Athlon or Arken optics?

[bobcat93]

Can some one point me in the proper direction please.
Ive been seeing alot of folks using both these optics lately
I believe one company is quality, the other is equal to Simmons (i may be wrong) but dont believe i am. Who is making the better product.
As i haven't seen them because im a hermit.

Is there a spicific model that stands out more then others.
Thank you.

 

[ASbobcat]

Athlon "Made in China", don't know about Arken.

I've owned enough Chinese optics to know the glass and mechanicals are garbage.

Buy once, cry once.

 

[jpx2rk]

Rifle Scope or spotter?

I've got several Athlon Talos rifle scopes in 6-18x on RF rifles, and 6-24x on 20P, 204R, 223, etc for pdogs and rats. I can see rats at 400 yds with the Talos, make hits,, etc., give a few of 'em haircuts, etc. They work for my purpose as I haul them 2500 miles one way, and they have survived several round trips w/o losing zero, etc.

I have a Athlon 20-60x UD spotter, works great at 100, 200 is good with low mirage, 300 I can see individual leaves, sticks, etc., on the exposed dirt behind the 200 yd boards at my club range.

I also have Athlon UD or HD bio's, 8 or 10x, and work well for me when chasing pdogs or rats. Wife uses them for birds and deer in the backyard and the open field behind the house. IMO, a decent/good optic for the $$, not high end by any means of the imagination. I can afford more, but I don't think a clearer (?) sight picture at 300 yds will improve my hit ratio to justify the additional cost.

 

[Lead Slanger]

Athlon "Made in China", don't know about Arken.

I've owned enough Chinese optics to know the glass and mechanicals are garbage.

Buy once, cry once.

Not all Athlon scopes are made in China. The majority are, but not all.

 

[Lead Slanger]

I've never personally looked through an Arken, but with all of the comparison videos I've seen them in, they always fall short.

The Athlon Ares ETR 4.5-30 on my Howa is my favorite scope. I would rather have it anyday over my Sightron SIII. I love the reticle and it's great all the way up to 30x. Very clear & sharp images. The turrets are great and tracks true. I would highly recommend the Ares ETR. That's the only Athlon I have experience with, but when I buy another scope, it'll more than likely be another Athlon. (Cronus)

 

[bobcat93]

Thank you..so its Athlon is the superior thanks folks much appreciated hey ya know not every optic needs to be 800$-2500$..i kind of get sick of that. Different tool , different jobs.
Ill spend good money on my benchrest gear. But for AR play, or hunting.
I dont want to worry about a 1200$ optic getting smacked on a tree. Id rather focus on what im doing
Some of the new optical glass is amazing..i picked up a few cheapos off Amazon for springer air gun and its better then some leaupolds ive looked through.
Dont know how it will hold up haha but for now im amazed.
Ill take a chance on something new. Im not that stubborn.

 

[Turkeytider]

Two Arken scopes on range rifles out to 1,000 yards, like them very much, particularly my EP-5 . Hold zero, track great. And yes, you can find positive reviews on them. Cannot personally compare with Athlon scopes, but have heard good things.

 

[vegas]

I have an Athlon Cronus BTR Gen 2 4.5-29x. Very nice scope and made in Japan by LOW. I believe Cronus is their only line made outside of China. No experience of Arken but I seem to see a lot of negatives when reading online.

 

[Rank Amateur]

Can back up the previous recommendation for the Athlon Ares ETR (Gen 1) 4.5-30x56. Have two on varmint ARs. Good glass (not up to Nightforce or March or Kahles standards, but not expected to be). My AR fell off the shooting table and landed on the scope’s sunshade. Broke the shade off the scope, but the scope did not suffer any other damage and maintained tracking and zero (so it’ll take some abuse). Also have the Athlon Argos BTR (Gen 3) 8-34x56 as backup on other uppers. Glass not as good as the Ares, but perfectly acceptable out to 400 yds on prairie dogs.

 

[mdram]

have an og ares 4.5-27, and a midas tac 5-25. both are pretty decent for the price.

arken is still on my avoid list due to the paying for good review thing from their initial launch

 

[Ackman]

Arkens are good, so are Athlons. I have several of both. The "made in China" at their factory Arken EPL4 6-24's are very nice scopes. A few yrs. back I did a little comparison......got a Zeiss 6-24 on sale and side by side compared it with the Arken. My house is a little ways up the side of a hill, lots to look at in a couple directions. Looking at all kind of things from 85yds to 1-1/2miles, I could tell no difference between the Arken and Leica in optical quality. However the Leica, at about 3x the price, had a fussy eyebox......it got sent back. The only negative on the Arken is a stiff zoom ring that needs a throw lever. The SH4 is very good also, but has 34mm tube and is heavy at 36oz, same with 5-25 and 7x35 but they're very good. Athlons I have are Argos, Ares, Helos, and Heras, and like them all. They do have a better selection of reticles depending on model, and some have 2nd focal plane, which I like.

