OpticsTalk by SWFA, Inc. Homepage SWFA     SampleList.com
Forum Home Forum Home > Scopes > Rifle Scopes
  New Posts New Posts RSS Feed - athlon rifle scopes
  FAQ FAQ  Forum Search   Events   Register Register  Login Login

Visit the SWFA.com site to check out our current specials.

athlon rifle scopes

 Post Reply Post Reply Page  <1 7891011>
Author
Message
kickin45 View Drop Down
Optics Apprentice
Optics Apprentice


Joined: March/28/2015
Status: Offline
Points: 54
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote kickin45 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July/28/2016 at 08:55
Unfortunately, this is the same problem I've run into with every Chinese scope I've ever purchased. It seems that have the glass and main tube figured out, but the internal adjustments have always been way off. Very unfortunate, as I need a good FFP for my new .308 shorty
Back to Top
frostyline View Drop Down
Optics GrassHopper
Optics GrassHopper


Joined: July/28/2016
Status: Offline
Points: 1
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote frostyline Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July/28/2016 at 09:39
Hi Tucansam, Thank you for spending time reviewing the product! We got your email as well. Feel free to send the scope back and we will figure it out for you. If that is a lemon, we will replace it with a new one for you. The turrets of Argos BTR have some play in between clicks we are fully aware of ( not saying yours is acceptable). We are trading off this somewhat mushy turret with the greater glass quality, complex reticle, FFP, illumination, 10 yard to infinity parallax adjustment ( all the nice features you and many others like) so we can keep the cost down and make it affordable for a vast group of users who can not afford $$$$ or higher $$$ range scopes.  So far the feedback we got on Argos BTR is that it tracks very well although it has a bit mushy turrets. Have guys who are using it for their PRS matches for several months and reported a great tracking performance. Again feel free to call us at 855-913-5678, we will be more than happy to talk to you and get some first hand information we believe that is what will help us get better.

As far as for your suggestions for getting all the features you like but with sharper turrets, we are listening. Stay tuned for 2017 SHOT...Thanks again!

Back to Top
budperm View Drop Down
Optics Retard
Optics Retard
Avatar
show me your sheep!!

Joined: January/01/2009
Location: Pennsylvania
Status: Offline
Points: 31710
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote budperm Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July/28/2016 at 09:45
NICE!!!  These walls have sharp hearing!!!!! Excellent  Excellent
"Peace is that brief glorious moment in history when everybody stands around reloading".
--Thomas Jefferson



Back to Top
tucansam View Drop Down
Optics Apprentice
Optics Apprentice


Joined: February/05/2007
Status: Offline
Points: 140
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote tucansam Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July/29/2016 at 01:34
Wanna talk customer service?  Email to Athlon at 3:57AM, response from Athlon at 6:25AM telling me to fill out a warranty form and RMA it.  Awesome.
Back to Top
budperm View Drop Down
Optics Retard
Optics Retard
Avatar
show me your sheep!!

Joined: January/01/2009
Location: Pennsylvania
Status: Offline
Points: 31710
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote budperm Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July/29/2016 at 08:09
Sleepless in Customer Service.....  Cool
"Peace is that brief glorious moment in history when everybody stands around reloading".
--Thomas Jefferson



Back to Top
koshkin View Drop Down
MODERATOR
MODERATOR
Avatar
Dark Lord of Optics

Joined: June/15/2004
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 13181
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote koshkin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: July/29/2016 at 11:47
Athlon is a good company.  They are new, but they know what they are doing.  I having looking at the Cronus 1-6x24 and it is a pretty nice scope.

I'll look at other models as well, but I figured I should start with their top end stuff first and work my way down.

I will say this: I own the 7.5-22x50 spotter and considering how small and inexpensive it is, it absolutely kicks ass.  It is the spotter I keep in my car at all times and I use it all the time.  Is it the best compact spotter? No.  Is it the smallest decent spotter? Yes, I think so.

ILya
Back to Top
tucansam View Drop Down
Optics Apprentice
Optics Apprentice


Joined: February/05/2007
Status: Offline
Points: 140
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote tucansam Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August/02/2016 at 23:14
1 Aug UPS has the scope, on its way to Athlon.  Will report back shortly.
Back to Top
tucansam View Drop Down
Optics Apprentice
Optics Apprentice


Joined: February/05/2007
Status: Offline
Points: 140
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote tucansam Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August/10/2016 at 20:17
Athlon Midas BTR PR31 vs Vortex Spitfire 3x.

