3. Athlon Optics Talos BTR 4-14x44

Athlon Optics Talos BTR 4-14x44


  • Has anyone used or owned one of these scopes. I know they're a newer company. Its a first focal plane scope with a Horus style reticle for around $300 on optics planet, MSRP is $360. Interested in maybe picking one up for my 17 HMR now. Anyone with experience behind one? If so did it return to zero, was the reticle accurate, and how was the glass? Being they're a new company I'd like some feedback from people who've used them before I take the plunge.

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  • I have no experience with that scope, but being as the royalties on the Horus reticle are about as much as the entire scope is I wouldn't set my hopes too high.

    Thing is...$300-$400 optics with every available feature have to compromise somewhere...and it is usually in repeat-ability and reliability. However...like I said...I have zero experience with this particular optic so this one might be different.

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  • The buzz around these scopes has been legendary. I have no need for one presently, so I haven't bothered to evaluate one.

    I expect it to go about like every other cheap scope that has had buzz around it for the last several years.

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  • They seem to be new enough that there isn't much experience with them but if they're as good as the hype they just might be worth it. Id be interested in an Orkan scope comparison

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  • Little update here I decided to " Bite the Bullet" on the Athlon Talos BTR 4-14x44 and it arrived sometime about a week ago (yes pun intended). So far in playing around with it I like it, and it suits what I wanted for my 17HMR. The biggest selling point was that it is FFP. Things I have noticed so far is that for a $300 dollar scope the clarity is remarkable, and it is able to focus very well very close. I had no problem getting it focused down to 10 yards perfectly to where both the target and reticle were focused. One thing that I think will take some time to get used to is the reticle. The subtentions swap sides of the reticle ever half mil or so which makes it look sort of wavy. The best part of the reticle that I like is that it is open with a center dot where the cross hairs meet, yet this is only noticeable around 8 power plus. Itd be nice if it was more than 5 mil rotations on the turrets but seeing as its on my 17 and I wont be shooting farther that 150 yards with it for shits and giggles if I run out I can always use the reticle.
    Here is a picture of the reticle from their website showing it at 4 and 14 power.

    APLR2-FFP-IR-MIL-4-14x44-reticle.png

    As you can see on the right every half mil the subtentions switch.
    As I play with it and shoot it more Ill have more information about the scope, and I'm happy to answer any questions out there.

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  • Good luck with it, and keep us informed.:smile:

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  • Thank you @mamalukino I will certainly be updating as I shoot it more.

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  • Got some trigger time behind the talos BTR yesterday, still on my 17. The main reason I bought it was so I could have a mil/mil, FFP scope on my 17 so it would be similar to my Viper PST in those respects. Here's what I thought after yesterdays outing. Shooting was done at 25 and 100 yards.

    Goods:

    • Found glass to be super clear

    • Parallax adjusted quickly

    • Scope tracked during dialing accurately.

    • Easy to measure shots using reticle, Example: shot was .7 mils high.

    • Open/ cross center was nice for shooting groups at half inch dots

    Not so goods:

    • Reticle gets VERY thick on full 14 power, center cross almost covered full half inch circle at 100y

    • First subtention outside the cross center is .6 of a mil

    • 1 mil subtentions aren't marked, 2 mils is the first marked. Have to count each mark starting at .6

    • Clicks are soft, or squishy compared to the PST

    • Has 5 mil rotations

    Started off grouping at 25 and quickly got bored waiting for a cease fire to be called so I started plinking rocks out on the 100 yard berm with the same boring regularity. First group at 100 measured probably an inch after making the first shot correction since it was the first shot on paper at 100. After that both my gun and I started to heat up quickly in the wonderful mid 90s heat and humidity and I started throwing shots in about a 5 inch vertical group.

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  • Nice! These sure are looking to be the "go-to" budget rimfire optics.

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  • @orkan I was hoping that was the case when I went out on the rim and bought it and I'm glad I did! I almost want to buy one for my deer gun now!

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