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Rifle Scopes Arken SH4 Gen2 6-24x50 VPR MIL
- Thread starter FuhQ
- Start date
Alright, here’s a few updated pics…
EP5 5-25x56 in Seekins Low 0.92” rings on EGW HD 20MOA base.
The last one is for showing barrel clearance. The flip cap isn’t touching the barrel, it’s just the angle.
EP5 5-25x56 in Seekins Low 0.92” rings on EGW HD 20MOA base.
The last one is for showing barrel clearance. The flip cap isn’t touching the barrel, it’s just the angle.
Swapped one of my SH4 Gen2 6-24x50’s over to the 6.5 Grendel using the Arken 20MOA mount.
Hopefully I'll get to the range Sunday afternoon...If the weather holds up. Which lately has been hit-or-miss around here. Hell, we had 2 tornados pass a mile or 2 from the house just last night, huge storm popped up completely out of nowhere.
No, the friends I was with, her brother wanted to hangout with us, and he's a fairly lightweight drinker (and can NOT handle his alcohol), and he left the bar hammered (like a dumbass) and ran his car into a ditch in the damn woods and almost got killed. All this took place after she told him to leave his car and that she would bring him back to get it in the morning...Because he was already drunk several hours prior...And took 3 shots nobody knew about. He dipped-out without saying anything, and next thing we know she's getting a phone call from him on the side of the road and he's covered in blood. Not his first rodeo with stupidity... Luckily it was on a rarely-trafficked backroad and nobody else was involved, hurt, and no property was damaged...Other than some trees, and his car is totaled-out.
You just can't fix stupid...
Dude's spent his whole life making bad decisions, hopefully for his sake, this near-death experience was his wakeup call.There’s always that one guy who thinks “he’s got this”.No, the friends I was with, her brother wanted to hangout with us, and he's a fairly lightweight drinker (and can NOT handle his alcohol), and he left the bar hammered (like a dumbass) and ran his car into a ditch in the damn woods and almost got killed. All this took place after she told him to leave his car and that she would bring him back to get it in the morning...Because he was already drunk several hours prior...And took 3 shots nobody knew about. He dipped-out without saying anything, and next thing we know she's getting a phone call from him on the side of the road and he's covered in blood. Not his first rodeo with stupidity... Luckily it was on a rarely-trafficked backroad and nobody else was involved, hurt, and no property was damaged...Other than some trees, and his car is totaled-out.
You just can't fix stupid...
Yep... Cut our night short by about 4 hours, because the bars don't close until 2am, and this all happened at 10pm... Ruined the whole evening for all of us. We were just trying to have a good time and then someone had to go and fuck it all up.
,,,just came across the latest video put out by VSO on their extended "testing" of the Arken SH4 G2. I found it interesting in how they "handled" the scope to determine any shortcomings that could be induced or found. For those folks that put more importance on a scopes durability, they should find this vid informative due the length of time these events occurred over. For others that might have some "buyers remorse" for whatever reason, this might make them feel a little better about their purchase, YMMV.
I haven't gotten to go shoot my EP5 yet, but I have not had any buyer's remorse with any of my Arkens. The only gripe I have on the EP5 is the turrets have very audible spring-back, and are kind of gritty (almost feels like they catch sometimes when spinning them) compared to all of my SH4 Gen2 scopes, which are nice and smooth, and have very minimal spring-back that is barely audible. Just looking at things inside the house side-by-side, in the same lighting, the EP5 seems to be extremely bright and clear. I'm excited to see how it fairs outside in ambient lighting conditions.
The EP5 seems to track true in my small bore-sighter box test (it has a built in grid). So as long as nothing is messed up, and it tracks true, I’ll probably just run it with the gritty turrets until their supply normalizes, then maybe see if I can get them to swap it out for one with smoother turrets that don’t feel like they have a “catch” in them when turning them, if they’ll let me?
Not necessarily Arken related, but I am using an Arken scope in this one, so... 
New video is up comparing the Sandman-S and Nomad-LT on my R700 5R .260 Rem.
New video is up comparing the Sandman-S and Nomad-LT on my R700 5R .260 Rem.
