Rifle Scopes New Athlon Cronus BTR - very weak/mushy turret detent

[Tmm01]

I bought an Athlon Crouns btr from nycameraland (awesome guys) back in November. I checked it out when it came in and knew I would have to remove the thick grease from the turrets when I decided to mount it. Well, the time has come to mount it, I removed the grease, there was very little under the caps and they still suck. The detent on the windage knob is absolutely terrible and it has a small amount of wiggle to it. Is this a known problem on some of these scopes? Is there a simple fix or is this going to turn into a warranty issue?

I really wanted to like this scope, because I bought it for the reticle and bang for my buck, now I'm not sure how I feel about it. I guess I shouldn't of waited 3 months to fully evaluate the damn thing.

 

[cast1]

All you need to do is remove the rubber O ring between the turret cap and the turret. They are much more tactile afterward. Per athlon these scopes were kind of geared toward hunters who I guess they suppose don’t care or want super crunchy clicks on a scope. They’re never going to feel like a tangent theta, but work well enough.

 

[Dthomas3523]

All you need to do is remove the rubber O ring between the turret cap and the turret. They are much more tactile afterward. Per athlon these scopes were kind of geared toward hunters who I guess they suppose don’t care or want super crunchy clicks on a scope. They’re never going to feel like a tangent theta, but work well enough.

What value, if any, is lost in removing the O ring? Seems like it would be ther for a reason. Serious question.

 

[bjay]

Just sold mine here.and i thought the turret clicks was nice.its not your sb theta kinda 5actile but pretty positive..hmm are you sure u didnt get a bobo

 

[azred33]

What value, if any, is lost in removing the O ring? Seems like it would be ther for a reason. Serious question.

The scope is submersible with the o ring in, not with it removed. Been told it does not affect warranty.

 

[gr8fuldoug]

Removing the o-ring and cleaning the grease out will greatly improve the click value. It comes from Athlon with a submersible waterproof guarantee. That is why it is muted.

 

[ThePretzel]

Remove the o-ring, clean the old grease, and replace the grease with Team Associated Green Slime RC car lube. Even with the o-ring in just replacing the grease with that green slime lube makes a HUGE difference.

 

[Fred @ Bison Tactical]

The ETR line has much better click in my opinion. The Cronus will be updated soon with the same turrets as the ETR's and then the line will be pretty nice. You can send it back to Athlon IIRC to have them adjust and they will do the work for you. However the green slime method was the standard method up until they changed the grease in the turrets. You may have an old stock one instead of the updated ones that have better clicks (still not as nice as the ETRs).

 

[Tmm01]

Per everyone's suggestion I removed the o-ring, that improved the feel slightly, but it is still too easy to spin right past your intended dial point. Trying to compare what it feels like, my gen 1 PST feels more positive and a gen 1 PST is nothing to write home about. Maybe I have an earlier one before they improved them, I can call Athlon and ask and inquire about maybe sending it in. I know the Cronus before the BTR upgrade had some teething problems. I wish I could find another one to compare to mine, before I make a mountain out of a mole hill if this is just the nature of this scope.

 

[Tyler Kemp]

The Cronus just don't have great turrets. The Ares ETR are leagues better.

 

[skatz11]

My Cronus BTR turrets are very close in feel to my 5-20 gen1 Razor, but with a slightly more space to each click. They’re on par with the SWFA 5-20 and Bushnell LRHS scopes that I’ve used in the past.

I’m willing to sacrifice some turret feel for glass quality and a reticle that I like. I may be on only one left who really digs the floating cross hair instead of a dot.

 

[wade2big]

Turret feel is a non issue to me and something i can’t understand.
Do they spin?
Check.
Ok. Im good.

 

[ThePretzel]

Turret feel is a non issue to me and something i can’t understand.
Do they spin?
Check.
Ok. Im good.

The issue with the Athlon turrets before the Ares ETR and Midas Tac is not that they have a soft feel, but that there's a lot of play in them. It makes it somewhat ambiguous as to whether you dialed 1.2 or 1.3 MRAD, for example (or any other number and the number next to it.

