Clash of the Base Class Titans

In the world of shooting nothing is more difficult when you get started than figuring out what scope is best for you.  When it comes to Base Class shooting we have selected some of the top Titan's in the shooting world that you will see out there at matches to put side by side and see how they stack. 

To start lets lay down the criteria of why we picked these scopes. 

1. Under $750 MSRP
2. First Focal Plane Reticle 
3. Tactical Reticle 
4. USA Based Company 
5. Lifetime Warranty 
6. Readily Available In the Market Space 

Now that's out of the way lets jump into the weeds. 

MSRP and Reticle

Helos BTR 6-24×50 APLR2 FFP IR MOA - $683.99

Helos BTR 6-24×50 APLR2 FFP IR MOA - $683.99

Diamondback® Tactical 6-24x50 FFP EBR-2C MOA - $499.99

Diamondback® Tactical 6-24x50 FFP EBR-2C MOA - $499.99

Argos BTR 6-24×50 APMR FFP IR MIL - $444.99

Argos BTR 6-24×50 APMR FFP IR MIL - $444.99

Best Reticle Design -The Helos really steps up with the Best Reticle Design of the three with it's  Floating Crosshairs design. Below 10x The Helos and Argos are a superior reticle, as they are easy to read from minimum to maximum magnification. Once the Diamondback Tactical (DB TAC) gets to about 12x it's fine reticle starts to hold it's own. As we reach the 20x plus mark the DB TAC really starts to shine and be the best.  The Helos and Argos get too bold/thick to use efficiently. The Argos's sweet spot is at 18x and the Helos is 20x. When competing in PRS or Hunting I find myself moving my magnification from 8-20x range. I rarely use full magnification unless spotting something for a visual. 

Turret Design

Helos - Had the best Turret Design with locking beefy over sized turrets. I was just at a match last month where the rifle had to be grounded to start. When the buzzer started I reached down to grab my rifle and hit my windage turret unknowingly. Causing for a very bad start to that stage. If I would have had locking turrets on that rifle it would have saved me some points. The Helos also had the most tactile feel for it's clicks and also the loudest audible click sound. Making it hands down the winner in this category.

DB TAC - The machining of these turrets as my favorite. Short and Fact tactical turrets. awesome feel. The Audible click was great, right off a scope that I would expect to be well over $750.00. The Tactile feel of the turrets was lack luster. It has a mushy front and rear to it's position change. But! When you get the wall for it to click over to the next position it did have a very positive "click" feel when you made the position change. Very good for it's price point bracket.

Argos BTR - Seems to be a great fit for it's price point. The Turrets are easy to use. The thin Base with the over-sized tops makes these turrets the easiest to use while wearing gloves. Something to think about if this will also be used for hunting. The Turrets tactile file was better than the DB TAC. Very Crisp in comparison. Something similar to what you would expect from a $750.00 Scope. While the audible click, it was the worst. Hollow and shallow in sound. What I would expect from a $300.00 Scope.

Magnification and Glass Quality

When staring this section of testing I thought for sure we had a clear winner. The DB TAC had the best clarity when testing from 6x to 12x out to about 100 yards. The Parallax adjustment was smoother and easier to get things into focus. When testing the Helos and Argos they did fine but just not as good as the Vortex did. At this point in time we had our mind settled. The DB TAC was going to walk away with the show. 

Next we changed to testing out to 100 yards with 12x plus magnification. The Higher the magnification the more drastically unforgiving the eyebox became  on the DB TAC. Making it very difficult to hit the sweet spot on the scope. Also as we adjusted the magnification higher the harder it was to adjust the parallax to get a crisp image.  As in all scopes the higher the magnification the less forgiving the eyebox is, but both the Athlon Scopes were more forgiving than the DB TAC. 

Past the 12x Point the Argos and Helos stayed about the same as with ease of use of the parallax adjustment to crisp up the image. No drastic change positive or negative. At the max magnification the Athlon scopes did perform better with parallax adjustment. 

Moving out to 200, 300, 400, 500 and 600 Yards everything stayed about the same when comparing the scopes. 600 to 875 yards The Athlon scopes held slightly sharper images. Looking out to 1000 and 1400 yards they looked about the same between all three scopes. You could see the target but very difficult to try to call any impacts. We have shot out with all three scopes to 1000 yards plus and can make it happen no problem. Just make sure you have a good spotting partner. 

On a side note on the magnification rings. Both the Athlon scopes came with built in Throw levers. The DB TAC had a very nice standard style ring. 

Conclusion

In conclusion these are all three great scopes!  Each one earns it's right to be a Titan in the base shooting world. Here are our final thoughts. 

• When comparing the Argos and the Helos if you can afford or fit the upgrade cost into the build we would highly recommend it. Everything that Athlon has done to the Helos is worth the money. Better Turrets, better Reticle, side illumination controls so your hat doesn't hit it. It's all great. 
• When looking at application if you are going over 600 Yards go with either of the Athlon Products. 
• If your application has you under 600 yards and you are going to be running around the 12x area on the scope the Diamond back is the solid choice. 
• If you are looking for a beefy badass tactical  looking scope the Helos is the right pick. 
• If you are looking for a sleek, sexy looking scope the DB TAC gets our vote. Very well designed from front to back. 
• For a do it all scope you can take out hunting and to the range we have a unanimous decision across the team that the Helos BTR with it's over sized locking turrets, easy to read reticle at low magnifications and built in throw lever is the best pick. 
• Best Bang for the Buck has to go to the Argos BTR. Lowest price point and hangs right in there with these three scopes. 

We hope this helps ~ Happy Shooting! BRINK EXCURSIONS Team