cronus a bit last year and it held up great. I loved everything about the scope but the mushy turrets, and sold it about a week before the o-ring grease video popped giving people a substantially better turret feel. Turrets while a tad mushy, still tracked true for me out to 1100 yards. Never tested it further. Glass and illumination were fantastic. Really like the reticles they are using as well. Hope the company continues to gain traction and turns into a Vortex Optics style success story. I am really interested in the Ares to replace my Premier Light Tactical 3-15x50 on a light weight long range hunting rifle. I would add 3 oz to pickup 12 more mag range and a solid reticle. Keep us posted on your findings after this weekend! Good luck.
Just ordered another athlon for my new Kidd 10/22. These scopes are perfect for the 22lr rifles.
Thanks for posting this. I have 2x 6-24x and am seeing something similar on my .204 Ruger 527 Varmint. I want to shoot it some more before I contact Athlon, but your post explains much to me. And I am pleased w/ the other scope and 3x 4-14x btr(s).
I'll be testing out the ARES and I'm not sponsored or affiliated with Athlon at all. I intend on testing the tracking, resolution, build quality and my likes/dislikes. Like many, I'm a diligent consumer who wants to get the most bang for their buck. My assessment and review will be that of the scope, free from any bias due to monetary or material gains.
I'm looking forward to hearing your opinion. The Ares BTR 4.5-27 is at the top of my list but I really don't like the MIL reticle. The opposing hash marks drive me crazy. Maybe it's not so bad actually looking through the scope but looking at it on a monitor bugs me.
Reticles are definitely personal preference.
Here's some considerations concerning the APLR3 reticle.
Except for one mil below center <(awesome) the mil lines are numbered. For holding over, it means to me there is less chance of mistaking the wrong line which I've done before with reticles that have every other line marked.
The transition of hash marks on the main crosshair in both axis is at the half mil. .2 -.4, then half mil transition from one side to the other, then .6 - .8 then to full mil.
When the magnification is at or close to it's lowest, the transitioned reticle makes it much easier to """see""" vs other reticles, some of which are downright hard to see they are so thin.
Here's some considerations concerning the APLR3 reticle.
Except for one mil below center <(awesome) the mil lines are numbered. For holding over, it means to me there is less chance of mistaking the wrong line which I've done before with reticles that have every other line marked.
The transition of hash marks on the main crosshair in both axis is at the half mil. .2 -.4, then half mil transition from one side to the other, then .6 - .8 then to full mil.
When the magnification is at or close to it's lowest, the transitioned reticle makes it much easier to """see""" vs other reticles, some of which are downright hard to see they are so thin.
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Makes sense and I can see the merit in offsetting them that way. If the ARES had the APRS option it'd be a no brainer.
I was able to take the ARES out yesterday. It was rainy and overcast, so I wasn't able to really do any great optical tests. There were several other Athlon scopes on other rifles at the range, as well as a PST Gen 1 and Burris XTRII. Unfortunately, the rain forced a lot of guys to leave before I got a chance to do a side by side comparison.
First impressions: The glass is clear and the resolution seems to be pretty good to great for a scope in this price range. I think another poster has mentioned that the lower end Athlons, without "HD" glass, were closer to S&B glass than most would think. I'm going to have to disagree with that. In my experience, the "pop", brightness and contrast is what the higher end scopes provide over the low to mid priced scopes. During low light evaluation on Friday, I thought that the scope was clear, but not as bright as my Gen 1 razor. Yeah, I know, 35mm tube vs a 30mm, but it was fairly apparent when doing a side by side comparison.
I didn't have solid dope for the load/upper combo that I was using, but I was able to see my misses in the wet dirt on the berm. Once dialed in, I was having no issue connecting on a 6" plate at 546yds. I'll try to do a tall target test when the weather is more favorable to confirm the adjustment accuracy since my unknown dope can't be used to substantiate the tracking.
The turrets are audible, but they aren't as tactile as something like a NXS or Razor. The demo doesn't have .5mil markings on the turret to help for visual confirmation when dialing fast, but the production models are said to have this modification. This would certainly be a welcomed feature. My SIII and PST's are at my dads house, so I'll try and compare the turrets head to head when I visit in 2 weeks or so.
I'll definitely be putting it to greater use over the next few weeks. If anyone has any specific questions, please feel free to ask.
Gratuitous pic of an ARES in the wild
First impressions: The glass is clear and the resolution seems to be pretty good to great for a scope in this price range. I think another poster has mentioned that the lower end Athlons, without "HD" glass, were closer to S&B glass than most would think. I'm going to have to disagree with that. In my experience, the "pop", brightness and contrast is what the higher end scopes provide over the low to mid priced scopes. During low light evaluation on Friday, I thought that the scope was clear, but not as bright as my Gen 1 razor. Yeah, I know, 35mm tube vs a 30mm, but it was fairly apparent when doing a side by side comparison.
