Did Steiner just quietly build the MPO we have all been asking for? H6xi

I've had the Athlon for a while now. It's just a tad longer and heavier than the Steiner but I do like the magnification range and the reticle is definitely usable for everything except, for me personally, load development due to the 1 MOA center dot. I was out with it today and didn't really have any complaints TBH. I do think the reticle, when illuminated, is a bit thick and looks cheap for lack of a better description. It's holding up to my 308 gas gun just fine.

If the reticle in the Steiner truly isn't usable from 2-6X, that'd kill it for me as well. Maybe Athlon will do a Cronus version with Japanese glass and a hybrid reticle with a smaller center dot or cross hairs along with a death donut for use at lower magnification.

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ATHLON has told me that they may be working on a Cronus 2-x... Im hopeful, but I wont hold my breath.
 
I'm guessing Leupold didn't put a parallax adjustment in that optic so it didn't kill their Mk5 2-10 offering. Looking forward to the full review!
A little bit of column A, a little bit of column B. I dont think it really NEEDS it. Unlike the Credo 2-10 which really struggled above 8x for me. There hasnt been any standout issues with the Mk4HD so far. But we all know that can change in a heartbeat.
 
I do not know if I am quite on board with that. That is a good idea if you have exceedingly well controlled illumination, but msot scopes that illuminate the whole donut are too bright on lowest setting for low light use.

I started experimenting with this style of reticle with the MRAD1 in Meopta Optika6 3-18x50. My idea was to illuminate something fairly small around the primary aiming point, but keep the donut fairly thick and not illuminated.

There were some other flaws in that reticle (some thing that I would do differently), but that part of it works very nicely. I get a nice small and crisp illuminated feature for true low light use, while the non-illuminated donut is quite easy to us on low power across all ight levels.

It is different with LPVOs, but if I were to do a reticle for an MPVO again, I would do an evolution of that MRAD1 concept from a few years ago.

ILya
The MRAD 1 is still one of the best all round reticles that was properly designed for the 3-1Xx mag range. I would love to see Meopta incorporate that in a 2-12x O6. Thank you for the great design.
 
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To those saying there cannot be a good reticle in this mag range, both the Athlon 2-12 and Meopta Optika6 3-18 do a good job at both ends of their mag ranges. See @C_Does reviews on both. The Athlon is consistently compared with higher priced optics and seemingly wins in the reticle game.

That said, the current non-illuminated Mk5 2-10 may be the optic I pick up for this use.
Obviously completely agree. The Non illuminated TMR is also a very fine reticle. The Illuminated version should use the same stedia lines. Even tho I dont mind how thick it is in 'most' cases.
 
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The MRAD 1 is still one of the best all round reticles that was properly designed for the 3-1Xx mag range. I would love to see Meopta incorporate that in a 2-12x O6. Thank you for the great design.
Thanks. There are a couple of things about that reticle I'd change, if I had to do it again. Still, as proof of concept it worked well.

ILya
 
Thanks. There are a couple of things about that reticle I'd change, if I had to do it again. Still, as proof of concept it worked well.

ILya
I own the Meopta and I don't know if I got an absolute winner of a scope built on a Wednesday by a guy who got laid the night before but the glass clarity and brightness of the scope is exceptional and not just at that price point. And yes, I love the reticle too, it's what initially had me interested in the scope to begin with. I'd love for Meopta to take a crack at a 2-12 but based on their other scopes, it'd be too big and too heavy. My only complaint with them.
 
I own the Meopta and I don't know if I got an absolute winner of a scope built on a Wednesday by a guy who got laid the night before but the glass clarity and brightness of the scope is exceptional and not just at that price point. And yes, I love the reticle too, it's what initially had me interested in the scope to begin with. I'd love for Meopta to take a crack at a 2-12 but based on their other scopes, it'd be too big and too heavy. My only complaint with them.
Its a good scope with a good reticle, thanks to @koshkin . Its a bit more "precise" than the LRHS reticle, but you can tell the inspiration came from that. I really don't know why scope companies make this so hard. I have a big knot on my head from beating my head against the wall.
 
