You got a great deal on your Ares! I have the Ares and Midas BTR’s, and I’m really happy with them both. How does the Ares ETR compare to the Midas BTR, glass-wise?
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Surprising scope comparison
- Thread starter Centercut
- Start date
Slightly better glass, but you’d have to have them side by side to see the difference. The low light performance is a little better with the Ares ETR due to larger 56mm objective and improved lens coatings. But honestly, the Midas BTR gen 2 is as good as anyone really needs… and I do like me some SFP, especially the Midas BTR since calibration magnification is 15x.
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Just for conversations sake...
I felt the same way about my ETR 4.5-30. It's gotta be the best made Chinese scope out there. Yet I still prefer the Jap made Cronus G2 but mostly I like the compact size, the super distinct turrets, and the daylight bright illume.
I think for 2024 the G3 Cronus will be introduced which should compete favorably with the newest generation scopes out right now. Will it have improved glass??, well we can always hope. I haven't looked through the G3 Razor but its supposed to be very close to the ZCO which is right under Tangent Theta and I'm talking glass wise.
Will there be a G3 ETR for 2024, I don't know yet??
A friend just bought a ETR 3-18x50 that he mounted on his 300 PRC a few days ago. I haven't looked through one of those yet so I'm looking forward to seeing it but so far he loves it. He paid $860 for his so you stole yours at $625!
This same friend has my #1 rated scope as far as glass goes which is a Swarovski X5 5-25x56 and for my eyes it holds the benchmark for rifle scope brilliance. It's even a hair prettier to look through than my March Genesis.
I would have already bought an X5 but it has 50Y minimum parallax, and is SFP, so its aimed at the long range hunting market.
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You know, I really really needed this thread. LIKE A LOT. Thank you @Centercut , I have been researching scopes based on cost, because you would think that means better. I think my Evols deserve "better" , what I am really after is a scope that performs really well optically, but lacks heft/weight.
I noticed a lot of the high end high mag scopes with 56mm lenses tend to be HEAVY, where as some of the mid tier scopes with great reviews are a pound lighter.... I know I am going kind of all over the place but this thread start to finish has put my mind at ease. Thanks!
@madeintheuk this would be a good one for you too
I noticed a lot of the high end high mag scopes with 56mm lenses tend to be HEAVY, where as some of the mid tier scopes with great reviews are a pound lighter.... I know I am going kind of all over the place but this thread start to finish has put my mind at ease. Thanks!
@madeintheuk this would be a good one for you too
I don't know exactly how much value you get purchasing a $300 vs. $800 vs. $3000 scope. My rough impression is the greatest values are in the mid-range prices, like on most things. The extreme prices often give you something you can't get for a mid-range price, but it's often the kind of thing that isn't all that necessary.
I bought a high-end scope (March) but not because of my needs. I visit Japan often and get paid generously while visiting, so I look for nice Japanese things to purchase to bring home. So far it's been Japanese kitchenware (knives, tea pot, etc) and a March 1-10 shorty. Probably the main value with March scopes is the over-the-top build quality plus being able to talk to the engineers that designed and built the scope -- you can often request they make little changes to your scope. These are all things I don't need, but I do like to support quality niche companies.
Similarly, I had a nice job in Germany for a year, and purchased a BMW motorcycle with some of the profits.
I bought a high-end scope (March) but not because of my needs. I visit Japan often and get paid generously while visiting, so I look for nice Japanese things to purchase to bring home. So far it's been Japanese kitchenware (knives, tea pot, etc) and a March 1-10 shorty. Probably the main value with March scopes is the over-the-top build quality plus being able to talk to the engineers that designed and built the scope -- you can often request they make little changes to your scope. These are all things I don't need, but I do like to support quality niche companies.
Similarly, I had a nice job in Germany for a year, and purchased a BMW motorcycle with some of the profits.
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Thank you!
My recommendations are:
FFP: Athlon Midas TAC 6-24x50
SFP: Athlon Midas BTR gen2 4.5-27x50
If you take your time and look for sales, both can be had for approx $500.
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The Midas btr is SFP. the Midas tac is FFP. I have a Midas tac 4-16, and I love it, but the Arken eplr4 is the same weight, similar glass, but also has illumination. Tough call to make which is best!
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Good point, the phone we're reading this in is probably made in China. Maybe my Chinese Athlon Ares BTR will be as useful as my Chinese phone.
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Over the years I’ve had several different brands of scopes but I’m most impressed with athlon. For the money it’s really hard to beat the Midas Tac line and I treated myself to a Cronus 4.5x29 and wow what a well made scope. It’s hard to get a bad scope nowadays given the available knowledge and manufacturing capabilities.
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What is funny is I have a Nightforce NXS 5.5-22x50 from the mid 2000's. The thing held zero until I put it on a 300 RUM. Then the allen screw/bolt inside the turret vibrated loose, effectively losing the spring tension on the crossairs. It's a glass etched reticle, so it did something with how that adjusts. I was shooting 800 plus yards when it happened.
Well, back then I was young and dumb, so I screwed it back in until it stopped and used red loktite to permanently solve my problem. It still holds zero today and is mounted on a 6.5cm.