 

[rickhirsch]

I think ether one will work . and it will mostly be a good choice. it cracks me up just about everybody knows
what to buy if there spending some one else's money. young men to have choose. the best bang for the buck. I have grandsons that want play the game .but don't have the money for a nigthforce . so they look
for the bang for buck! Just try to help them best as you can with honest help .

 

[troupe]

I have 5 Arkens and I am pleased with them. I wish they would bring out a SFP scope for a hunting scope. Very much needed. 30mm, second focal plane, capped turrets, illuminated reticle with a center dot. Great glass and tracking. I would be getting a few of them.

 

[Turkeytider]

Athlon "Made in China", don't know about Arken.

I've owned enough Chinese optics to know the glass and mechanicals are garbage.

Buy once, cry once.

I believe that Arken scopes are assembled in China. The SH4J Gen II ( “ J” for Japanese ) and the EP-5 utilize Japanese glass, although, at the price point, I don’t imagine that it’s the absolute top grade of Japanese glass. I don’t know, admittedly, but I would doubt that Athlon does either.

 

[Gary in MD]

I have a handful of Arkens on varmint/ range rifles. No problems with mine

 

[longrange223]

I started with Arkens & eventually upgrade when I can afford, I have never had any problems of any kind with my 7-35x scopes, I had issues with a tight eyebox on the 5-25x though, I also have 2 DNT scopes that are great, Don't count the Arkens out, best buy in the price range, All of mine perform better than I can...

 

[ELR LVR]

Can some one point me in the proper direction please.
Ive been seeing alot of folks using both these optics lately
I believe one company is quality, the other is equal to Simmons (i may be wrong) but dont believe i am. Who is making the better product.
As i haven't seen them because im a hermit.

Is there a spicific model that stands out more then others.
Thank you.

Primary arms for a few hun more would be better from what I've seen
Even a used (Japan made) Bushnell or B&L will make your eyes pop with excitement
but if all you got is $500, I was kind of impressed with Arkens, Im still on the fence with longevity though

 

[bobcat93]

Hahaha..ok you guys STOP THAT!...what one am i supposed to go out and buy?
If you cant agree (and you already own them)
How can you help out a space case like me

This is what i was talking about in the beginning.
After about 50 comments you can see the rhythm..apparently both companies make at least one model even the picky shooters around here will gravitate towards.
Those must obviously be the awesome ones. As i said i am void of most social skills, and lost my filter years ago. Saying that ive become a hermit and dont get out to touch, and feel the new optics, or mingle with other shooters.

Ill try and give more information so you can help narrow things.
More then likely this scope is going on my custom AR-15
My eye balls dictate i need a minimum of 4-14 power with lots of focus options
I can see perfectly through my nightforce benchrest scopes
i can see perfectly through my little Burris timberline 4-14x32, things seem to work better for me with an adjustable objective, then with a side focus it that normal? I think i may get better adjustments with an AO
I had a Leupold Mark 4 tactical on my AR originally and was not happy with it at all.
The lens coating on the glass looked hazy no matter what i did.
i had it in a old Larue scope mount.
By best friend begged me to sell it to him for years. So i finally did.then like a little kid he says your crazy that glass is perfect..it wasnt for me Wonder why?
Anyway he would get more enjoyment out of it then i did.
i pulled the gun out to blow the spiders out of it Then realized i never put a scope on it.
I tossed on a hawk i had laying around for emergencies such as this
But its lame and the rifle will out perform that scope.
I did like the MilRad scope system over Mil-Dot
The TMR reticle in the Mark-4 tactical was fantastic.
I would like it again.
So thats its. Pretty simple.
Ive had the 1500$ scope set up on my rifle.
It looked beautiful .
Im not spending that again
I want out at 50% that price.
Ill spend money on primers and brass, not parts.
I bet there is a big Christmas sale coming and some black Friday sales going on till end of week
End of year model blow out sales sunday! sunday! sunday! come on out were slashing prices
Kind of scope sale hahaha
What fits my bill

 

[Turkeytider]

I started with Arkens & eventually upgrade when I can afford, I have never had any problems of any kind with my 7-35x scopes, I had issues with a tight eyebox on the 5-25x though, I also have 2 DNT scopes that are great, Don't count the Arkens out, best buy in the price range, All of mine perform better than I can...

Yes, I find the eye box on my EP- 5 to be somewhat demanding , but all in all, I still like it very much. Just helps me to make sure my head’s in the proper position, LOL!

 

[Rank Amateur]

Hahaha..ok you guys STOP THAT!...what one am i supposed to go out and buy?
If you cant agree (and you already own them)
How can you help out a space case like me

OP: we get that you want to mount this on a custom AR, and thanks for the info about preferred mag range (as a minimum), your preference for a Mil reticle (I’m going to presume as opposed to MOA), and your price limitation. Please provide a little more info about use. I’m presuming .223/5.56, but perhaps not? What cartridge are you shooting in your AR? Then, at what normal and maximum ranges? What are you shooting at (paper targets, 8” steels, Ground Hogs, etc)?