Rifle Scopes Athlon Ares ETR
- Thread starter levi8599
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Anybody who is looking to get an Ares ETR and wants it quick look into A & J Sporting. They have a 10% discount on your entire cart if you enter the discount code "10off".
Ok, my ETR showed up yesterday. So far, its everything I've been waiting for. Going on a hunting trip in Idaho tomorrow, but will mess with it next week.
A friendly word of advice, Doug at Cameraland is a stand up guy. When ordering from them, go thru him, and HIM ONLY.
A friendly word of advice, Doug at Cameraland is a stand up guy. When ordering from them, go thru him, and HIM ONLY.
I shot my Ares ETR for the first time yesterday on my 22" 6.5cm gasser at 100yds. Put 50rds through it and I was very happy with it. Glass was very clear and I LOVE the reticle. Looking forward to stretching it out in the next few weeks.
ETR in MOA arrived today and I got it mounted this evening using Warne M222 34mm High rings, hopefully I'll get out this weekend and see how it performs. Initial impression is the eye box is generous compared to the SIG Tango 4 6-24 I was running, the glass is respectably crisp in the 4.5-25 range though appeared to haze slightly at 30x, the MOA reticle with a + vs dot looks good on a squirrels ass, parallax focus is sensitive, reticle illumination adjustments with off positions separating each power level is nice, it's heavy compared to the SIG Tango 4 though .5 - .75" shorter, turret clicks are crisps and positive, reticle focus ring is nice and firm as is the zoom. Overall the initial impression was very good. If it tracks within reason it's definitely a winner.
The reticle focus range appears generous as I'm using 2.75-3.00 readers and still had adjustment left.
The reticle focus range appears generous as I'm using 2.75-3.00 readers and still had adjustment left.
I got mine on Tuesday in Brown and mounted it today. I too noticed it was really hazy when cranked up to 30x. I thought it was the focus so I checked it at low power and it was nice and clear. I also played with the parallax and that didn't make it better. I'm taking it to the range tomorrow morning so we'll see how she does.
Neither one of the two I've received so far (1 black out of 2nd shipment, 1 brown out of initial shipment) had any noticeable issues when set to 30x. Nor do any of the Cronus scopes I've had (early & late pre-BTR & BTR) when set to 29x. Even though I seldom shoot with either of these scopes set to max magnification, I wouldn't like seeing any degradation of the image quality when they are set to max. If you're still seeing a 'really hazy' image at 30x while on the range tomorrow, you need to call Athlon's customer service, because it's not normal.
Check out my review on the Athlon vs Nikon thread.
Went to the range to bore sight and get familiar with my ETR MOA on my Vudoo .22lr today. I had zero complaints/concerns/nit-picks with the scope.
My slightly hazy at 30X comment earlier was not an issue at the range. I'll write that condition off to a not quite perpendicular setting sun condition. Turrets are crisp and positive on as are the focus and zoom controls. The + aiming point on the MOA scope appears to work well for my rimfire applications. Parallax focus is very fine and tight. The eye box is as generous as any scope I've owned. My old eyes experienced less fatigue than any other scope I own while try to shoot bug holes at 50 yds today, that fact alone makes it a win.
For a first get familiar session of 120 rounds I'm more than satisfied with the scope's performance.
My slightly hazy at 30X comment earlier was not an issue at the range. I'll write that condition off to a not quite perpendicular setting sun condition. Turrets are crisp and positive on as are the focus and zoom controls. The + aiming point on the MOA scope appears to work well for my rimfire applications. Parallax focus is very fine and tight. The eye box is as generous as any scope I've owned. My old eyes experienced less fatigue than any other scope I own while try to shoot bug holes at 50 yds today, that fact alone makes it a win.
For a first get familiar session of 120 rounds I'm more than satisfied with the scope's performance.
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What reticle do you like better? I would factor that in quite a bit to my decision if I was in the same shoes as you are. I personally like the floating dot and .2 hashes on the horizontal better than the open center on the EBR-2C and half mil hashes. My ETR has been spot on so far for a few PRS matches, rimfire matches, and hunting.
The reticle is really nice. You could literally shoot a 22lr at a blank sheet of paper at 100 yds and then use the dot on that reticle to shoot at the bullet hole.
I first thought the dot was too small. I couldn't find it at lower magnification. However, the more I have used it, especially for competition, I am quickly finding I pick up the dot easily and use it for a finer aiming point. My eye focuses faster now to that point. I am really starting to like it. I only wish the reticle had .2 hashes on the vertical also. Pretty minor complaint though.
Got a chance to test out my Ares ETR at a match this last Saturday. I'll echo what the others said in that the fine dot was definitely a nice to have, and the scope tracked just fine. Optical clarity was good and I didn't notice any flaws really, but it was a nice bright day without high contrast targets so it wasn't like it was particularly taxing on the optics.