Constructive criticism:
You're slapping the trigger on some shots.
And, cut your booger hooker.
You're slapping the trigger on some shots.
And, cut your booger hooker.
Yeah, I let them get a bit long...It got taken care of immediately after that video. Also, I wasn't shooting for any sort of accuracy, just for the video. And sometimes it looks like I'm slapping the trigger, but actually not. Just letting my finger touch, then as soon as I feel metal, instantly pulling it while ambushing my mark, because I'm already on target. It does look kind of "slappy" on video. It's part of a fast-fire technique I use with AR's when engaging multiple targets rapidly. Sometimes it bleeds over with bolt guns when I get into a hurry.Constructive criticism:
You're slapping the trigger on some shots.
And, cut your booger hooker.
If you notice on more of my videos, you'll occasionally see me touch the trigger and then move my finger off it, and I'll do that multiple times, it's because while I was ready to shoot, something shifted, so using proper safety technique, removing my finger from the equation until things lined back up. But it does make it look like I have piss-poor trigger technique, so I get what you're saying.None of us are immune to slapping something here and there.
I do the same thing.
In fact, I bought a two-stage TT diamond to force me to stay on the trigger better.
I do find it's easier to back off with the two-stage.
I still prefer the single stage, but Rebecca stole that one for her Rim-X.
In fact, I bought a two-stage TT diamond to force me to stay on the trigger better.
I do find it's easier to back off with the two-stage.
I still prefer the single stage, but Rebecca stole that one for her Rim-X.
Yeah, I've always been a single-stage guy. Never been a big fan of the 2-stage triggers. I've played with them a bunch, and I might give one a fair shake someday just for fun, but for now, I'll stick with the singles.
Well, got out to the range today... But there's always a "Good, Bad & Worse" to everyday, right?
Started out good.
Got the SH4 Gen2 on the 6.5 Grendel sighted in, and did some quick 1st round of load development for it with the new barrel and bolt, and it looks VERY promising! Right out of the gate, it shot a 7/8" 3-shot group @ 100 with a brand new barrel, and no prior load development or experience with Faxon barrels. I also just took a SWAG at COAL and used the same one I was loading for my Satern Match barrel, which is 0.040" jump (on the new barrel). I'll play around with COAL now that I've gotten a good idea of the accuracy node powder charge.
The Christensen Arms Ranger 22 was pinwheeling the 5" steels @ 200 like it was going out of style. That shit never gets old. Shooting a .22LR at 200 yards with subsonics is a 2 second flight time. It's basically the equivalent of shooting a .308 Win out to 600 yards with flight times and wind reads. I wish I had gotten a picture of one of the groups...I didn't feel like walking down there, as it was getting close to closing time, but through the scope it put 3 in a triangle on a 5" steel @ 200, in what appeared to be under 1"... I know this thing can shoot, but damn...It's never shot a group like that @ 200!
Then the bad...
Went to sight in my EP5, and the damn scope base on my R700 5R .260 had worked itself lose and was bouncing around... No wonder it wouldn't zero. I've never had that happen before. I have now removed, cleaned, and re-torqued the screws with a small dab of Rocksett on them to prevent this from happening again. Everything is torqued back down and the Rocksett is curing as I type. She'll be ready to go next range session.
Now for the worse...
Apparently I got a lemon EP5... That glass is beautiful and clear and crisp up to 10x magnification. It starts getting bad CA from 10-16x. After 16x up to 25x it is completely unusable, and the CA is so bad it looks purple hazy, cloudy, and the image reflected is blurry and doubled in the dead center of the glass (bullseye area of a target). Parallax and Diopter will neither one (or combined) adjust it out. And I know it's not my eyes, because I had one of my buddy's who works up there look through it to confirm. Then I went and immediately looked back through (back-to-back) with my SH4 Gen2 6-24x50 on 24x mag on my Grendel, and it looked like a damn Swarovski compared to the EP5 on 25x. It was horrific. I will be sending it back.
I'm not upset with Arken, and I will not bash on them, because I've spent a long time in manufacturing and understand that shit happens, and so do lemons. But it is kind of a bummer... I will be contacting them either this evening or tomorrow morning via email. Hopefully they can get a new one tested/vetted and sent out to me soon.
