To be fair, the weight of the orignal Arken scopes having 34 mm tubes is in the same range as other manufacturers with the same diameter tubes. In fact, the Vortex Razor is 48 oz. That's 12 oz heavier than the Arken SH4.
I've got this mounted on my CVA Cascade XT in .300 WM I really like it. Great value for the price. This is my second one. Crisp turret. For the shooting I do it's perfect for me.
Thank you Moondog .... your honesty and fine tuning with scope reviews is unparalleled. I have 4 SH4 6X24 1 SH4 4X16 and 1 EP5 5X25 ... Arken is my go to budget but Quality scope... Next is the EP8 LPVO for my AR ... of course there are better scopes out there but for the price of all my Arken scopes to equal on of one Nightforce i will take my Arken's any day on all my rifles.
I just bought the 6-24x5 EPL4 and I'm sending it back. I have a target 700 yards behind my house and it will not focus. I spent 15 minutes trying to focus the scope, adj parallax, anything to focus on that target. No matter what magnification, all I got was a blurry image. Sorry, I only give optics companies one chance. I compared the clarity to my Leupold VX-2 3-9x50 and my PA SLX 3-18x50 (which does not have great optical quality), and it didn't even come close. I brought out the old Redfield 3-9x50 and it blows the Arken out of the water. I fell for the internet shills. Never again. Buy once, cry once.
You always do a great job with your reviews 👏 👍. Ole Joe is 😂😂😂. I've got 2 Arken scopes and I'm very happy with them. I'll probably stick with the 34mm line for me, but this one is nice !
Thanks Moondog. I have a EPL 4-16x44 on my franchi elite 308. They go quiet well and still a pretty light and well balanced combo. I have no faults and was given a battery aswell
My Diamondback Tactical is still one of the sharpest and best value I've found. I just wish Vortex wouldn't ghost me when I've tried reaching out to them to review their scopes.
I’ve had my eye on this scope for a while. I know not to judge glass through a camera lens but they could have done a better job with making the reticle more visible on the lower power. So far it it’s a runner up against the Conquest V4, the VX-6, and LHT rifle scopes
Of course it is at what, 1 forth the price? would anyone expect anything else? Kinda nonsensical comparison don't ya think? Doesn't match a 4 to 5 grand Kalas or ORI Valdada either. Who woulda guessed it? KnifeMaker
I personally would like to see you shoot "the box" with the optics you review. But, the reviews are well done, a lot of useful information and the review has helped me make this scope my next purchase. Thank you. Dave & The Girls
Great review! My EPL4's came with batteries in the box. The parallax and ilumination knobs were initially really stiff but after a few agressive nipple twisters they smoothed out some. Im now searching for someone who has put butler creek flip up caps on their Arkens and can tell me how they measure up to Arken's Flip caps which most reviewers dont seem to like much.
I didn't have a problem with not enough elevation adjustment at 100yrds with a 22LR. How far are you shooting your 22LR? If you're doing ELR 22LR you should either get a 20 MOA rail or an EP5.
@@Moondog2A For example if i get 15 MOA rail or 30 and sometime to shoot at 300-350 yards. Can i do it? I want epl 4 because it is lightweight scope and ep-5 is massive one
@@Moondog2A I am gonna install it on Area 419 reel. I also think that it should be enough. Gun is cz 457 varmint mtr. Already made order of rifle and will get soon. So ordering Arken epl 4 is good idea, right? As i see it's almost same scope as ep5 and i don't need extra weight, because Mtr is already heavy toy
Is the glass the same between SH-4J and EPL-4? The SH-4J has 32 MIL in elevation and a 34mm tube over the EPL-4 20 MIL in elevation and 30mm tube and these are more favorable for long range. I do like the EPL-4 parallax of 10Yds which makes this better for 22LR.
Im having the hardest choice of my life first the gun is a sig cross 6.5 (so its a light weight gun) i kinda want something light and that has illumination and a grid style bdc reticle now that i know what i want..so far ive had a vortex strike eagle 5-25 took it back it was just too big, burris signature hd wasnt quality, leupold mark 5hd litterally perfect except its litterally a 2nd focal crosshair and ud need to pay 2k more to get the features i want. Now i have a primary arms glx 4.5-27x56 athena bpr mil and its pretty nice but kinda too heavy at 32oz ish. I was thinking of trying a trijicon tenmile or vortex razor lht or the pst gen ii all 3 of those are in that $1k price and just over 20oz......do you have any input on those models or would reccomend something else?
Thanks for the review. I have a Ruger Precision Rimfire like what you used in this review and I'm thinking about getting the EPL4 6-24x50 for a NRL22 base class setup. I am curious what rings do you have on your gun? I am unsure of what height to get because of the 30MOA mount on the Ruger and I would like to order the Halo rings at the same time as the scope.
Great job on the review. I have both the SH4 gen 2 and are very happy with the performance they offer. I'm am looking for a lighter scope for my compact pcp rifle, and I think this would be perfect. Nice job
Do you feel a significant difference in the scope between the EP4 and EP5, not the accessories but the quality of the scope itself to justify the price difference?
