Athlon Argos BTR gen 2 review

[Megawatt maker]

I've tried Athlon before. Bought the low end entry level..was bad out if the box. I sent it back and they gave me an upgrade as a replacement. Its a Talos BTR 4-14, and it is a surprisingly nice scope for the price. Clear optics ( Again for the price) its held up well, even on top of a 300 RUM, so I decided to give them another try.

I was torn between a Vortex and Athlon Argos. Both were simular priced, and while Vortex is clearly the better known brand (but one I've had issues with too), I was impressed with the Athlon enough to try a higher tier scope.

So...I did, and mounted it on a 30/06. It was busted right out of the box. Wont track worth a dang, the parallax settings didn't even come close to accurate as far as range goes (All my Vortex, and the other Althon are on the money), and while it kinda did hold zero...it took way too many rounds to get it to stick...plus the groups were still larger for what the rifle and handloads are well known to do. I verified it by putting the previous scope back on (I use QD mounts and rings on every scope, and buy new rings for each scope...so it was still zeroed) and it cut the same hole for 6 rounds...

So..no doubt...the new Athlon was crap out of the box...which is a bummer. That makes them 2 for 2 bad ones for me out of the box.

I just sent it back...Im sure they will make it right...but what a PiTA to deal with.

I know they are still getting started...I hope they get their QC in better order soon.

Outside of that...I still was not really all that impressed with the scope anyway. Even at the same power setting beside the Vortex..the Vortex is still far better glass, but its not really a fair comparison because that particular Vortex is a higher end one.

I'll update with what happens next.

I guess I should add..the scope is question is a Argos BTR gen 2 8-34

 

[Axis II]

I can read a houses address from well over 600yards away using an Argos BTR 10-40. I think the Argos has a slight edge of clarity over my Crossfire 2 6-18. Each company, even the great Leupold has qc issues. Them making it right is what matters. I had a Bushnell scope's rear eye glass become loose and crosshairs become messed up. Bushnell told me nothing they could do because all their scopes were tested on howitzers and its probably my fault. Never purchased Bushnell after that. I am taking the Argos out for a spin either Wednesday or Friday so we shall see how it compares to my Vortex.

 

[BigBL87]

Out of curiosity, which Vortex are you comparing it to?

 

[Megawatt maker]

Out of curiosity, which Vortex are you comparing it to?

Viper PST gen 2. Really wasn't a fair comparison, the Viper cost twice as much.

I have a Viper HST laying around that would have been a more fair matchup..but I didn't look through them side by side. I will when I get the Athlon back.

 

[Megawatt maker]

I can read a houses address from well over 600yards away using an Argos BTR 10-40. I think the Argos has a slight edge of clarity over my Crossfire 2 6-18. Each company, even the great Leupold has qc issues. Them making it right is what matters. I had a Bushnell scope's rear eye glass become loose and crosshairs become messed up. Bushnell told me nothing they could do because all their scopes were tested on howitzers and its probably my fault. Never purchased Bushnell after that. I am taking the Argos out for a spin either Wednesday or Friday so we shall see how it compares to my Vortex.

I trust that Athlon will make it right. They care, but like I said, they are a kinda new company and are still learning. I'm very impressed with the Talos, and how they bent over backwards to make me happy.

 

[BigBL87]

Viper PST gen 2. Really wasn't a fair comparison, the Viper cost twice as much.

I have a Viper HST laying around that would have been a more fair matchup..but I didn't look through them side by side. I will when I get the Athlon back.

Gotcha, I have a Viper HST myself and have been impressed by the glass. I'm far from an optic connoisseur, though. I got the Viper in trade for a Sightmark Wraith NV scope, otherwise I haven't spent more than $200 on a scope.

 

[LoonWulf]

Havent had a bad Athlon yet, tho I did "break" one, and thought I broke another.
Got replacements quickly and have had very few problems otherwise.
I think ive owned about a dozen total, with most being Argo or Midas level, but ive had everything from a Neos upto an Ares....couple binos, a range finder, and a spotting scope too, now that I think about it.

