Athlon Optics Neos 4-12x40 Second Focal Plane Riflescopes

This is an impressively capable rifle scope for it's modest asking price. It may be the scope bargain of the year.I am not a hunter. I am not ashamed to admit that I have a soft spot for animals. All of my shooting are done against paper targets and clay. I have "killed" a lot of paper targets over the years using a variety of weapons and rifle scopes. Most were taken at outdoor shooting ranges. Those who fell to my pistols were taken at indoor shooting ranges. Conditions were ideal in most cases. I mean, really. It's no fun shooting paper targets in the rain!Years ago, I used centerfire rifles such as 270 Win, 284 Win, and 6.5 X 55 SM for recreational target shooting. All of my centerfire rifles are gone now but I still have a few old scopes left. And this Athlon Neos compare favorably with my decades old Leupold VXII and Bausch and Lombs. I only shoot rimfire these days. My current rig is a Tikka T1X MTR in 22LR. And it is on this rig that this Athlon Neos is attached to.I wanted the Neos with the BDC 22 reticle but it was not available during my purchase. I had to choose between Center X and the illuminated BDC 500. Having never owned an illuminated reticle before, I chose the BDC 500 even though it's not the ideal choice for a 22LR. After all, my distance does not exceed 100 yards and I am familiar with the rifle to know the proper hold over.It's no surprise that the combination rifle and scope work great. My needs are modest. The illuminated reticle is not necessary for my use but it is a nice feature to play around with. The Tikka rifle is guaranteed MOA with a specific rimfire ammo but I have found the same performance from two boxes of Federal Gold Medal that I have had in stock for years. It shoots just as well with Winchester and Aquila solids. The 12 magnification is sufficient for this distance. Those who shoot farther than 100 yards may want to move up to the 18 power model.This Athlon Neos is a very capable rifle scope. It has a quality feel to it. I have seen people on Youtube subject this scope to unreasonable punishment and it survived. I did not torture my scope. My needs do not call for a scope that can withstand prolonged immersion in water. Look, if you drop your rifle in water and it remains submerged for a long time, you've got a lot more to worry about than your scope. The Tikka is not an inexpensive rifle. I would worry about the rifle.What do I miss from more expensive optics? The feel and the sound of the elevation and windage dials. Yes, the Athlon has a precise click but it doesn't have the same feel as the expensive scopes. I cannot describe that feel because it is subjective. But let's just say that the expensive scopes have a more pleasing click when you turn the knobs. Also, the parallax adjustment knob will be resistant at first but will loosen after first use. The glass(es) are clear and I could not detect any distortion.Some of you may resent the fact that the Athlon is made in China. Don't let the politics keep you from enjoying a good deal. China can make as good an optic as any American company if they were competing at the same price point. This Athlon can compete and likely beat just about any scope in its price range. All that, thanks to China. China makes it possible for average Americans to stretch their dollars and afford goods that they otherwise would not be able to buy. Make your own decision and do what you think is best. After all, that is what capitalism is all about. Athlon certainly knows this and is taking advantage of reduced labor cost overseas to offer a good quality product for the American consumer. Let Biden and Xi work out their differences, In the meantime, enjoy the chance to buy a good product at a very affordable price.Highly recommended. This is a stellar product at this price point. It would be a good product at twice the asking price. For those who use a 22LR, you might consider giving up the illuminated reticle and opt instead for the 22LR specific reticle if you will use the system over unfamiliar environment. If you shoot at the same range, at the same distance all the time, any reticle would do.

