Most of a year ago I was privileged to test the pre production line of Heras scopes to see what I thought of them. Of them all this one stood out to me the most.
Why??
It's because it's a SFP low to mid magnification scope with a .2 MIL hash reticle which is a rarity in the scope world and provides a certain amount of interest to me. So I had to have one, LOL!
Here are some of the spec's and a reticle illustration. For more info please go look up this scope over on Athlon's website.
2 - 12x
42 mm
1 in
3.6 "
55.7 - 9.6 ft
10 y
0.1 MIL
11.8 in
23.5 oz
I also own two Athlon Helos DMR 2-12x42 FFP scopes in MIL that I've had for 2 years. One is on a long range AR and the other is on a Steyr ProX semi auto pcp bullpup. I like these scopes on these guns but especially like using the ProX with the DMR on it. Where the DMR's excel to me is for fast shooting on steel. The reticle is thicker with a .3 mil center dot so you can pick it up quickly. Great scopes for what I use them for!
I brought up those DMR scopes because for the most part they cover my needs for this kind of 2-12 scope. However it occurred to me when looking at my favorite 1970's vintage 22 mag rimfire, a HK300, that the scope on it, a Nikon 3-9x40, was severely lacking for longer distances - I like to shoot it out to 300 yards sometimes. So I got the Heras ordered with the original intention of using the scope on it. I like that its lighter than the Helos G2 2-12 as well. Edit- Oh and I have the proprietary 1" rings for that gun so I needed a 1" tubed scope for it.
In the mean time, since I received the Heras almost two weeks ago, I decided to try it on my FX Royale 400 in 22 caliber for a while.
The first test was at 10M in my friends garage with the gun set on 12 fpe. We shot offhand on Olympic match paper targets. I found that even though the bulls were black that I could still see the reticle plainly. My concern was that it would be hard to make out the reticle but it was fine.
Today was more interesting though. I put the FX on 30 fpe and sighted in JSB 18 grainers on the wood 2x12 in the photo at 25Y. It was no problem seeing the holes appear in the dark piece of old wood at 12x.
Then I shot offhand on 12x and 10x at 25Y on those 1.5" white painted steels. It wasn't so easy to hit those small steels but I managed to get 5 out of 7 a few times. The reticle stood out enough to allow a decent score. I seriously doubt I could have done any better with any other scope or rifle in my collection?? Because the scope is reasonably lightweight it kept the weight down on the rifle so I didn't fatigue as quickly as I normally would compared to the 5-25x56 scope that I had mounted previously on this FX. I also felt that 10x with this reticle helped me seem more steady vs using more magnification which magnifies any movement.
Next I plinked on the same steel at 38Y off the bench. It was nice using the .2 mil hashes once I saw where my shots went due to the wind blowing. Aiming off .3-.4 mil helped center hits on the steel. It was still easy to see the 22 cal holes in the wood when I missed at 12x.
Then I set the steel at 53Y. For the fun of it I used 2x, 3x 4x, 6x, 8X, 10x, and 12x.
I could well see where on the wood I missed on 12x which was nice. Using the reticle to measure with I corrected which was usually .6 to .8 MIL to center up on the steel.
I was surprised that I could see a pellet hole in the wood at 3x and a cluster of shots on 2x at that distance. That says something about the glass in the Heras line!
The nice thing about SFP in this case was having the reticle full size on lower magnification. Working my way down from 12x to 2x I still found the .2 mil hash marks useful. The MIL values changed with each magnification but once I saw where a miss went I had a reference point to make a judgement call holdoff with. This helped at 2x because when I hit in the dirt I knew by about how far out to aim even though those .2 MIL hashes from one to the other appeared about the size of the steel. In other words the steel was approx .2 mil wide on 2x magnification.
Wrapping my review up...
Glass;
The IQ is great for a scope of this price! It's clear edge to edge, it's bright, has good color rendition, no CA that I could see, lacks any odd optical weirdness(which bothers me most about compact scopes), and is generally pleasing to look through.
Reticle;
Relatively simple.
The .2 mil reticle hashes are useful at all magnifications.
I like that the center dot and the other dots are .07 MIL. Not too big or too small. Also even though the reticle line thickness is .03 mil the amount of hashes makes it appear thicker than it is. If it were any thinner it wouldn't work for me but after using it for hours I found I liked it. The ability to take advantage of the precision of your rifle is there with this reticle.
I will rarely use more than 2 mils of holdover or holdoff with this reticle so I like that Athlon kept the MIL line numbers out of the way of using holds of less than 2 mils. This makes the center area of the reticle cleaner looking.
The controls;
Typical Athlon. All were great in feel and function! The stand out was the turrets, these were exceptional in all ways. Very distinct, audible, lined up perfectly with the line on the housing, etc, absolutely nothing to complain about. Even the size of them are an appropriate size for a scope like this. I am impressed!!!
The locking feel on the windage turret was the same way.
Tracking was on point near as I could tell. I'll find out better when I shoot long range with the 22 magnum.
It's cool that Athlon made the 12x magnification indicator red so you know where the MIL's are correct at.
I don't know if the FOV is more than most other scopes on 2x but it seems HUGE to me on 2x. I've had LPVO's that go down to 1x but I "don't" find myself using 1x so I'll leave it at that. Sure would like to take aim at a running rabbit on 2x!
There's nothing else I can think of to mention but if something comes up I'll get back to this post and do so.
Why??
