In our Photo Of The Day, we go back in time. This photo was taken on October 13, 1990, some 32 years ago. We have a collection of firearms used by the Swedish Army at the time – some are still going strong – like the Ak4 (H&K G3), Grg m/48 (Carl Gustaf recoilless rifle 84 mm), Ksp m/58 (FN MAG) all gathered around an off-road vehicle Tgb 20. The Swedish platoon soldiers in the picture all have the green Uniform m/59. Note that most of the Ak4s have bayonets mounted and that one has a riflescope (made by Hensoldt possibly, to make an Ak4 DMR version). It was around this time the new Ak5 (FN FNC) was introduced to units.

The original caption is in Swedish (Source) and you can find a machine-translated text here:

The Army’s contingency platoon was first organized in 1983.

The platoon could intervene in various emergency preparedness projects and solve limited combat tasks in connection with these. They could also solve various surveillance tasks, and be able to intervene within the framework of the provisions of IKFN (Interventions, Violations, Peace and Neutrality).

The platoon was about 40 men and was trained in two rounds – with the introduction of group leaders in January and for the second platoon in April.

P 10 / Fo 43 was one of the units responsible for emergency platoons.

Photo by Rosén, Per-Olof (1947-). The original can be found here: Source. SRBA — Södermanlands Regementes Bildarkiv, Arsenalen.

The Athlon MIDAS HMR rifle scope is in its own series with a 2.5 to 15 magnification range, which is a good start for up-close to medium range work. The MIDAS HMR is one of three scopes Athlon sent us to review, and of the three in this review series, is the cheapest option, but they offer a wide range of optics for almost any budget. The three scopes, ARES ETR, HELOS BTR, and this MIDAS HMR have roughly the same magnification range with several different features and price points between them. Let’s see what the MIDAS HMR has to offer.

Athlon Optics @ TFB & AllOutdoor

• TFB Review: Athlon ARES ETR 3-18×50 UHD IR FFP Scope
• New Budget LPVO: Athlon Optics Ares ETR 1-10×28 UHD
• AllOutdoor Review: Athlon Optics Argos BTR Gen2 1-8x24mm SFP IR
• AllOutdoor Review: Athlon Optics Talos BTR 1-4x24mm LPVO

ATHLON MIDAS HMR SCOPE REVIEW: INITIAL IMPRESSIONS & SPECS

Taking the Athlon MIDAS HMR out of the box, it felt solid and stout. The matte black finish was as expected and felt as if it should hold up well. The Minute of Angle (MOA) reticle is practical, without being cluttered and is definitely a step up over a simple duplex crosshair. The MOA lines are a bit sparsely numbered, with 20 MOA being the first number shown from the center, but the spacing checks out when you count the hash marks. The distance between each hash mark is 2 MOA, with the same spacing for the interruption between the 10 and 12-30 lines.

The Athlon MIDAS HMR scope’s reticle is located in the Second Focal Plane (SPF), which means that the reticle stays the same size regardless of the optical magnification level, but it also means that the MOA subtensions are only absolute at the highest magnification, 15x. This aspect of SPF is what some people would call a deal-breaker, however, some long-distance shooters see this as a feature, not a bug. By doing a bit of math, dialing back the magnification should change the subtensions to quantifiable numbers. For example, if the hash marks equal 2 MOA at 15x magnification, then at half magnification, just a hair over 8x, each mark should equal 4 MOA.

Notice the crisp, edge-to-edge image. The HD Glass on the example I tested is excellent.

The first 10 MOA lines; up, down, left and right, are illuminated. The MIDAS HMR’s illumination dial is the outermost portion of the left turret, while the inner dial adjusts the parallax. The illumination dial has six brightness settings, which are each separated by an off setting. I like this feature since you can set your off setting to the nearest couple brightness levels according to your most likely need, or you can quickly adjust to the most extreme levels of 1 or 6 from the off position between them. The illumination dial cap houses the battery compartment, which accommodates a standard CR2032 battery.

The MIDAS HMR has turret caps, which give a subdued tactical look to it, while still having practicality between the AHMR reticle, illumination, and a reasonable magnification range that still lets the user engage targets up close, and out to 500 to 1000 yards, depending on caliber.

The magnification range seems to be an error, the power of which is found on the MIDAS BTR. Image credit: Athlon Optics

RANGE TIME WITH THE ATHLON MIDAS HMR SCOPE

The Athlon MIDAS HMR has crisp glass, with only an ever-so-slight hint of distortion around the farthest edge. My camera won’t always show the reticle and the background as clearly as the naked eye does, but you can get the idea in my real-world photos. I mated the MIDAS HMR scope to my Leupold Mark AR 30mm scope mount, and paired the system with my AR-15. Despite only having a 16-inch barrel, the HMR rifle scope didn’t look out of place, and I felt that the only thing I was sacrificing, optically anyway, was home defense and CQB. However, at those ranges, one could eyeball it if this setup was all they had.

