Opinions on Athlon scopes

Rory McCanuck

Rory McCanuck

CGN Regular
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Location
Middle of Manitoba
Never heard of them, never seen one in the flesh, but they look pretty nice online.
Thinking of driving out to Wolverine tomorrow to look/buy one, but wanted to hear about them first.
Anything good to say about them?
Any horror stories?
Any warranty troubles?
 
I have the same scope, non-illuminated. The reticle is a bit thick. The scope is a little heavy. But the optics are decent, and it's held up to a 7# .300 Wby Mag so far. 2-12x is a great mag range for a hunting scope.

No issues, warranty or otherwise. It's a decent scope.
 
Fairly new scope company, they support the PRS shooting community up here in Canada. Good warranty, warranty in Canada is through Wolverine and they are also very good. I had a different 6-24 FFP longer range scope model from them, it was pretty good for the features it had.

What is the type of shooting? I'm assuming hunting by the scope choice. If you are looking for a cheaply priced basic scope (with no target turrets, no MIL reticle, not FFP etc) I would probably go with something else that more dominates the hunting style scope market, you might get a bit better glass?
 
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MilitaryCollectorMark said:
The one guy that shoots rimfire here on CGN likes them.
Think Mystic Precision.
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Yes Mystic Precision is a big proponent of Athlon scopes. Haven't gotten to try one myself, but given the reviews I've seen I wouldn't hesitate to give one a go, probably try one for my rimfire PRS rifle whenever I get the money to upgrade the scope on it.
 
Athlon are a great value scope. I have no experience with any model under the midas tac and wouldn't go lower than that model. I have 2 midas tac on rimfires and a Cronus. The Cronus is a great scope but obviously north of $2k. I had the ares etr as well. People said it was equivalent to the razor gen 2 but I think that's a bit of an exaggeration. The models I have had all tracked spot on and never had an issue with them.
 
sk8snwmx said:
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What is the type of shooting? I'm assuming hunting by the scope choice. If you are looking for a cheaply priced basic scope (with no target turrets, no MIL reticle, not FFP etc) I would probably go with something else that more dominates the hunting style scope market, you might get a bit better glass?
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It is for hunting. My blind faces west, and the deer always pop out along the bush. At dusk, there's been a couple occasions where the crosshairs have just disappeared, thus the illuminated reticle. This one has just the dot illuminated, as I don't really want the distraction of a big shiny Christmas tree blinding me. It's all under ~125 yards, I have a Scorpion 1.5-4x, but I want a bit more than 4x.
 
Very good stuff. They tend to beat the legacy brands at any given price point.
However, lately they've had the same trick pulled on them, as they are being beaten by the newest brands like Arken and Tract.
 
I got an Athlon Argos 8-34x56 FFP-MOA scope this spring for my CZ457 V-MTR. I find the glass very good, tho I don't have any "better scopes' to compare to it. At the higher mag I need to avoid much contact as it 'telegraphs' my heartbeat, so I'm looking toward better 'rest options' than the "Group Therapy" sled. But I can see my hits out to 180 yds with 22LR.
 
Rory McCanuck said:
It is for hunting. My blind faces west, and the deer always pop out along the bush. At dusk, there's been a couple occasions where the crosshairs have just disappeared, thus the illuminated reticle. This one has just the dot illuminated, as I don't really want the distraction of a big shiny Christmas tree blinding me. It's all under ~125 yards, I have a Scorpion 1.5-4x, but I want a bit more than 4x.
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THIS is what people need to hear as a reply. Probably spot on with your choice then!

125 yards isn't that far, but yes I would also want far more than 4x power myself to make a critical shot. If you are shooting out of a blind I'm sure you have a 'rest' so you have far more precision. I'm not a fan of 'BDC' as I only shoot 'the big shiny xmas trees' they are like a tape measure, I'd get the reticle with the multiple 'crosshair dashes - ', not the dots if you have a choice as it will be more intuitive after you zero at the distance you want and know the distances to different points from your position.
 
sk8snwmx said:
THIS is what people need to hear as a reply. Probably spot on with your choice then!

125 yards isn't that far, but yes I would also want far more than 4x power myself to make a critical shot. If you are shooting out of a blind I'm sure you have a 'rest' so you have far more precision. I'm not a fan of 'BDC' as I only shoot 'the big shiny xmas trees' they are like a tape measure, I'd get the reticle with the multiple 'crosshair dashes - ', not the dots if you have a choice as it will be more intuitive after you zero at the distance you want and know the distances to different points from your position.
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I have the 2 - 12 and I am superbly impressed with it


I also have some middle of the line and very top tier glass


For the money. It cant be beat.

For the money.
 
Had my 550.00 24 power MRAD Athlon scope for 2 years.

Very impressed decent quality for the price, support is in Canada, Jerry from Mystic was bang on (pun intended) on these scopes.

This is too much scope for 100 yard hunting sure works well at 500 meters and steel targets. :)
 
Rory McCanuck said:
It is for hunting. My blind faces west, and the deer always pop out along the bush. At dusk, there's been a couple occasions where the crosshairs have just disappeared, thus the illuminated reticle. This one has just the dot illuminated, as I don't really want the distraction of a big shiny Christmas tree blinding me. It's all under ~125 yards, I have a Scorpion 1.5-4x, but I want a bit more than 4x.
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Athlons are good scopes, but you are looking to challenge any scope in that difficult lighting window of dusk/dark/low contrast/shadows/glare
try to test a couple models under those conditions, Argos line may have the needed clarity and lense coatings, but you may have to step up in quality , Michael will help set you right
 
Rory McCanuck said:
Well, it followed me home. Now to mount it and get it out for a test.
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I'm not a fan of illuminated reticles and consider them to be something that can go wrong when it's least needed.

Other than that, Athlon scopes work well as long as you choose the model designed for the venue of shooting you will be doing.

That's just about true for every type of scope manufactured by all different makers.

I had an Argos HMR and liked it a lot. If I needed another scope right now, I wouldn't be adverse to purchasing another.

I have at least ten old school scopes that were top of the line in their day and still work as well or better than many newer types.

I liked the dials on the Athlons I've used. They're positive and repeatable with only a tiny bit of backlash on the reverse adjustment. If you know this ahead of time and are familiar with the adjustments, you just include the exra bit when dialing. It's always on the front of the load so not really a hassle and only becomes twitchy if you're shooting matches.

My ARGO HMR was a hunting scope and paralax was about as good as it gets for a medium price range scope and the image was sharp and clear at all ranges without having to adjust focus. The only time focus adjustment was needed was for targets under 50 meters.

Mount that scope properly on good Burris bases with ring inserts and you will never have an issue with it.
 
Rory McCanuck said:
It's an ATHLON ARGOS HMR 2-12X42 with an illuminated reticle, if that makes a difference to anyone
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2-12, I like that power range for a hunting scope
will be interested in your review, 'advanced fully multi coated' hoping that helps with the glare

BDC reticle? Did you go with the Armor rings too?
Did you get an explanation for 'HMR'? cannot find anywhere
 
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