Since most of the FT crowd seems to be constantly on the lookout for ft capable scopes, wanted to share a bit.
I've shot two matches with the Midas Tac 6-24x50. Mine has the APRS2 reticle.
I put one of Eric Sanders (scopewerks) creations on it, what he calls a "mega nautilus."
I sent this short video to aimright a few weeks ago as he recently picked up a different Athlon for FT work and we were comparing various aspects. He was curious about total scope wheel travel and how much of the range of travel 10-55 yards uses. It wasn't recorded with the intent to share publicly but it'll save a lot of typing so here it is, raw and uncut. (man I hate hearing my own voice like this)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWIjQk2gnH4
My example uses about 180 degrees from 10-55 yards.
Scope wheel marks in the vid are when the scope is used @24x. I will eventually see how the marks work out when ranged at 16x and I'll try to remember to come back and post my thoughts on that.
The comma/nautilus shape is awesome for having a large functional diameter, with a small foot print. When rotated to keep the bulk of the wheel tucked in next to the gun, nothing sticks up higher than turret level, so it's easier to put in the soft case. I also like the idea of smaller profile for reducing chances of snagging the wheel on something and ripping the guts out of the scope. I think Eric told me this particular wheel has a functional diameter of 8.5inches. The shape keeps my 45, 50, and 55 yard marks plenty separated to differentiate those far distances (at least at 24x).
I wasn't sure I'd like the floating center dot reticle but it works pretty good to center on round kill zones. I'm an Open class shooter usually so I was dialing the turret. Turrets are completely reliable. This particular reticle option doesn't have all the view-cluttering Christmas tree stuff going on, but Athlon offers those as well. I do think the 0.2 mil hash marks from 0-1 mil would be nice for a Hunter class (holdover) shooter, but have yet to try them out myself for that.
When guys talk about scopes they always mention "clarity." Honestly all of our eyes are so different that there's no way to measure or even really describe that attribute, it's simply a subjective thing that's like trying to tell someone how a certain food tastes. For my eyes though, the scope gets nice and clear. Very easy for me to decide if scope was "clear" or not as I was ranging by focus. It doesn't "snap" in and out of focus as well as my Falcon X50. My yardage marks for the Midas are at the point where the image first gets clear, not as it continues to be clear and then fades out. With my Falcon there's none of that question of where it's clear, it either is, or isn't. I have yet to see or experience any issues with temps shifting how the Midas ranges by focus. In short, it can be used for repeatable ranging, I just have to remember to determine "clear and in focus" by the beginning of clear, not the transition out of clear.
The glass is good enough to see .20 holes in paper @ 110 yards (and my eyesight isn't great). It also is good enough that I was surprised to see the veins and structure in some hand-sized weed leaves @ 90 yards that I was shooting groups in and clipping stems off for fun a few weeks back.
It does have a longer eye relief than the 20x SWFA that was on this gun prior, and required a little further forward mounting to be in the right place. A sun shade would put the end of the scope out past the muzzle.
My first scope with a zero stop and man o man is that a cool little feature. Since I got the Midas, when using my other scopes I've found myself cranking back to zero, expecting to hit that stop and going right past it and being surprised and disappointed each time it doesn't hit that firm and comforting zero stop.
The first match using this scope I shot a 50/60 and this past weekend shot a 45/48, combined for 95/108 (88%). None of the misses were because of misranged targets. 10 misses in the first match were growing pains with new a new rig (not knowing windage for .20 and canting the gun and not having good cheek welds).. 3 misses in the second match were: pulled a shot, simply missed an offhand shot due to instability, and the wind pushed me into a split on a 1 inch @ 45 yard target. Out of ranging 108 targets in match conditions, to not misrange any, I feel that's about the most we can expect out of the thorough misuse of manufacturers intentions by ranging by focus. (I feel like there are very few scopes made specifically to range by focus, asking them to do that for FT is asking them to do something the designers never intended. It's a wonder that any non-FT specific scope is capable of doing this accurately).
Overall I like the scope and I'm glad I bought it. Not too heavy or too long, doesn't overpower the short little bullpup. I consider this little pup my general use gun (it gets grabbed more than any other) and wanted a general use scope on it. It doesn't range as well as my X50, but it didn't cost as much, doesn't weigh as much, or take up as much real estate. The Midas seems to be a good compromise between a general hunting/pesting/plinking scope, and one that can also be depended on for field target work.
