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FFP/Athlon Helos G2 2-12x42 is in hand!

Old thread I know but I'm back! Been looking for one of these scopes on and off for a year? Anyways finally have one coming thanks to a buddy on here. Gonna go on my Evol Mini as I think it will be the perfect fit. My 4-20 Helos is nice, however I enjoyed shooting with the 2-12 so much when I owned it I just think it's a better fit now that I never shoot targets anymore. Best pesting/hunting scope I've used. Should show up tomorrow.
 
Glad you found one!

I still have my two GH2 2-12's. It's the most fun all around plinking scope I've found so far and still works for long range too. At times I wouldn't mind a 14x or so instead of 12x but then optical compromises would start rearing their ugly head.

Athlon is supposed to come out with a Jap made Cronus grade scope that is somewhat lighter weight and in the medium magnification range for 2024. Probably have daylight bright illume which would make such a scope with a similar reticle as the HG2 in mil be totally awesome!
I'm holding out for it!
 
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Glad you found one!

I still have my two GH2 2-12's. It's the most fun all around plinking scope I've found so far and still works for long range too. At times I wouldn't mind a 14x or so instead of 12x but then optical compromises would start rearing their ugly head.

Athlon is supposed to come out with a Jap made Cronus grade scope that is somewhat lighter weight and in the medium magnification range for 2024. Probably have daylight bright illume which would make such a scope with a similar reticle as the HG2 in mil be totally awesome!
I'm holding out for it!
If they make something similar in higher quality I'll buy one! There's not anything on the market that really compares closely that I've found. I really like being able to use it as FFP on low power like 4-6x put to 80yds.

I'm curious if that's why they are seemingly always sold out? Seems the last year everytime I've looked I never found any in stock. Posted a few WTB ads with no hits until this last time. Happy to have one now.

I still really enjoy my 4-20x50 and will be throwing that on my Tikka T1X .22. Will fit better on there.
 
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Really fits on this little gun. I really love the reticle after lioking through my 4-20 for so long. It might live on 6x lol. My MKM scope caps and bubble level will be here tomorrow.
20230922_180633.jpg
 
Really fits on this little gun. I really love the reticle after lioking through my 4-20 for so long. It might live on 6x lol. My MKM scope caps and bubble level will be here tomorrow. View attachment 391052

Looks great!

Did you see Glassaholic's thread over on SH comparing the March 1.5-15, the NF 4-16, and this 2-12?
Ha it actually did super well considering the price differences.
 
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I hadn't put a pic up in this thread of my two Steyr's.
The ProX has the 2-12 on it and the LGB1 has a Midas TAC 5-25x56. The 5-25 on that gun didn't pan out too well but the reason I put it on there to begin with was to practice offhand using the same reticle as my UFT 22rf HG2 6-24
20221204_134238.jpg
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I love Athlon and their reticles. The only thing I wish my gen 2 Cronus had was the locking turrets like the Helos. Besides that the glass is super clear, the reticle is awesome, and the turrets clicks are stiff, audible and precise.

There carbon cf32 tripod is pretty sweet too. Athlon makes good affordable stuff.
 
Really fits on this little gun. I really love the reticle after lioking through my 4-20 for so long. It might live on 6x lol. My MKM scope caps and bubble level will be here tomorrow. View attachment 391052
Hey man, did you ever get the scope caps? and bubble level? I will need those items as well, possibly two sets :D
 
Just got this one, looked through it at work, sighted in on some pine trees about 350 yards out. I am thoroughly impressed with it at first impression anyways.

View attachment 406820
it is getting so that i just look at Athlon scope's for any of my needs .
 
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fat finger steve
Me?, I'll take that as a compliment.
I stand by everything I wrote because I still feel the same way.

BTW I'm still loving both of my 2-12's! Was slamming a 18" steel plate at 1122Y just last week with one mounted on my AR upper in 6mmFatRat. Didn't do much better with my 6mmBR bolt gun having a G2 Cronus 4.5-29x56 mounted on it.