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I love my Gen 2 Cronus. IMO the glass is right up there with the Razor. The Razor has a couple nice additional features with the locking turret and how you can adjust the turret for zero. At least from what I recall. Both are heavy scopes, have stiff tactile clicks, and are accurate.
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Both my friend and I hit the 19"x21" sized 1978 yard plate today. He was using his ETR 3-18x50 on his 300PRC and I was using my Cronus G2 4.5-29x56 on my 6mmBR. I had a little tougher time in the wind than he did 
.
Good scopes that are up to the task.
.Good scopes that are up to the task.
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I had a odd thing happen to that same scope which was on my 375CT back then. The erector got stuck and the scope quit working but I dialed it all the way up and all the way down a half dozen times and didn't experience the same malfunction for the few more years I owned the scope?????
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Athalon makes a nice optic. I really like the Ares etr 3-18 but they are big ol scopes. I think that is where some of the top scopes outdo the Athlon.
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Kinda true.
Not being ornery here but I recently got a $1999 Flagship scope from another Co that I'm personally disappointed in for various reasons. Oh its very lightweight though.
My friends ETR 3-18 strikes me the opposite way, its a solid scope that I can't help liking.
That's three times out of four in the last couple years I've bought scopes from other Co's that I was sorry I did. One was $3500, short, and light, for its magnification range and I expected much better from it. The one scope that did impress me is a March Genesis. It truly is a super nice but absolute TANK of a scope.
Last week I almost bought a scope from another Co that the gun store had in stock that people here on AGN like and for what you get it seems like a crazy good scope. Then I'm on another forum yesterday and a guy comes out and tells me of the "way more than it should be" failure rate his friends have had with them. I guess I dodged a bullet on that purchase too.
I'm darn near done buying from other Co's and I'm not shilling for Athlon either. In fact I would love to see some scopes from other Co's that are impressive for the money. That's part of the reason I've been trying other brands but mainly I'll want a certain reticle, or a certain feature set, or lightweight, or.... and it hasn't panned out well.
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If you want a Tier 1 scope comparison Snipers Hide has a thread that compares the top 5-6 scopes (and for some reason the BUrris XTR....bc of it's popularity in PRS as the "lower end go-to") the thread gets very "nit picky" bc they are all great optics....but to answer your questuon.....
After $1,500 to $2K there are serious diminshing returns on investment. A $4K scope is NOT 2x as good as $2K. Maybe 20% better at best.
I think choosing a scopes goes like this...
1. It MUST track well (if it can not repeat it is crap, period)
2. What do YOU need it for? Just bc PRS shooters love the ATACR, Gen3, Zco, TT, etc does not mean it is what is right for your needs.
3. Reticle (you will stare at it more than you will touch any turret you have to love the reticle)
4. Then glass, turrets, and whatever other features you may like/want (rev indicator, fit n finish, illum, etc)
5. Price (choose the best you can afford)
I love my Athlon Cronus, I have not one complaint thus far....except maybe I would have gone Mil instead of MOA but I liked the look of the MOA more.
That said, I traded in my Midas Tac for the Cronus and is the Cronus 3x better?? Nope, but it is MUCH better and I am glad I did. But I have NOTHING bad to say about the Midas Tac. And would I trade the Cronus for the Leica PRS, Theos or Gen 3....probably. I never said I was smart with my money lol sometimes you just want something a littleeee sexier. =)
After $1,500 to $2K there are serious diminshing returns on investment. A $4K scope is NOT 2x as good as $2K. Maybe 20% better at best.
I think choosing a scopes goes like this...
1. It MUST track well (if it can not repeat it is crap, period)
2. What do YOU need it for? Just bc PRS shooters love the ATACR, Gen3, Zco, TT, etc does not mean it is what is right for your needs.
3. Reticle (you will stare at it more than you will touch any turret you have to love the reticle)
4. Then glass, turrets, and whatever other features you may like/want (rev indicator, fit n finish, illum, etc)
5. Price (choose the best you can afford)
I love my Athlon Cronus, I have not one complaint thus far....except maybe I would have gone Mil instead of MOA but I liked the look of the MOA more.
That said, I traded in my Midas Tac for the Cronus and is the Cronus 3x better?? Nope, but it is MUCH better and I am glad I did. But I have NOTHING bad to say about the Midas Tac. And would I trade the Cronus for the Leica PRS, Theos or Gen 3....probably. I never said I was smart with my money lol sometimes you just want something a littleeee sexier. =)
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When your comparing lenses and clarity, use a business xard with small print on it. The human eye can detect clarity much better on print than looking at foliage!! There can be a difference in clarity on the same make and model of any scope or other lens product. Anytime your checking for best clarity go to print, your eyes can distinguish far better !!
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I also filled up with a similar test with my zerotech thrive hd and a delta Stryker one $550 the other $1600. The clarity appears compatible at 100 yards with the 50 mm bell of the zerotech to the 56mm bell of the Stryker the field of view differences were obvious. But most importantly the eye fatigue I felt with the zerotech with both scopes at same magnification demonstrated itself after shooting groups at 100 for 3 hours. No fatigue with the delta. Take it for what it’s worth.
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