Started out good.
Got the SH4 Gen2 on the 6.5 Grendel sighted in, and did some quick 1st round of load development for it with the new barrel and bolt, and it looks VERY promising! Right out of the gate, it shot a 7/8" 3-shot group @ 100 with a brand new barrel, and no prior load development or experience with Faxon barrels. I also just took a SWAG at COAL and used the same one I was loading for my Satern Match barrel, which is 0.040" jump (on the new barrel). I'll play around with COAL now that I've gotten a good idea of the accuracy node powder charge.
The Christensen Arms Ranger 22 was pinwheeling the 5" steels @ 200 like it was going out of style. That shit never gets old. Shooting a .22LR at 200 yards with subsonics is a 2 second flight time. It's basically the equivalent of shooting a .308 Win out to 600 yards with flight times and wind reads. I wish I had gotten a picture of one of the groups...I didn't feel like walking down there, as it was getting close to closing time, but through the scope it put 3 in a triangle on a 5" steel @ 200, in what appeared to be under 1"... I know this thing can shoot, but damn...It's never shot a group like that @ 200!
Then the bad...
Went to sight in my EP5, and the damn scope base on my R700 5R .260 had worked itself lose and was bouncing around... No wonder it wouldn't zero. I've never had that happen before. I have now removed, cleaned, and re-torqued the screws with a small dab of Rocksett on them to prevent this from happening again. Everything is torqued back down and the Rocksett is curing as I type. She'll be ready to go next range session.
Now for the worse...
Apparently I got a lemon EP5... That glass is beautiful and clear and crisp up to 10x magnification. It starts getting bad CA from 10-16x. After 16x up to 25x it is completely unusable, and the CA is so bad it looks purple hazy, cloudy, and the image reflected is blurry and doubled in the dead center of the glass (bullseye area of a target). Parallax and Diopter will neither one (or combined) adjust it out. And I know it's not my eyes, because I had one of my buddy's who works up there look through it to confirm. Then I went and immediately looked back through (back-to-back) with my SH4 Gen2 6-24x50 on 24x mag on my Grendel, and it looked like a damn Swarovski compared to the EP5 on 25x. It was horrific. I will be sending it back.
I'm not upset with Arken, and I will not bash on them, because I've spent a long time in manufacturing and understand that shit happens, and so do lemons. But it is kind of a bummer... I will be contacting them either this evening or tomorrow morning via email. Hopefully they can get a new one tested/vetted and sent out to me soon.
Email to Arken sent... We'll see how it plays out.
I said from the very first post that I was open and honest and wanted this thread to have transparency, but some folks didn't believe me. Their loss...
Also, after just messing around with my SH4 Gen2 6-24x50 on my 6.5 Grendel in the Arken 20MOA mount, I still have 20.8 MILs of upward adjustment for dialing with my 6.5 Grendel after setting 100 yard zero, and ZS. That will allow me to reach WAY farther than I should be shooting with a 6.5 Grendel. So, i'm pretty impressed, and happy, with that. The only reason I still have that much adjustment is thanks to the built-in 20MOA of the mount.
I said from the very first post that I was open and honest and wanted this thread to have transparency, but some folks didn't believe me. Their loss...
Also, after just messing around with my SH4 Gen2 6-24x50 on my 6.5 Grendel in the Arken 20MOA mount, I still have 20.8 MILs of upward adjustment for dialing with my 6.5 Grendel after setting 100 yard zero, and ZS. That will allow me to reach WAY farther than I should be shooting with a 6.5 Grendel.
So, i'm pretty impressed, and happy, with that. The only reason I still have that much adjustment is thanks to the built-in 20MOA of the mount.
But...but...but you are supposed to be a Arken shill I heardEmail to Arken sent... We'll see how it plays out.
I said from the very first post that I was open and honest and wanted this thread to have transparency, but some folks didn't believe me. Their loss...