I didn't have solid dope for the load/upper combo that I was using, but I was able to see my misses in the wet dirt on the berm. Once dialed in, I was having no issue connecting on a 6" plate at 546yds. I'll try to do a tall target test when the weather is more favorable to confirm the adjustment accuracy since my unknown dope can't be used to substantiate the tracking.
The turrets are audible, but they aren't as tactile as something like a NXS or Razor. The demo doesn't have .5mil markings on the turret to help for visual confirmation when dialing fast, but the production models are said to have this modification. This would certainly be a welcomed feature. My SIII and PST's are at my dads house, so I'll try and compare the turrets head to head when I visit in 2 weeks or so.
I'll definitely be putting it to greater use over the next few weeks. If anyone has any specific questions, please feel free to ask.
Gratuitous pic of an ARES in the wild
I was able to take the ARES out yesterday. It was rainy and overcast, so I wasn't able to really do any great optical tests. There were several other Athlon scopes on other rifles at the range, as well as a PST Gen 1 and Burris XTRII. Unfortunately, the rain forced a lot of guys to leave before I got a chance to do a side by side comparison.
First impressions: The glass is clear and the resolution seems to be pretty good to great for a scope in this price range. I think another poster has mentioned that the lower end Athlons, without "HD" glass, were closer to S&B glass than most would think. I'm going to have to disagree with that. In my experience, the "pop", brightness and contrast is what the higher end scopes provide over the low to mid priced scopes. During low light evaluation on Friday, I thought that the scope was clear, but not as bright as my Gen 1 razor. Yeah, I know, 35mm tube vs a 30mm, but it was fairly apparent when doing a side by side comparison.
I didn't have solid dope for the load/upper combo that I was using, but I was able to see my misses in the wet dirt on the berm. Once dialed in, I was having no issue connecting on a 6" plate at 546yds. I'll try to do a tall target test when the weather is more favorable to confirm the adjustment accuracy since my unknown dope can't be used to substantiate the tracking.
The turrets are audible, but they aren't as tactile as something like a NXS or Razor. The demo doesn't have .5mil markings on the turret to help for visual confirmation when dialing fast, but the production models are said to have this modification. This would certainly be a welcomed feature. My SIII and PST's are at my dads house, so I'll try and compare the turrets head to head when I visit in 2 weeks or so.
I'll definitely be putting it to greater use over the next few weeks. If anyone has any specific questions, please feel free to ask.
Gratuitous pic of an ARES in the wild
thank you for your review. cant wait to see reviews compared to some trusted brands that are out right now.
TripleD
You wrote this. "I think another poster has mentioned that the lower end Athlons, without "HD" glass, were closer to S&B glass than most would think. I'm going to have to disagree with that."
Oh you agree with me more than you think. Because you then wrote this. "In my experience, the "pop", brightness and contrast is what the higher end scopes provide over the low to mid priced scopes." To which I say.... uhh, "No Shit Sherlock", really??? LOL. You mean we do get something for that extra $3000 we spent.
So my comment was a impression of what I saw that day in a side by side comparison between my friends Argos BTR and my S&B and correlates with what you stated in the above sentence. Or fantastic glass vs good glass, HD or not, the difference isn't as much as one would think which is exactly what I meant. It certainly didn't prevent my bud from getting the CB hit on his new 5" plate at 548Y.
S&B has fantastic glass, about the best. The Talos and Argos BTR's have good glass, better than any scope in their price range, as good as many scopes costing 2-3 times as much and do not have the milky blur, the CA problems, the tight eyebox, the fisheye fade on the edge and they resolve way more than what a scope costing this much should.
So all that being said let me "clarify", 1 being the worst and 10 being the best rating for "glass". I'd easily rate the aforementioned Athlon scopes as a 6 in glass quality. Did my HDMR's have as good of glass, barely. How about my "old NXS", very close. How about the other half dozen or so $1500-2000 scopes I've owned, barely or about the same, with one brand in particular being much worse. AND NO, I'm not saying that the scopes I just mentioned aren't higher quality in build, of course they are.
Will the final production model Ares have great glass appropriate to it's price or even more? You bet, maybe a 7-8 rating, with the Cronus being a 9 and S&B 9.5.
You wrote this. "I think another poster has mentioned that the lower end Athlons, without "HD" glass, were closer to S&B glass than most would think. I'm going to have to disagree with that."
