Thank you. For your review on Snipers Hide.
Original Post:
I have had the opportunity to work with a new Athlon product, their Cronus Tactical Spotting Scope that has a FFP reticle. This is a new straight thru scope in 7-42X60 using their top of the line Cronus ED glass. Is right at 14 inches long and weighs 46 ounces so readily back packable. Has fittings for picatinny rails on the top and both sides to mount a red dot for quick target acquisition, or a small rangefinder – or both? Magnification and focus knobs are conveniently located by the ocular.
Have had it out several times and the resolution like many of their scopes is superb. In good conditions I easily observed impacts on steel out to a mile, and think this would work for 2 km or more. In the past I have used a Optolyth 100, Cronus 60, and Ares 14-45 on our range that goes out to 1600 yards. My favorite has been the Ares because of size and weigh, and optically I did not feel I was giving up that much to the Optolyth100 or Cronus 60. Side by side on a few occasions I have to give the nod to the new Cronus Tactical Optics over the Ares.
Reticle is first focal plane and is a “T” shape with the upper part of the FOV clear for observation. There is 10 mils on each side of the center in 0.2 mil increments and the base of the T is 8 mils in similar subtensions. One tenth mil subtensions are displayed between the 5 and 6 mil hashmarks for more fine resolution. Besides the reticulated “T” there are also stadia lines that allow for ranging objects 12″. 18″, 30″ or the torso or full height of a person from 300 to 1000 yards. These allow quick ranging without the need to do the math to convert mils to distance. Testing these on 18″ gongs at 750, 850, 950 and 1089 yards got me in range +/-15 yards by using the stadia on either side of the distances listed. Anyway close enough if I did not have a LRF that I could spot my first shot and make a quick followup shot corrected by the splash seen on reticle.
The scope is mounted on a beefy carbon fiber Night Stalker Pro tripod by Night googles and the entire setup, tripod tripod head and scope will run you somewhere around $1500.
The Athlon Tactical is going to be around $1000 and should hit the market in a month or so – perhaps Frostyline can correct me on these final details.
Further information on the reticle with illustration is here:
