Rifle Scopes Ordered a Ares BTR 4.5-27 for $549

Lawless

Lawless

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    • Feb 11, 2018
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    #1
    SWFA emailed me today, $300 off made me forget about the Midas Tac I wanted.

    Mods, hope this doesn’t break a rule about sponsors or anything.

    At $850 it was a good deal for the feature set, at $550 it’s a steal.
     
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    #9
    I'm torn over this or the PST Gen 2 5-25x for $699 ($760 with tax/shipping). I need something for a prairie dog .223 bolt action. Wondering if the PST Gen 2 is worth $200-$250 more than the Ares BTR.
     
    #17
    Just picked up the Athlon today. Way better than the lower cost Athlon scopes. I also have a PST Gen 2.
    For my eyes.
    Glass clarity is the same with a bit brighter color in the PST Gen 2.
    Turrets are stiff on the Vortex out of the box but loosened up after a month. Turrets on the Athlon are slick. Many YouTube videos show the fix for this. Clean off the excess grease. Haven’t done it yet, so I can’t say.
    Zero stop is great on both. Better than the NF SHV that I have.
    Gridded reticle is cleaner in the PST Gen 2. The Athlon reticle looks way better in person than on the web.
    Markings on the PST Gen 2 turrets are clearer, but not to the point of the Athlon being worse.
    PST Gen 2 came with a sunshade. Athlon did not ($30).
    I got my PST Gen 2 for $800ish, happy with that price. Would not pay full retail for that optic.
    $550ish for the Athlon and could not be happier.

    Can’t box test till this weekend. Barring poor tracking, hands down the Athlon at this time over the PST Gen 2.
     
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    #18
    Cotay said:
    I'm torn over this or the PST Gen 2 5-25x for $699 ($760 with tax/shipping). I need something for a prairie dog .223 bolt action. Wondering if the PST Gen 2 is worth $200-$250 more than the Ares BTR.
    Click to expand...

    I mean, by percentage, hell no the PST Gen 2 isn't worth 35%+ over the Ares BTR. Calling a spade a spade here. But "worth $xyz more" always becomes a judgement call in scopes. Up to you and your budget.
     
    #20
    I love Vortex, but Athlon is edging out them in the sub 1k optic arena with price. I've owned both generations of the PSTs and loved them, but for price and nearly the same clarity Athlon is my preference. They offer more options in this price bracket (quality seems appropriate for every price level too). I think people have started to assume that since the PST costs more that it should be better, and maybe is in some regard, but I find it a wash when comparing them to the Midas line.
     
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    #26
    DrainTheSwamp2017 said:
    Is Athlon discontinuing the BTR or is something different coming out? Just trying to understand why they dropped the bottom of the market out on these.
    Click to expand...

    Doug,

    Little help here man.

    Tell em to put the APLR3 reticle in the Midas TAC line, all .2's, like most of those new reticles that the expensive scopes have. .5's are so 2016...
     
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    #29
    gr8fuldoug said:
    I'd assume that they will announce a Gen 2 at SHOT in January as they did last year with the Midas BTR to Midas BTR Gen 2
    Click to expand...
    They are dropping the bottom out on the price for an announcement in 7 months? Seems a bit premature but I guess if they wanted them stocked and ready to ship at shot then nows the time to make space...

    Trying to remember when I got my midas btr on sale now... has it been a whole year? Is the btr gen2 even available yet? I havent noticed them listed anywhere other than athlons website. Edit: Some looking tells me they are, just removed the good reticle so I guess no one wants it now which is why there so little mention of them.


    I called Athlon up and I couldnt get them to tell me that they were discontinuing it. I phrased it a couple different ways and they refused to even get close to that term each time going into a long wordy explanation that they wanted space on the shelves and they had lots of them. The closest to detailed info I could get out of the phone rep is that they were trying to make room for more newer sku#s coming from the factory. They wouldnt say what those new sku#s were either so I assumed the btr was getting the ax or at least new reticles.
     
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    #30
    What I will say, which again is just my opinion, the folks at Athlon are good listeners. They pay attention to what's being said on the forums and constantly evolve their offerings. Changing reticles, turrets and designs to grow their products. They seem to be doing it all very correctly
     
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    #32
    rangerlong said:
    The product description at bluelineoptics says “All Ares BTRs ship with updated turrets for better tracking”
    Click to expand...

    Just got the BTR from them, and confirm it is the updated turrets that use the single unscrew cap that I open with a coin.

    I asked also why they were pushing it out at this price, and from what I heard, the ETR has been selling really well and they have a whole load of BTRs. They are unloading it so they can get some more cash reserve back and not hoard a large quantity. At $850 vs $1050 for BTR/ETR, people were gravitating towards the ETR.
     
