Athlon Scopes

There are 4-5 specific scopes that seem to always get mentioned for long range shooting on this site (Burris XTR, NF ATACR, SWFA SS, Vortex, etc) Athlon's entire line looks like it was geared mostly to long range shooting. Curios if anyone has used them and their impressions.

Personally, I not on in the market but they look like a good value. Of course, a company that has been around 2 years and puts a lifetime warranty on the box makes me laugh a little. Hopefully no one is buying them for the warranty.

They're Chinese. Enough said.

I used 7 of them total.
Mounted two of the Midas one on a Bolt 308 and the other a Grendel AR
They both were this model
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/109468...d-reticle-matte

Clicks on one were very distinct and solid the next one was mushy more like a Leupold but they ran fine and we took the scope out to 500 yards. Only thing I noticed was at 15X eye box was Small and hard to keep full view.

I bought the Ares like this from Derrick at Horizon.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/863101...l-reticle-matte

Mounted it on a 6.5 SAUM GAP just to try the gun and scope and I used it for a few weeks while waiting for the Kahles to show up.

Pretty nice features and solid scope for the money. I had three folks look at it and the Burris XTR II side by side mounted on rifles looking at distant 650 yards targets and we all gave the glass edge to the Burris but not by much. I ended up selling it when I was able to get that great deal at Cabelas on the next one I have used.

Best for last the Cronus. I am still kicking myself for not buying both of the ones they sent to the Waco Cabelas for the Black Friday sale of 999.00 I only needed one so only bought one and away went the Burris XTR II on my .284.
I had already used this scope out to 1600 yards on one of my customers Horizon 28 Nosler and it worked well had good glass and has been reliable for him on two out West hunting trips.
Will also add that their APLR Mil reticle is one of the better ones I have used. These days if there are hashes and I don’t see any numbers anywhere in the reticle I put it back down. That’s Just me though.
Here is the Cronus
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/101881...minated-reticle

Right after I got the Cronus I was at the range shooting the same 654 yard steel and had both the Cronus and the Kahles sitting on bench’s next to on another. So I kept flipping back and forth after changing the power on the Cronus down to 24X to match the Kahles...... much to my disappointment the Cronus seemed to have better resolution and I could see more detail thwn with the Kahlesand you can see the price difference
Don’t take this as I am saying the Cronus is better than the Kahles..... the Kahles is a fine scope well made and exudes quality. With the Cronus you won’t be missing anything due to glass quality is what I am saying.
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/101854...d-reticle-matte

Anyhow if Cabelas ever has that sale again don’t expect a heads up from me.

I Do know the Ares is made in China for sure but thought the Cronus is Japanese Glass but retrieved the box and it doesn’t indicate where just says USA company label.
So went looked at Scope definitely made in Japan!

OK, my bad. I thought they all were.

DStroud thanks for feed back, I have looked at these before but never knew anyone with actual time behind one.

If I may....
The Athlons are produced in China with the exception of the Cronus series which is made in Japan.
We have found that the Athlon line of products are parallel to other mfg offerings at 20-40% less $$$ (that would be before we factor in the extra discounts we offer to forum members.

As an example, we have the Athlon Argos 4-20x50, in your choice of reticles, on sale for only $289.99 (please call in, 516-217-1000, for this special pricing)
FEATURES
Etched Glass Reticle Reticle etched on the glass that provides excellent backing support for complex reticle design and offers great durability and much higher shock resistance to recoil

Fully Multicoated Fully Multicoated optics effectively reduces reflected light and increases the transmission of light giving you a brighter image than normal single coated lenses

XPL Coating XPL Coating gives you an extra protection on the exterior lenses from dirt, oil and scratches or anything else mother nature can throw at you.

Aircraft Grade Aluminum Aircraft Grade Aluminum provide extra strength and durability to handle the toughest terrain and offers lifetime of use.

Heat Treated One Piece Tube Construction Heat treated one piece tube gives the scope extra strength over multi-piece tubes. A one piece tube also is better at keeping moisture out thus keeping your scope fog proof for the life of the product

Waterproof Waterproof to protect the scope in the harshest weather conditions or if accidently submerged underwater

Fog proof Fog proof to allow you to immediately engage your target when you take your rifle to cold ambient temperature from warm inside

Shockproof Robust mechanical system with special designs on both control and erector system that give you the ultimate recoil resistance to withstand 1000G recoil for 1000 times.

Argon Purged Argon Purging uses the inertia gas with bigger size molecules to purge any moisture out of the tube giving you better waterproofing and thermal stability .

