Athlon Optics ?

JaxTeller

New member
A very casual shooter here. 50 and 100 yards - just to let off steam. I would like to up my 200 yard game.
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That's as far as I will probably go.

Current setup on the 204 - it has a 3-9x40 Vortex Crossfire II. Looking to upgrade to a 6-18x44. I was talking to the folks at Marksmans Guide and they mentioned the Athlon series of scopes. A tad bit cheaper, but comparable quality.

Head Honcho previously worked at Bushnell. Quality control is high - or so am told.

Any opinions?
 
Originally Posted By: ironworkerWhat's your budget ?

2 Bills. Maybe a bit more. That's about it for a gun that I shoot once maybe twice a month and gets put away in the long MN winter...
 
Budget optics are great, until they aren't. Athlon simply does not have the field time yet to instill confidence. I have read quite a few no bias reviews that basically claim they are all "OK" when compared to the rest of the class in which they are competing. But time will tell how well they pan out, how the QC is and if they really are the "value" they are trying to be. If you were talking their higher end stuff, it may be a very different conversation.

For me, I'd be more comfortable with a Nikon Prostaff 4-12X40, or better yet a Redfield Revolution 4-12X40.

I realize these are a bit less mag power than you were looking for, but IME, inexpensive optics really suffer on the higher powered stuff. I will always take lower powered optics with better optical quality over higher powered, but lower quality optics.
 
I can only speak to the top end Athlon Cronus or the Midas which I believe is their mid price scope.
Cronus was very solid and I would grade it out with the Burris XTR II range. We took it out to 1600 yards on a 28 Nosler and had no issues at all.
The two Midas I used one on a .308 and the other on an AR in 6.5 Grendel both were OK I guess for the price. One had really nice solid tactile clicks while the other was kind of mushy like a Leupold VX6 type feel. Main issue I had with the Midas was very critical eye relief once you got above about 10X .
 
Originally Posted By: ironworkerAthlon Cronus BTR is far better than a Burris XTR

Really? If you mean XTR II, I'm going to have to check one out. The Burris XTR II is a very solid scope. I'll start digging into the Athlon.
 
I currently have the XTR II and Cronus BTR and have compared everything between the two. Cronus has better glass, I prefer the reticle and the turrets are nice. It also weighs about as much as my Razor Gen II, it's a beast. That said, the XTR II has it's place IMO. Being a 50x obj and lighter makes it appealing in certain applications, even with the glass not being up to speed with the Cronus. The turret adjustments on the XTR II are definitely more pronounced but I don't really care for that to be honest, some will argue.

After using both side by side the Cronus is the clear winner with the main draw back being weight, once on top of a 13 lb rifle it's not noticeable in the least.
 
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