Anyone have a direct comparison?  

Back to Top
tucansam View Drop Down
Optics Apprentice
Optics Apprentice


Joined: February/05/2007
Status: Offline
Points: 140
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote tucansam Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August/16/2016 at 06:35
Scope came back from Athlon today!

No complaints about cust service, 8/8 is the date they show taking custody of my scope, 8/10 is the day they show sending out a replacement.  No note inside the box indicating what they found with the old scope, just an invoice indicating a one-for-one swap with zero balance owed by me.

New scope has exact same problem as old scope.  Exactly the same.  The "zero" click lies somewhere between zero and 0.1mil, and one click down from zero lies somewhere between 0.1 and 0.2mils.  Rinse and repeat throughout the entire dialing range, just like the old scope.

Windage, same.

I could live with the clicks not lining up 100%, but they don't line up 100% consistently.  If I knew "half a millimeter to the left of each witness mark is the actual click value" that would be fine.  But each click results in the witness mark falling somewhere else entirely, no consistency at all.  Plus still tons of play between clicks, more than any other scope I've tried.  

I pulled out my Bushnell Elite 3200 fixed 10x mil/mil ($199 special from that company named after the WWII naval battle after Pearl Harbor) and its turrets are 100% slop free and 100% on the mark every time, they are like sophisticated calibrated brain surgery equipment compared to the Athlon.

So if I am going to use the scope for just hold overs, it will work fine.  But I like to dial.  So, my verdict: I will continue to buy SWFA 3-15s on sale, and this Athlon will go on one of my .22LRs to be used as a novelty.

My hopes for the future are several.  

I hope Athlon fixes the turret issues on this line of scope, and lets us current owners swap them out.  And I hope the next gen of this model has a totally redesigned or at least significantly improved turret, and if that results in a price increase, so be it, I will happily pay.  The glass and reticle are superb.

I also hope other manufactures see Athlon's truly outstanding reticle and incorporate something similar in their designs (SWFA please pay attention here!!!!!).  

I was going to buy a 4-14 from Athlon, now I believe I will pass, at least until next Shot Show when new models come out and the products and company gain some maturity.

Still happy with the scope FOR THE PRICE, but its not a serious piece of equipment in my opinion.  Sorry Athlon.  

I am keeping the scope because I know Athlon is a new company and I am not totally dissatisfied with the product.  I know every company and product line has growing pains.  Hopefully my purchase will help them make the next generation better.

In the meantime, back to SWFA as my go-to scopes while I save for better stuff.  Just wish I could get Athlon's reticle in my SWFAs......

--

As an aside, I ordered a Vortex Spitfire 3x, even though I liked Athlon's reticle better.  The Vortex was cheaper and I now feel like I'd like to go with a more time-proven product for now. 

A friend of mine ordered one of their Ares 20-60x85 ED spotters, I will try to get some time behind it and see about posting some info and opinions on it, from he and I and other shooters.


Edited by tucansam - August/16/2016 at 06:40
Back to Top
kickin45 View Drop Down
Optics Apprentice
Optics Apprentice


Joined: March/28/2015
Status: Offline
Points: 54
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote kickin45 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August/16/2016 at 09:02
Thanks for the heads up Tucan. Hopefully Athlon will fix this in the next gen scopes. Any other of their lines of scopes have this issue?
Back to Top
supertool73 View Drop Down
Optics God
Optics God
Avatar
Superstool

Joined: January/03/2008
Status: Offline
Points: 11814
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote supertool73 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August/16/2016 at 10:45
I would send it back again, and if another comes with the same issue I would request a refund.  Bummer deal.
Lifetime warranty and excellent customer service don't mean a thing when your gun fails during a zombie attack.

