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Rifle Scopes Looking for a great budget option for family member

5RWill

Optics Fiend
Full Member
Minuteman
Supporter
  • Oct 15, 2009
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    Mississippi
    So he's about to jump on a T3X CTR 20" 6.5CM and KRG bravo more than likely. His budget is $1800 total at the moment. I wish i could get him a little more glass for the money, the Cronus that cabelas was letting go for $999 comes to mind, can't find those anywhere. Midway has a PST Gen II 3-15x44 with the new EBR2D Mil reticle on sale right now for $675 and that seems to be the best bet at the moment. Thought about selling him my SN-3 for $1250 but idk how he'd squeeze that. Are there options i'm missing here? How does the new Athlon budget oriented options stack up?
     
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    Reactions: Nathan11B
    I was just about to suggest you give Doug at Camera Land a call but I see he has already offered to help above. Call him! You won’t be disappointed. Even if he can’t help you directly, he will point you in the right direction.
     
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    Reactions: Broc
    Waiting on him to give me a budget but i'm assuming $700 or so then i'll likely give Doug a call. I did see the PST Gen IIs at midway but though the 5-25s were MOA only. I did find a EBR2D 1/10th Mil but in a 3-15 for $675 which is still pretty solid.
     
    Yes, the 5-25's at Midway were only available in MOA. I would have been tempted at that price, but my other scopes are all Mil and don't want to inject an MOA into the mix and confuse things.
    If he looks for a good deal on a 5-25 Vortex Gen II in EBR-2C, they are a very good scope period, but especially for someone looking for good glass for under $1k.
     
    Yes, the 5-25's at Midway were only available in MOA. I would have been tempted at that price, but my other scopes are all Mil and don't want to inject an MOA into the mix and confuse things.
    If he looks for a good deal on a 5-25 Vortex Gen II in EBR-2C, they are a very good scope period, but especially for someone looking for good glass for under $1k.

    We have one on my brother's 308 they're quality for the money. Just thinking that Cabelas had the Athlon Cronus on sale for $1000 last year and that would be too good to be true honestly.
     
    So he's about to jump on a T3X CTR 20" 6.5CM and KRG bravo more than likely. His budget is $1800 total at the moment. I wish i could get him a little more glass for the money, the Cronus that cabelas was letting go for $999 comes to mind, can't find those anywhere. Midway has a PST Gen II 3-15x44 with the new EBR2D Mil reticle on sale right now for $675 and that seems to be the best bet at the moment. Thought about selling him my SN-3 for $1250 but idk how he'd squeeze that. Are there options i'm missing here? How does the new Athlon budget oriented options stack up?
    I love my Nikon FX1000 6-24. $800 hard to beat for the money
     
    I am not a huge proponent of Athlon Optics by any stretch but the Midas Tac line punches well above its weight class.

    My only real complaint is the eye box over 20x on the 6-24 model gets pretty tight (not an issue on the 4-16), but even still, they are well worth the ~$500 or so that you’ll spend to get one.
     
    I’d drop $300 for a SWFA 10x and save up for top tier. When it comes time to upgrade you’ve got a great scope to put on a 22 or something with only $300 into it, or sell it for $250 and take a minimal loss.
     
    I bought an Athlon Midas TAC from Doug. I felt I was taken care of very well. It is the 4-16X model. It is on a .22 for my daughter. I have tested tracking, and it was within one click at ten mils. The turret scales are off a little bit, and I wish there was a little more turret resistance. The glass is pretty good for the money. The only thing I have to compare it to is an old 8 mil turret 4-20x XTRii. In full disclosure, it is a superb sample of the XTRii. My buddy compared it side by side to his Razor Gen II, and he sent that back thinking something had to be wrong with it because my XTRii had better resolution. Vortex checked it out and said nothing was wrong with it. I will also say that his XTRii has a lot worse iq than mine. I think I just got really lucky. That said, the Midas compares favorably to my XTRII. The resolution is slightly better on the XTRII at 16x in the center of the FOV but the Midas was better around the edges. The color rendering seemed very similar. The conditions were not conducive to CA, I didn't notice any in either scope. When the conditions are bad I have seen some pretty noticable CA in the Burris. No telling what the CA will be like in the Midas until I use it in a high contrast situation. I have heard good things about the PST2 but I haven't been behind one. For $675 it sounds like a hell of a deal. I would probably lean that way if the budget was big enough. If that's further than he wants to stretch, I would call Doug and talk to him about options.