I got my Ares ETR in yesterday. Put it in an ARC-M10-QD-L mount (1.57” high) on my Larue 6.5CM AR10.
I have only been able to look through it around the house so far. Still need to play with my eye relief/length of pull to try and dial it in perfectly.
First impressions I am able to take away - I like the reticle a lot, but man is that center dot tiny! And it’s heavy. I dunno how much my rifle weighs now but it’s a lot.
Looking forward to shooting this. It’s the most expensive scope I’ve bought to date, so I can’t compare to other high end models, but I think I will like it just fine.
I have only been able to look through it around the house so far. Still need to play with my eye relief/length of pull to try and dial it in perfectly.
First impressions I am able to take away - I like the reticle a lot, but man is that center dot tiny! And it’s heavy. I dunno how much my rifle weighs now but it’s a lot.
Looking forward to shooting this. It’s the most expensive scope I’ve bought to date, so I can’t compare to other high end models, but I think I will like it just fine.
I think the reticle will grow on you. I certainly wasn't a huge fan of the dot size at first. Now after a couple hundred .22lr rounds, 300 rounds in matches, and a few on a hunting rifle, my finds that dot very quickly. I had a BTR and felt I was searching around the cross to get a consistent aiming point. With the dot now I just pick a spot on a target and hold there.
Also noticed the heft on the scope. Makes my hunting rifle not so lightweight anymore, which inst the end of the world for me.
Also noticed the heft on the scope. Makes my hunting rifle not so lightweight anymore, which inst the end of the world for me.
Yeah, it's on the beefier side of scopes if you're not used to using more tactical oriented scopes, but still nothing even close to a Razor Gen II. It weighs 36.5 ounces but the Razor Gen II weighs 48.5 oz. For comparison a PMII weighs 38.5 oz (with DT turrets), a Kahles 525i weighs 34.2 ounces, a Bushnell XRSII weighs 38 ounces, a Nightforce ATACR F1 also weighs 38 ounces, and a TT525P weighs 40.5 ounces.
It seems that for scopes with similar zoom ranges and intended purposes its weight is about average.
It seems that for scopes with similar zoom ranges and intended purposes its weight is about average.
Thanks for the comparison. Sounds like I need to start eating my wheaties then!
What size Butlercreek caps has any used for these? Or are there any others yall are using? Didn't see it mentioned in the thread prior.
I ordered a set of Vortex Defender caps for mine. They’re supposed to arrive Monday, I can report on fitment.
My measurements vs Vortex's fitment guide looked questionable. Thanks for taking the lead.
The 56 Objective Defender fits well. It does not slide off when opening the front cap and I have not electrical taped it on. Pretty snug fit. Cannot comment on the rear.
I think earlier in the thread it was mentioned, the objective measures the same as the Cronus. Correct me if I am wrong. Then would the Cronus caps from Aadland work? I was too chicken shit to try.
The caps are not the same size as the Cronus I assumed my butler creeks from the Cronus would fit and they do not but the vortex e-10 and 56 objective work way better anyway I will never buy butler creeks again after using the defenders
I haven't done a formal tracking test for my scope, but I ran it out a bit past 1,100 yards last weekend in a match and never had any sort of unexplained vertical differences (except for when I accidentally had my Kestrel DA set to 0 instead of 6,700 feet...). It worked entirely as expected and the center dot was very nice for small TYL rack targets.
Only thing I found that I really disliked, per se, was that the zero stop requires a phillips head screwdriver. I keep a full set of allen wrenches in my bag, but I haven't ever had a need for a screwdriver and so didn't have that handy when getting my final zero and attempting to set the zero stop, so I haven't used that yet.
Only thing I found that I really disliked, per se, was that the zero stop requires a phillips head screwdriver. I keep a full set of allen wrenches in my bag, but I haven't ever had a need for a screwdriver and so didn't have that handy when getting my final zero and attempting to set the zero stop, so I haven't used that yet.
Huh, I figured these would have the Midas tac style zero stop. I wonder why they choose the Phillips head screws.
No clue, but it was a bit frustrating. I do wish that the turret caps and the zero stop just used allen wrenches since it's a scope aimed at precision rifle competitors (the new reticle is named the "APRS1" and is mentioned to be specifically designed for PRS) and literally nothing else on a normal PRS rig uses a standard screwdriver but plenty of items use allen wrenches. It's like the zero stop and turret caps were designed for hunters (use pocket change and a screwdriver, both more likely to strip out with frequent use than hex keys) and the rest of the scope was geared towards competitors.
