Rifle Scopes New Release: Cronus BTR Gen 2

[Luke G]

The new Athlon Cronus is here. Looks like the only change is stainless internals, new reticle available and it’s about an ounce lighter than the previous edition. No mention of any difference in glass.

Cronus BTR GEN2 UHD

From precision shooting to the most demanding hunt, the Cronus BTR GEN2 UHD is up to the challenge.

athlonoptics.com

 

[earthquake]

I thought for sure they were going to put a locking turret or cap on the windage knob. Turret grips look like there's a bit more relief.

 

[Adam B]

too bad that is all they changed, I really think they missed on this release

 

[TripleOrNothing]

Is this reticle new? I thought they were coming out with a mid mag range Cronus with locking or capped windage. I guess it could still be coming

 

[celltech]

The Ares ETR 1-10 looks more exciting...

 

[Luke G]

View attachment 7495374
Is this reticle new? I thought they were coming out with a mid mag range Cronus with locking or capped windage. I guess it could still be coming

Yeah that reticle is new, I forgot to add it to the original post.

 

[Luke G]

I thought for sure they were going to put a locking turret or cap on the windage knob. Turret grips look like there's a bit more relief.

Thats what I was hoping for but there’s always next year.

 

[beetroot]

Wonder if this means the new lower power version will be released soon.

 

[TripleOrNothing]

@gr8fuldoug What are you hearing that you can share?

 

[schockley]

Wonder if this means the new lower power version will be released soon.

It wouldn’t hurt my feelings to see a 50mm Cronus on a 30mm tube. Just move the Ares ETR right over to Japan. Easy. Follow me for more global supply chain recipes.

 

[TripleOrNothing]

Wonder if this means the new lower power version will be released soon.

I emailed Athlon a month or so ago and they said something was in the works. We shall see. I do like this new reticle.

 

[MDrimfirerookie]

isn't the top gripe with the cronus the lack of locking or capped windage? why not add that for this go rounds? really seems like the missed the boat by adding a reticle that doesn't seem that much different save for the markings

 

[TripleOrNothing]

isn't the top gripe with the cronus the lack of locking or capped windage? why not add that for this go rounds? really seems like the missed the boat by adding a reticle that doesn't seem that much different save for the markings

I was led to believe that it would be on the yet to be released lower magnification model. Who knows?

 

[MDrimfirerookie]

yeah i guess we wait for the rest of their releases this week. i for one will pass on this though. looking to upgrade the scope on my 22lr. was hoping this would be the ticket. may just save some dough and upgrade to the 5-25 midas tac. hell my eyes can't tell the difference in glass anyway and its not like i'm shooting out past 500 any way

 

[gr8fuldoug]

@gr8fuldoug What are you hearing that you can share?

No new sizes.

Change of truuet from brass to steel to make the clicks firmer

 

[TripleOrNothing]

That's mildly disappointing. Thanks for the info.

 

[Luke G]

No new sizes.

Change of truuet from brass to steel to make the clicks firmer

Thanks for the info! Do you know if the change in material is only for the feel or were they having any sort of durability issues with the brass?

 

[gr8fuldoug]

Thanks for the info! Do you know if the change in material is only for the feel or were they having any sort of durability issues with the brass?

To the best of my knowledge just for feel

 

[MDrimfirerookie]

i really kinda feel like they whiffed on this one. any idea why they didn't cap or lock the windage. seems like that was one of the top complaints

 

[Michael W]

I talked to Kevin down at Athlon and he told me about this scope a few days ago. It sounded like it only has a few changes I couldn't really understand what made it a Gen 2. By the way they are no longer offering they're Scopes in Brown. I think if you could pick up a gen 1 Cronus BTR at cameraland for a good price it would be a better deal.
He also said they would be releasing it late January early February
Here's some pictures of the new scope

 

[Stoweit]

Meh, nothing to see here. Thought there would be more.

 

[Triggs75]

They just dropped the Ares Etr 3-18x which I would be interested putting on my 308 semi.

 

[beetroot]

They just dropped the Ares Etr 3-18x which I would be interested putting on my 308 semi.

That's an interesting looking scope.
The FOV is good and they have made the reticle thicker than on the 4.5-30.

I'll be keeping an eye on this model.

 

[TripleOrNothing]

That's an interesting looking scope.
The FOV is good and they have made the reticle thicker than on the 4.5-30.

I'll be keeping an eye on this model.

FOV is legit.

Field of View @100 yards

39.2-6.65 ft

 

[BytorJr]

Has anybody had their hands on one? Just curious how much better the turret click is, both tactile and audible.

