Athlon Midas Tac? Or Other options in the $$$ range?

retoxtony

retoxtony

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So what else is worth looking at in this price range besides the Athlon Midas Tac 5-25x56? It seems for that $1100 price point this one keeps popping up as a good quality scope. It’s about where my budget maxes out for the time being.

It’ll be going on my 6.5 creedmoor for playing around at longer range. 500+ yards and hoping out to 1000 eventually. No matches or competitions of any sort, just me trying to learn how to shoot long range properly out on the prairie.

So should a guy just buy the Midas Tac or is there anything else worth considering? I know there are a few Vortex and Bushnell models close in price as well as other Athlons, a Riton, and a few other new brands that seem to have good specs but not much in the way of actual user reviews.
 
I was in the same situation not long ago, i decided to up my budget a bit and got the Delta Javelin, very very pleased with my choice.
 
The 5-25 Midas Tac is about as good as you're going to find for that money with the features it has. Very similar glass to my gen 2 PST, in terms of resolution edge to edge, but the Athlon is brighter and has more elevation travel. Very similar feeling turrets to thr PST, tracks reliably, but no illumination. I like mine.

The Arken SH-4 that Rangeview has a pre-order going for could be worth looking into. Seems to be getting very positive reviews for glass quality, turret feel and tracking. And it's only $700.
For a little more than your budget the Delta Javelin also gets wicked reviews for glass quality and reliability.
 
Unholysavage said:
The 5-25 Midas Tac is about as good as you're going to find for that money with the features it has. Very similar glass to my gen 2 PST, in terms of resolution edge to edge, but the Athlon is brighter and has more elevation travel. Very similar feeling turrets to thr PST, tracks reliably, but no illumination. I like mine.

The Arken SH-4 that Rangeview has a pre-order going for could be worth looking into. Seems to be getting very positive reviews for glass quality, turret feel and tracking. And it's only $700.
For a little more than your budget the Delta Javelin also gets wicked reviews for glass quality and reliability.
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I saw that Arken SH-4 and was a bit intrigued. It does look good as far as specs go and I like the price. When I tried to do some reading on it I couldn’t find much info. A few people in the US who say it’s good for the price, but it’s way cheaper down there as well. If there’s some people here with actual experience with the scope I’d love to hear it.
 
I was going to get the Midas tac 5-25x56 for my rimfire build. I then priced out the sunshade and some tenebraex scope caps, and I was within a little bit of money to just get a delta javelin. So I opted to get the javelin this time and it's quite impressive for the money. I think it's comparable to the Ares etr I have which is significantly more. I would say it's better than my 2 other 6-24x50 midas Tacs. But if it's too far above your budget, you can't go wrong with the midas TAC. I'll eventually get the 34mm version as well
 
Mystic Precision said:
Athlon Helos BTR G2 6-24.... less money, very nice glass and works great.

If you can spend a bit more, Delta Javelin.

PM or email if you want to chat about these and other scopes.
Jerry
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That Helos looks pretty good. Not sure if I’d be giving up much by going with a lower end scope or if it would work fine for my needs. Not sure about the need for an illuminated reticle. I hadn’t planned on that. I have other scopes with illumination and I never use it.


How does the Strike Eagle compare to the Athlon offerings? It looks like pretty much the same scope and I see them pop up on the EE fairly often. Even new I see them on sale once in a while, not so with Athlon stuff.
 
retoxtony said:
That Helos looks pretty good. Not sure if I’d be giving up much by going with a lower end scope or if it would work fine for my needs. Not sure about the need for an illuminated reticle. I hadn’t planned on that. I have other scopes with illumination and I never use it.


How does the Strike Eagle compare to the Athlon offerings? It looks like pretty much the same scope and I see them pop up on the EE fairly often. Even new I see them on sale once in a while, not so with Athlon stuff.
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Athlon has done a fantastic job of improving each product as it goes through the gen's.... but with any company that has a massive lineup of product, it is common for the improvement of one to leapfrog another.

