Q&A for Athlon Helos BTR Gen 2 2-12x42mm Field Eval

[Castle Rock]

Yep, a 10 shot group will be a bit larger than the circle so both 3 shot groups are well within the cone

 

[Mountainrancher]

Yep, a 10 shot group will be a bit larger than the circle so both 3 shot groups are well within the cone

Nice glad to see it’s holding up well as a moderately priced general use scope.

 

[Formidilosus]

Another one has arrived- this makes number 3.




Unsure at this point whether to put it through the drop eval, as it seems pretty clear that they do not do well with impacts; or to just shoot it and see what happens.

 

[Timberline001]

Another one has arrived- this makes number 3.

View attachment 715473


Unsure at this point whether to put it through the drop eval, as it seems pretty clear that they do not do well with impacts; or to just shoot it and see what happens.

I’m surprised you’ve been donated a 3rd after how poorly the last two performed. Do people like them so much they that they’re donating them thinking there will be better results or are these coming from Athlon?

 

[IDMilton]

Form,
I’m not attacking you at all or anything. You’ve been very helpful in the past when I’ve asked you questions and I’m sure I have less than one percent of your experience with scopes, but may I ask how tightly you are torquing the scope bases and caps? I am using the sports match. My bases are at 35 inch pounds and the caps are at 22.

I posted back towards the beginning of this thread, reporting that I did 9 36 inch drops twice onto my shooting pad and my scope did well. I hunted with it last fall and have done target shooting with it and it is still doing fine.

Maybe I just got lucky with mine. It’s on a suppressed Tikka 7-08, so not much recoil, but some rough dirt roads.

 

[Timberline001]

Form,
I’m not attacking you at all or anything. You’ve been very helpful in the past when I’ve asked you questions and I’m sure I have less than one percent of your experience with scopes, but may I ask how tightly you are torquing the scope bases and caps? I am using the sports match. My bases are at 35 inch pounds and the caps are at 22.

I posted back towards the beginning of this thread, reporting that I did 9 36 inch drops twice onto my shooting pad and my scope did well. I hunted with it last fall and have done target shooting with it and it is still doing fine.

Maybe I just got lucky with mine. It’s on a suppressed Tikka 7-

If you read his evaluations, you will see that he always double checks the rings and base.

 

[Formidilosus]

Form,
I’m not attacking you at all or anything. You’ve been very helpful in the past when I’ve asked you questions and I’m sure I have less than one percent of your experience with scopes, but may I ask how tightly you are torquing the scope bases and caps? I am using the sports match. My bases are at 35 inch pounds and the caps are at 22.

I posted back towards the beginning of this thread, reporting that I did 9 36 inch drops twice onto my shooting pad and my scope did well. I hunted with it last fall and have done target shooting with it and it is still doing fine.

Maybe I just got lucky with mine. It’s on a suppressed Tikka 7-08, so not much recoil, but some rough dirt roads.

I start at 18 in-lbs, then move to 20in-lbs if they slip.

 

[IDMilton]

Thanks for responding. So it’s not The scope slipping. Good to know.

 

[Castle Rock]

This scope continues to impress the hell out of me
I have been using it on a Tikka 8 twist 243 and it has held zero with no issues
Last weekend I dialed the shit out of it all the way to a mile and back, multiple times
It makes about 1500 yards with no inclination in the mounts and it needs 6 mils in the reticle to get to the mile
It was windy and at one stage I was holding 6 mils of wind and elevation which it just happens to have a dot for
Plenty of misses but a few solid hits


108 ELDM

 

[Castle Rock]

Range day today
Been hunting and done about 600 miles and of those 70 were really rough with the rifle on the floor of the dual cab in the back since last report
Checking zero and it is still solid, top middle
I have no dog in this fight, no affiliation to anyone just think it’s the best hunting scope I have ever used
I guess the drop tests Form did busted something but with reasonable care this thing works

 

[JGRaider]

Good to hear. I have one as well that's been great on a 7mm-08. Then again, my two Arken's and a couple of Leupold's have too. They all ride around in a Ranger, my truck, and four-wheeler.

 

[LifeByTheWaters]

Any updates through the hunting season?

 

[Shadow Illude]

I’ve used mine all season, 7-08 suppressed mounted in Warne V601 Vapor medium rings and Warne Vapor rail. Zeroed at beginning of season, covered a ton of washboard roads in Colorado in the rooftop carrier on my jeep. Also, I’m embarrassed to admit and I’ve never had this happen before and never thought I would, but I subjected it to the ultimate drop test accidentally. Yep, about a 18 foot fall out a ladder stand that busted the buttpad off my rifle. Dropped a nice whitetail at 215 yards the same evening with no buttpad. Hit exactly where I was aiming with .6 dialed. Then another whitetail later in the year at 301 yards with 1.0 dialed. It’s been a great scope for me.

That said, my buddies Ares ETR entire elevation housing came loose when he began to dial on a nice whitetail this year. He was flustered and not confident on what click he was on so he wasn’t positive he could get it back to 0 and just hold elevation. Frustrating