Simply, Athlon scopes are a China made product. They will work about like anything made in China.
Which is to say, some will be excellent, most will be OK, and some will suck. Maybe you will get lucky and get an excellent example on the first try.
In the $400 - $1000 market, I would always go used from the big 4. Swarovski, Schmidt Bender, Kahles, and Zeiss, particularly with T* coatings. You have to be careful with some of the newr Zeiss, though, because there are Chinese copies out there. I always look for West Germany on the older ones.
Same thing with Vortex, they too are mostly china made but with a larger price tag. I have had a bad one of them, and a couple good ones as well. For me, customer service makes or breaks a company and vortex broke it for me. They did NOT stand up to the reputation. I have not gotten to use the Athlon warranty, if I do I hope for better, but you never know.