"A Liberal is a person who will give away everything they don't own."
Back to Top
Rancid Coolaid View Drop Down
MODERATOR
MODERATOR
Avatar

Joined: January/19/2005
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 9318
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Rancid Coolaid Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August/16/2016 at 11:27
So what you seem to be saying is that something that might have been too good to be true was too good to be true?
Freedom is something you take.
Respect is something you earn.
Equality is something you whine about not being given.
Back to Top
tucansam View Drop Down
Optics Apprentice
Optics Apprentice


Joined: February/05/2007
Status: Offline
Points: 140
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote tucansam Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August/18/2016 at 18:47
Here is a copy of the email I sent Athlon, hopefully explaning a little better what I have going on, same issue again as the old scope:

-- 

There is play in the turrets, which I find totally acceptable at this price point.  But the turrets don't land on witness marks consistently.  Meaning, if I dial five tenths up, I may end up just left of the five tenths mark.  Then if I dial up five more tenths, I end up just left of the 11 tenths mark, or right of the 10 tenths mark.  Dial back down to zero, I may end up at zero, or just left of it, or just right of it.  Basically as I am dialing, I have to count clicks, because the turrets often land on or  near a witness mark to the left or right of the actual mark I am trying to dial to.  Its hard to explain, I hope I'm not being too confusing.  The play I can live with, I just can't get it to dial accurately.


What I have found, is that if I dial very purposefully, one click at a time, it seems to go OK, but if I crank fast, like dialing straight up to 2 or 3 mils, that's where I begin to have issues.  Even dialing slowly, I still get enough play to where I don't know if I've landed on 2.5, 2.4, or 2.6 mils, for example.  If I count up 30 clicks, I generally land on or near the 3 mil hash mark.  But if I rapidly run up to 3 mils, and then slowly dial back down to zero, I may get 29, 30, or 31 clicks to get me to the zero hash mark.

 

This is going on a 22LR, so I'm not overly concerned about being off a tenth of a mil or two, but for a more precision gun, it would be a problem. 

 

Like I said, this is the same behavior as the first scope.  Just curious what the chances would be of my getting two lemons in a row.  To be fair, there are times when the dialing is basically perfect.  But for every perfect dialing attempt, there are four or five that are inaccurate to the point that I don't know exactly what dope I've dialed, unless I meticulously count clicks each time.  And even counting clicks, I may end up a tenth above or a tenth below where I am trying to dial, according to the witness marks.

--


I have now had several perfect dial attempts, and a ton of ones where I can't be sure, to within a tenth of a mil, where I have landed.  Again, on my 22LR trainer it probably won't be a huge deal, as the gun isn't accurate enough to be able to differentiate in tenths-of-mils at 30, 40, 50 yards etc.  But on a one hole rifle, or shooting out at very long distance, this is going to be a problem.  For now I am going to take it to the range and just very slowly and meticulously dial tenths, and see how it fares.  Interestingly, the clicks on this new scope are much more tactile and audible than on the old one.  Glass is still very clear, with a little CA, but not too bad.  Focuses down to 10y just like the old one. 


If anyone specifically has a Talos FFP, please post your thoughts on the turrets.  Or even the SFP Midas.  Athlon said that they don't expect their turrets to be Chronos-like at these price-points, but I'm curious if the internals are the same across all scope lines, or if some are better than others.


Back to Top
supertool73 View Drop Down
Optics God
Optics God
Avatar
Superstool

Joined: January/03/2008
Status: Offline
Points: 11814
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote supertool73 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August/18/2016 at 20:11
Try cleaning all the grease off a applying new
Lifetime warranty and excellent customer service don't mean a thing when your gun fails during a zombie attack.

"A Liberal is a person who will give away everything they don't own."
Back to Top
tucansam View Drop Down
Optics Apprentice
Optics Apprentice


Joined: February/05/2007
Status: Offline
Points: 140
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote tucansam Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August/19/2016 at 02:32
Thanks, good idea.  I have Miltec 1, dielectric grease from my old Super Sniper 10x, and a handful of other pretty generic greases.  What would you recommend?
Back to Top
supertool73 View Drop Down
Optics God
Optics God
Avatar
Superstool

Joined: January/03/2008
Status: Offline
Points: 11814
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote supertool73 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: August/19/2016 at 10:14
Just some Dialectic of some sort.  I don't recall what I used on my old SS scope, but it helped. 
Lifetime warranty and excellent customer service don't mean a thing when your gun fails during a zombie attack.

"A Liberal is a person who will give away everything they don't own."
Back to Top
tucansam View Drop Down
Optics Apprentice
Optics Apprentice


Joined: February/05/2007
Status: Offline
Points: 140
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote tucansam Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: October/14/2016 at 20:07
Is this thread dead?!?!

Update.

I am on my third Argos, and it is near perfect.  The replacement they sent had the same turret problem as the first.  I wouldn't call it a "problem" per se, based on the price of the scope, but I really wanted to see if I could do better.  Athlon took the second scope back and went through many dozens of replacements, by hand,  until they found one with turrets that were near perfect.  They sent it to me, and I took it to the range yesterday.  Their customer service is top notch for sure.