Many times I have been told “you get what you pay for” and in shooting sports “Cheap” and “Accurate” can't be used in the same sentence. So being the hard-headed old codger that I am, I set out to see if it was possible to buy a Budget (read that CHEAP!) rifle scope that also met my accuracy demands. My research led me to a scope that fit my definition of both “Cheap and Accurate”, the Athlon NEOS 4-12x40 available on Amazon for just a bit over $100 (and as usual, Amazon's super fast Prime shipping was free!).First impressions can set the stage for life-long opinions and my first impression of the Athlon NEOS scope was very good indeed. Packaging was an excellent full color hard cardboard “display” box held closed by rare earth magnets. The scope was wrapped in protective plastic with desiccant packs, cushioned at each end with tightly fitted high density urethane foam blocks, and included a set of plastic lens covers (bra style), cleaning cloth, and an owners manual. Fit and finish on the scope was very good to excellent. The turret caps were well threaded and sealed with “O” rings, the adjustable side parallax, diopter adjustment ring, power ring, and windage and elevation turrets were all smooth, positive operating, and exhibited no slack or roughness.As with any mechanical device, looks can be deceiving and the only real question is … Will it do what I bought it to do? To answer that question I ran it through a series of tests and evaluations. First I centered the scope using a mirror test and found it pretty much centered from the factory. Next I locked it down on my leveling plate (think Surveyor's Transit with scope rail attached) and centered it up on a 3' x 2' MOA test chart at 50 yards. With it on the test bed I ran the magnification up and down the scale to check for zero drift, there was no visible drift. I ran the parallax adjustment from 10 yards to infinity then, without looking at the knob, used it to focus on the target, the reading was 50 yards. I then performed a 20 MOA “Box Test” using the elevation and windage knobs in all four quadrants, the scope returned to zero each time. The last test was to move the target out to 100 yards to check actual point of aim (POA) change vs clicks on the dials. In this test, the actual POA differed from indicated by approximately ¼ MOA per 10 MOA change in both windage and elevation, well within my accuracy requirements. The scope passed all of my static tests with flying colors, now for some range time!For this test I mounted and moved the scope between three of my most accurate hunting rifles and fired 3 three shot groups at 50, 100, and 200 yards with each rifle. The rifles, a Browning Medallion in .308 WIN, a Browning Hell's Canyon Speed in 6.5 Creedmoor and, a custom built AR-15 in .223 REM are all consistently sub MOA. In every case the scope & rifle combination performed flawlessly with no increase in the rifle's usual group size (¾ MOA for the .308 and .223 and ½ MOA for the 6.5). During the shooting tests I could see no difference in light transmission between the Athlon scope and the Nikon Monarch's I run on the rifles. The only flaw that I observed was at high magnification on the 200 yard target where there was a slight aberration in the outer 2 – 5% of the glass. While this might become problematic at long distance (over 600 yards), I found it quite acceptable in a hunting scope.In conclusion, this is an excellent scope for the budget minded hunter. Will it stand the test of time? We won't know the answer to that question until we've run it for for a few more years. My last thought on this scope is this ... while it will never match the quality of a high end scope, if it is 50% as good at less than 10% of the cost … it is a winner! Now I just have to fire another 1,000 rounds to see if it will last!EDIT 5/10/2020: OK, just passed the 1,000 round test and it is still a 5 star buy! Mounted on my 6.8 SPC it still shoots consistent 1 MOA groups after 18 months and over 1,000 rounds. I like it so much, I'm ordering another one to put on a new .224 Valkyrie build!

The good.... Optics are clear, holds zero, and tracks good.The bad.... lens covers with rubber bands.The ugly.... the round metal protrusion on the bottom of the scope near the focus adjustment dial prevents leveling with medium height standard leupold rings in conjunction with a one piece leupold base. Learned this lesson the costly way.I have as much in the rings and base as I do in the scope. SmdhUpdate:The good... I had a chance to do some long range shooting with my $69 scope, on sale, today. I walked it out to a 1000 yards in 100 yard increments and back to 100 yard target and confirmed zero. Then box test to re-evaluate tracking. I was pleasantly surprised by how good it did. I had a couple of ah shucks but just as likely they were caused by the ammo or me.The bad.... I hate the rubber band lens covers. However, I can’t see any reason to spend $20 on a pair of flip up Butler Creeks when it has a lifetime warranty.The ugly.... The shooter behind the ocular lens.lolGreat little scope. The glass is nearly as clear as my old Nikon. This scope will do everything the normal shooter needs. This is the scope to have if you’re needs are like mine. In the area I live most of the critters are taken at less than 150-200 yards. I never understood putting a $2000 scope on a $350 rifle that I beat around in the woods with. Even on my custom rifles I never spent more on my eyepiece than I did on the rifle. My logic is you can only get so much return out of your equipment, it’s only gonna help so much and the rest is dependent on shooting skills. I get a better return from spending time shooting and a whole lot more enjoyment. I recommend the Athlon neos 4-12x40 Take the money you save and grab a Athlon Midas 1200 rangefinder, some ammunition, and go shooting. You won’t be disappointed.