It's because it's a SFP low to mid magnification scope with a .2 MIL hash reticle which is a rarity in the scope world and provides a certain amount of interest to me. So I had to have one, LOL!
Here are some of the spec's and a reticle illustration. For more info please go look up this scope over on Athlon's website.
PRODUCT SPECIFICATION
MAGNIFICATION
2 - 12x
OBJ. LENS DIAMETER
42 mm
TUBE DIAMETER
1 in
EYE RELIEF
3.6 "
FOV @ 100 YDS
55.7 - 9.6 ft
PARALLAX ADJUSTMENT
10 y
CLICK VALUE
0.1 MIL
LENGTH
11.8 in
WEIGHT
23.5 oz
I also own two Athlon Helos DMR 2-12x42 FFP scopes in MIL that I've had for 2 years. One is on a long range AR and the other is on a Steyr ProX semi auto pcp bullpup. I like these scopes on these guns but especially like using the ProX with the DMR on it. Where the DMR's excel to me is for fast shooting on steel. The reticle is thicker with a .3 mil center dot so you can pick it up quickly. Great scopes for what I use them for!
I brought up those DMR scopes because for the most part they cover my needs for this kind of 2-12 scope. However it occurred to me when looking at my favorite 1970's vintage 22 mag rimfire, a HK300, that the scope on it, a Nikon 3-9x40, was severely lacking for longer distances - I like to shoot it out to 300 yards sometimes. So I got the Heras ordered with the original intention of using the scope on it. I like that its lighter than the Helos G2 2-12 as well. Edit- Oh and I have the proprietary 1" rings for that gun so I needed a 1" tubed scope for it.
In the mean time, since I received the Heras almost two weeks ago, I decided to try it on my FX Royale 400 in 22 caliber for a while.
The first test was at 10M in my friends garage with the gun set on 12 fpe. We shot offhand on Olympic match paper targets. I found that even though the bulls were black that I could still see the reticle plainly. My concern was that it would be hard to make out the reticle but it was fine.
Today was more interesting though. I put the FX on 30 fpe and sighted in JSB 18 grainers on the wood 2x12 in the photo at 25Y. It was no problem seeing the holes appear in the dark piece of old wood at 12x.
Then I shot offhand on 12x and 10x at 25Y on those 1.5" white painted steels. It wasn't so easy to hit those small steels but I managed to get 5 out of 7 a few times. The reticle stood out enough to allow a decent score. I seriously doubt I could have done any better with any other scope or rifle in my collection?? Because the scope is reasonably lightweight it kept the weight down on the rifle so I didn't fatigue as quickly as I normally would compared to the 5-25x56 scope that I had mounted previously on this FX. I also felt that 10x with this reticle helped me seem more steady vs using more magnification which magnifies any movement.
Next I plinked on the same steel at 38Y off the bench. It was nice using the .2 mil hashes once I saw where my shots went due to the wind blowing. Aiming off .3-.4 mil helped center hits on the steel. It was still easy to see the 22 cal holes in the wood when I missed at 12x.
Then I set the steel at 53Y. For the fun of it I used 2x, 3x 4x, 6x, 8X, 10x, and 12x.
I could well see where on the wood I missed on 12x which was nice. Using the reticle to measure with I corrected which was usually .6 to .8 MIL to center up on the steel.
I was surprised that I could see a pellet hole in the wood at 3x and a cluster of shots on 2x at that distance. That says something about the glass in the Heras line!
The nice thing about SFP in this case was having the reticle full size on lower magnification. Working my way down from 12x to 2x I still found the .2 mil hash marks useful. The MIL values changed with each magnification but once I saw where a miss went I had a reference point to make a judgement call holdoff with. This helped at 2x because when I hit in the dirt I knew by about how far out to aim even though those .2 MIL hashes from one to the other appeared about the size of the steel. In other words the steel was approx .2 mil wide on 2x magnification.
Wrapping my review up...
Glass;
The IQ is great for a scope of this price! It's clear edge to edge, it's bright, has good color rendition, no CA that I could see, lacks any odd optical weirdness(which bothers me most about compact scopes), and is generally pleasing to look through.
Reticle;
Relatively simple.
The .2 mil reticle hashes are useful at all magnifications.
I like that the center dot and the other dots are .07 MIL. Not too big or too small. Also even though the reticle line thickness is .03 mil the amount of hashes makes it appear thicker than it is. If it were any thinner it wouldn't work for me but after using it for hours I found I liked it. The ability to take advantage of the precision of your rifle is there with this reticle.
I will rarely use more than 2 mils of holdover or holdoff with this reticle so I like that Athlon kept the MIL line numbers out of the way of using holds of less than 2 mils. This makes the center area of the reticle cleaner looking.
The controls;
Typical Athlon. All were great in feel and function! The stand out was the turrets, these were exceptional in all ways. Very distinct, audible, lined up perfectly with the line on the housing, etc, absolutely nothing to complain about. Even the size of them are an appropriate size for a scope like this. I am impressed!!!
The locking feel on the windage turret was the same way.
Tracking was on point near as I could tell. I'll find out better when I shoot long range with the 22 magnum.
It's cool that Athlon made the 12x magnification indicator red so you know where the MIL's are correct at.
I don't know if the FOV is more than most other scopes on 2x but it seems HUGE to me on 2x. I've had LPVO's that go down to 1x but I "don't" find myself using 1x so I'll leave it at that. Sure would like to take aim at a running rabbit on 2x!
There's nothing else I can think of to mention but if something comes up I'll get back to this post and do so.
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