Also, after just messing around with my SH4 Gen2 6-24x50 on my 6.5 Grendel in the Arken 20MOA mount, I still have 20.8 MILs of upward adjustment for dialing with my 6.5 Grendel after setting 100 yard zero, and ZS. That will allow me to reach WAY farther than I should be shooting with a 6.5 Grendel.
I sent my email at 9pm last night, had a response at 9am this morning, with a link to their electronic CS repair/replace form to submit. So, that's a good sign. Quick and responsive CS is so far, so good. Hopefully they'll get me a return shipping label soon, and I can send it out to them this week.
Mine took about a month.I sent my email at 9pm last night, had a response at 9am this morning, with a link to their electronic CS repair/replace form to submit. So, that's a good sign. Quick and responsive CS is so far, so good. Hopefully they'll get me a return shipping label soon, and I can send it out to them this week.
The email response, the shipping label, or the whole ordeal with sending it in and getting a new one back?
They sent me a shipping label at noon today. I've already got it boxed back up and ready to mail. I'll probably drop it off at the post office tomorrow.
That sucks... Just looked, and they sent me a Priority 1-Day label... I'm kind of shocked, honestly. So, I'm hoping they get it sent back fast.
Well, the EP5 is officially on its way back to Arken... USPS says it should arrive to them on Saturday. So, we'll see how fast turn-around time is. Hopefully the new one will have been thoroughly vetted and checked before sending it to me.
On a brighter note, my new T&R cans from Otter Creek Labs are ready, and just waiting on me to pay, so he can send them to my local SOT. Now I have to figure out how to afford 2 more stamps and 2 more KeyMo units. Now accepting donations...
On a brighter note, my new T&R cans from Otter Creek Labs are ready, and just waiting on me to pay, so he can send them to my local SOT. Now I have to figure out how to afford 2 more stamps and 2 more KeyMo units.
Now accepting donations... I don’t want to disclose what Arken just did for me right now, but I will say they want the customer to be happy with their products. I’m grateful and impressed.Well, the EP5 is officially on its way back to Arken... USPS says it should arrive to them on Saturday. So, we'll see how fast turn-around time is. Hopefully the new one will have been thoroughly vetted and checked before sending it to me.
On a brighter note, my new T&R cans from Otter Creek Labs are ready, and just waiting on me to pay, so he can send them to my local SOT. Now I have to figure out how to afford 2 more stamps and 2 more KeyMo units.
I bet he got a free upgrade on his mail order bride!Shoot me a DM... I'm curious...
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I bet you can find one for the cost of a plane ticket right now...
Yeah, but is that with or without the Wuhan Bat Aides?I bet you can find one for the cost of a plane ticket right now...
I was talking about Russian/Ukrainian imports, given the events that kicked off last night (early yesterday morning over there).
Hmm, Ukraine budget bride.....pics 1st. Don't wanna end up with a non refundable hairy Olga or some shit
I know they can't all be winners, but Odessa, Ukraine is known to have the most beautiful women on earth. Having seen quite a few women from there, I must say... I think there's definitely something in the water.
Then again, I've always had a bit of a thing for the Slav ladies... 
I know they can't all be winners, but Odessa, Ukraine is known to have the most beautiful women on earth. Having seen quite a few women from there, I must say... I think there's definitely something in the water.
Sooooo, we gonna get a group buy started ?
Well, my EP5 that I sent back got lost in USPS land somewhere, way out there in the ether that they all must be breathing... Bunch of idiots...
Emailed Arken a link to the tracking so they can track it, and hopefully they can coordinate with USPS and get it back to them. The scope made it all the way from Alabama to the North Houston Hub (which is damn-near to their location), and then tracking suddenly stopped for a few days, and it popped back up after having magically made a HUGE 360º loop, and ended up back here at the USPS in my town somehow, and now it's floating in limbo after leaving here, and going to the next biggest city Hub... WTF... Are they smoking crack?
But, the guys at Arken were cool, since they can physically see that USPS has possession of it, and not me, so they went ahead and honored the warranty claim and sent out the new one this afternoon. Which I thought was really cool of them to do. USPS is just a headache... That's what happens when you let government get involved in any enterprise...It goes to shit.
Hopefully the replacement EP5 will be top-notch.