I've shot two matches with the Midas Tac 6-24x50. Mine has the APRS2 reticle.
I put one of Eric Sanders (scopewerks) creations on it, what he calls a "mega nautilus."
I sent this short video to aimright a few weeks ago as he recently picked up a different Athlon for FT work and we were comparing various aspects. He was curious about total scope wheel travel and how much of the range of travel 10-55 yards uses. It wasn't recorded with the intent to share publicly but it'll save a lot of typing so here it is, raw and uncut. (man I hate hearing my own voice like this)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWIjQk2gnH4
My example uses about 180 degrees from 10-55 yards.
Scope wheel marks in the vid are when the scope is used @24x. I will eventually see how the marks work out when ranged at 16x and I'll try to remember to come back and post my thoughts on that.
The comma/nautilus shape is awesome for having a large functional diameter, with a small foot print. When rotated to keep the bulk of the wheel tucked in next to the gun, nothing sticks up higher than turret level, so it's easier to put in the soft case. I also like the idea of smaller profile for reducing chances of snagging the wheel on something and ripping the guts out of the scope. I think Eric told me this particular wheel has a functional diameter of 8.5inches. The shape keeps my 45, 50, and 55 yard marks plenty separated to differentiate those far distances (at least at 24x).
I wasn't sure I'd like the floating center dot reticle but it works pretty good to center on round kill zones. I'm an Open class shooter usually so I was dialing the turret. Turrets are completely reliable. This particular reticle option doesn't have all the view-cluttering Christmas tree stuff going on, but Athlon offers those as well. I do think the 0.2 mil hash marks from 0-1 mil would be nice for a Hunter class (holdover) shooter, but have yet to try them out myself for that.
When guys talk about scopes they always mention "clarity." Honestly all of our eyes are so different that there's no way to measure or even really describe that attribute, it's simply a subjective thing that's like trying to tell someone how a certain food tastes. For my eyes though, the scope gets nice and clear. Very easy for me to decide if scope was "clear" or not as I was ranging by focus. It doesn't "snap" in and out of focus as well as my Falcon X50. My yardage marks for the Midas are at the point where the image first gets clear, not as it continues to be clear and then fades out. With my Falcon there's none of that question of where it's clear, it either is, or isn't. I have yet to see or experience any issues with temps shifting how the Midas ranges by focus. In short, it can be used for repeatable ranging, I just have to remember to determine "clear and in focus" by the beginning of clear, not the transition out of clear.
The glass is good enough to see .20 holes in paper @ 110 yards (and my eyesight isn't great). It also is good enough that I was surprised to see the veins and structure in some hand-sized weed leaves @ 90 yards that I was shooting groups in and clipping stems off for fun a few weeks back.
It does have a longer eye relief than the 20x SWFA that was on this gun prior, and required a little further forward mounting to be in the right place. A sun shade would put the end of the scope out past the muzzle.
My first scope with a zero stop and man o man is that a cool little feature. Since I got the Midas, when using my other scopes I've found myself cranking back to zero, expecting to hit that stop and going right past it and being surprised and disappointed each time it doesn't hit that firm and comforting zero stop.
The first match using this scope I shot a 50/60 and this past weekend shot a 45/48, combined for 95/108 (88%). None of the misses were because of misranged targets. 10 misses in the first match were growing pains with new a new rig (not knowing windage for .20 and canting the gun and not having good cheek welds).. 3 misses in the second match were: pulled a shot, simply missed an offhand shot due to instability, and the wind pushed me into a split on a 1 inch @ 45 yard target. Out of ranging 108 targets in match conditions, to not misrange any, I feel that's about the most we can expect out of the thorough misuse of manufacturers intentions by ranging by focus. (I feel like there are very few scopes made specifically to range by focus, asking them to do that for FT is asking them to do something the designers never intended. It's a wonder that any non-FT specific scope is capable of doing this accurately).
Overall I like the scope and I'm glad I bought it. Not too heavy or too long, doesn't overpower the short little bullpup. I consider this little pup my general use gun (it gets grabbed more than any other) and wanted a general use scope on it. It doesn't range as well as my X50, but it didn't cost as much, doesn't weigh as much, or take up as much real estate. The Midas seems to be a good compromise between a general hunting/pesting/plinking scope, and one that can also be depended on for field target work.