85F, 0-2MPH wind, Savage Model 12 22LR @ 50y with Gemtech, CCI, and Federal Supermatch (all three shoot well in the gun).  I had my boy with me, and we were focused more on him drilling the fundamentals vs evaluating the scope, specifically, but here is what I can tell you.

Thanks to the reticle in the scope, I got the rifle zero'd in TWO shots.  Well, one, really, the second shot was to confirm my zero.

He is young and I am old, so our eyes are different.  Each time we would switch shooters, we had to adjust the side focus for our eyes.  I would shoot five shots, then he would.  Back and forth for 150 rounds total.  So the side focus got a ton of use -- perfect each time.

At 24x this scope is really, really, really difficult to get behind.  The eye box is the smallest I've ever experienced and it gets a little dim and murky.  Still useable for sure, just not comfortable.  I spent most of the day at 20-22x or so, and had a very clear, bright picture, scope was easy to get behind.

My son had no issues getting behind the scope at 20-22x.

After we did some ammo testing, we spent some time murdering rocks and clay pigeons, and we were dialing the magnification back and forth for about an hour.  No issues whatsoever, and the "rough spot" I encountered in the initial scope's mag ring was gone.  The scope was mounted in cheap Burris 30mm rings, torqued "by feel" and everything held up, no indication of uneven torque on the scope body, or effects on the internals.

Turrets.... Beyond my initial zero, which after boresighting required less than 1mil elevation and less that half a mil windage to zero, I did not dial the turrets.  I found the Gemtech ammo shoots 1/2" at 50y, so I will take that back out with me next time and actually either do a legit dial test and measure, or just hang steel at six or seven different ranges and then see if I can get hits by dialing.  We chrono'd all shots yesterday, so now I have some dope I can work with in Shooter and Strelok Pro.

I will say that this third scope lands essentially perfectly on its hash marks, each and every time.  Quite impressed for the price I paid.

I will also say that, shooting dark rocks against a dark background, there were times when I couldn't see the hash mark on the reticle that I was using for hold-over.  I didn't put the battery in so I didn't have illumination, but I darn sure wish I had.  

For an inexpensive mil/mil target scope on a 22LR trainer with a bada$$ reticle and illum, this scope has far exceeded my expectations thus far.

I have a 22LR AR15 that needs glass, and will probably be getting a second scope for it.  I'm debating on whether I should roll the dice and see what the turrets are like from a random order, or email Athlon and see if they'll hand pick another one for me.

I can't believe this thread hasn't grown, surely there are more Athlon users out there now?
Back to Top
Snack_Attack View Drop Down
Optics Apprentice
Optics Apprentice
Avatar

Joined: February/10/2016
Location: Mississippi
Status: Offline
Points: 73
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (2) Thanks(2)   Quote Snack_Attack Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: October/14/2016 at 22:56
8 page thread seems like a pretty big one around here. Anyway, like you said, I hope to see a few more people lay mitts on these and report back.
We've become a nation of wolves ruled by sheep, owned by swine, over fed, and put to sleep.

-Otep
Back to Top
kickin45 View Drop Down
Optics Apprentice
Optics Apprentice


Joined: March/28/2015
Status: Offline
Points: 54
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote kickin45 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: October/16/2016 at 11:25
Just ordered an Argos 8-34x56 and a Neos 4-12x40. I know these are 2 very different quality scopes, but before I can justify spending $1500 for a Cronus, I need to see an evaluation in quality. And this will enable me to assess if the turret issues are across the board or get better as the price of the scope goes up.
There is a gentlemen at my range that has a Midas 1-6. I haven't gotten to look through it yet as we are never at the range at the same time. Once I get the 2 I just ordered, I'm hoping to get with him and do a side by side by side comparison.
Back to Top
koshkin View Drop Down
MODERATOR
MODERATOR
Avatar
Dark Lord of Optics

Joined: June/15/2004
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 13181
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote koshkin Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: October/16/2016 at 11:31
These two will tell you absolutely nothing about the Cronus. They are made in a different factory.

ILya
Back to Top
 Post Reply Post Reply Page  <1 7891011>
  Share Topic   

Forum Jump Forum Permissions View Drop Down

Forum Software by Web Wiz Forums® version 12.01
Copyright ©2001-2018 Web Wiz Ltd.

This page was generated in 0.146 seconds.