Been using and competing with Athlon for a number of years... did very well with the Ares BTR years back... then the Ares ETR came along and blew the doors of anything in their product line at that price point. A year or so later the Midas TAC line up came along and quickly became my goto recommendation as an entry point full feature PRS capable scope.

Many happy Midas TAC shooters as you can see by their comments. Athlon really set the bar high with this lineup.

This year, they released the Helos BTR Gen2 line up and completely changed it. Not a Gen2 but completely new scopes. I got my hands on a few that came in earlier in the year and like the Midas TAC of a few years back, reset what an entry point scope can be.

I currently have a large shipment coming out to me and I hope they retain the same QC and spec.... if they do, they just made the Midas TAC lineup a more challenging place to recommend. The scope I am currently using has a less forgiving eyebox vs my Ares ETR or a midas tac but otherwise, it is giving performance that I would have said easily over $1k a couple of years ago.

The helos 6-24 I have is ideally suited to rimfire PRS whether short or long range... I have downsized my fleet of Ares ETR cause these will fill the needs for my secondary rifles for 1/2 the price. For disclosure, I no longer own any Midas TACs... but I did.

Athlon needs to chop several of their product lines....

Jerry
 
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I have the athlons ares g2 4.5x27 wich they say is close to the tac except elevation (like Jerry said to many grouped together)it is a nice scope but it is not the quality of my vortex gen2 pst 5x25. Today I would look at the gen 2 helos btr or the match pro which I own and like better for almost half the price .or i would wait and up my game to the delta
 
Want to leach onto this convo:

Looking for a scope for a B14 HMR in 6.5CM. For general long range target and dabbling in competition out to 1000 yards. Very occasional hunting use.

I had in mind a relatively hard budget at $1500, sounds like the Delta Javelin is a smart choice?
 
JW85 said:
Want to leach onto this convo:

Looking for a scope for a B14 HMR in 6.5CM. For general long range target and dabbling in competition out to 1000 yards. Very occasional hunting use.

I had in mind a relatively hard budget at $1500, sounds like the Delta Javelin is a smart choice?
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Yes, the javelin is a great choice in that price point. Unless you can find something on the EE used that has the features you're looking for. I have no complaints about my javelin other than the illumination. But I'll never use it so I don't really care
 
Mystic Precision said:
... The scope I am currently using has a less forgiving eyebox vs my Ares ETR or a midas tac but otherwise, it is giving performance that I would have said easily over $1k a couple of years ago.
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I'm only dabbling in PRS at this point, but have already discovered that eyebox is an issue trying to get a sight picture while contorted into some random new firing position on whatever's the barricade this time. Losing seconds trying to adjust my angle so I can see the target through the glass! This wasn't an issue sighting the rifle in on the bench and having the same geometry every shot. And I'm thinking that if I upgrade in future a wider eyebox would be a feature worth looking for.

Not something that would bother a benchrest or long-range shooter, though.
 
old303 said:
I'm only dabbling in PRS at this point, but have already discovered that eyebox is an issue trying to get a sight picture while contorted into some random new firing position on whatever's the barricade this time. Losing seconds trying to adjust my angle so I can see the target through the glass! This wasn't an issue sighting the rifle in on the bench and having the same geometry every shot. And I'm thinking that if I upgrade in future a wider eyebox would be a feature worth looking for.

Not something that would bother a benchrest or long-range shooter, though.
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How are people finding the eyebox on the Javelin? Is it reasonable forgiving?
 
Just for what it's worth- I bought a Midas Tac 5-25X56 last year and I love the thing. The eyebox is very forgiving and the glass is comparable to if not better than my Vortex Vipers. It feels a bit on the light side for a 34mm tube optic, but so far it has performed very well on both my .17 HMR and a .45cal smokeless muzzleloader rig.
 
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