One thing that I think gets missed when considering a "new" optics company, is that very, very few actually make their own products "in house" and none that I know of are made completely in house.
While Athlon might be relatively new to the market (as are Riton, Blackhound, Arken etc) the factories producing the scopes have been making optics for a long time and are quite good at it. Where the product failures seem to come from is poor specifications, inspections, or lapses in quality control....

I think Athlon actually seems to have fewer failures than some of the other popular options, especially on the lower end.....but thats just my impression from what ive read/heard.
Still get one out of a bad batch and your in for a sucky time no matter how nice and easy a company is to deal with! Sorry to hear your scope has issues!

 

[Megawatt maker]

Havent had a bad Athlon yet, tho I did "break" one, and thought I broke another.
Got replacements quickly and have had very few problems otherwise.
I think ive owned about a dozen total, with most being Argo or Midas level, but ive had everything from a Neos upto an Ares....couple binos, a range finder, and a spotting scope too, now that I think about it.

One thing that I think gets missed when considering a "new" optics company, is that very, very few actually make their own products "in house" and none that I know of are made completely in house.
While Athlon might be relatively new to the market (as are Riton, Blackhound, Arken etc) the factories producing the scopes have been making optics for a long time and are quite good at it. Where the product failures seem to come from is poor specifications, inspections, or lapses in quality control....

I think Athlon actually seems to have fewer failures than some of the other popular options, especially on the lower end.....but thats just my impression from what ive read/heard.
Still get one out of a bad batch and your in for a sucky time no matter how nice and easy a company is to deal with! Sorry to hear your scope has issues!

I had bad Luepold (it was actually one of their Redfield scopes...not Luepy, but still made in the same factory), had a Nikon literally fall apart, (objective lens almost fell out..rattled around when you shook the scope...but it amazingly kept zero), had a Vortex Viper bad right out of the box (returned fixed in under 5 days...very impressive turn around time)...but my worst experience by far has been with Crimson Trace. I have a series 3 that won't hold zero, parallax way out...I sent it back..never got an email, phone call etc like I have with other makes...after 6 weeks the scope just showed up..no paper work, no repair report...nothing. Turns out they did NOTHING as well...was still a POS when I got it back...they didn't touch it.

I'll never buy anything from them again because of it..and some day I'll send it back again..

 

[kmw1954]

I have an Argos 8-34X56 GenII and have been using it for about 9 months now and actually just finished using it to shoot a local rifle league shooting from 100 to 300yds. I think it has done great. A few weeks ago after all the snow melted off and we hit a warm spell a couple league shooters were complaining of horrible mirage. One of the was using a NightForce scope. At the same time I didn't experience any of that mirage.

Also while working as an RO on a 200/300yd range I have gotten to compare side-by-side many scopes against this Athlon and still prefer it over the Viper.

 

[Megawatt maker]

Athlon made it right..very right in fact. I've had it back for a while now, just got to try it out the other day. Got a report back with the scope with what they found...got a replacement that was fully tested before they shipped it.

Its on the money. Works perfect. Im willing to give a little slack to these guys..they are not that old a company, and trying to grow in the middle of the fakedemic isn't easy for anyone..so if a bad one got out (or two in my case)...they made it right.

Very happy with it now...can't be beat for the money..no one else comes close.

 

[kmw1954]

Happy to hear they came through for you and made it whole. What was the turn around time? Quick, Avg., Slow?

 

[Megawatt maker]

Happy to hear they came through for you and made it whole. What was the turn around time? Quick, Avg., Slow?

Quick. About 9 business days.

 

[Roverguy]

2 for 2 is pretty bad going! Great if they make it right but 2 for 2 is just plain bad.

I’m 2 for 2 positive with an Argos 2-12x42 and a Midas 1-6 x 24 but the odds aren’t good.