Vetted?

What does that matter if the mfr provides Lifetime Transferable warranty and does warranty repair in KS?

About HALF of what you pay for Leupold, Burris, other Big Names is to cover warranty claims... Scopes break. How many have glass etched reticles? Leupold mk4 for sure, All Athlon from Talos BTR up, and some Vortex, for sure the Razor, and NightForce, maybe Sightron?? Who can remember?


If the author had been an Athlon fanboy rigging the deal, he would have bumped the bar to $1800 and included the Cronus BTR which has ALL The Features of Top Build and Component Quality since Light Optical Works of Japan makes them 100%.

I am an Athlon dealer. Bought the Cronus BTR for longterm evaluation and demonstration purposes. Pay $3500 or more and you won't get anything "better" unless a super nice paint job or battery compartment on the side of the rear tube matters to you? Maybe you prefer the NF ocular bell that incorporates the magnification dial? Never did like that myself. Had one of those 8-32x NF NXS and a 2.5-10 24. Both were highly praised for their optics, but the 8-32x was NOTHING Special. Boat Anchor heavy and dull optically. None any better than my Leupold mk4s. Sold the 8-32x NXS after 5mos and felt lucky to lose only $600 on the deal...

I have tested Argos BTR 8-34x which sells for $390 for FFP illum side-focus etc and the scope was super clear and crisp, plus delivered 20mils/72 moa of elevation range and was accurate per my boresighter with grid. Maybe precise is the better description? The Argos 8-34x was crisp and excellent out to 1100yds. Started to decline a bit after that or maybe it was just the Cronus BTR never showed any degradation... For $390 it is a a must see.


I sold 2 Vortex Viper PST and replaced with Argos BTR mil-rad. Better optics and features, plus great value. Also sold several better grade Leupolds.

The Cronus BTR is a Superb Value. Crisp and color accurate at excess of 2 miles. The Argos 8-34x was superb out to 1100yds when tested at my local airport. The Cronus BTR was crisp even on 1" diameter power line which was 1600yds or further distant. Scoping a distant mountain meadow, snow covered in early April, the Cronus BTR was like a spotting scope in terms of clarity and identification. I have watched sheep move with the sun on mountain meadows at over 5mi distance. The 4.5-29x Cronus BTR is very exceptional.

Back to this "vetting" thing... Every scopesight, these days, is an entity to itself. They're all complex, they all break and you might get one with factory defects. It took Burris 3 - 4 weeks to even inspect the recent Tac-30 1-4x I returned to them because the illum reticle was lighting-up on its own, and the reticle was seen to move on diagonal. About 5wks later I heard the scope had an O-ring fail and water damaged the internals. The scope was never around any water much less out in the rain, it was like new... Point is, you're on your own when it comes to "vetting". You best have your own testing gear like the Bushnell 74-3333 boresighter-collimator. You best regularly evaluate your scopes and test a new one thoroughly.

You best also have guarantee that whoever you're buying from isn't selling you a scope returned from a previous buyer. Brownells sent me a Vortex that they got back in return. Not what you expect from the people you've trusted for years.

It's a new world out there. Athlon IS worthy of your consideration and comparison.


Last edited by hogan; 05/26/17.