 

[Twistid]

My cronus BTR turrets are just fine, not sure why they decided to "upgrade" them over something like a cronus 1-8 or 1-10, or even make it daylight bright.

 

[BytorJr]

My cronus BTR turrets are just fine, not sure why they decided to "upgrade" them over something like a cronus 1-8 or 1-10, or even make it daylight bright.

Are you talking about your Gen I turrets? Assuming the Cronus Gen 2 isn't in the wild yet.

 

[Twistid]

Yes my gen1 turrets are fine

 

[bassmaster07]

I have a new Gen2 Cronus with APRS6 reticle showing up this week. I can only compare it to the ETR (no longer in my possession).

They told me the turrets will now feel much more like the ETR turrets. Which I liked.

 

[Adam B]

anyone else have stiff parallax adjustments?

 

[padom]

I have a new Gen2 Cronus with APRS6 reticle showing up this week. I can only compare it to the ETR (no longer in my possession).

They told me the turrets will now feel much more like the ETR turrets. Which I liked.

I have one arriving any day to test and review directly from Athlon. Talking to them 2 weeks ago, they are not ETR turrets. They are new turrets that are SS. The reticle was also updated (APRS6) and ergos on mag ring, etc were updated. I had zero complaints with my 2 Cronus BTR Gen1 turrets...

 

[Steel head]

I was kinda hoping for a locking/capped windage.
New reticle seems decent.

 

[bassmaster07]

I have one arriving any day to test and review directly from Athlon. Talking to them 2 weeks ago, they are not ETR turrets. They are new turrets that are SS. The reticle was also updated (APRS6) and ergos on mag ring, etc were updated. I had zero complaints with my 2 Cronus BTR Gen1 turrets...

Correct they are not the same turrets as the ETR. But ETR are stainless and they told me they would feel similar. I have not touched the Cronus original turrets so I will not know the difference.
I too wish they had done the locking wind turret. But overall excited to see how much better the glass is verse the ETR.

Looking forward to your review. I think I just lucked into getting one this early from them directly.

 

[Steel head]

I have one arriving any day to test and review directly from Athlon. Talking to them 2 weeks ago, they are not ETR turrets. They are new turrets that are SS. The reticle was also updated (APRS6) and ergos on mag ring, etc were updated. I had zero complaints with my 2 Cronus BTR Gen1 turrets...

I have no issues with my Gen 1 Cronus turrets.

 

[supercorndogs]

I imagine as competitive as the 1500+ scope market is. Athlon figures "just fine" doesn't cut it.

 

[steve123]

I went straight to the source yesterday morning because he thought they would be in at the start of February, but apparently some of the new scopes won't start trickling in until late February. They will arrive when they arrive I guess.

Could be Padom and Bass have pre production units coming so you other guys don't get too excited just quite yet???

The "original Cronus" turrets left a little to be desired. The next shipment was improved, and they kept after it from there, so by the time the BTR version came out the turrets were decent. This G2 turret should be very nice like the ETR is.
We all have our preferences in turret feel, I personally like the "distinct feel" without much lash.

I can't wait to try the APRS6 in the Cronus and want to at least look at the APLR6 in the ETR 3-18, even though I'm not a moa guy!

 

[padom]

I went straight to the source yesterday morning because he thought they would be in at the start of February, but apparently some of the new scopes won't start trickling in until late February. They will arrive when they arrive I guess.

Could be Padom and Bass have pre production units coming so you other guys don't get too excited just quite yet???

The "original Cronus" turrets left a little to be desired. The next shipment was improved, and they kept after it from there, so by the time the BTR version came out the turrets were decent. This G2 turret should be very nice like the ETR is.
We all have our preferences in turret feel, I personally like the "distinct feel" without much lash.

I can't wait to try the APRS6 in the Cronus and want to at least look at the APLR6 in the ETR 3-18, even though I'm not a moa guy!

Im dealing directly with Athlon (Drake and Trent) and I do not have a pre-production unit coming.. Its a full retail unit. The APRS6 arrived to Athlon USA early this week. They shipped me mine and it will be here tomorrow. They have Gen2's with APRS1's in stock in USA they told me, APRS6's are trickling in from overseas.. They expected the ETR 1-10 this week but as of yesterday they hadnt arrived to Athlon USA yet. Next week probably Ill have that one...