The parallax adjustment moves smoothly but is stiff enough to stay in place. The elevation and windage turrets adjust with audible and tactile clicks with each quarter MOA turn. The magnification throw knob is easily adjusted but takes intentional force to move it. The magnification knob is milled in a way that allows for better grip but isn’t rough on the hands.

I enjoyed slapping my MK Machining Covid target at 200 yards, standing, and standing supported. I also took Hornady’s 75-grain SBR Training loads out to 500 yards, which required a bit of homework leading up to since I was using a 16-inch barrel and the listed test barrel length for that load is 24 inches, yet designed for 10.5 to 12-inch barrels (head-scratcher, I know). I took a couple guesses on muzzle velocity for the ballistics calculator, but it paid off; I found that a 19 MOA hold over on the reticle did the trick, and I was hitting the right elevation. I didn’t hold off for windage at all since I wanted to see what it was doing on paper.

Elevation was spot on at 500 yards, but I let the wind do its thing and didn’t hold off for windage.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I enjoyed my time with the Athlon MIDAS HMR rifle scope, with each feature being user friendly, and the overall construction was soundly built and sturdy. The reticle’s markings were a bit sparse, which took me a bit more time to line up my shots at distance and double checking I was on the right hash mark. However, I can certainly see the value in having less clutter compared to Christmas Tree reticles, which I know can be off-puting to some shooters. Despite all that, Athlon’s AHMR reticle was still reliable and got me on target at 500 yards on a really windy, gusty day. The clarity of the HD Glass was superb.

The Athlon MIDAS HMR scope is currently only available in 2.5-15×50 and carries an MSRP of $649.99 on Athlon’s website. You can view the MIDAS information HERE on their dedicated page, or check out their website, AthlonOptics.com.

What do you think about the Athlon MIDAS HMR? If you’re interested in this optic, which gun would you put it on?

On this Friday Night Lights, we will take a look at an L3Harris Clip-On Night Vision Device – Long Range (CNVD-LR). Clip-on night vision devices are used for seeing farther at night than a typical NVG on your face. They are often mounted inline in front of a day optic like a rifle scope or spotting scope. I will compare this to other well-known clip-on night vision devices and see how the CNVD-LR stacks up against them.

CNVD @ TFB:

• Friday Night Lights: Magnum Universal Night Sight (MUNS) PVS-27
• Friday Night Lights: NVD KAC UNS®SR Night Vision Clip-On
• Friday Night Lights: Simrad KN203 Clip-On Night Vision

L3 Warrior Systems CNVD-LR

When it comes to long-range night vision clip-ons, most shooters go with a PVS-30 or PVS-27. However, the CNVD-LR is arguably better than them depending on your priorities. The biggest difference you will notice about the CNVD-LR is the weight. Below are the weights for a PVS-27, PVS-30 and CNVD-LR.

The CNVD-LR weighs half that of the 27 and 30. The weight is pretty impressive. It is just 12 oz more than the KAC UNS®SR which is much smaller but can’t see as far as the CNVD-LR.

Another major difference between the CNVD-LR versus the 27 or 30 is the size of the glass. The CNVD uses a catadioptric lens (mirror lens) and so does the PVS-27 but it is a lot smaller. See the photo below.

L-R: CNVD-LR, PVS-30, PVS-27

The downside to the CNVD-LR objective lens is the size of the front mirror (the black circle. That means there is less glass to let light in.

The objective lens is threaded on the outside so you can install the glare stop. It is a polymer ring to help minimize glare, it is like a lens hood. It is also used to hold the rubber lens cover in place.

The PVS-30 and PVS-27 come with a foam wrap to block light between the clip-on and objective lens of your day scope. The CNVD-LR comes with a rubber sleeve that covers the rear eyepiece.

CNVD-LR rear eyepiece without rubber sleeve.

The rubber sleeve is used to dock your day optic. You line up the day optic and slip the rubber sleeve over the objective lens of your day optic. This does not really work with larger objectives like an actual rifle scope or spotting scope.

Powering the CNVD-LR

The CNVD is dual fuel like the newer PVS-30. It can be powered with a CR123 or a AA with an adapter. Unlike the PVS-30 single battery compartment, the CNVD uses a threaded spacer to lengthen the battery compartment for use with a AA battery. If you want to go back to using CR123 batteries you need to remove the spacer.