    #35
    Put the one I got yesterday on a 308. Will find out this weekend how it performs. FYI took the turret off to perform the slick turret fix. Thats a no go, this model does not have the grease the others have. So, looks like the factory out of the box feel is final. No worries, you just need to be mindful of how easy they are to turn.
     
    #36
    OLD308 said:
    Put the one I got yesterday on a 308. Will find out this weekend how it performs. FYI took the turret off to perform the slick turret fix. Thats a no go, this model does not have the grease the others have. So, looks like the factory out of the box feel is final. No worries, you just need to be mindful of how easy they are to turn.
    Click to expand...
    According to the review here on the hide, you can remove the O-ring from the turret for a more audible and tactile turret feel.

    www.snipershide.com

    Athlon Ares BTR 4.5-27x50mm review

    BigJimFish reviews the Athlon Ares BTR 4.5-27x50mm scope as part of the Sub $1k FFP, Mil/Mil, optics series.
    www.snipershide.com www.snipershide.com
     
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    #39
    Pulled the O rings on elevation and windage. This is a must do. Turrets now have a slight audible click and a much more tactile feel. Thanks for the heads up.
     
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    #40
    OLD308 said:
    Pulled the O rings on elevation and windage. This is a must do. Turrets now have a slight audible click and a much more tactile feel. Thanks for the heads up.
    Click to expand...
    One thing I do is digest everything about a product available before I buy. I remembered the review.



    My Argos is actually a pretty good scope, the Ares should do everything I want.

    I don’t mind the “go be poor somewhere else” sentiments :cool:
     
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    #45
    Lawless said:
    In the review I posted above, it states it is very good.
    Click to expand...
    I bought one a month ago and I think the eyebox is extremely tight. I spend as much time trying to keep my eye centered as I do trying to line up the crosshairs on the target. Tiring and frustrating. But...I seem to be the ONLY person here who thinks that or has any problem, so I hope it's just mine and something's wrong with it. CL wouldn't take it back so I shipped it back to Athlon this morning to have it checked out. Hopefully I got a bad one and I'll get another. $30, but oh well.

    Shipping it back was a chore too! UPS Store, which was the wrong place to take it. Asked me what was in the box and not thinking I said riflescope. The lady grimaced, "we can't ship anything having to do with firearms". I argued about it and finally said "OK, call it a telescope". Luckily she said that would work and shipped it. Seriously??
     
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    #47
    OLD308 said:
    Just picked up the Athlon today. Way better than the lower cost Athlon scopes. I also have a PST Gen 2.
    For my eyes.
    Glass clarity is the same with a bit brighter color in the PST Gen 2.
    Turrets are stiff on the Vortex out of the box but loosened up after a month. Turrets on the Athlon are slick. Many YouTube videos show the fix for this. Clean off the excess grease. Haven’t done it yet, so I can’t say.
    Zero stop is great on both. Better than the NF SHV that I have.
    Gridded reticle is cleaner in the PST Gen 2. The Athlon reticle looks way better in person than on the web.
    Markings on the PST Gen 2 turrets are clearer, but not to the point of the Athlon being worse.
    PST Gen 2 came with a sunshade. Athlon did not ($30).
    I got my PST Gen 2 for $800ish, happy with that price. Would not pay full retail for that optic.
    $550ish for the Athlon and could not be happier.

    Can’t box test till this weekend. Barring poor tracking, hands down the Athlon at this time over the PST Gen 2.
    Click to expand...
    To be 100% clear, part of what you're paying for with the PST is a scope that isn't made in China. Whether that's worth the cost premium is an individual choice, but that is a glaring omission when discussing the difference in the 2 scopes and including price as a deciding factor. Traditionally, Chinese scopes have not been as solid optomechanically as optics from other countries (Philippines like the PST2, for one example).
     
    #48
    patriot07 said:
    To be 100% clear, part of what you're paying for with the PST is a scope that isn't made in China. Whether that's worth the cost premium is an individual choice, but that is a glaring omission when discussing the difference in the 2 scopes and including price as a deciding factor. Traditionally, Chinese scopes have not been as solid optomechanically as optics from other countries (Philippines like the PST2, for one example).
    Click to expand...
    This has been true and from lower end manufacturers
     
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    #49
    Lawless said:
    This has been true and from lower end manufacturers it’s true from a lot of countries. I think it is changing however and my 4 Sig Romeo 5s are a good example.
    Click to expand...
    I don't disagree. My point was that it's worth mentioning that if optical performance and overall package is similar and price is not similar, then it's not just because Vortex wants to charge more.
     
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    #50
    Remove the O-ring from the turret it makes it 10 times better. I just took mine out of my elevation turret and compared it to my windage turret. The elevation turret is now audible you can feel the clicks the windage is mushy and has no sound. Definitely a noticeable improvement removing the O-ring
     
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