Rifle Scopes Vortex vs. Athlon

[donno]

Anyone have experience with both Vortex Diamondback Tactical vs. Athlon Argos scopes. Trying to stay in the production division for rimfire matches. I have a Diamondback Tactical on a beater 308 and for a budget optic, the glass is pretty good. Wondering the same on the Athlon budget line. Thanks

 

[pineoak]

I had 3 Argos BTR Gen1 (6-24?)

the glass was spectacular for the $, blew away my SWFA 10x and 12x

no clue if they tracked well as I never tested them, they went on .22LR and plinker lender .223s

I've seen the lower end Vortex stuff including owning a gen1 PST and Strike Eagle... sold them both in short order

and short of the Razor or PST 2 lineup, I'd go with the Athlon personally.

I've never been a fan of production divisions unless you're in competition for the top 10 slots regularly.

Why limit yourself? get the equipment that makes you happy and just run it in open.

truthfully, I'm not convinced that production shooters are at any real disadvantage if the scopes track accurately.

the accuracy is in the barrel and ammo; if the scopes track well the glass although a nice luxury really doesn't need to be all that great to see PRS sized targets

just 1 opinion

 

[kenny1773]

I bought a diamondback tactical 6-24 shortly after they were released and hit the main stream. The reason I say it like that is I have no idea if any improvements have been made over the years, I have an original.

The turrets are mushy and don't always line up with the marks exactly, however it works, and I can hit shit with it out to 1000 yards
It also has a good amount of chromatic aberration
It dials true
no zero stop

I then bought a GEN 1 Athlon Argos BTR 6-24 (but at the end of life for the gen 1, I know improvements were made and are different versions of the gen 1, I got a final with all improvements). Turrets are MUCH better and more crisp, glass appears better too
I have dialed it all over 100-600 yards and never had any issues. I got the gen 1 on closeout for $270, it was a STEAL
zero stop is plastic washers, sort of cheap, but works
I can hit shit out to 1000 yards with this scope too

I then bought a GEN 2 Athlon Argos BTR 6-24 Turrets are even better, very positive click and accurate
glass is the same as the gen 1
zero stop is much improved (still low budget) built in system simple and effective
I paid $370 for this one, I got a better deal on the gen 1, but this one is worth the money I spent, it is 'improved'


I bought one vortex diamondback and 2 Athlons after having used both, when I go to buy a 3rd budget scope, it will be another Athlon. not that the diamondback is bad, but you can get the athlon for less and it is just a little better the whole way around. Unless something about the diamondback is screaming your name, you know which to buy at this point

 

[Dairyboy]

The Argos BTR Gen2 are really hard to beat for the money. Really nice turrets and pretty decent glass. Zero stop is a nice feature as well. Nothing special but works. I had one on a Rimfire for awhile and worked very well. Have since sold it only to upgrade it to a Midas Tac 4-16x44. But if needed another "budget" scope I would go with another Argos.

 

[IanMc]

I'm in agreement with pineoak. Unless you actually know that you love doing precision rifle matches, have matches with a production division, are good enough to win prizes, and there are prizes to win, don't worry about what class you are in.

You could take the Diamondback off of your beater 308 to try doing a production division match first. Use that to see if you have any desire to stick with production. It'd be worth the rezeroing to see if you even like the division and if that level of scope is sufficient for you.

My story:
I have a 6-24 Athlon Argos BTR Gen 1 that I put on a Tikka T1X to try to make production division at NRL22. I wound up shooting one precision 22 match. From that, I found out that I sucked and that it wasn't worth the drive to me. Later, it turned out that I love shooting it on steel at 200-400 yards. However, the glass isn't really good enough to see splash from a 22 at 300 yards and out, and it doesn't have enough travel for dialing to 400 yards. It also has a moderate amount of distortion right at the edge of the glass. This does not matter unless you are using holdovers more than like 8 mil. It is clear enough to spot for buddies shooting 6.5 Creedmoor on dry ground at 1000 yards, but it is annoying to look through doing that for more than like 15 minutes at a time.

All-in, I wish that I spent more money on a 34mm tube scope. I don't wish that I'd bought a Vortex Diamondback instead. I think that you'll have more fun by not trying to stay under that budget cap.

 

[fdkay]

I have a sightmark 3-18 citadel. It is very much like the diamondback. The glass is quite good. The turrets so so, but quite useable.
It is nearly impossible to get the lines on the turrets to line up. The turrets are 6 mil per turn.
It's on a range gun that might see some hunting, not competition.
It sounds like I don't like it, but quite the contrary, considering price it has good glass and a very nice reticle.
Fwiw, they have the latitude series made in the Philippines. They are very nice. The 6.5-25 can be had for around 600 dollars.

 

[karlhungus80]

Anyone have experience with both Vortex Diamondback Tactical vs. Athlon Argos scopes. Trying to stay in the production division for rimfire matches. I have a Diamondback Tactical on a beater 308 and for a budget optic, the glass is pretty good. Wondering the same on the Athlon budget line. Thanks

I own a Gen I Argos BTR 4.5-27. While I have never used a Vortex Diamonback, I have used their Razors (a Gen II 1-6, which I sold, and a Gen III 1-10, which I have currently and love). Here's what Ive noticed...
The Argos turrets were initially VERY mushy. I reached out to their customer service department, and they advised removing the o-rings inside the turrets. This improved the feel dramatically, but they are still not as positive as those on the Razor, and they're a little light for my tastes. The other issue I encountered concerned the battery compartment for the illumination dial. I can no longer open it. Athlon offered to fix this issue for free, but given the current insanity with gun stuff, I've chosen to wait.
On to the positives. Glass quality is excellent. Reticle design is also excellent (I have the FFP APLR3 version). Tracking, based on what I've seen, is perfect.
Both scopes will be more than adequate for your purposes.

 

[gr8fuldoug]

Just a heads up for anyone looking for a slammin' deal. We got a few Athlon Ares ETR 4.5-30x56 Brown - APRS1 FFP IR MIL Illuminated #212100B's that are new units but no box (ask me no questions I'll tell you no lies) and we are blowing these out at only $949.99. We think $250.00 off for no box is quite a savings.
Limited quantities, glad to be able to offer this deal