Athlon midas

[skeetlee]

Anyone know anyrging about these athlon scopes? i ran across an add on facebook, so now im naturaly curious. any info is good info. lee

 

[JRS]

They have been around for a couple of years, Lee. They are made in China.

 

[skeetlee]

So are they junk? Lee

 

[JRS]

So are they junk? Lee

I won't say they are junk, Lee. One thing for certain in optics is this: you aren't going to get a $1500.00 scope for hundreds of dollars. You have to decide whether it's worth your money to take that chance.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[joshb]

I found an add on them during lunch, today. Searched a couple threads and they "mentioned" they were of Japanese manufacture. This is still a question in my mind, but the reviews I read were positive. The 8-34 is on sale at Midway for $330.99 ish.
Update: I chased down another 20 threads. Bottom line is the high end scopes are Japanese and the low end is China.

PS: A LOT of the guys over on The Hide "LOVE THEM"

 

[Txhillbilly]

The Cronus and Midas lines of Athlon scopes are made in Japan. I just ordered a Midas 4.5-27x50 a couple days ago. I looked at a few of them at a local dealer several months ago,the glass in the Midas is on par with Sightron SIII glass. If they track anything like my Sightron's,they will be a hell of a deal.

 

[joshb]

Ok, Lee. Your question got me looking at these. I read enough"internet gossip" to sink a ship and bought an Argos 8-34. It comes in a nice box.Glass looks clear. Adjustments are crisp. Feels solid. It arrived Tuesday. Looking for rings for a Tikka so I can range test it. I'll let you know. Took a chance. It has a lifetime warranty. Hope I don't need it. Along the way, I read about the Vortex Golden Eagle 15-60. Looking at that, now.

 

[MOShooter]

I looked through a Cronus at our lady match. I was suprised by the quality of the glass for $1500.

Scott.

 

[flatlander]

I got interested in Athlon Optics partly because they're located in the Kansas City, Ks. area, and mostly because of what I'd read about their rifle scope lineup. I bought into this interest by purchasing three Midas 4.5-27x50s in the MOA version, along with an Argos 1-4x20. These are all made in China; AFAIK, only the Cronus line is made in Japan. At any rate, after mounting one of the Midas scopes on a custom Howa 223 (trued action, Bartlein 1-7.2tw bbl), and zeroing it at 100yds, I moved on back to 600yds, and found this scope performs on par with a couple of Vortex Viper 6-24x50 PST scopes I've owned for a few years. My impression is that the optical quality of the Midas scope is at least as good as the Vortex PST, perhaps a tad better. The Midas tracked very accurately, so I've been satisfied with it. Only drawback to the Midas line in my opinion is that they don't make it in a ffp version, while their less expensive Talos & Argos lines are available in ffp. However, the guys at Athlon will be announcing an Aries line at SHOT, which will slot in between the Midas & Cronus lines, and will be made in ffp versions.

I also bought a couple of the Cronus 4.5-29x56 scopes in the mil/mil version when they got another shipment of them in several months ago. These are big 34mm tube scopes, with 10 mils/revolution, zero stop & a very usable mil reticle. I put one on a custom 223 AI, the other on a Stiller 2500XR/Krieger 22RF trainer. Putting a scope like this on a 22RF may seem like overkill, but this is a very accurate rifle, in a Manners T4A stock, and was built to be as close as possible to one of my CF PRS-style competition rifles, so having a scope similar to the Kahles K624i scopes on my comp rifles makes sense. The last time I shot the 223AI at 600, I had one of my Bighorn rifles in 6XC with Kahles scope along. There was a lot of mirage on this particular day, and I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the Cronus handled it about as well as the Kahles did. I've always been very impressed with the optical quality of my Kahles scopes (two each of Gen II & Gen III versions), and at least at this point in time, I'm thinking the Cronus glass quality is very close to - if not equal to - that of the $2990 Kahles scopes.

Because of my very positive experiences with the Cronus scopes, I'm very much looking forward to getting a look at the new Aries line when they become available.

 

[LaserMark4]

I got interested in Athlon Optics partly because they're located in the Kansas City, Ks. area, and mostly because of what I'd read about their rifle scope lineup. I bought into this interest by purchasing three Midas 4.5-27x50s in the MOA version, along with an Argos 1-4x20. These are all made in China; AFAIK, only the Cronus line is made in Japan. At any rate, after mounting one of the Midas scopes on a custom Howa 223 (trued action, Bartlein 1-7.2tw bbl), and zeroing it at 100yds, I moved on back to 600yds, and found this scope performs on par with a couple of Vortex Viper 6-24x50 PST scopes I've owned for a few years. My impression is that the optical quality of the Midas scope is at least as good as the Vortex PST, perhaps a tad better. The Midas tracked very accurately, so I've been satisfied with it. Only drawback to the Midas line in my opinion is that they don't make it in a ffp version, while their less expensive Talos & Argos lines are available in ffp. However, the guys at Athlon will be announcing an Aries line at SHOT, which will slot in between the Midas & Cronus lines, and will be made in ffp versions.

I also bought a couple of the Cronus 4.5-29x56 scopes in the mil/mil version when they got another shipment of them in several months ago. These are big 34mm tube scopes, with 10 mils/revolution, zero stop & a very usable mil reticle. I put one on a custom 223 AI, the other on a Stiller 2500XR/Krieger 22RF trainer. Putting a scope like this on a 22RF may seem like overkill, but this is a very accurate rifle, in a Manners T4A stock, and was built to be as close as possible to one of my CF PRS-style competition rifles, so having a scope similar to the Kahles K624i scopes on my comp rifles makes sense. The last time I shot the 223AI at 600, I had one of my Bighorn rifles in 6XC with Kahles scope along. There was a lot of mirage on this particular day, and I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the Cronus handled it about as well as the Kahles did. I've always been very impressed with the optical quality of my Kahles scopes (two each of Gen II & Gen III versions), and at least at this point in time, I'm thinking the Cronus glass quality is very close to - if not equal to - that of the $2990 Kahles scopes.

Because of my very positive experiences with the Cronus scopes, I'm very much looking forward to getting a look at the new Aries line when they become available.

Just curious as to your experiences still and possibly an update with the Athlons? Are you still a fan of these scopes??

 

[Ironworker]

Flatlander I've enjoyed reading your reviews on the Weaver 6x30x56mm , I almost bought one. However, repeatedly reading positive reviews for the Athlon Cronus, I felt compelled to purchase one. WOW ! What a scope.I brought mine to the Montana prairie dog fields. Hot day ,no problem for the cronus . Prairie dogs out to 500 yds appeared crystal clear through the looking glass on 29x .You say it's close to a $3,000 dollar scope, awesome. I bought mine NIB for $1450.00 . 5 Stars Athlon Cronus BTR. I also had a Athlon Midus 4.5x27x50mm ,I felt the glass on my 20 year old B&L elite 4200 6x24x40mm was significantly better,so the Midus was returned promptly .

 

[flatlander]

In answer to LaserMark4's question - yes, I believe the Athlon scopes represent a good value. Have to qualify that opinion with the fact that I still don't have any experience with their other scopes - just the Midas, Cronus, & Argos ones mentioned. However, since I posted my above reply, I've done a boat-load more shooting with the two Cronus scopes on a couple of re-barreled CMP 40X repeater 22RF rifles, and am at least as pleased with those two scopes as I was before. Would like to get my hands on one of the new Cronus BTR scopes with the improved reticle, but that'll have to wait until I get some rifles I built to sell sold.