 

[poke_53]

I have two of the Gen2 BTRs as of now. My first one (APRS1)arrive early last week and took it to the range over this past weekend. It’s everything you would expect from a BTR with the updated turrets which are much more tactile in feel compared to the original BTR. Parallax is still stiff like my previous versions. The windage turret, although not locking, is much more tactile than the BTR. For me this should prevent any instance of windage being bumped moving from position to position. This happened to me with the original BTR version just a couple months ago.

 

[bassmaster07]

I went straight to the source yesterday morning because he thought they would be in at the start of February, but apparently some of the new scopes won't start trickling in until late February. They will arrive when they arrive I guess.

Could be Padom and Bass have pre production units coming so you other guys don't get too excited just quite yet???

The "original Cronus" turrets left a little to be desired. The next shipment was improved, and they kept after it from there, so by the time the BTR version came out the turrets were decent. This G2 turret should be very nice like the ETR is.
We all have our preferences in turret feel, I personally like the "distinct feel" without much lash.

I can't wait to try the APRS6 in the Cronus and want to at least look at the APLR6 in the ETR 3-18, even though I'm not a moa guy!

I have no special hook-up at Athlon. I am a nobody in this world. Just a recreational shooter.

My Story:
2 weeks ago I was out shooting. I needed to reset my zero stop and in the process I managed to knock loose the collar around the turret with the zero reference line on it. This was on my Ares ETR. Contacted Athlon about sending in my ETR for repair, but was hoping that in the process I might be able to upgrade to the Cronus in the process. Well unfortunately the collar is very simple fix for them so it was doubtful that they would need to send me a new ETR.

They fixed the collar, then decided to run the scope through testing. They found that it was failing to hold zero. Honestly, I thought some of the zero shifting I was having at the range was due to me not getting things correct with the mount. Or other issues.

They offered to allow me to buy up to the new Gen2 Cronus after they found the holding zero issue with my ETR. I jumped all over that deal. I figure I just lucked out timing wise, since it seems like they just got in the Gen2s with the APRS6 reticle.

I will provide feedback about the scope if people want. But honestly, the opinion of others on here like @padom will be much better than mine.

 

[steve123]

GTK, I'll call Trent today.

Hmmmmmmmm well K did say he had been traveling but that's the info I was sent in the text.

He knows I want the APRS6 not the others, maybe that's why, don't know. Or maybe he thought I meant the ETR 3-18???

It is what it is.

 

[gr8fuldoug]

We have all 3, Cronus BTR GEN2 4.5-29x56 APLR5 FFP IR MOA UHD #210113, Cronus BTR GEN2 4.5-29x56 APRS1 FFP IR MIL UHD #210114 & Cronus BTR GEN2 4.5-29x56 APRS6 FFP IR MIL UHD #210115 are all in stock and ready to ship

 

[padom]

We have all 3, Cronus BTR GEN2 4.5-29x56 APLR5 FFP IR MOA UHD #210113, Cronus BTR GEN2 4.5-29x56 APRS1 FFP IR MIL UHD #210114 & Cronus BTR GEN2 4.5-29x56 APRS6 FFP IR MIL UHD #210115 are all in stock and ready to ship

There you go

 

[steve123]

Got scared for a minute, glad I got one ordered before the APRS6 reticles were all gone, phew!

 

[bassmaster07]

We have all 3, Cronus BTR GEN2 4.5-29x56 APLR5 FFP IR MOA UHD #210113, Cronus BTR GEN2 4.5-29x56 APRS1 FFP IR MIL UHD #210114 & Cronus BTR GEN2 4.5-29x56 APRS6 FFP IR MIL UHD #210115 are all in stock and ready to ship

yall all go give doug @gr8fuldoug a call and order these!

 

[bassmaster07]

In the wild.

 

[Adam B]

how is the parallax adjustment?

 

[Jayhawkhuntclub]

Maybe I'm the only one this bothers. But I wish they had fixed the windage by adding the Rs and Ls next to the numbers. You'd think I could just remember without the letter, but I'm old and get confused.

 

[bassmaster07]

how is the parallax adjustment?

It is tight. You will not turn it by mistake.

 

[Adam B]

It is tight. You will not turn it by mistake.

I wish that wasnt the case

 

[steve123]

I wish that wasnt the case

It's a catch 22 for me because my S&B had a parallax knob that turned too easy so when I had it on my big gun I'd have to refocus it every 2-3 shots.

Too tight isn't much better.

Slightly stiff, that works fine for me.

Just right right works best. I like the one on my March 5-42!

I'll get on here in a week or so and comment about the parallax tension on mine as well as first impressions.