Athlon 15-60X BR Scopes

[exarcher]

I see the ARES on the airgun websites, how does it handle the recoil of centerfire rifles?

watch Rex reviews on the athlon scopes on you tube, the reticles are etched on a lens,, air guns are harder on scopes than centerfire,, because they recoil backwards.

 

[Roperboy87]

Not to hijack the thread but has anyone compared the Ares to the Vortex Golden Eagle? I've heard its very compatible.

To answer your question I have shot with both scopes. They are comparable, my opinion here is that you can see Mirage better and cut through it better with the vortex. The only other complaint on the Athlon is the parrlex run out to fast, can’t really use past 600 yards. That’s my experience

 

[TommyD11730]

How would this Athlon compare to the Sightron S III PLR series of scopes?

 

[pilediver]

The Sightron 10-50 and the Athlon 15-60 compare nicely for me, I have both.
They are mainly used at 100 yards and 440 yards and I like them both.

 

[JEFFPPC]

watch Rex reviews on the athlon scopes on you tube, the reticles are etched on a lens,, air guns are harder on scopes than centerfire,, because they recoil backwards.

Actually they recoil in 2 separate impulse front and back. That is why the are hard on junk scopes..

 

[Steveb]

I have bad news about my Athlon Ares 15-60 to report. The erector system packed it in on mine today. I had mounted it on my Bergara 6.5 HMR I was testing for a beginner's F-Open rifle. I shot 5-6 X's and 10's at 500 meters and then the scope dropped the point of impact by about 2 moa. After putting a second shot in the same place to verify, I raised the point of impact up that 2 minutes whereas the scope stabilized to shot about 4 10's in a row then dropped back down a couple minutes and kept dropping. The second relay started 2 1/2 moa low and took 3 1/2 minutes up to center the shots again. This time the scope lasted for 8 shots then dropped back about 1 1/2minutes and each shot kept dropping. I had probably less than 100 rounds on the scope. This is bad news because I really was impressed with this and it's Hera stablemate.

 

[TommyD11730]

The Sightron 10-50 and the Athlon 15-60 compare nicely for me, I have both.
They are mainly used at 100 yards and 440 yards and I like them both.

Thanks
I looked through the Athlon and a few Sightrons Saturday. The Sightrons had a small edge in clarity IMO. However I liked the Athlons 1/8 click and reticle better. So I bought it.
Mounted and shot it today. It's nice to be able to see holes (223) in my target @ 200Y. Only gripes so far are..
Throw levers clock position is wrong. It's way too close to the bolt.
Parallax was obscured by the ring. I'm sure I'll get used to reaching around and feeling for it.
Glass is definitely better then my old Midas Tac.

 

[Hi-NV Shooter]

I put one on my ARA RFBR backup rifle it is the ARES since I wanted a CH-dot I like it.

Lee

 

[jlorenzo]

I have the 3x18 Ares Etr. Glass is really quite nice. Internals feel super solid when dialing and seems to track very repeatably. Looking at the 15x60 or the 4.5x30

 

[SSchnd]

I have bad news about my Athlon Ares 15-60 to report. The erector system packed it in on mine today. I had mounted it on my Bergara 6.5 HMR I was testing for a beginner's F-Open rifle. I shot 5-6 X's and 10's at 500 meters and then the scope dropped the point of impact by about 2 moa. After putting a second shot in the same place to verify, I raised the point of impact up that 2 minutes whereas the scope stabilized to shot about 4 10's in a row then dropped back down a couple minutes and kept dropping. The second relay started 2 1/2 moa low and took 3 1/2 minutes up to center the shots again. This time the scope lasted for 8 shots then dropped back about 1 1/2minutes and each shot kept dropping. I had probably less than 100 rounds on the scope. This is bad news because I really was impressed with this and it's Hera stablemate.

Good news is Athlon warranty service has always been very quick and good. Sadly I have had to use it before as have others I know. It was the XTC scope though.
I have a very cost friendly Athlon on a 6.5cm that has been good to 1000 yds and it tracks and the parallax has been good. Can't recall the model line but it is the lower end of their bigger scopes. Argos maybe with the 56mm objective. I am not home and have not fired that one in a while,

Reach out and they should get you an RMR label

 

[Buzzsaw]

Great thread!

 

[JEFFPPC]

watch Rex reviews on the athlon scopes on you tube, the reticles are etched on a lens,, air guns are harder on scopes than centerfire,, because they recoil backwards.

Springer air guns recoil twice, frontwards and then backwards. But maybe harder on the scope then the recoil is the vibration from the spring. Much of that vibration can be mitigated by using Burris rings with the plastic inserts. I shoot a Diana 54 in .22 often referred to as a scope killer. Once I went to the Burris rings with inserts the problems ended.

 

[RED DIRT]

Great thread!

Agreed! I commented because i want to see more reports from actual Athlon users.