Oh you agree with me more than you think. Because you then wrote this. "In my experience, the "pop", brightness and contrast is what the higher end scopes provide over the low to mid priced scopes." To which I say.... uhh, "No Shit Sherlock", really??? LOL. You mean we do get something for that extra $3000 we spent.
So my comment was a impression of what I saw that day in a side by side comparison between my friends Argos BTR and my S&B and correlates with what you stated in the above sentence. Or fantastic glass vs good glass, HD or not, the difference isn't as much as one would think which is exactly what I meant. It certainly didn't prevent my bud from getting the CB hit on his new 5" plate at 548Y.
S&B has fantastic glass, about the best. The Talos and Argos BTR's have good glass, better than any scope in their price range, as good as many scopes costing 2-3 times as much and do not have the milky blur, the CA problems, the tight eyebox, the fisheye fade on the edge and they resolve way more than what a scope costing this much should.
So all that being said let me "clarify", 1 being the worst and 10 being the best rating for "glass". I'd easily rate the aforementioned Athlon scopes as a 6 in glass quality. Did my HDMR's have as good of glass, barely. How about my "old NXS", very close. How about the other half dozen or so $1500-2000 scopes I've owned, barely or about the same, with one brand in particular being much worse. AND NO, I'm not saying that the scopes I just mentioned aren't higher quality in build, of course they are.
Will the final production model Ares have great glass appropriate to it's price or even more? You bet, maybe a 7-8 rating, with the Cronus being a 9 and S&B 9.5.
Steve,
I'm certainly not going to argue over what I witnessed and I stand by my statement that I don't agree with them being closer to S&B than one might think. That is a very bold statement and likely sets unrealistic expectations. Using your caveat about getting more for your extra money spent would allow a lot of tactical scopes to be very close to upper tier scopes if certain features were overlooked. I just did a basic comparison to the scope in question and a 1300$ optic that I had laying around. The difference was noticeable to me and 2 others that were with me.
I'm certainly not trying to dog the scope and have stated that I was able to see my misses at 546yds, make corrections and then impacts. I just wouldn't set expectations too high. You yourself have said that people shouldn't expect a $ scope to compete with a $$$$ scope, yet draw a comparison to an upper tier scope.
I'll look at resolution and the eye of once I have better conditions and the ability to setup some charts.
I'm certainly not going to argue over what I witnessed and I stand by my statement that I don't agree with them being closer to S&B than one might think. That is a very bold statement and likely sets unrealistic expectations. Using your caveat about getting more for your extra money spent would allow a lot of tactical scopes to be very close to upper tier scopes if certain features were overlooked. I just did a basic comparison to the scope in question and a 1300$ optic that I had laying around. The difference was noticeable to me and 2 others that were with me.
I'm certainly not trying to dog the scope and have stated that I was able to see my misses at 546yds, make corrections and then impacts. I just wouldn't set expectations too high. You yourself have said that people shouldn't expect a $ scope to compete with a $$$$ scope, yet draw a comparison to an upper tier scope.
I'll look at resolution and the eye of once I have better conditions and the ability to setup some charts.
I emailed one of Athlons employees (Trent) in regards to a question i had along with pricing. He mentioned that their cronus line were aples to aples when it came to the razor line. (im guessing he meant the gen 2 razors)
For the price of the Cronus, I rather spend a little extra for the gen 2 razor which has been proven by many many professionals and SH users.
Im definitely still on the fence. If it was a couple hundred dollars cheaper, I wouldve jumped on the offer. I would hate to be the guinea pig for an optic that costs that much to only dissapoint.
Ill wait until we get some solid reviews before purchasing one.
For the price of the Cronus, I rather spend a little extra for the gen 2 razor which has been proven by many many professionals and SH users.
Im definitely still on the fence. If it was a couple hundred dollars cheaper, I wouldve jumped on the offer. I would hate to be the guinea pig for an optic that costs that much to only dissapoint.
Ill wait until we get some solid reviews before purchasing one.
Shin95,
The glass in the Cronus is up there with the Gen 2. The Cronus BTR with the reticle that JADEprecision helped design makes it much better than the initial Cronus IMO. For the price, I highly doubt you would be disappointed in the glass in the Cronus.
The glass in the Cronus is up there with the Gen 2. The Cronus BTR with the reticle that JADEprecision helped design makes it much better than the initial Cronus IMO. For the price, I highly doubt you would be disappointed in the glass in the Cronus.
Thanks TripleD. Although your optics do sound promising, i may have to just wait a little longer.
Do you have any suppliers in CA? Maybe I can check them in person.