Emailed Arken a link to the tracking so they can track it, and hopefully they can coordinate with USPS and get it back to them. The scope made it all the way from Alabama to the North Houston Hub (which is damn-near to their location), and then tracking suddenly stopped for a few days, and it popped back up after having magically made a HUGE 360º loop, and ended up back here at the USPS in my town somehow, and now it's floating in limbo after leaving here, and going to the next biggest city Hub... WTF... Are they smoking crack?
But, the guys at Arken were cool, since they can physically see that USPS has possession of it, and not me, so they went ahead and honored the warranty claim and sent out the new one this afternoon. Which I thought was really cool of them to do. USPS is just a headache... That's what happens when you let government get involved in any enterprise...It goes to shit.
Hopefully the replacement EP5 will be top-notch.
Well, my EP5 that I sent back got lost in USPS land somewhere, way out there in the ether that they all must be breathing... Bunch of idiots...
Emailed Arken a link to the tracking so they can track it, and hopefully they can coordinate with USPS and get it back to them. The scope made it all the way from Alabama to the North Houston Hub (which is damn-near to their location), and then tracking suddenly stopped for a few days, and it popped back up after having magically made a HUGE 360º loop, and ended up back here at the USPS in my town somehow, and now it's floating in limbo after leaving here, and going to the next biggest city Hub... WTF... Are they smoking crack?
But, the guys at Arken were cool, since they can physically see that USPS has possession of it, and not me, so they went ahead and honored the warranty claim and sent out the new one this afternoon. Which I thought was really cool of them to do. USPS is just a headache... That's what happens when you let government get involved in any enterprise...It goes to shit.
Hopefully the replacement EP5 will be top-notch.
....now that is the kind of CS I personally like to see, kudos to Arken on that (Y)
Yeah, I was kind of shocked by that, too. But I've been thoroughly impressed with their CS throughout this whole process. When I emailed them about the issues with the first one, they have been responsive, and super helpful. Never questioned anything, and were always saying if I needed anything else, not to hesitate to reach out to them. Even sometimes they responded to emails at 9 and 10pm at night. So far, I'm more than impressed with their CS team.
There CS is the best in the business!
I don’t want to disclose quite yet why.
But it’s top notch.
Just to piss you off worse, I know what he's talking about.Mother fuc........you & your teasers!
They did me a big solid.Mother fuc........you & your teasers!
But saying so, could cause people to take advantage of their kindness.
If anyone is on the fence about buying one, rest easy that you’ll be taken care of.
FuQ too!Just to piss you off worse, I know what he's talking about.
I HATE being in the dark
Alright... My replacement EP5 came in today... I looked at it (through the window) all the way up to 25x, at my mailbox that's about 50 yards away, and the parallax seems to be close, and the image was nice and clear. I think we have a winner this time!
Now that my base is Rocksett'd down, and my new EP5 is mounted up, I'll probably hit up the range tomorrow or Sunday...The weather is beautiful today! It was 80º and sunny! I took the Freedom panels off the Gladiator to ride around 2 towns over to run some errands this afternoon. The news says the rest of the weekend is supposed to be this pretty, so, it would be a good weekend to get some range time in.
Now that my base is Rocksett'd down, and my new EP5 is mounted up, I'll probably hit up the range tomorrow or Sunday...The weather is beautiful today! It was 80º and sunny! I took the Freedom panels off the Gladiator to ride around 2 towns over to run some errands this afternoon. The news says the rest of the weekend is supposed to be this pretty, so, it would be a good weekend to get some range time in.
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Got my ep5 today as well, it’s a good one.
Glass is clear to 25x parallax works the scope is pretty damn nice. I haven’t mounted it yet, but this thing is definitely going to give the strike eagle a hard time staying in its position. It might get moved to the 30-06 that never gets shot and this thing will go on the creed. I’ll have to get them side by side to compare first..
Glass is clear to 25x parallax works the scope is pretty damn nice. I haven’t mounted it yet, but this thing is definitely going to give the strike eagle a hard time staying in its position. It might get moved to the 30-06 that never gets shot and this thing will go on the creed. I’ll have to get them side by side to compare first..
