Recently I have narrowed my scope hunt to two scopes: the Hawke Panorama (3-9x50 AO IR) and the Athlon Talos (6-24x50 SF IR.) Does any one have a preference over the two? Considering the price equal, which of the two would you choose? I really like the Athlon because of the SF and 6-24 zoom, but am not overall sure about build quality. One question I have is, do you like the 10x1/2 mil dot, or BDC better? Do you use the marks on the left and right on the cross hairs enough to go with that over the up/ down of BDC on the reticle? Thanks!
If they really are the same price, the Hawke is likely to be the better scope (in addition to having a lot of fans).The reason is that AO is cheaper (and more rugged and precise) than side focus, and of course the power and power x (power x being the multiplier between lowest and highest power) are more expensive, complex, and potentially unreliable. Generally, to achieve higher power x, you have to move the objective further.So unless you are set on having side focus or the higher power, you would seem by most measures to be getting more scope for your money with the Hawke (meaning optical and mechanical quality, but whether the difference is sufficient to actually make a difference to you in ownership is another matter).Unless you find the mildot reticle distracting, it is more versatile. In some sense, marks on a reticle are marks on a reticle and are all equally useful assuming there are enough of them to correspond to holdovers you use.BDC reticles tend to be calibrated for centerfire rifle caliber ballistics and offer only a few holdover marks (like for a .223 zeroed at 100 yards, marks for 200 and 300 yards).The mil system has the marks corresponding to a real-world system: 1 unit in 1000 , that is 1 mildot is 1 inch at 1000 inches range, or 1 yard at 1000 yards, or 1 foot a 1000 feet, etc. BUT, you are better off actually shooting at the relevant ranges and noting the holdovers in mildots (or BDC hashes, or MOA hashes or what-have-you), than relying on a measurement system.The horizontally extending marks are for windage, which is a very advanced, but useful technique in airgun shooting.
I hope this isn't a pointless question, but I think I heard of someone putting a sidewheel on an AO scope. Is this of any value? I kinda like the look of sidewheels....thanks!