I know, I know, not another help me choose glass thread, but I have a comparison I haven't seen before. I've come into a little extra money and as most on here would do I'm going to use it to buy a new rifle. I'm going to do a CTR 6.5C in a Cadex Field Competition chassis and I need to decide on glass. It'll be a range toy for steel out to 900 yards, no hunting or PRS and I won't be using it for work, just paper and steel at known distances. Current inventory includes a Zeiss HD5 and a PST II so I have some fairly good glass, but nothing great. Not too long ago I bought a used Athlon MIdas TAC for a .223 for the wife and while being impressed with the glass quality for a $500 scope I found I really liked the floating dot APLR reticle. For the CTR I'd like to kick the glass up a notch. Since I won't be dialing on the clock or beating the thing up my concerns lean more toward glass quality and reticle than turrets. With all things considered I've narrowed my choices down to a Cronus BTR w/APLR reticle (really like the reticle and good glass) and a Minox ZP5 with the MR4 reticle (according to koshkin really good glass and the reticle is close enough). The Minox lists for around a grand more, but they regularly show up in the PX for $2200, so a used Minox is only $400 more than a new Cronus. So is the Minox glass quality worth the price difference? Is it a "yea that's better" or "holy shit that's better"?
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Rifle Scopes Is a Minox ZP5 worth the extra money over a Cronus BTR?
- Thread starter rcmigpilot
- Start date
Yep. Glass isn’t even from the same planet between those two.
I think if you can get a MR4 for 2200 that a pretty good deal and as far as glass goes its tip top, but the ZP5 is a beast of a scope. Thats why I didnt keep mine in the long run.
I own both. Minox is hands down a better scope all around. But if you're paying $1800 for a new Cronus you are wrong.
Depends on what you buy the Cronus for. But the Minox is nicer is every way. I’ve got a few. Also have a few of the Cronus. At 2200 for a new Minox, IMHO that’s the best scope You can get new for that amount. I got my Cronus for a steal here so that’s Ben a good performer for the amount I invested
Up next. Is an AI worth the extra coin over RPR.
That's not really fair, you can easily demonstrate the differences, but what it would come down to is is it worth it to me and in that example the answer is no because I could never afford even a used AI, so RPR=shooting, AI= can't shoot what you don't have.
My biggest issue with buying optics is I typcally can't look through them in the field, what does looking across a gun store tell me? Most of the shooters that I'm around are fuds and the ones that do have tactical glass typically have stuff on par with my PSTII. Not long ago I was shooting near a very nice couple who let me look through their Kowa spotting scope. Up until that time I was pleased with my Leupold, that was a "holy shit that's a lot better" moment, I mean like VHS to 4K difference. They also offered for me to look through the S&B on top one of their AIs, but I declined, looking through the spotter was going to cost me enough money. When I checked the price I realized I was never going to be able to justify spending that much on a spotter, but asking around on the hide I found out a Razor HD while not on par with the Kowa it was a hell of a lot better than the Leupold. I picked up a NIB one from the a member and after selling the leupold I ended up with $800 onto a $1600 spotter.
So back to the original topic. The response was so quick and so overwhelmingly positive I went ahead and grabbed the NIB ZP5 from spyder59 for $2200. I figure if it's that good I can't go wrong. With luck I'll have it for the weekend.
I can't wait to hear what you think after you use it in the field, heck just looking out your window and you're going to be spoiled
@rcmigpilot You will love the Minox. There is one major problem with it though. Once you look through that glass you are going to be hooked on high end glass....
If you plan to shoot at long range you should worry more about the turrets than the glass... However if you have the $$$ its a no brainer to go with the Minox over the Athlon. They really are not in the same class of scope (hint... if you want to compare MSRP to MSRP you can see the Minox is seriously underpriced).
Honestly, I've played around with the Minox and it's a nice scope. I make decent money, but it wasn't worth the difference to me over the Delta Stryker (similar to the Cronus).
The "is it worth it" questions are incredibly difficult, because nobody can say what the money difference means to you. If it means not putting food on the table, then no it's not worth it. If it means the 8th toilet on your 4th yacht is gold-plated instead of platinum-plated, then yeah it is. If it's something in between, as we assume it usually is, then really all we can do is talk about the differences and let you decide whether the money difference is worth it. For me, I was lucky to have someone nearby who let me look through one and that made the decision to keep my Stryker much easier.
Lastly, Minox warranty service just flat out sucks if you're in the USA. Minimum 2 months, often 3-4, and stuff frequently comes back not fixed. Had a buddy who waited over a year through 4 warranty returns before he finally got a working scope. To me, that's a straight up deal-breaker in this price range. But my "what would you get" pretty much goes from Athlon at the low end to SWFA in the $1k range to the Stryker at $1500 and if I'm spending over $2k and buying a dumbell to mount on the top of my gun, I'm just going to be done with it and save for the ZCO.
The "is it worth it" questions are incredibly difficult, because nobody can say what the money difference means to you. If it means not putting food on the table, then no it's not worth it. If it means the 8th toilet on your 4th yacht is gold-plated instead of platinum-plated, then yeah it is. If it's something in between, as we assume it usually is, then really all we can do is talk about the differences and let you decide whether the money difference is worth it. For me, I was lucky to have someone nearby who let me look through one and that made the decision to keep my Stryker much easier.
Lastly, Minox warranty service just flat out sucks if you're in the USA. Minimum 2 months, often 3-4, and stuff frequently comes back not fixed. Had a buddy who waited over a year through 4 warranty returns before he finally got a working scope. To me, that's a straight up deal-breaker in this price range. But my "what would you get" pretty much goes from Athlon at the low end to SWFA in the $1k range to the Stryker at $1500 and if I'm spending over $2k and buying a dumbell to mount on the top of my gun, I'm just going to be done with it and save for the ZCO.