SPECIFICATION
Magnification 4-20
Objective Lens Diameter 50 mm
Reticle AHMR1 SFP Reticle
Surface Finish Matte
Lens Coating Fully Multicoated
Extra Coating XPL Coating
Tube Material 6063
Tube Diameter 1 inch
Exit Pupil 12.5-2.5 mm
Eye Relief >3.8 inches
Field of View @100 yards 23.6-4.7 ft
Click Value 1/4 MOA
Adjustment range per rotation 15 MOA
Total Elevation Adjustment 50 MOA
Total Windage Adjustment 50 MOA
Turret Style Capped
Parallax Adjustment side focus
Purging Material Argon
Length 13.1 inches
Weight 19.5 oz
Reticle Subtension Validity 15x

To the best of my knowledge, and I've been in the business a very long time, there is not another scope equal to this that you'll find near this price. It is not only feature rich but it is a quality scope as well.

Athlon is based in Kansas and they are always available, 1-855-913-5678, to answer anything. They are very customer service oriented. They've even mentioned to me that if any of our customers are local to them and would like to come by for a tour they'd be thrilled to accommodate the request.

Below are a couple of reviews posted by members on another forum of the Ares BTR, Talos BTR and the Ares Spotting scope.

Athlon Argos BTR 6-24x50 and Athlon Talos BTR 4-14x44 Riflescopes

Athlon Ares Spotting Scope

Please always feel free to e-mail me, gr8fuldoug@aol.com or call us, 516-217-1000, to discuss optics or photo gear. Our pleasure to assist in clearing confusion of the numerous offerings available these days.

If there is anything you're looking for please give us a call at 516-217-1000. It is always our pleasure to speak with you.

I have a Cronus and a Midas BTR.The Cronus is made in Japan, the Ares and Midas are Japanese internals/lenses assembled in China.
The cheaper Athlon scopes are all Chinese.

The Cronus series is a real bargin, mine gives my IOR Valdada Recon a run for the money and cost 3x less.

The Ares and Midas are in the class with the Sightron SIII, Vortex Viper PST, and other scopes in the $750 - $1500 range.

Doug @ CL.....you need to send a sample of each to Formid over on 24HCF and let him test them out, see how they hold zero, dial, etc. Then we'll know.

Did you look at the Athlon Argos BTR 6-24x50 and Athlon Talos BTR 4-14x44 Riflescopes review from over at 24hourcampfire? The guy who did this is a firearms examiner for the NYPD and knows his stuff.

Formid is a tester for the US Military and sees many,many thousands of rounds go down range every year (over 200,000 rds in past 18 mos IIRC). That will be the real test.

Thanks for the feedback. I've mostly heard positive things but they are really new so we'll see how they hold up over time.

I looked through a cronus at a match and wasn't impressed. It was raining and kinda misty/foggy and it seemed to be lacking in the glass area compared to the gen 1 razor I was running that day. I did not mess with turrets so I can't say on those. The reticle was nice though.

I have looked through several and was under whelmed. To me they are the Kia of scopes. I looked very hard at them and still didn't care compared to say the pst2 and xtr2.

They do have very nice reticles for their price point

I also have to agree with Dee and thought the Cronus was meh.

Sure would be nice if these companies/retailers would list country of origin in the product description. I have no want to buy any optics produced in China or the Phillipines.

I can tell you that almost every optics company, with very slight exception, source some or all from the Pacific Rim. European companies get screws, and pieces parts from China too. The world is getting smaller and smaller.
The higher line Athlons are made in Japan, the upper middle gets some parts from Japan and are assembled in China, the lower end of the line is all China.
Hey, iPhones are all made in China too.
Yes, there's good and bad quality that comes outta China. It depends on the company that is ordering the products, to what specs they have and the quality control those companies enforce.
Unfortunately, there are no USA optics manufacturing facilities.

They do most of the time. Country is the first thing I look at lately.

Doug got it right most of these scopes are made in the same plants so your Vortex/ Bushnell/ Athlon/ Burris are all coming down the same assembly lines.
I use to laugh when I would hear folks say yea I would never buy a Sears washing machine only Whirlpool for me or vice versa when I knew they both came down the same assembly line they just had different logos and badges on them.
Athlon folks are ex Bushnell employees who IIRC decided to go in a different direction.

Just because it's built in the same place does not mean the parts or components are of the same quality.

I agree that’s very true. Only brought that up since there seem to be some emphasis on the fact country of origin determines quality..... Maybe maybe not.

It also doesn’t mean just because the name is different is automatically of worse quality either. No dog in the fight, don’t own an athalon scope, but may buy one soon. But lots of quality items are produced in China. Just depends on what the manufacturers requires.

Everybody's eyes are different. Go see one and play with the different lines and determine for yourself is the only way.

Well just opened a talos btr 1-4x24 mil/mil at Christmas. So I should have a report soon. It’s going on a brand new Henry .357 mag

sounds like someone had a great Christmas

No doubt

No truer words:

"But lots of quality items are produced in China. Just depends on what the manufacturers requires."

Exactly. Quality begins and ends with the company that is putting their name on the product. They control the quality 100%