I tried to go the same route and the objective adapter for the cronus doesn't thread into the objective on the Ares. I ended up getting a defender for the objective for now and it fits extremely well. Let us know if you find which adapter works for the Ares ETR.
Not sure why you needed a Phillips screwdriver since my brand new ETR (MIL) uses the same wee little hex wrench that my other Athlon scopes use for the zero stop.
Anyone able to give me the lowest ring mount this scope can take? I'm getting one this week and am putting it on a AR with a full rail. I'd like to sit it down as far as possible. Confused myself with to center and to bottom ring mounts.... suggested rings that do't break the bank would be swell.
On an AR with a full rail you'll need something just BARELY taller than 1.1 inch Leupold Mark 4 High rings that I have. I tried to mount my Ares onto my AR to test it out without needing to load ammo for it and I found that it was close enough to being the right height that I could get the rear ring mounted to the rifle (I leave the rings on the scope when switching it between guns), but the front ring would just barely not mount because the scope was missing only a hair of clearance.
It would appear that rings in the 1.25-1.3" range would be near ideal for an AR with a full length picatinny rail on top.
I zeroed my ETR tonight, and have to say I really like it.
Shot at 100 yards, first round was way up high, easily saw my hole on 20X power. Reticle said I was 2.5 mil high and 1.5 mil to the right. I cranked those adjustments, and was punching the center out of the bullseye. Very pleased!
Shot at 100 yards, first round was way up high, easily saw my hole on 20X power. Reticle said I was 2.5 mil high and 1.5 mil to the right. I cranked those adjustments, and was punching the center out of the bullseye. Very pleased!
I can say this, I am using an American Rifle Company M10-QD-L mount (20MOA) and it’s 1.57” (40mm) high, and the front objective bell just barely clears the rail top on my hand guard of my AR10. There’s only just enough clearance to put on the Vortex defender lens cap and have a little space left so nothing is touching.
Regarding the lens covers, I got my Vortex Defenders yesterday and was able to get them on the scope.
The eyepiece one (E-10 size, for 45-48mm I think) was really snug, and took a lot of pulling it along but it’s on and it fits. Works fine, doesn’t mess with my view.
The objective one (56mm size, biggest one I think), fit just fine.
The eyepiece one (E-10 size, for 45-48mm I think) was really snug, and took a lot of pulling it along but it’s on and it fits. Works fine, doesn’t mess with my view.
The objective one (56mm size, biggest one I think), fit just fine.
This ring thing is going to kill me lol.
Math on this is
2.5 mm objective = 63.5mm
Center of tube is 31.75 or 1.25 inches
Tube is 34mm
Bottom of objective to tube is .571 also known as 14.5. To the bottom of the tube.
Ahhh finally it clicks. Man I nearly bought 1.5+ high (to the bottom of the tube) on accident, guess I’ll get the Burris Pepr tomorrow from Amazon
Math on this is
2.5 mm objective = 63.5mm
Center of tube is 31.75 or 1.25 inches
Tube is 34mm
Bottom of objective to tube is .571 also known as 14.5. To the bottom of the tube.
Ahhh finally it clicks. Man I nearly bought 1.5+ high (to the bottom of the tube) on accident, guess I’ll get the Burris Pepr tomorrow from Amazon
^^ edit? The Pepr mount to center is 1.35inch not enough...
You're forgetting something important: the center of the tube is the same as the center of the objective. If your rings are taller than the radius of the exterior of the objective bell, then you will be fine if you're not adding any cant to the scope and mounting it level to the receiver. The diameter of the objective bell is only slightly larger than the diameter of the objective lens, on my Ares ETR the objective bell has a diameter of almost exactly 2.5 inches, meaning any rings just barely taller than 1.25 inches will work.
Probably the easiest way to think of ring height for clearance, on an AR, is this:
Objective outside diameter divided by two, divided by 25.4.
So round the objective to 65mm to allow for some room for scope caps. Divide that by two = 32.5mm.
Now divide 32.5mm by 25.4 to convert to imperial and you get 1.2795275590551181102362204724409.
Round that up to 1.28 and you will see, as has been my personal experience, the PEPR mount will allow a 56mm objective scope to clear the handguard of an AR with a little room to spare.
Objective outside diameter divided by two, divided by 25.4.
So round the objective to 65mm to allow for some room for scope caps. Divide that by two = 32.5mm.
Now divide 32.5mm by 25.4 to convert to imperial and you get 1.2795275590551181102362204724409.
Round that up to 1.28 and you will see, as has been my personal experience, the PEPR mount will allow a 56mm objective scope to clear the handguard of an AR with a little room to spare.
I just received Ares ETR in the mail. I will be looking at it shortly.
ILya
ILya
This is what I have been waiting for. Please report back as soon as practical, DLO!
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