Depends on your use case. If you plan on competing in ELR matches the EPL4 doesn't have a christmas tree reticle. The EP5 is slightly sharper and better brightness than the EPL4. For general target shooting at a range (100-200yrds), EPL4 is my go-to. Hope you subscribe.
Did you notice if under the windage cap if the knob wiggles back n fourth? Like the machining does not allow the turret be 100% stabile with keeper plate installed after set?
@@Moondog2A I double and triple checked and none of my Arkens I recently bought included any batteries. I brought this up and messaged the dealer I purchased these new Arkens from but no reply.
@@commonsense5709 I bought one of these scopes for my son last week and it came with a battery. Someone didn't put one in your box. They're not expensive, but if you call or email with your order number they'll probably send you one.
Don’t ever buy I just emailed them to have a scope warranty because it would not track left to right. They want me to send pictures and video to show them that is the worst customer service I have ever seen some of us are not that computer savvy do yourself a favor and save your money, and spend it somewhere else I now own a very expensive paperweight
Can't you take the video with your phone and email directly from your phone. Some other online retailers (not pewpew products mind you) are also requiring this method to save on shipping.
Requiring proof of complaint is not bad customer service. I own a Bergera B-14 HMR, it is not a full custom rifle but far from a budget rifle. Anyways I had an issue with the bottom metal, I reached out to Bergara and they requested proof of complaint. I snapped some photos, sent them over email and the next day Bergara had a new bottom metal in the mail on its way to me free of charge or even shipping costs. I would consider this some of the best customer service I’ve ever had. To make a long story short just because you are incapable of taking a photo and emailing it to them does not mean Arken does not want to correct the issue you’re having. Maybe ask a friend or family member for help with the email, and maybe just maybe you will be surprised at how Arken responds in replacing or repairing your “paperweight”
If you dislike the scope and feel it is not up to par with other scopes in this price point that is your opinion and 100% valid. The only point I was trying to make is that you not being able to send pictures to the company is not indicative of poor customer service. If you can afford a Razor HD or a Schmidt & Bender then more power to you. Just don’t pay a quarter of the price and expect a Nightforce. They may very well require picture proof of defects as well.
Hey just watched your video. I liked it 👍👍 I just ordered a EP5 I read a few reviews that say you can’t get full use of the magnification. On the 5-25. With only up to 20 power being clear . Have you found that to be true. Cheers
Yes, the image loses sharpness past 16x. But most long range shooters won't set it above 12-16x because they want to see the entire lower Christmas Tree markings. FFP means that at 20x power the reticle grows too large to use the lower part of your reticle. Still, I use the 24x when looking for holes when zeroing my scope.
I recently bought 2 new EP5s and they must be using better quality glass than their older EP5s had 2 years ago and last year which weren't clear past 20x. The 2 new ones I received early December 2023 are clear all the way to 25x maximum magnification and I would rate then just as clear on maximum magnification compared to my Athlon Midas Tacs and Ares BTR Gen 2 scopes. Either Arken stepped up and just recently changed to using upgraded far superior quality glass in their newest EP5s or I just got a pair of lottery winners with the clearest glass. In fact, they're really close to the clarity compared to my Tract Toric ELR and Athlon Cronus BTR UHD. I'm pretty darned impressed with the newest EP5s I recently bought. The EPL4s aren't as clear as the EP5s. They're more than good enough for the price and better than most of their competition such as clearer with better turrets than the Element Helix and Titan, Vortex Diamondback Tactical/Swampfox Patriot, about the same clarity as the Vortex Strike Eagle 3-18x44 FFP 34mm but with far superior turrets, Athlon Argos BTR, Helos, Riton 3 and 5, All Chinese Blackhounds, All Chinese Bushnells (the newest EP5 is clearer than the Match Pro ED), and many more short of the Athlon Midas Tacs and Ares BTRs. The EPL4 have an incredible bang for your buck. The newest EP5s are night and day better than the EPL4s with noticeably better glass and better turrets. If weight isn't an issue I'd highly recommend buying the EP5s. It's very difficult for me to even consider buying any more Tract Toric ELRs and Athlon Cronus BTR scopes after these EP5s especially due to the noticeably huge eyebox and wider FOV and massive sight picture. I'd say the newest EP5s are night and day superior in that regards and especially the far superior turrets and glass looks pretty close. I'm still blown away. I'm going to definitely order more EP5s. The EP5 sight picture is also night and day far superior compared to my Athlon Ares BTR Gen 2s, Midas Tacs, and Midas HD scopes.
If you want to sharpen the image on maximum magnification try using the sunshade and stuffing it with the foam tube protector to restrict the light coming into the scope. I think you will be pleasantly surprised even with the foam tube sticking out past the end of the sunshade. It also helps widen depth of field.
So you like the Arken EP5 👍👍 😃 When you matched it with the Tract Toric I was impressed. Mine just showed up in the mail a week ago 👍. Can’t wait to get it out on the range. Cheers
