Interesting Comparisons between Athlon scopes and Hawke Scope.

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FukoChan

FukoChan

Member
Jun 14, 2015
798
29
Georgia, United States
I swapped from my Hawke scope to an Athlon Ares and wanted to make some interesting comparisons after using both of them. I've also owned 2 Argos BTRs.

Hawke scope was the Hawke Sidewinder 8.5-25x42 MIL-MSRP 559$

Athlon Scope was the Athlon Ares 4.5-27x50 MOA reticle FFP and Athlon Argos 959$+444$

  • Now you may think that because the Hawke scope has a smaller 44 objective lense that it would be lighter. Nope, Sidewinder weighs 27.5 ounces while the Athlon Ares weighs 27.3 ounces. Argos is a little bit heavier at 29 oz(however that one is 200$ cheaper and has a 50mm objective!).
  • Athlon Ares scope(including the Argos BTR(200$~cheaper) is blindingly more bright and clear due to the 50mm objective
  • Athlon Ares has more magnification. 
  • Athlon Ares is much shorter! I will post pictures on how compact and light the Athlon is
  • Athlon scopes are almost all FFP which is a nice feature
  • However, one thing that the Hawke does have over the Athlon is that the turrets are much more crisp and loud. Hawke definitely makes good turrets
  • The Hawke scope reticle is very thin and has a great design. I think they are great for airgunners.
  • Hawke's quality control is much better and they come in much nicer boxes and packaging.

And that's pretty much it. I just wanted to point out that you are getting some amazing clarity and weight savings comparing the hawke scope to the athlon scope. Impressive how Athlon can make a 50mm objective lighter than the 44mm objective scope. I'm not here to bash one scope company just state the obvious facts (that may not be as obvious to some buyers) and to help you guys make an informed purchase decision.

Hawke scope here is "long as Kentucky".




 
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The Ares is a very nice scope, and very highly reviewed. I have owned a Cronus for a while and loved it, but it is a different animal from the other models and is made in Japan by the same plant that makes some other high end optics. I just picked up an Argos that I cannot wait to try out for the lower end. The Ares compares very well to Vortex scopes that cost $300-500 more. I've never used a Hawke, so I can't speak on it. As Athlon are still fairly new, their biggest drawback for most people is just the reputation. Until they have been around long enough, people are afraid to put their trust in them. But I've seen shooter using them in competitions when price is a limiting factor and do extremely well. I would encourage people to give them a go. With the Ares around $750is and the Argos around $350, and the SPF on sale recently for $150-200, it is hard to go wrong there. 
 
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 LOL FukoChan my Hawke scope is also way longer than the Athlon. I own both Hawke and Athlon scopes, both sfp. Hawke Eclipse 5-24x50 Athlon Midas 2.5-15x50 they compare equally imo as far as glass with the midas being shorted and lighter. I had the hawke first and it took a couple days to get use to the magnification difference on the Midas but i shoot equally well with either. I do most of my shooting @60yrds in my yard but have had the midas out to 100yrds. I believe they are both in the same price range and would recommend either scope.
 
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Interesting comparison. It does not surprise me ANY scope is lighter than most Hawke scopes. They are made like a tank, and for no real reason at all. I love Hawke's turrets and reticles. However I have always considered Hawke scopes to be rather shaded compared to other scopes, costing half of what the Hawkes do. I find Simmons, Bushnell, Weaver, etc to be slightly clearer and much brighter scopes. Hawke is so very innovative and creative. I just wish they would shave a lot of weight, and figure out how to be brighter, and I would own several. If I were going to purchase a heavy scope for bench shooting, I would be looking hard at the Discovery scopes. 
 
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