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I don’t think anyone has really cracked the code on a FFP L/MPVO reticle with a good tree at high mag and a really easy to see and use reticle at low mag. That said, the discontinued Match/Precision optic from Brownells may have been close. I haven’t handled one, but I “think” the theory checks out.

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The “cross hair” should appear 3x thicker on low mag (b/c it is 2 solid lines with an open middle), but the open center still allows for target acquisition and high precision at high mag.

IDK, maybe someone who has handled one can confirm that it is good at 3x, or that it’s a dumpster fire…
 
That was a decent review, thank you.

It sounds like you have good cross hairs with the illumination on at 2x, just no holds. Does anybody use reticle holdovers on 2 power, anyway?

I don't care about holds at 2x, but I want a reticle I can see without illumination at 2x.
 
I don’t think anyone has really cracked the code on a FFP L/MPVO reticle with a good tree at high mag and a really easy to see and use reticle at low mag. That said, the discontinued Match/Precision optic from Brownells may have been close. I haven’t handled one, but I “think” the theory checks out.
Well, its an LPVO not a MPVO but the Vudu 1-10 in SR5 or LE5 fit the bill if you are ok with .5 MIL hashes in the vertical. It is definitely very visible on 1x or 2x with no illumination.
 
I don’t think anyone has really cracked the code on a FFP L/MPVO reticle with a good tree at high mag and a really easy to see and use reticle at low mag. That said, the discontinued Match/Precision optic from Brownells may have been close. I haven’t handled one, but I “think” the theory checks out.

The “cross hair” should appear 3x thicker on low mag (b/c it is 2 solid lines with an open middle), but the open center still allows for target acquisition and high precision at high mag.

IDK, maybe someone who has handled one can confirm that it is good at 3x, or that it’s a dumpster fire…
Oh, I think the code would be easier to crack if it was being written by people who knew what they needed versus what they think they want. As a group, we're pretty dumb sometimes...

- "Bro, bro, I totally need 10 mrad of wind holds... oh, yeah, and like 32 mrad of elevation holds... I wanna shoot long range with my 100 yd zero and not have to dial... using a .45-70... in a hurricane."

- "Dude, I NEED at least 6x of zoom so that my scope compromises optical performance on every shot for magnification I need on like... no shots."

- "I can't put holes in paper or bang 2+ MOA steel targets if my center dot/cross hair is more than .01 mrad thick. Plus, my wind holds bro... I mean... shit... make that reticle look like a 5 year old got hold of an Etch-a-Sketch... that's peak performance!"
 
Oh, I think the code would be easier to crack if it was being written by people who knew what they needed versus what they think they want. As a group, we're pretty dumb sometimes...

- "Bro, bro, I totally need 10 mrad of wind holds... oh, yeah, and like 32 mrad of elevation holds... I wanna shoot long range with my 100 yd zero and not have to dial... using a .45-70... in a hurricane."

- "Dude, I NEED at least 6x of zoom so that my scope compromises optical performance on every shot for magnification I need on like... no shots."

- "I can't put holes in paper or bang 2+ MOA steel targets if my center dot/cross hair is more than .01 mrad thick. Plus, my wind holds bro... I mean... shit... make that reticle look like a 5 year old got hold of an Etch-a-Sketch... that's peak performance!"
This is actually 100% spot on.

“Bro, I want a decent LPVO with reticle I can see at 2x in near dark and illegal conditions but also that I can shoot 1000 yards with and do wind holds.”
 
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This is actually 100% spot on.

“Bro, I want a decent LPVO with reticle I can see at 2x in near dark and illegal conditions but also that I can shoot 1000 yards with and do wind holds.”
Agreed. If scopes had the ability to project a larger center dot with a manual flip of a lever or something similar for times when you are on minimum magnification it would alleviate the issue of reticle size.
 
Agreed. If scopes had the ability to project a larger center dot with a manual flip of a lever or something similar for times when you are on minimum magnification it would alleviate the issue of reticle size.
Blaser 1-7x28 does that. The technology exists with diffractive reticles.

Dual focal plane reticles acomplish the same thing via different means.

ILya