Rifle Scopes Athlon Cronus BTR a top tier optic?

[Jonnyb0381]

Greetings all! I will make this very short and to the point. My questions are as follows...
Do you consider the Athlon Cronus to be a top tier optic and what other optics would you compare it to? Lastly,... how would you rate the value of the Athlon Cronus BTR compared to other similar optics?

 

[EscapeVelocity]

Yes. There are lots of reviews on this answering those questions, just search or Google them.

I have 2 and they are a great value in the price range with great glass. It's a solid score built by LOW in Japan.

 

[USMC 308]

Is the Cronus BTR a top tier optic.........not by price. That is not necessarily a bad thing.

I think it's a high-mid tier optic. Most would say it ranks under a Vortex Razor or AMG. In my opinion, it held up well against the AMG.

 

[black5.3]

When i think top tier optic the most popular ones that come to mind are TT and hendsolt... in my opinion the cronus btr falls along with many others and is the tier below the two mentioned above.

 

[earthquake]

... how would you rate the value of the Athlon Cronus BTR compared to other similar optics?

I ran a Cronus BTR for two years ('17/'18) and I rate the "value" per dollar as very high. It is a solid, solid and very useful scope with Rich features for the money.
Before that I used the straight Cronus, which also was a solid scope. The BTR version made several improvements over the original.

Some things I liked:
Eyebox is generous.
Reticle is very useful and easy.
Illumination is perfect.
Size, weight are great.
Glass is bright/clear.
Turret clicks are good.
Mag range is enough for my use.

Dislikes:
Zero Stop and turret cap screw setting.
Wind knob not lockable or capped.

My scope tracked true on a test stand (Horus Vision CATS target). Overall I've had great luck with the high-end Athlon scopes. I'm getting an Ares ETR next and I have a feeling another Cronus will debut at SHOT with capped/locking wind and the APRS2 reticle so many want.

 

[gconnoyer]

I wouldnt say "Top Tier" but definitely a great bang for your buck optic

 

[steve123]

I'd rate it just under top tier, like almost and by a small percentage, like 2%???

The color in my S&B's are warmer but on 29x I can resolve more with the Cronus.

I like the line thickness on the BTR's reticle but don't like the .5's on the vertical crosshair at all. They should have stayed with .2's round about/APLR3, but that's personal preference.

The problem with top tier is they aren't perfect either, always something not quite like you want that makes the extra $1000 or two seem like too much money.

 

[Jonnyb0381]

Thanks for the comments and insight!
I've gone ahead and ordered the Cronus BTR.
I'm sure Ill be quite happy with it and it will serve me well! The ultimate goal is to own a top tier scope of course.

 

[USMC 308]

Congrats....smart purchase. Good luck with it.

 

[Iron Worker]

Montana Prairie dogs even on hot days hate my Athlon Cronus .

 

[Jonnyb0381]

Congrats....smart purchase. Good luck with it.

Thank you

 

[Jonnyb0381]

SPECIFICATIONS:

Magnification 1-6
Objective Lens Diameter 24 mm
Reticle ATSR2 SFP IR MOA, Glass Etched
Surface Finish Matte
Lens Coating Advanced Fully Multicoated
Extra Coating Xtra Protective Coating
Tube Material 6061 Aluminium
Tube Diameter 30 mm
Exit Pupil 11.4-4.0 mm
Eye Relief 3.6-4.0"
Field of View @100 yards 106.9-17.7 ft
Click Value 0.5MOA
Adjustment range per rotation 50 MOA
Total Elevation Adjustment 120 MOA
Total Windage Adjustment 120 MOA
Turret Style Exposed Direct Dial & Locking
Parallax Adjustment Fixed at 100 yards
Purging Material Argon
Length 10.6".


Yes Athlon Cronus BTR is a "TOP TIER" Optic.

Hello, thanks for the reply but this appears to be the AR version. I was referring to the 4.5-29x56 34mm tube Cronus BTR scope.

 

[Jonnyb0381]

I ran a Cronus BTR for two years ('17/'18) and I rate the "value" per dollar as very high. It is a solid, solid and very useful scope with Rich features for the money.
Before that I used the straight Cronus, which also was a solid scope. The BTR version made several improvements over the original.

Some things I liked:
Eyebox is generous.
Reticle is very useful and easy.
Illumination is perfect.
Size, weight are great.
Glass is bright/clear.
Turret clicks are good.
Mag range is enough for my use.

Dislikes:
Zero Stop and turret cap screw setting.
Wind knob not lockable or capped.

My scope tracked true on a test stand (Horus Vision CATS target). Overall I've had great luck with the high-end Athlon scopes. I'm getting an Ares ETR next and I have a feeling another Cronus will debut at SHOT with capped/locking wind and the APRS2 reticle so many want.

Good info there thank you!
Im not fond of the idea of capped turrets but I could see where locking turrets would be useful!
I think if Athlon added that and improved the reticle by adding a floating center dot it would be amazing!

 

[Jonnyb0381]

I'd rate it just under top tier, like almost and by a small percentage, like 2%???

The color in my S&B's are warmer but on 29x I can resolve more with the Cronus.

I like the line thickness on the BTR's reticle but don't like the .5's on the vertical crosshair at all. They should have stayed with .2's round about/APLR3, but that's personal preference.

The problem with top tier is they aren't perfect either, always something not quite like you want that makes the extra $1000 or two seem like too much money.

Good comparison there. Thank you