Athlon Cronus Tactical G2

by moondog on November 25, 2023 with No Comments

After my review of the Athlon Range Finder Binoculars, Athlon asked me to test out their new Gen 2 Cronus Tactical spotting scope. Its a straight line 7-42x60mm optic. While other traditional spotters offer higher magnification, Athlon engineers chose 7-42x for a wide field of view and not sacrifice sharpness and brightness.

It has a ruggedized and rubberized body to withstand impacts and bumps under combat-like conditions. For additional protection, it comes with a neoprene sleeve for the body and leashed neoprene lens caps. It comes with a set of thin rubber lens caps but these are for tranport and storage, not for field use.

The magnification ring has a rubberized surface for good traction but was a bit stiff to turn; as is the focus ring next to it. A stiffer focus ring is good so as not to lose sharpness once set. But having a stiff to turn magnification ring is a hinderance for a tactical or competition spotter that has to switch between targets at different ranges for a shooter. It would be helpful Athlon designed the magnification ring to accept a throw lever.

One unusual feature found on the bottom of the scope tube, are twin photo screw mounting holes. You can use either screw ports to screw the scope onto a tripod or mounting plate. It comes with a ARCA/Swiss adapter plate with unique twin screws that fit into both holes in tandem. This twin screw design makes it impossible to twist the scope out of of alignment.

What makes this spotter “tactical”? On the scope tube is a Picatinny rail to add a red dot to quickly aim the scope and 2 additional hard points to add additional rails. You may need to add a riser to clear the bell; the include Picatinny rail is a bit thicker/taller than standard for this reason.

The most tactical aspect of this scope is a first focal plane reticle. Its etched MRAD subtensions are designed to help spotters call out distances between objects, reference points, or bullet splashes. The reticle is quite fine and at its low magnification is hardly visible and won’t obscure your view but at 20x and above the reticle grows to provide a T-style cross hairs.

At high magnification a set of 8 numbered vertical lines of various heights are visible below the cross hair reticle. This is the Cronus quick range estimator that is calibrated to a 72″ tall individual. By using the guidelines to measure the distance between the top of the subject’s shoulders and head, you can quickly estimate the targets distance. I was able to confirm its relative accuracy using a hiker on a hillside 1300-1400yrds away.

At +1000yrds the image picture was very sharp for a 42x scope. Glassing reference targets at 100yrds I could clearly see .22cal holes on paper but more importantly I could see the wrinkles on the paper. At 42x I was able to resolve all the way down to Element 1 in Group 1 on the USAF-51 optical resolution chart; the finest detail of any spotting scope I’ve tested.