 

[wade2big]

The issue with the Athlon turrets before the Ares ETR and Midas Tac is not that they have a soft feel, but that there's a lot of play in them. It makes it somewhat ambiguous as to whether you dialed 1.2 or 1.3 MRAD, for example (or any other number and the number next to it.

I was making fun earlier. What you just described is annoying. Im on the same page as you with that one. I could care less if the click is audible or weak feeling as long as I can feel it. Every scope from cheap to expensive has been more than adequate in this regard.

I do not like scopes where the markings on the turrets index between two values like you described.

 

[SlimySquirrel]

I have a Gen 1 Ares Btr and the turrets are disappointing. Athlon listened though and have since improved them on the newer model BTR, ETR and Midas Tac.
It's weird that the Cronus is still lacking the tactile feel required when feedback has been so strong.

 

[Gohring65]

I just bought the Ares Btr and noticed right away the mush in the turrets. I removed the o-ring from the elevation turret and just cleaned the grease from the windage turret. It is night and day difference. Much better with O-ring removed. I left it in the windage turret because it made it much harder to rotate, reminds me of Burris XTR turrets. I never dial wind, so it’s so far a benefit for me with the windage turret.

 

[loveha]

I have an Ares BTR, will have to try removing that O ring. I don't mind how they feel though personally.

 

[cozmacozmy]

I have an Ares BTR, will have to try removing that O ring. I don't mind how they feel though personally.

How did it work out for you? ( Or anyone else who had to do this to their Ares BTR?)

 

[SlimySquirrel]

Remove the o-ring and replaced it with a thinner version.

Worked pretty well but I didn’t like having to do that to get a good feeling on the turrets.

The new Gen 2 versions are much better though so unless you bought? an older model, it won’t be a problem for you.

 

[Macintosh]

I recently bought one from camera land, and when I got it it had the same feeling, the windage knob felt like it was missing a detent right around zero and it had some wiggle to it, about a 10th of a mil in either direction. I found several posts mentioning taking out the O-ring, but that was an unacceptable solution to me. Both cameraland and Athlon were great to deal with, the warranty guy suggested I remove and then reset the windage turret and put it back on and if that didn’t work that they’d replace it. Turns out the hex head that holds it on was extremely loose, and when I tightened it appropriately it completely changed the feeling of the knob for the better. Clicks are not as crisp as the razor g2 I have been using, but it’s pretty good and completely removed the wiggle.

 

[700smooth]

With the couple Cronus i have owned the o-ring trick and grease removal worked but i also re coated the inner part with a much thinner grease and that actually improved the feel of the turret for me . Had a little issue with the hash marks not lining up very well and Athlon ended up sending me a complete new scope. Great customer service.

 

[Steel head]

My Cronus has a pretty decent elevation knob but it’s windage knob is certainly not overly impressive.
I still love the scope and it’s tracking has been reliable.

 

[patriot07]

With the Cronus I had, the clicks were awful. I don’t typically care about how good the clicks are, but this was unacceptable. I tried the grease trick and it didn’t do anything. It was an early model, so maybe that had some impact?

 

[Jonnyb0381]

I sold my Cronus BTR to get a Leupold Mark 5 and have not looked back. The Cronus has good glass and illumantion and will get done what you need it to. I didnt care for the turrets either. If you ever get into PRS you may want to go another route.

 

[Macintosh]

I recently bought one from camera land, and when I got it it had the same feeling, the windage knob felt like it was missing a detent right around zero and it had some wiggle to it, about a 10th of a mil in either direction. I found several posts mentioning taking out the O-ring, but that was an unacceptable solution to me. Both cameraland and Athlon were great to deal with, the warranty guy suggested I remove and then reset the windage turret and put it back on and if that didn’t work that they’d replace it. Turns out the hex head that holds it on was extremely loose, and when I tightened it appropriately it completely changed the feeling of the knob for the better. Clicks are not as crisp as the razor g2 I have been using, but it’s pretty good and completely removed the wiggle.

Have now shot my new Cronus btr a couple times. If the $ were equal I would take the razor g2. As it was I saved $400 (over 25%) and unless something catastrophic happens I’m happy with the choice. Once I tightened the turret screws the clicks are not quite a crisp as the razor, but they are consistent and easy to use, track, etc.