I recently bought a Athlon Argos BTR 10-40x56. Not impressed with the glass as much as i thought i would be. The more power, the hazier it gets, to the point that it looks like you`re trying to look through wax paper on the upper end of the power. The parallax is very sensitive. Slightest parallax move, goes right out of focus fast. The eye box is meh. The reticle is fine, for what it is. Its pretty hard to really test a scope in a store. Going back to my Vortex scope. Not sure what i`ll do with the Athlon yet.

 

[Jpete]

Agreed! I commented because i want to see more reports from actual Athlon users.

I recently bought a Athlon Argos BTR 10-40x56. Not impressed with the glass as much as i thought i would be. The more power, the hazier it gets, to the point that it looks like you`re trying to look through wax paper on the upper end of the power. The parallax is very sensitive. Slightest parallax move, goes right out of focus fast. The eye box is meh. The reticle is fine, for what it is. Its pretty hard to really test a scope in a store. Going back to my Vortex scope. Not sure what i`ll do with the Athlon yet.

I used that same scope and had the same results.

 

[exarcher]

I used that same scope and had the same results.

The scope i bought for my tikka t3x tactical is the Ares ETR 4.5-30 & i bought it several yrs back & have no reason to change.. i would definately buy another. i must admit i'm not a high volume shooter any more, so i cannot vouch for "durability" but i would hate to think i wasted a grand.. (i've got inexpensive 40yr old redfields & leupolds on some of my deer rifles that have stayed sighted in more than 20 yrs).. I do hope you get it resolved.. Thats how we learn!

 

[flatlander]

Most of the Athlon scopes I own are Cronus 4.5-29x56 made by LOW in Japan, or the top chinese Ares ETRs. But for the last few years, I've bought & used a bunch of the Midas TAC 6-24x50 scopes on AR15s & Howa Mini customs. A couple of the Ares ETR 4.5-30x56 scopes are mounted on bolt rifles in 6.5x55AI & 284 LR prone rifles with a fair amount of recoil; with the stainless steel erector system these scopes are advertised to have, I don't expect any issues. The elevation & windage knob click detents are almost too distinct, which can make getting a single click somewhat difficult when new, but they do wear-in slightly as they get shot more. Never had an issue with any of several Cronus scopes, but aside from one mounted on a 7-08 Improved 30*, most of the rest are on 223 or Vudoo V22 repeaters, and the recoil of a 22RF on a 13+lb rifle can hardly be described as punishing...lol. But the point is, I haven't bought anything below the Midas TAC price point, so can't comment on them.

 

[TommyD11730]

15-60... shot mine for the 1st time in bright sunlight. The mirage was awful. Dialed back to around 35x or so.
Only other Athlons I own are the Midas Tacs. Kind of wonder if it would have struggled as well.
Need more range time with this one for sure.

 

[TPED]

I bought this as a low cost variant and to see how it would fare versus a Trigicon Tenmile that I have been using but have not been thrilled with. My major issue is as others have stated with the parallax. I have seen comments here about it being different subject to weather and temp and I have a hard time understanding that as it should work the same in all conditions. Anyhow I shot an IBS600 yesterday and could not get a clear pic. Temp mid 50's and cloudy. I shot similar conditions on same range last Tuesday and it seemed better. Yesterday I maxed out parallax and it wasn't where I needed it to be. I haven't had that with the Trigicon but that one is a constant blur to my eyes as I can't seem to get it where it needs to be regardless of conditions or range. I like the Athlon better and will have to see how this parallax issue progresses over the next few weeks

 

[Hi-NV Shooter]

I bought this as a low cost variant and to see how it would fare versus a Trigicon Tenmile that I have been using but have not been thrilled with. My major issue is as others have stated with the parallax. I have seen comments here about it being different subject to weather and temp and I have a hard time understanding that as it should work the same in all conditions. Anyhow I shot an IBS600 yesterday and could not get a clear pic. Temp mid 50's and cloudy. I shot similar conditions on same range last Tuesday and it seemed better. Yesterday I maxed out parallax and it wasn't where I needed it to be. I haven't had that with the Trigicon but that one is a constant blur to my eyes as I can't seem to get it where it needs to be regardless of conditions or range. I like the Athlon better and will have to see how this parallax issue progresses over the next few weeks

I am using mine at 50yds. what I found was that going past the distance you want the parallax at and then dialing back very minutely very small almost barely moving the dial will get me what I want.

Lee

 

[KMW 1954]

Not the Ares but the 10-40 Argos and have been using it for a short range 100-300yd informal bench league mostly shooting at .5MOA targets. Looks as though the two share the same reticle only the Argos is not illuminated. Also a huge price point difference. The Argos with a MSRP of $500.00 while the Ares MSRP is 1375.00.. Out to 300yds I have been using this at 30X or less.

This is my 3rd Athlon. Fist was an Argos GenII 8-34X56 FFP which I still have. Then a Helos 6-24X56 FFP which I traded in on the Argo 10-40 SFP which suites what I am doing much better.