Scope upgrade or downgrade!

[kmw1954]

On my Savage that I have been shooting bench targets with these past 2 winters is now on it's 4th scope iteration. The very first scope was a Burris Fullfield 4.5-14X44. Was a nice scope just not fine enough for what we were shooting. Second scope was an Athlon Argos 8-34X56 BTR Gen2. Which proved to be a tremendous increase over the Burris. That is the scope I shot my first season with. Third scope was another Athlon, the Helos 6-24X56 with a 34mm tube. Sadly it didn't work out as well as I hoped. At high magnification the reticle was just too heavy and was obscuring some of the bulls we were shooting at. After a couple weeks of shooting it for the league I removed it and went back to the Argos which worked better..

Then after obtaining a better idea of what our targets actually were and talking with people that are actually shooting Benchrest and what they prefer or require I came across this scope I just purchased and is now on the rifle.

Yes it is another Athlon. It is another Argos BTR Gen2 10-40X56. BLR SFP MOA, so it is a second focal plane, non-illuminated, with 1/8 click adjustments and just a 30mm tube. Parallax will adjust down to 10yds! Now I am overly excited to get to the range and shoot with it.

 

[nettlle]

A lot of folks do not like Second Focal Plane scopes but I prefer them.

 

[sparkyv]

That's alot of glass for a 22LR. What distances are you shooting, kmw1954? I'm staying away from 34mm tubes as rings are so spendy!



SFP is OK with me too, I really don't notice the difference.

A lot of folks do not like Second Focal Plane scopes but I prefer them.

 

[Hookeye]

Had a Leupold VX1 3-9X on my CZ455. Adjusted parallax and worked fine.
But ended up putting parallax back where it was and taking it off.

"Upgraded" to a VX Freedom EFR 3-9X.

Hopefully done buying scopes. My Savage .22 heavy barrel wears a Freedom VX 6-18X. Its almost as ugly as the rifle LOL
Have buds w super big scopes playing the NRL.22 game. Good for them.
Trying to keep my rifle still maybe huntable.

Put the VX1 in a plastic box, with my M8 10X. If I find an Anschutz sporter.22rf or a #1B in .243 will use the 10X.

 

[Walkalong]

That's alot of glass for a 22LR.

There's no such thing as too much glass.

 

[Walkalong]

so it is a second focal plane

Nothing wrong with that for shooting one known distance. No need for 1st focal plane for that.

36X, 2nd focal plane, 1/8" adjustments.

 

[Varminterror]

Dude’s shooting a Savage 223, soon to be 6 ARC in a unique benchrest league, shooting fixed KD each week. High magnification SFP with 1/8 MOA turrets makes sense.

Do the Helos and Argos have different glass? I just got a Helos BTR G2 FFP for my son’s 22, haven’t been able to put it beside an Argos.

 

[kmw1954]

Sorry if you folks are confusing this but thus is NOT on a 22LR. This is on my Savage model 11, 223.. Which I am shooting 1/2MOA size targets at 100/200/300yds. for scores.

 

[kmw1954]

Do the Helos and Argos have different glass? I just got a Helos BTR G2 FFP for my son’s 22, haven’t been able to put it beside an Argos.

I have heard mixed reviews that some say they are the same glass just that the Helos uses the 34mm tube. I have also observed that the length dimensions are not the same between the 8-34 and the 10-40. But no, I could not differentiate between the two other than my Argos is a MRAD and the Helos was MOA. Still the Argos FFP seems to have a finer reticle than the Helos.

I do also believe this reticle is going to make a world of difference.

 

[Varminterror]

The Helos BTR G2 I have is 30mm tube and the Mrad APRS6 reticle (also available in MOA), so it must not exclusively be a difference in tube size and unit system. Maybe I’ll give them a call tomorrow to find out.

 

[kmw1954]

While working at the range I have had opportunity to look side by side with many of the Vortex scopes and to me I prefer the Athlon. But again just personal preference.

 

[kmw1954]

BTW the picture is an old one that still has the Burris attached! Had a HD crash and lost a ton of pictures and saved links.

 

[irishlad]

Nothing wrong with that for shooting one known distance. No need for 1st focal plane for that.

36X, 2nd focal plane, 1/8" adjustments.
View attachment 1156542

Wow!! Beautiful Rifle!

 

[irishlad]

Sorry if you folks are confusing this but thus is NOT on a 22LR. This is on my Savage model 11, 223.. Which I am shooting 1/2MOA size targets at 100/200/300yds. for scores.


View attachment 1156548

Another beauty!

 

[Walkalong]

BTW the picture is an old one that still has the Burris attached! Had a HD crash and lost a ton of pictures and saved links.

An IT guy told me years ago……if you don’t have it saved in three places, you don’t own it…..I save all pics in more than three, one of which resides in the safe and gets updated a couple times a year. I’ll never lose it all………learned my lesson the hard way though. Like working on a document, hit save often while you work. Seriously.

 

[ms6852]

If you upgrade or buy another scope I would recommend you take a look at Sightron scopes. Their reticles for your type of shooting are very fine.

 

[kmw1954]

An IT guy told me years ago……

This was caused by a lightening strike on my nextdoor neighbors maple 100yo tree. Killed the tree, their phones and well pump. My HD and NIC card along with the IR remote to our TV. Neighbor on the other side lost a sump pump.

Everything is still on memory cards, just been too lazy to download them again. Though I do understand.

 

[kmw1954]

If you upgrade or buy another scope I would recommend you take a look at Sightron scopes. Their reticles for your type of shooting are very fine.

While at times I get to see through a lot of different scopes at my PT range job I have seen a few and I actually really like this Athlon. As a matter of fact I did get to shoot with it today and am quite impressed with it. Then once the mid-day mirage went away I was even more impressed. Also to be honest it a small learning curve going from an MRAD scope and a 1/4MOA scope to this 1/8MOA scope. Kept finding myself over correcting. Should have purchased this scope in the first place.