Rifle Scopes Vortex AMG and Athlon Cronus BTR Reticle Pics and Impressions

[USMC 308]

I have a Vortex AMG (MOA) on a Ruger RPR 6.5CM that I have been using for a few months now. Also puchased an Athlon Cronus BTR (Mil) for an upcoming build. The AMG was mounted on rifle, the Cronus only in an ADM mount. Decided to give a look at both and compare what I saw. The pictures are through a cell phone camera and are only shown for the reticle comparison....they are not at all indicative of what I saw when looking through each.

Vortex DirecTV dish

Vortex Fire Hydrant

Athlon Fire Hydrant

Athlon Fire hydrant pic 2

I was having a hard time getting a good picture of the satellite dish with the Cronus. It was a bright day with passing clouds and some of the images are very washed out. While looking at the satellite dish, the letters on the gray dish looked similar through each scope. There was some moulded lettering in the transponder at the end of the arm of the dish that is not visible in the picture. I could make out the detail with both again, with maybe just a slight edge to the Athlon.......AMG 9.0 vs Cronus 9.1....very close. The satellite dish was about 100 yards away.

Next I looked at a fire hydrant a little farther away, maybe 175 yards. Both scopes showed a lot of detail. I was trying to look at a smudge on the hydrant, perhaps bird poop to see which showed more detail. I'd say it was a tie....the AMG had a little better contrast, while the Cronus seemed slightly brighter. I also looked at the fence behind the hydrant to see if one had an edge over the other....it was too close to tell to my eyes.

The AMG is a 30mm tube and a 50mm objective, the Cronus a 34mm tube and a 56mm objective.

Definitely some features missing on the Cronus that the AMG has, locking windage and elevation turrets. Illumination is fine on both, zero stop on the Cronus is the clutch type...similar to NF and Bushnell...not a problem to set. The AMG zero stop, while very precise is a bit of a pain to set in all honesty. It's set though, I don't plan on F-ing with it....either of them. Clicks are very nice on both. The AMG is longer and sleeker, the Cronus is a bit shorter and fatter.

I'll have to wait to see how the Cronus holds up to recoil, tracks and durability. I really don't beat my rifles up so I'm probably not the one to experience those types of durability issues.

Reticle, glass and turrets on both are very nice.

The Cronus is approximately $800 cheaper than the AMG. So far so good.

**Both scopes were on a table, the Cronus was maybe 6 inches lower than the AMG and on a different plane, which may account for image differences. It was also more difficult to focus the Cronus and I did not have a stable platform....I did my best.

 

[black5.3]

Nice little comparison you got going on. I wouldn't say it is exactly apples to apples but it will be interesting to see how the cronus stacks up.

 

[Triple D]

Thanks for posting.

Through the scope, did the Cronus have more CA?
How about edge to edge clarity? The image from the AMG at the fire hydrant doesn't have the blue fringe at the curb or on the edge of the fire hydrant, and the tree in the background appears to have more detail and depth.

How was the feel on the Cronus BTR? Sound is nice, but I felt that the adjustment was far too easy on the original Cronus. Hoping that they increased the resistance some, but I've heard that they were still pretty easy to adjust.

 

[USMC 308]

I put the pictures up just for the reticle image. My cellphone was having trouble with "through the scope" images. What I saw was not what you are seeing in the images. To my eyes, there was little to no noticeable difference between the two scopes. Edge to edge image was very sharp on both. I was restricted by not wanting to freak out the neighbors so I was tucked back into the shadows of my garage. Will look more into CA later but it was not jumping out at me. The images posted were cherry picked from the best that I could salvage from both.

 

[dannySH]

Thanks for the comparison. Could you please check again about the CA on the Cronus? As stated before In both pictures from the Cronus the curb looks blue, that's a huge CA compared with the clean image from the AMG.

 

[CharlieNC]

Reticle on my new Cronos does not look like that, it has hash marks at 0.2 mil intervals.

 

[scudzuki]

Pictured is the Cronus BTR, and it has .2 mil hashes, too, but only on the horizontal stadia, the vertical stadia only has them for the first mil.

 

[USMC 308]

Couple of pictures taken today, late afternoon so sun was not so bright. Target was a little further down the road (300 yards or so) as I ventured out to the opening of the garage. I did not take the AMG/Rifle so no cause to alarm the neighborhood. I was looking specifically for CA. I can say with 100% certainty that the CA is all from the camera phone. There were some images where it was very heavy in the picture. I would take 10 pictures or so, look at them on the camera....then look through scope to compare. What a difference.....I really don't think posting pictures does either scope any justice. The phone pictures are again, for the reticle only.

Through the scope I saw edge to edge clarity, very sharp, focused image with no CA whatsoever.

The purple CA on the lamp post far left side....was not there when looking through scope.

 

[flatland1]

I've got a couple of the original Cronus 4.5-29s on my 40X & 40XB 22RF repeaters, and have never noticed any CA with either of them. I believe I do like the newer BTR reticle a bit better than the older style one though... Not enough to get rid of the scopes I have & replace them with BTRs, but the .2 mil hashmarks on the BTR's horizontal stadia are a bit easier to interpret, and they make for a cleaner reticle IMHO.

 

[JR869]

I received my Cronus BTR yesterday and upon inspection I illuminated the reticle this is what I see. It looks like it's not lined up properly.

