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Rifle Scopes Midas Tac 5-25 vs Strike Eagle 5-25

fdkay

Gunny Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
  • Nov 27, 2009
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    Ingleside, Tx
    Athlon costs a bit more and lacks illumination. Otherwise very similar. I am reviewing an SE right now, it seems a lot of bang for the buck. Glass is good, not great. Clicks are obvious but not tactile. Parallax seems touchy, could be my eyes, I'm old. Is the Midas an improvement in those areas? Maybe they skipped the illum to spend the money on shit that matters?
     
    Following as I’m interested in which would be the better buy for my new rifle.
     
    I have a 5-25 Midas Tac but have yet to do anything with it. I will see if I can get something done with it next week.
     
    I have a Midas tac. I also have a Cronus. The Midas performs extremely well. It wasn't till I did a side by side, I saw the color difference between the 2. Green leaves are slightly muted as the cronus is nearing Razor gen2 performance. The turrents on the Midas tac are even better than the cronus tho, so of all the athlon line, if the cronus is too expensive, go for the tac.
     
    I put a Midas TAC 5-25x56 on a custom M700/223AI in a McM A5 stock late last winter, got it zeroed at 100yds, then did some shooting with it at 600 before using the rifle in a local precision/tactical match. I also have several Athon Cronus 4.5-29x56 scopes on V-22, 40XB 22RF repeaters, as well as on one of my Bighorn TL2-SAs in 260 Imp 30*, and one Athlon Ares ETR on a M70 in 6x47 Lap. No question that the Midas TAC's glass is a slight step down from the Cronus & Ares ETR, but otherwise, I'm pretty satisified with the Midas TAC. Tracking wasn't an issue during the match I used it in, where we had to move back-and-forth between 500 & 600yds repeatedly. I've also been shooting with several 6-24x50 Midas TAC scopes on other 22RF & a couple of Howa Mini customs, and the elevation turrets' click/detents feel & sound very similar to those of the newer 5-25x56 Midas TAC - which is to say, very good. In summary, the 5-25x56 Midas TAC appears to be a very good value.

    I have no experience with a Vortex Strike Eagle, so can't compare them.
     
    I have a Midas tac. I also have a Cronus. The Midas performs extremely well. It wasn't till I did a side by side, I saw the color difference between the 2. Green leaves are slightly muted as the cronus is nearing Razor gen2 performance. The turrents on the Midas tac are even better than the cronus tho, so of all the athlon line, if the cronus is too expensive, go for the tac.

    I second this. If the Cronus is too much, I would skip the Ares ETR and go with the Midas Tac. I have all 3, but I do not have the equivalent strike eagle to compare against. I have more time behind the Midas Tac and might even prefer it over the Cronus mostly because of reticle selection. I like the floating dot reticle, while my Cronus BTR has the cross.

    to add: the Midas Tac parallax goes down to near 15 yds on my Vudoo V-22, so that’s an obvious advantage over some other manufacturers, especially if NRL is in your future. The Cronus and Ares might also, but they’re in centerfires and I’ve never needed to try it down to that little yardage. Athlon is probably still the most popular scope manufacturer in NRL22.
     
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    I have the Midas Tac 6-24x50 and Strike Eagle 5-25x56 so it’s not a true comparison due to the larger objective on the Vortex. Nevertheless, if illumination is not needed I’d take the Midas Tac over the Strike Eagle. Better turrets, reticle and glass imo.
     
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    I have the Midas Tac 6-24x50 and Strike Eagle 5-25x56 so it’s not a true comparison due to the larger objective on the Vortex. Nevertheless, if illumination is not needed I’d take the Midas Tac over the Strike Eagle. Better turrets, reticle and glass imo.
    The midas tac 5-25x56 is supposed to have better glass than the 6-24, so that's good to know.
     
    The strike eagle the parallax is very finiky. Whatever distance its set at you can't see well past that or closer it gets blurry fast
     
    I have spoken with a few guys that sell both the Midas Tac 5-25 and the Vortex line. They seem to agree that the Midas TAC is definitely better than the Strike Eagle, and is very comparable to the Gen 2 PST.

    I own a 6-24 Midas TAC and would take it over the Strike Eagle. With the 5-25 you are getting a 56mm objective, which will help brighten things up even further.
     
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    I hadn't been behind a SE yet until this weekend so of course I had nothing to say about it before.

    Sample of one - I found it a bright scope with good glass, more pleasant looking than reported by some. The parallax knob was a bit hard to turn and my #1 complaint was the elevation and windage turret feel (about the least tactile I felt????) and how these lined up, both very disappointing!!! In this regard the MT was far superior and actually the opposite.

    So for me if I didn't need illume or locking turrets I'd go for the MT. That being said the SE is certainly a full featured scope.

    Neither has an ALL .2 mil reticle which is why I chose the Gen2 Ares BTR 4.5-27x50.
     
    Any update on this? I can get a vortex strike eagle for around $500. Is the Midas tac over $200 better than the Strike Eagle.
     
    I've got an Athlon 5-25x56 Midas Tac on a custom M700 tactical rifle in 223AI that I've shot in a couple of practical/tactical matches, with steel targets at 300, 500, & 600yds. Match format was set up to require quite a bit of shooting targets at 500, then moving on to targets at 600, then back. While I don't believe the Midas Tac's glass is quite as clear & bright as either my Ares ETR or several Cronus scopes (some of each of all three generations) I have on a couple of CF PRS comp rifles and on all four of my precision 22RF repeaters (converted 40XB, couple of V-22s, and a RimX), the scope tracks really well, and never skipped a beat while moving back & forth between 300, 500, 600yds. Nor did I have any problems seeing my hits on steel with .224 bullets at 600. Certainly not regretting going with this scope, even though I've got the aforementioned scopes, plus several Kahles K624i scopes on Bighorn rifles, all with better glass than the Midas Tac.
     
    My t1x and seekins AR wears an Athlon midas tac 6-24x50.

    Cameraland and MK Machine vendors here both had good prices on these. Can only compare to the PST gen 1 but the midas blows the socks off of it to my eyes.

    Hard to beat for the price. Esp. if you find used here. Arken also makes a good scope in this price range
    like this one:

    had the 5-25x56 midas tac as well and 6-24x50 does not give up much glass wise.
     
    Maybe I'm old school or just a bit naive about rifle shooting, but the strike eagle has is a busy reticle!! I can see it being valuable in competitive shooting but for hunting......not for me. I wish Vortex offered more reticle options with each of their scopes, but maybe they have no intention of people hunting with this scope? Again, I am naive about competitive rifle shooting as I strictly hunt with my rifles.
     
    Maybe I'm old school or just a bit naive about rifle shooting, but the strike eagle has is a busy reticle!! I can see it being valuable in competitive shooting but for hunting......not for me. I wish Vortex offered more reticle options with each of their scopes, but maybe they have no intention of people hunting with this scope? Again, I am naive about competitive rifle shooting as I strictly hunt with my rifles.
    The reticle in the Strike Eagle vs the Athlon Midas Tac are for the most part the same. There are minor differences, one is base 4, the other is base 5.

    I just want to know how the glass compares. Is the Midas $250 better?
     
    Maybe I'm old school or just a bit naive about rifle shooting, but the strike eagle has is a busy reticle!! I can see it being valuable in competitive shooting but for hunting......not for me. I wish Vortex offered more reticle options with each of their scopes, but maybe they have no intention of people hunting with this scope? Again, I am naive about competitive rifle shooting as I strictly hunt with my rifles.

    Have you used one? They are not as busy as you would think in actual use but give good hold points to make accurate hits.