Athlon Helos BTR Gen2, 2-12x42mm Field Eval

[Formidilosus]

This is a field evaluation of the Athlon Helos BTR Gen 2, 2-12x42mm scope. This scope was handed to me from from Ryan Avery for evaluation. It was sent to him from a forum member. The ammunition used was Hornady Black 168gr AMAX that was purchased by Ryan. The 20 round proof group was just over 1.1 MOA.


Scope, 25.7oz-






Turrets: Pull up/push down locking, with a zero stop.








Reticle-

2x




12x



Illuminated:

2x



12x






Con’t…

 

[Formidilosus]

Zeroing:


Mounting as normal- 18 in-lbs on ring caps, 65 in-lbs of base.

Zeroing showed an issue. Boresighted, fired one round (high left of center dot)-



Adjusted down .7 and right .4 mil. Then went to left dot and shot two rounds (top right)



It under adjusted elevation by about .3 mil, and over adjusted windage by .3-.4 mil. Adjust down .3 and left .3 and shot the remaining 7 in the dot.


Adjusted down .1 and went to the drop eval.



Drop Evaluation RTZ and “Tracking”



For an explanation see- Scope Field Eval Explanation and Standards


The “test” consists of three 18” drops on a mat- one left/right/top with a shot to check zero after each drop. Then the exact same thing repeated from 36”. Then three drops on all three sides for nine drops on the last part- 15 drops total. This is not “abuse”. The 18” drops are a joke really. The 36” start showing something. And when a scope make/model consistently goes through the whole thing without losing zero, failures in actual use are almost unheard of.

This one was conducted on soft unpacked snow and a 1/2” padded mat on top of a 1/8 foam mat.




The shots are marked. The 18” drops did not produce a noticeable shift, however the 36” drops all showed a significant shit, and the 3x3 36” drops caused a severe shift.








Used the reticle to measure the shift for the last shot, adjusted down 1.0 mil, and right 3.5, and shot on the zeroing target, bottom dot-




Low right hit in other target. Recoil or the adjusting reset the erector. Read it, and adjusted. Next 7 rounds are in the dot.






Cont….





Results-
Zeroing showed an issue, drop eval was a fail. 36” drops were a total failure. It is rezeroed, and will sit in the back seat and checked periodically.


Cont…

 

[Formidilosus]

After the drop eval it was adjusted left .2 mils to be rezeroed. It was shot 5-6 times maintained zero and rode in the back of truck for several hundred miles, about 100 miles of FS roads.

Two days ago-



Another left .2 brought it back to center.

 

[Formidilosus]

The Trijicon Tenmile passed 3,000 rounds, and I needed it today to proof the eval rifle. So, I went ahead and mounted the Athlon on the MK12-




Boresighted, 8x rounds of FMJ, adjusted right .6 mil, then 7 rounds of 77gr Berger OTM.





Then killed a bear-

 

[Formidilosus]

Drove a few hundred miles. With two other RS’ers-





Also, a certain Rockslider…

Adjusted the turret…. Without unlocking it. Seems to still work, but stripped and doesn’t lock anymore. grin

 

[Formidilosus]

Drove back another couple hundred miles and checked zero-





Removed scope and it will probably go back to the manufacturer.

 

[Formidilosus]

Received a replacement scope from Athlon.




Mounted and conducted the eval.

No issues at all with zeroing. Boresight, one round, adjusted, 9 rounds.




Made a R .2 adjustment, and onto the drop eval.

1 confirmer shot Pre drop. 18” drops had no effect. It failed on the 36” drops.



Went back to zero target,
Middle dot. Shot three, adjusted, then 5 more. Adjusted down .1 and went to the RTZ portion- right dot, no issues.



Still .1 mil high, so adjusted down .1 mil again and went to the “tracking” portion.

Reticle and spotter both read 6.8 to 6.9 mils between dots, went 6.8 mils. It was intermittently very foggy and had quite a bit of barrel mirage, but no idea why the group at 0 was still .2 mils high. Dialing to 6.8 mils was spot on the top dot.




The fog moved out a bit and I adjusted down .2 mils, and went to a new target to confirm zero.


Now a tenth low. Don’t know why the inconsistency at the end. It is left as on the last target and will be checked while riding in the truck.

 

[Formidilosus]

Zero check-

 

[Formidilosus]

Zero check after a few hundred miles in the truck-





I need the eval rifle for another scope so put this Athlon back on the gas gun-

 

[Formidilosus]

Zero check on the 8th and 9th. POI high.







(Added target)

 

[Formidilosus]

After the check on the 9th I adjusted down .3 mils. The rifle rode in the backseat of the truck. There was an accident with this rifle/scope and three others.

Zero check today-





Zero checks for the other rifles and scopes riding beside this one during the accident-










Here’s the target with the same rifle on one of its zero checks with another scope that did not shift at all for several months, and the group from the 8th and today-





This scope has lost zero multiple times in less than two weeks while riding in the truck and has been removed from the rifle.