My caveat in this "context", as plainly stated, was the glass is much closer to what most would think. Meaning exactly this, that the glass in the Talos and Argos BTR's are exceptional for the money and good compared to a S&B which is excellent, thus the rating, that's all, no need to repeat myself. I didn't state that the quality level of these lower $$$ scopes in question were near as high as S&B$$$$ at anytime and anybody should be able to discern and make an easy distinction. So no, it's not misleading in the least. I even gave examples of previous owned $1500-$2000 scopes that didn't have great glass???!!!
Okay let's drop the subject since it's obvious nothing will be resolved. I've got my opinion and yours is different, such is life.
"""""Edit, I feel compelled to elaborate on my other caveat from the scout forum. Again "context is everything". That caveat " don't expect $$$ scopes to compare with $$$$ scopes". I define this caveat as in the "fit finish and feel as well as refinement". In context to Athlons Talos and Argos BTR scopes. Wherein the fit, finish and feel of these inexpensive scopes lacks the refinement of the lower priced $$$$ scopes. But!!! The reticles, glass and tracking are equal to or can exceed some of the lower priced $$$$ scopes.
The below paragraph is about a brand and model of scope that tracks well according to reports but is known for having substandard glass. Also known for having great fit, finish and feel.
Interesting timing, I just got back from shooting long range a few minutes ago. Met a guy I hadn't before who has one of the most popular $1300 scopes here on the Hide. He was angry at his entire experience with this certain Co. The original scope could not even be focused so he sent it back. The Co sent it back to him over a month later saying it was within spec. He sent it back again saying something had to be done. The end result being they sent him another brand new scope with a different reticle which he liked better. The glass seemed fine until the very first shot when the scope went blurry. Turned out his 100Y target would only focus with the 300Y parallax setting and at every shot the scope had to be refocused. He's so discouraged that he hasn't sent this one back yet. Too bad I didn't have one of my cheap Athlons with me to show him. He did like my S&B.
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No sir. Athlon has changed the grease being used on all of their scopes. If you have any specific questions or interested in one shoot me a message.
When you see an Athlon post your like Donald Trump seeing Twitter, you can't resist. Wished you would take a couple months off and let the non fan boys sort it out
Hilarious, you went back 3-4 pages to bump this thread just to call me out. I'm trying to turn over a new leaf, not go "there" and get rude, which I hate to do anyway, I'm not that way normally. Believe me, there are a bunch of volleys I could come back with but this time I choose to take the high road.
Just don't read my posts, skip me over, that is if you can find the strength to. Put me on ignore, whatever it takes.
Buy the product, make up your own mind and act accordingly. You'll see the value in them or you won't. There's other scope Co's and other threads. Why not go and call out Rob with Vortex or Birddog with Burris and harass them.
I've backed off considerably in the last few months, go look at the other threads where Athlon scopes are mentioned. The reason why I backed off is in the last 6 months a following has started and gained momentum, partly because I did post a lot in the beginning to get the news out. However, notice I didn't post in most of the recent threads where Athlon is mentioned by others, because I didn't want to for various reasons. In my last post I even recommended another Co because the production model Ares isn't available yet and I haven't evaluated it.
There are the regulars, like you and I. I'm not responding in these threads (unless in response to being called out) for the regulars which have made up their minds about Athlon already, I'm trying to educate the less experienced who are ignorant about the Co and the products. Consider my comments a service to the shooting community in that regard.
Like I've mentioned more than once. If I didn't like the product I sure wouldn't be associated with Athlon. They aren't perfect but they work well and are affordable.
Just don't read my posts, skip me over, that is if you can find the strength to. Put me on ignore, whatever it takes.
Buy the product, make up your own mind and act accordingly. You'll see the value in them or you won't. There's other scope Co's and other threads. Why not go and call out Rob with Vortex or Birddog with Burris and harass them.
I've backed off considerably in the last few months, go look at the other threads where Athlon scopes are mentioned. The reason why I backed off is in the last 6 months a following has started and gained momentum, partly because I did post a lot in the beginning to get the news out. However, notice I didn't post in most of the recent threads where Athlon is mentioned by others, because I didn't want to for various reasons. In my last post I even recommended another Co because the production model Ares isn't available yet and I haven't evaluated it.
There are the regulars, like you and I. I'm not responding in these threads (unless in response to being called out) for the regulars which have made up their minds about Athlon already, I'm trying to educate the less experienced who are ignorant about the Co and the products. Consider my comments a service to the shooting community in that regard.
Like I've mentioned more than once. If I didn't like the product I sure wouldn't be associated with Athlon. They aren't perfect but they work well and are affordable.
