Ares BTR 4.5-27x50 FFP REVIEW

[Magnum_Willys]

Ares BTR 4.5-27x50 FFP arrived yesterday.  Amazon - $850.  Superb packaging, looks like a quality unit.

Strapped it on a stock for glass comparison at 500 yards today.  Compared to Leupold VX3-L 56mm and VX6-4x24 x 50mm using eye chart and .338 bullet holes.  Clarity was as good as both leupolds, not better but as good.  Was slightly dimmer it seemed.

The field of view at similar powers was noticeably less than the leupolds. 

The eyebox on the Ares is very narrow - you have to be very centered to get a view.  The good thing to that is that parallax is a non issue - you hardly even need an adjustment whereas the Leupold its critical to get parallax set right. 

Your stock and scope height will need to be perfect for the Ares ( it should be anyway of course).

The FFP makes the cross hairs very thin at 100 yards and heavier than I like at 500+ but useable.   Thats the nature of FFP.  Wind hold off will be easier than on the Leupold I think.

Have not had a chance to clamp it down and test the tracking yet.  Need to draw a box and see how it tracks.
The turrets click very nicely - not mushy.

The parallax adjustment maxes out at infinity too soon it seems.  At 500 yards I put it on max then had to move the focus ring way out to focus.  Not a problem just seemed different.  And the focus ring increases the power significantly as your turn it out.  Also something different.

Overall so far I Like it because it only weights 27 oz and has glass as good as the Leupold.   I don't like 2 pound plus scopes.
I would like it better if it had: 56mm for wider field of few, brighter and wider eyebox - but it would probably be the Chronus then with a lot more weight than I want.

For the price, it seems like a good value so far. 

[JDHasty]

Ares BTR 4.5-27x50 FFP arrived yesterday.  Amazon - $850.  Superb packaging, looks like a quality unit.

Strapped it on a stock for glass comparison at 500 yards today.  Compared to Leupold VX3-L 56mm and VX6-4x24 x 50mm using eye chart and .338 bullet holes.  Clarity was as good as both leupolds, not better but as good.  Was slightly dimmer it seemed.

The field of view at similar powers was noticeably less than the leupolds. 

The eyebox on the Ares is very narrow - you have to be very centered to get a view.  The good thing to that is that parallax is a non issue - you hardly even need an adjustment whereas the Leupold its critical to get parallax set right. 

Your stock and scope height will need to be perfect for the Ares ( it should be anyway of course).

The FFP makes the cross hairs very thin at 100 yards and heavier than I like at 500+ but useable.   Thats the nature of FFP.  Wind hold off will be easier than on the Leupold I think.

Have not had a chance to clamp it down and test the tracking yet.  Need to draw a box and see how it tracks.
The turrets click very nicely - not mushy.

The parallax adjustment maxes out at infinity too soon it seems.  At 500 yards I put it on max then had to move the focus ring way out to focus.  Not a problem just seemed different.  And the focus ring increases the power significantly as your turn it out.  Also something different.

Overall so far I Like it because it only weights 27 oz and has glass as good as the Leupold.   I don't like 2 pound plus scopes.
I would like it better if it had: 56mm for wider field of few, brighter and wider eyebox - but it would probably be the Chronus then with a lot more weight than I want.

For the price, it seems like a good value so far.

That sounds a bit less of a concern than it actually ends up being if you are using the scope for real-world hunting purposes.  Often times while hunting I have had to just get as solid as I could despite terrain that was less than optimal... far less than optimal.  This left me having to fight to get my eye anywhere near where where I could see through the scope and there have been times when I have said to myself:  This is going to hurt like hell  -  before pulling the trigger knowing that I was going to be hit in the face with a scope.   I have had my foot under one leg of a Harris Bipod and there have been times when I knew time was running out and I was not going to get time to adjust anything and was going to have to just get as lined up enough to see through the scope and then pull the trigger.   

[Magnum_Willys]

That sounds a bit less of a concern than it actually ends up being if you are using the scope for real-world hunting purposes.  Often times while hunting I have had to just get as solid as I could despite terrain that was less than optimal... far less than optimal.  This left me having to fight to get my eye anywhere near where where I could see through the scope and there have been times when I have said to myself:  This is going to hurt like hell  -  before pulling the trigger knowing that I was going to be hit in the face with a scope.   I have had my foot under one leg of a Harris Bipod and there have been times when I knew time was running out and I was not going to get time to adjust anything and was going to have to just get as lined up enough to see through the scope and then pull the trigger.

You mean the narrow eyebox should or shouldn't be a big concern ?  thx, I've never had one this narrow. 

[BrandonWatts]

I don't care for a narrow eye box. My razor hd gen 1 I had was very narrow in the eye box. Had to have your head perfectly behind the scope. Kinda concerns me with the athlon being so narrow. I may look at the nightforce shv or leupold lrp.

[JDHasty]

That sounds a bit less of a concern than it actually ends up being if you are using the scope for real-world hunting purposes.  Often times while hunting I have had to just get as solid as I could despite terrain that was less than optimal... far less than optimal.  This left me having to fight to get my eye anywhere near where where I could see through the scope and there have been times when I have said to myself:  This is going to hurt like hell  -  before pulling the trigger knowing that I was going to be hit in the face with a scope.   I have had my foot under one leg of a Harris Bipod and there have been times when I knew time was running out and I was not going to get time to adjust anything and was going to have to just get as lined up enough to see through the scope and then pull the trigger.

You mean the narrow eyebox should or shouldn't be a big concern ?  thx, I've never had one this narrow.

No, I mean it can be a deal breaker for me.  I need some latitude and longitude. 

We have gotten spoiled, I remember back to the days when it seemed that most people wanted to have target blocks on their varmint rifles and use a Super-Targetspot.  I was the outlier with a 6.5-20 Leupold and a 6-24 Buris Signature, but watched most people change over.  At first they went with Leupold 24X target scopes, but eventually they came around to my way of thinking.

A lot of it had to do with m wanting to setup away from the benches and the trucks and shoot off my bipod and they had a devil of a time with their scopes blacking out unless they were set up where they had a level place to shoot from.   

[Scott]

Anybody else have any feedback on this scope?