Does this look normal to you?

 

[USMC 308]

My illumination looks fine...although I'm unlikely to ever use it. I can't really see from the picture that yours is off center....maybe more noticeable in person. Got mine mounted up and had first range day last week. Only 150 rounds out of the JP so far so I don't want to act like a giddy schoolgirl yet...but damn...it can shoot.

 

[JR869]

If you notice on the photo the light bleed on the numbers. It is there from low to high settings. I've sent Athlon the photo and they are replacing the scope which is great however, they say light bleed is normal at high settings. To be honest, I've never seen an illumination on any scope this bad and am really suspect at what they are saying even after seeing the photos. I'd like to get some more opinions here in case I am way off-base.

 

[USMC 308]

With red dot type optics, all of the ones I've used,commercial and issued, have bleed at the higher settings. Aimpoint, Trijicon MRO on max power are overpowering and unusable. Even the ACOG's I've been issued I've had to put a piece of duck tape over part of the Fiberoptic tube to knock some of the illumination down. Find the setting that works, usually between 50-65% of max power. The higher settings are for when your batteries are fading and you need to turn it up to squeeze some last life out of it. I expect the same with scope illumination. Take it in a dark garage or closet, or out at dusk, and find what setting you would find it comfortable to look through. If it looks misaligned,then you have a legitimate complaint.

My Cronus BTR on max power looks like your picture.....I would never use it on that setting FWIW.

Somebody here posted some pics of a Bushnell Elite Tactical reticle on illuminated setting....the inner crosshairs were glowing but portions of the outer reticle were not.....I believe Bushnell said this was normal.

I can't say for sure but I think you are sending it back over a non issue.

 

[JR869]

With red dot type optics, all of the ones I've used,commercial and issued, have bleed at the higher settings. Aimpoint, Trijicon MRO on max power are overpowering and unusable. Even the ACOG's I've been issued I've had to put a piece of duck tape over part of the Fiberoptic tube to knock some of the illumination down. Find the setting that works, usually between 50-65% of max power. The higher settings are for when your batteries are fading and you need to turn it up to squeeze some last life out of it. I expect the same with scope illumination. Take it in a dark garage or closet, or out at dusk, and find what setting you would find it comfortable to look through. If it looks misaligned,then you have a legitimate complaint.

My Cronus BTR on max power looks like your picture.....I would never use it on that setting FWIW.

Somebody here posted some pics of a Bushnell Elite Tactical reticle on illuminated setting....the inner crosshairs were glowing but portions of the outer reticle were not.....I believe Bushnell said this was normal.

I can't say for sure but I think you are sending it back over a non issue.

Well this isn't a red dot. I have had other scopes with illuminated reticles and I haven't had any that look like this illuminated. I used a higher setting to capture the bleeding best for the photo but it does look the same through all the settings. All of the number "2's" looks like a hash marks when it is illuminated. The photo below is the illuminated reticle of the Vortex Razor, it looks good. I could add many more photos of illuminated reticles that look good, the Cronus BTR I have doesn't look good and is extremely distracting. If yours does the same thing and you can live with it then great, I can not.

There is a thread that someone tested a bunch of scopes and there were many photos of the reticles illuminated, none had this issue.

 

[JR869]

Better yet, here is a photo from Jade Precision on their review of the Cronus (older) reticle illuminated. Look at the numbers, they are black and it's perfect illumination. This solidifies that mine/ours shouldn't exhibit what we are seeing.

 

[Lasor1]

I also have a vortex amg and a athlon cronus btr I have had them on a 6mm creedmoor ruger precision. I think far as my experience the Cronus is hard to beat for money according to my eyes the Cronus edges out the amg just a little clearer and shaper. Tracking is spot on. I wish the Cronus turrets was more like the amgs but still work great. I also thing illumination is a little cleaner looking on the vortex I have a little bleed through on numbers on my cronus. Or it could be my eyes. I usally do not use illumination anyway. I also wish they come with lens covers and a sunshade but for 700.00 cheaper you can get some to put on it. The vortex defender caps work great on the Cronus. For the money there hard to beat now how they hold up only time will tell.

 

[paysonjason]

I just ordered my Chronus BTR in brown (hopefully its a good color, can only go by pics as none near me, will cerakote down the road if its ugly). Anyway, use slick guns with SKU search, found it a lot cheaper than the 1800 most vendors charging right now. Just be carefull as first few (the very cheapest) are virtual stores and have no brick and mortar I can verify. I went with Hoosier Armory. As far as illumination goes, I have read stellar reviews for its illumination so definitely send yours in if you are not happy and can see it is not as good as others by far, they will make you happy as their customer service is just as good as Vortex, they are using this to get in the game just like Vortex did and I hope they keep it up just like Vortex has. It seems they go for great Japanese glass to compete with more expensive scopes and then come just shy in other departments to bring price down in comparison. The other factor is that the Cronus BTR is only one from LOW in Japan, rest are Philipines so they are a little more iffy but still a great price and if bad they will swap out for you. Vortex does the same thing as I have some of their cheap stuff that is a bit lacking, if I had bought a Vortex its would have to be at least a PST 2 if not a Razor get 1 (Razor gen 2 is out of my budget but the darling on the long distance line for now besides even more expensive stuff). See ya all at the 1000 yard mark !

 

[gr8fuldoug]

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