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Thoughts on Athlon scope

Wwhitlock

Private
Minuteman
Aug 31, 2022
8
1
Florida
I have a chance to pick up a used (very good shape) Athlon 8-34 btw gen2 FFP illuminated scope for $250. Would this be considered a good price?
 
That is a good price. The question is whether you will be happy with the scope at that level of magnification. Athlon is known for making good scopes and priced right. People generally have no complaints. I think their value is much higher than their price tag.

But, at 34x, you might be pushing what a better than average scope can do. I have no problem recommending Athlon in lower magnification. At least this is basically at 4x zoom, so they are not over their skis too far.

For $250, buy it, try it, and if you like it, you have a big win. If you are a little disappointed, you can probably sell it for what you bought it for, and try an upgrade. In that magnification, Nightforce NX8 is my first go-to for value, but NX8 is a big jump from $250, even used.

Good luck.
 
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Thanks, this is my first long distance scope. Probably not be shooting past 1000.
gonna put it on my LWRC 556 at first. Looking to get the Sig Cross PRC in the new year.
haven’t decided on 6.5 or 308 yet.
 
The specs for that scope show that it has a total of 13 mils elevation adjustment. That means you will likely have somewhere around 6 or 7 mils of up adjustment remaining when you zero at 100 yards. Mounting it on a 20 MOA base will increase your up adjustment to @ 12 mils, but it may be close to bottoming out the elevation turret. Maybe @longshot2000 can advise you about that as he's an Athlon dealer. A lot of times scopes have a bit more adjustment range than shown in the specs.
 
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That’s a ton of magnification for 1000 yards and in. I’d look for something with a 3 or 4 power on the low end.
I understand what you are saying, but it was a deal and at my age, my eyes are not what they used to be, so the extra will be nice. I shoot 100 with my 6x dialed up. Also, looking at the scope, I will probably not dial any higher than 18 at any time as you do lose all the lower reticle.
 
I have a few of the 8x34 scopes. FFP...they are just fine. Bought a few 8-10 years ago as was cheap for ffp ... I have moved on to the newer athlon... but had zero complaints on the old ones. Should work well for you. I think they were about 389$ from optics planet 10 years ago ...