Yeah, Jerry, good points. I hadn't intended to dump on Athlon. I had just taken a quick look at their site and focused on the 1" scopes mentioned in the OP. That's where I ran across a bunch in their NEOS line. These scopes--3-9s and 4-12s--seemed too heavy for a hunting rig, running around 17+ oz. To my mind, an all-purpose hunting scope that is going on a rifle that will be packed some distance and through rough terrain should weigh no more than 16 oz., and I prefer those in the 12 oz. range, like the Swarovski 3-9x36 that I've used on numerous hunting rifles, or just about any Leupold 3-9 or 3.5-10. But again, that’s just my opinion. Second, these NEOS scopes all showed very short eye relief--near 3", which I think is too short for a 30-06. And as noted, they are very inexpensive, and although a low price is normally a good thing, I would really wonder about the material and durability of their inner components.
A step up in the Athlon offerings to the Talos line includes some 1” scopes with slightly lower weight and better eye relief than the NEOS scopes. However, they are still really inexpensive, and, as with the NEOS scopes, I’d wonder about the durability and performance of a Chinese scope selling for $250 in Canada. In any case, I should have done a little more careful research on Athlon before posting, but I don’t think I’d want to count on an inexpensive 1” Chinese hunting scope holding up in the field.
So this is just my $.02, and if boxhitch likes what he sees in the Athlon scopes, he should go ahead with one. Incidentally, the higher Athlon lines look much better--particularly the Ares and Cronus scopes--but with 30 mm. tubes and weights at or in excess of 24 oz. just too heavy for a general-purpose hunting rifle.
