Athlon Midas 2.5-15 HMR opinions

[Dr. Lee]

I?m putting together a 16? Grendel build and thinking about my scope choices. I like this scope (on paper) but not having any personal experience with it, hard to make a decision. I like the power range especially the
low side plus the other features. This is mainly going to be a hunting gun. I don?t want to make a 16? gun into a heavy gun. That said I read one report that considered that this scope was somewhat heavy. At 26 oz. does that seem overly heavy to anyone ? I can?t say myself, not having lots of scopes on my AR?s to compare. Any opinions welcome. Thanks.

Dr.

[grayfox]

I don't have any experience with the Athlon, but at 26 oz for a 16" gun.... that's heavy IMO.
I try to stay in the 16-18 oz range for that length... other guys go lighter or use a 1-8x but my eyes are older and I like a bit more oomph.
So on mine they're going with a vortex diamondback tactical 4-12x-40. I looked at a Primary Arms 4-14x44 moa (Arc-2) and it was illum, plus it felt pretty good. Not a high end scope but glass looked pretty good for what I saw.
There are some higher end Vortex's too but to stay down in this weight range you pretty much need to stick to 1" tubes in your scopes.
That PA 4-14 is also ffp, which is not bad either.
My 4-12 I stay in the upper end magnif's most times so for a sfp I don't mind it.
Scope opinions will vary greatly. Try to go someplace where you can put several of them up to your eye and see what you think.

My 16" hunt ranges... for me I will be staying under 200 yds, maybe 225 if tempted.
Ymmv.

[Dr. Lee]

I have a Leupold 1.5-5 vari-x3 w/illum.reticle. Nice scope but was looking for some more magnification. What I have is probably gtg but, you know, I MUST have more !!! Right ?
Thanks for the feedback.
Dr.

[Labrat198]

I have the Athlon Ares 2.5-15, same weight. If you have a rest for the gun its fine. On the range or from a stationary position with a pod your should be in good shape. Shooting free hand, that extra pound wears on me.

[Dr. Lee]

Well, the gun will be a hunting gun, mostly tree stand, but some still hunting. Tree stands will be some sort of rest involved. It’s not going to be a bipod gun or a bench gun other than load/ammo testing. With these parameters, what do think ?
Dr.

[grayfox]

I'm still of opinion that a 26 oz scope is too heavy on that rig, at least for me.
You'll have to make up your own mind.
try this... with a scope mounted, also tie on an extra 1 lb bag of shot or whatever, and carry the gun around.
then take that 1 lb off.
See what you think.

[Dr. Lee]

Good thinking. I’ll bring that.
Thanks.

Dr.