Athlon Optics

[Amazingrandy]

Looking to purchase a new scope. I've seen Athlon and they seem like a decent scope. Does anyone have any experience (good or bad) with them? Should I stay away from them? Thanks

 

[onelastshot]

THey could be great scopes, cutting edge, new design, etc. Or, they could be generic Chinese manufactured run of the mill scopes with no idea as to warrante or company product support. In contrast, think of a product such as Leupold. THe company has been around for ever, they have a history of standing behind their products and they have great resale value.

If I want to gamble, I'll purchase a lottery ticket. If I'm going on an expensive deer hunt, I want the best, most trusted products to give me piece of mind.

 

[Delfuego]

I would take a Athlon over Leupold. The high-end Athlon scopes are made in Japan at the LOW factory, same place as nearly all high-end made in Japan optics. Leupold had their day and now that day is gone. Leupold has rested on their reputation while the rest of the optics companies past them by. They are so very far from the best. The best scopes come from Germany, the second best come from Japan. Most "American" scope companies have their scopes built oversees. Way too many companies making good scopes for good prices now a days.

 

[Blowby]

Had an Athlon Cronus prior to the BTR and loved it. Sold that and picked up 2 Athlon Ares BTR’s and the glass is real good. Can’t beat this for the price.

 

[Amazingrandy]

Would you guys say that the Athlon optics are good enough to compete with between 300 and 600 yards? This would possibly be going on my .308 F-Class rifle.

 

[jdh47]

Leupold scopes can compete with the better scopes from just about anywhere if you are willing to pay the price for an American made product. ( yes their glass is made from overseas like everyone else's) Their warrantee is still the one most other manufacturers copy. The lower end scopes are made to a price point.

There are a lot of decent competitive scopes. Vortex, Sightron and SWFA to name just a few. Nightforce and March are good and a bevy of German/Austrian and oriental made scopes.

You would do well to go to a competition and look around and talk to the competitors and look through their scopes to find what you like. People's tastes varies.

Joe

 

[ranger3]

I looked at Athlon scopes. Like the glass, feel, price and was stopped by the fact that they are so new and I can't tell if they are financially solid enough to survive in the competitive market. I went with Sightron and Vortex.

 

[jsthntn247]

Would you guys say that the Athlon optics are good enough to compete with between 300 and 600 yards? This would possibly be going on my .308 F-Class rifle.

Currently they do not make a scope "good enough" for Fclass. Not enough magnification and reticles are too thick for precise aiming. I have a Cronus on my tactical rig and plan on getting a Aeres to swap back and forth from my long range hunting gun and and my 223 trainer. They are good for what they are but that currently does not include Fclass.

 

[CharlieNC]

Currently they do not make a scope "good enough" for Fclass. Not enough magnification and reticles are too thick for precise aiming. I have a Cronus on my tactical rig and plan on getting a Aeres to swap back and forth from my long range hunting gun and and my 223 trainer. They are good for what they are but that currently does not include Fclass.

My experience as well, and the turret adjustments are too coarse. Great scopes but not for competition except steel.

 

[Amazingrandy]

Would a Vortex Crossfire II 6-24x50 BDC be a better option?

 

[Amazingrandy]

Would the Athlon be better suited on my .338 that doesnt get used for competitions?

 

[CharlieNC]

Erick the design and adjustments of the Athlon lineup were not established for small targets <0.5moa as needed for Fclass. But they are well suited for larger targets, esp tactical with ffp reticle. I would prefer my $350 Athlon Argos for tactical shooting than the $1500 Vortex Golden Eagle on my ftr rifle. Different designs for different purposes.

 

[6milphil]

I bought an argos BTR a couple of months ago and I am not impressed at all, the turrets track well but the glass is terrible.

 

[Ledd Slinger]

THey could be great scopes, cutting edge, new design, etc. Or, they could be generic Chinese manufactured run of the mill scopes with no idea as to warrante or company product support. In contrast, think of a product such as Leupold. THe company has been around for ever, they have a history of standing behind their products and they have great resale value.

If I want to gamble, I'll purchase a lottery ticket. If I'm going on an expensive deer hunt, I want the best, most trusted products to give me piece of mind.

The guy asks about Athlon. You have ZERO experience with them, dont even really know who they are, so you bash a company you don't know then spout off about Leupold who everyone already knows about? Really? Why even post???

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amazingrandy,

Athlon offers some of the best optics for the money in my opinion. I picked up a 6-30x56mm Argos and am really impressed for a $350 scope. The glass is every bit as good as my $1100 Zeiss HD5 5-25x50 on the same power settings and better than pretty much all of the $500-$700 scopes I own.

