Stick around long enough and a person can see every brand of scope get dumped on.
So, everyone, and I do mean everyone, craps on Vortex. They have the Razor Gen III 6-36X56 that was just used to make the longest record shot recorded at 4.4 miles. And some people have placed well in PRS competitions with various models, including the Diamondback Tactical 6-24X50. Yeah, supposedly a shit optic there.
People go goo-goo ga-ga over Arken. The set screws on the turrets back out and it happens to others who have a lot of experience with rifles and scopes and the solution is to use vibra tite on the screws. Other scopes do not require that. People talk of using them for hunting but I have not seen people putting them on their PRS or other competition rigs.
However, according to tiborsaurus rex, the Arken has no sun glare as opposed to his Night Force ATACR, which does get glare or wash-out at a close angle to the sun.
But from what I can see, pick an optic that works for you and stick with that. Of course, we cannot afford all the scopes in the world. And believe it or not, videos of the view are not as accurate as you think. The chromatic aberration you might see is not just the coatings on the lens of the scope, it is also an artifact of the camera taking the video.
All scopes look good when you are standing in the store and looking about 30 feet away at another wall.
Problem is, I see some old wive's tales in the stories of scope problems here and there. And humans, well, humans only lie on days that end in the letter 'y'.
But my general rule is that I would not spend more than 1500 on an optic and rings unless it also going to do the dishes and vacuum the carpet. But, then, again, I am not a professional competitor. Plenty of people way smarter than I am can attest to the quality increasing with the price. One bit of wisdom I thought was most important.
When it comes to choosing an optic, decide what your intended use is. Then, choose glass quality over feature set. Maybe one scope holds zero, no shift near the end of turret travel. Great glass but it doesn't have a zero stop. Get that scope and figure out your own redneck way to return to zero. The glass trumps the whiz bang stuff.
