I have a Leupold VX-R Patrol 1-4x24 on the rifle I use for service rifle and love the clarity.  Just built a 10.5" upper and need some glass for it.

I don't see shooting past 300yds with the new rifle but with my old(er) eyes I'm finding I need the magnification upped just a bit more each year.

Leupold has a VX-R in 3-9x40 for about 550.00 but I see some people raving about Athlon scopes and others Vortex.  Athlon and Vortex seem to have better price points than Leupold.   Tried to find some comparative info but came up empty.

So I'm turning to arfcom to help me find the right scope.

Up to 600

Having owned or currently owning all three.

Cheap leupold scopes have better glass than argos or midas athlon scopes.  I cant speculate about high end athlon scopes.  With that said the turrets on my 1-6 Midas are better than the turrets on my Leupold Vx-3 lrp which is 3x the price.

Some of the athlon scopes track really well, (this is noted as a feature on the athlon scope website).

Both leupold and vortex have really good warranties that are proven.  Athlon seems to have a really good warranty as well but they are a much newer company so who knows if they will be around in 10 years.

With respect to vortex it has been my experience that cheap vortex scopes are terrible (see crossfire series) but the more expensive scopes are nice.

The Vortex Viper PST 2 1-6 comes in under your budget and is a feature packed value.  You can snag them on DSG with a mount for 599 or get just the scope on sale often at 499.

For Athlon all I can speak to is the Cronus. It’s truly Vortex Razor quality, just less expensive. Anyone that says otherwise has not been behind both.

The only thing I will say is the Vortex turrets out the box do feel better than Athlon. However after cleaning the grease out the turrets and replacing with dielectric grease, they are just as tactile.

If athlon is still around in 5 years I might consider them, depending on long term reviews and more exposure in the market.

VXR Patrol 3-9 is a pretty good rig. Would be at home on a deer rifle. I wish Leupold would do a 1-5 or 1-6 VXR. Say in the Viper price range.
There are a lot of good, not great scopes in that price range. But most of the time it’s good enough.

Fair enough. Last year there were a few big league PRS shooters using the Athlon Cronus. If they can penetrate the professional precision rifle market, they will be here to stay.

I don’t care much for Vortex with the exception of the Razor line.  Have never looked through an Athlon scope but have an Athlon rangefinder I won in a drawing that I like.  Have friend who likes Athlon scopes.

I have a VX-R 2-7x33 I really like with the caveat that I don’t twist turrets.

My Recce build uses a VX-R 3-9x40 Patrol mil/mil as the primary optic.  I’m very pleased with its performance.  Very good glass at its price point.  The motion-activated Firedot TMR reticle can be made daylight bright and has insanely long battery life with typical use - years.

I have two vxr scopes like yours. Few years ago put a vxr 2-7 on my ar10 and really like it