Now that being said maybe in 2024 Athlon will bring another MPVO of even higher quality than the HG2 line that is designed with a thicker reticle much like the Mil version reticle in HG2 2-12x42. I love this reticle! Easy to see, so quick to acquire, and thus is great for speed.
Hoping so anyways, also hoping for daylight bright illume!!!
 
Me?, I'll take that as a compliment.
I stand by everything I wrote because I still feel the same way.

BTW I'm still loving both of my 2-12's! Was slamming a 18" steel plate at 1122Y just last week with one mounted on my AR upper in 6mmFatRat. Didn't do much better with my 6mmBR bolt gun having a G2 Cronus 4.5-29x56 mounted on it.

Now that being said maybe in 2024 Athlon will bring another MPVO of even higher quality than the HG2 line that is designed with a thicker reticle much like the Mil version reticle in HG2 2-12x42. I love this reticle! Easy to see, so quick to acquire, and thus is great for speed.
Hoping so anyways, also hoping for daylight bright illume!!!

Steve now comes the difficult question.

Athlon or Arken

and why
 
Steve now comes the difficult question.

Athlon or Arken

and why
In July I almost bought a Arken at a gunstore but I read a post by a guy on SH forum about guys in his rifle club using them on centerfire's and then them breaking so that put the Kibosh on it.
But not that Athlon's don't go down also.

I've only looked through a couple Arkens and haven't owned one.
The first one had something wrong with the IQ, that was years ago.
2nd one was recent and it wasn't bad but not my favorite type of reticle. So part of the reason why is I'm picky about reticles like hashes in mil of .5's mixed with .2's. Reasons why I also sold some Athlon scopes in the past.
I don't mind all .5's in mil reticles so much and in a scope higher than 12x would prefer a reticle in all .2's.

I do like the feel of Arken turrets and the price!

Athlon.
Last year I got a Helos 1-10 and it didn't work with my eyes well above 4.5x so I called up Athlon and told them about it. They let me return it and I got another one of their scopes.
Other than that one time I haven't had any problems with a dozen or so of their scopes. Some minor annoyances yes but not worth sending the scope back.
Overall I've been happy with Athlon.

I can't say that about some other brands of scopes I've owned for about every various reason one could think of.
 
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OKAY fellow shooters here's some photos, along with my first impressions about the new and highly anticipated Helos G2 2-12x42 DMR compact scope.

I got home last night about 6PM with an alert from my wonderful wife Robin that there was a package for me, ha even she could tell it was a scope sized and shaped box. So like any other self respecting gun and scope lover I went diving into the brown box 😁 As I cracked the lid of Athlon's typical stylish box, I marveled at the new Helos that I didn't even know was in the making until a few months ago! I'm so excited because I've had this exact form factor in my mind for a little affordable FFP hunting scope for the last 3 years!

Usually I have a list of things that I don't like about various scopes depending on what I want to use it for. I mention this because I've acquired so many scopes in the past that fell short for certain reasons. I'm sure we all have, right?! More on that subject later.

How about a look at the reticle from Athlons website.

AHMR2-FFP-IR-MIL-212PWR.png


Here's a list of it's specifications;



For size reference here's a Athlon Ares BTR 4.5-27x50. I've got the diopters dialed out for my eyes on both scopes which makes them both 1/4" longer than when dialed in. View attachment 139667View attachment 139678

I thought a bit about what rifle to put my new Helos on and decided what better a HUNTING rifle for such a scope than my DWALL AGT Vulcan 2 75pfe 30 cal PCP air rifle!

See what a great fit for this rifle the new Helos 2-12 is !!!! Impressive!

View attachment 139686View attachment 139695View attachment 139702View attachment 139714View attachment 139723

MY WHAT DUSTY FINGERS YOU HAVE STEVE 😳More on the scope tomorrow. I just wanted to get this show on the road TODAY, so to speak.
How heavy is it?
 
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