AA battery adapter installed

CR123 battery setup

AA battery with spacer

CR123

Controlling The CNVD-LR

Turning the PVS-24LR is similar to the PVS-30 and PVS-27. However, the on switch is positioned rearward where the other clip-ons position them 90º to the side. The PVS-24LR is a little different in that it starts off at the lowest gain level, you have to turn the knob all the way to max gain. The 30 and 27 start with max gain and you keep turning the power knob to reduce the gain.

One of the biggest downsides to the PVS-30 is adjusting focus. It has a large ring that is really far forward making it difficult for people with shorter arms to reach it while maintaining sight picture. The PVS-24LR has a throw lever in the middle of the housing making it easier to reach and adjust,.

Using The CNVD-LR

The newer versions come with L3 white phosphor tubes. While performance between the green phosphor and white phosphor only comes down to the specs of the tubes, white phosphor is more pleasing to the eye for most people. I was curious to see how the higher specs on the PVS-24LR compared to my PVS-30 and PVS-27.

The PVS-24LR is optimized for 8x-12x optics but you can use magnification ranges outside of that. 3x is the bare minimum to see a full image otherwise the image is smaller than you would like.

I compared this CNVD-LR against my PVS-27 and I did not see a significant improvement in the image on the CNVD-LR. The PVS-27 has a lower performing tube. According to some sources, the 27 has a minimum of 1344 FOM. But without a spec sheet, it is hard to know tube performance. However, it is safe to assume that the tube in the 27 would not be better than the CNVD-LR. That being said, could the larger lens be helping the 27 to perform similarly to the PVS-24LR? It appears so.

My friends and I got all our clip-ons together to compare them all under the same conditions.

L-R: Refurbished PVS-30 (EuroOptic), Retubed Unfilmed WP L3 PVS-30 (Sureshot NightVision), CNVD-LRx2, PVS-27 (Commercial), PVS-27 (Mil/LE)

My friend Kevin already had the CNVD-LR and we had tested it against the PVS-30 and PVS-27. I was able to borrow another CNVD-LR from another friend so we could see if Kevin’s unit was performing as it should. Sure enough, there is no discernible difference between the CNVD-LR units. What we were very curious to find out was what a retubed PVS-30 would look like in comparison. A new friend, Marco, had Sureshot Night Vision retube a PVS-30 with an L3 unfilled white phosphor tube. The spec sheet says the tube has 2500 FOM. CNVD-LR have a minimum FOM of 2376+, according to TNVC. We do not know the specs of the CNVDs but they should be similar to the retube.

This video briefly shows the 24LR vs the retubed 30. The video does not do the images justice. The 24LR has a noticeably noisier image than the 30. There was less scintillation in the PVS-30. We think this may be due to the larger lens.

Another comparison that we did was the refurbished PVS-30 vs the mil-spec tan PVS-30. The refurb 30 was what EuroOptic offered a couple years ago. The mil-spec 30 has a better tube in it. According to Marco, the refurb PVS-30 has 1984 FOM and the mil-spec PVS-30 should have a higher-performing spec tube that is over 2,000 FOM.

Final Thoughts On the CNVD-LR

The white phosphor is appealing but the unit that I borrowed has a blemish in zone 1 of the image intensifier. Take a look at the image posted just below the green phosphor image. You can see a black speck on the image. Well when you zoom in, that blemish appears bigger. See the image below.  That is a sizable blemish and this CNVD-LR is for a local Para Rescue unit. I can not believe this passed quality control from L3Harris.

I was tempted to get a CNVD-LR but they are easily double the price of a PVS-30 or PVS-27. Kevin’s cost him just shy of $9k. Retail is at $13k, that is what my PJ friend paid albeit govt funds. After seeing how well the PVS-27 performs to the PVS-24LR as well as the retubed PVS-30, both Kevin and I plan to have Sureshot Night Vision retube our respective PVS-27s with white phosphor tubes. I plan to use an Elbit with 81 lp resolution. Kevin is going to use a Photonis echo white phosphor tube since they have better high light performance than Gen 3 tubes.

I am hopeful the retubed 27s will outperform the CNVD-LR. The retube service is not cheap. You have to buy a good tube and that will cost a couple thousand dollars then there is the labor which I have been told could be up to $2500. Marco paid $5300 to retube his PVS-30 housing but that was tube and labor combined.

I will revisit the CNVD-LR when the retubed 27s return. For more information on the PVS-24LR (CNVD-LR) go to the L3Harris website.