I see Athlon coming into the market as the next Vortex. They are filling the niche that Vortex is leaving behind by offering great glass and reliable mechanical functions in their optics at an amazing price. Vortex still gives you a lot of glass for the money, but their prices have definitely been climbing in the last handful of years. Athlon even offers the same exact No Fault lifetime warranty as Vortex. No receipt, no registration, no matter the reason, just be in possession of the optic and they'll fix or replace it at no cost, even pay for the shipping. You can find plenty of reviews online for warranty claims from accidental damage to verify their customer service is top notch just like Vortex.

My only gripe with Athlon is that most of their nicer scopes with high magnification ranges are made with First Focal Plane reticles. They do have a couple models that have 2nd focal plane. Just wish they offered both options in all their models.

Tons of YouTube video reviews on them verifying tracking reliability with box tests and glass resolution against more expensive scopes. I don't think you'll be disappointed with an Athlon scope at all. I know I'm not. They give you a lot of optic for your money and one of the best warranties in the business to back it up. If you can find a dealer nearby who carries Athlon, by all means take the time to go have a look. I think you'll be really impressed for the money.

 

[Ironworker]

I have a Athlon Cronus BTR MIL/MILL 4.5x29x56mm 1st FFP . Its glass is 1st class,but can't use the reticle under 15x. But above 15x is awesome . I have a SWFA 5x20x50HD,a Ziess HD5x25x50mm a Leupold VX6 3x18x50mm they're glass is excellent ,but Cronus is better.

 

[Amazingrandy]

Thanks for all of the input guys, i really do appreciate it. Some of you are right about the FFP reticle, and I do wish that they offered more in 2nd focal. The Cabelas near my house has 3 in stock and plan on going there over the weekend to take a real look. If it looks and feels the way that I am hoping it will...Im probably going to buy it on the spot.

 

[Terry Altom]

I would take a Athlon over Leupold. The high-end Athlon scopes are made in Japan at the LOW factory, same place as nearly all high-end made in Japan optics. Leupold had their day and now that day is gone. Leupold has rested on their reputation while the rest of the optics companies past them by. They are so very far from the best. The best scopes come from Germany, the second best come from Japan. Most "American" scope companies have their scopes built oversees. Way too many companies making good scopes for good prices now a days.

I tend to agree with this. Far too many American companies are selling us their historical American made reputations but only delivering their cheaper Chinese made junk.

On a related note, if I were going on an expensive hunt, I would have a Nightforce on. My Leupold scopes have been demoted to "unlikely to use" status.

Similarly, my old Remingtons are far better and tighter fitting than my new ones. So much so that I would prefer to sell two or three of the new ones and buy one custom built.

 

[Papa Charlie]

I went with the Vortex Viper HST 6-24x50. Glass is great and Vortex has the best warranty out there and it is transferable. I don't care for the reticle in the Crossfire scopes. The Viper in my opinion is a much better reticle for F-Class shooting which is why I went that route.
My next scope will probably be a Vortex Golden Eagle 15-60x52.

 

[Nobody]

I have a Helos 8-34 x 56 FFP with 30 mm Tube, mounted on a 700 in .308. It's OK. Turret tracks true, optics are certainly in the sub $1K range. You get some static on the edges of the scope at higher magnification, but it HAS higher magnification.

People were making fun of me when I bought both a Vortex spotting scope and a rifle scope after their debut at SHOT (2013?14?)... I bought them based on nothing more than looking through the scopes with similar specs, from known brands, that cost three times as much at the time. We all now know these run. At the time no one had heard of them.

I pretty much told everyone who would listen that these were high quality at a low price, and they would be big. That only lasted a year or two. At this point that's sort of out the window, and I think Vortex is priced like the rest of them (you get what you pay for).

I bought the Athlon because of my experience with Vortex. I'm not saying I think Athlon is as good as Vortex. I don't. I think Vortex is better, and they started with a better product. But, where scopes are priced today I do think there's a lot of value in Athlon. They can probably make some production improvements once they get their feel under them and they may turn out to be like Vortex. They're not right now.

I'd like to know how their Chronus stacks up to Vortex Razor and NF for similar featured scopes. I jumped for $600 on a production rifle that will not be appearing in matches..., but putting them on my comp rifles is another story. If I'm spending enough dough an a scope to buy a used truck I am not experimenting or taking any chances. I'd rather spring for an extra grand on a Vortex or NF and KNOW I'm getting what I need to be competitive.

My gunsmith looks down his nose at ANY scope that doesn't say Leupold on it. It could be a $6K S&B, and if it's not Leupold he thinks it's crap. He's not the first person I've run into who thinks that way either. Their new MkVIII is supposed to be great, but, of course, they want alot more than what similar featured scopes are selling for.

 

[Shawnba67]

I have a helos 8x32 ffp i use in f class. I wish the eyebox was bigger, but ive never coompared it to another high mag scope might be normal for 32x's mag. I do not feel ripped off in any way seems to track well. I believe they have a no questions asked money back guarantee.