I’m looking at the EP-4 4-16X50. Just received an email from Arken that they’re releasing a new 4-16 in December so I guess they’re not offering this one anymore. I like the current model. If anyone has “a like new one” they didn’t do anything with, I have cash ready to take it off your hands.
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Rifle Scopes The Arken Optics Thread (merged)
- Thread starter Banango
- Start date
7x in stock as of now according to their website;
venturefirearms.com
Arken Optics SH4 GEN2 6-24x50mm FFP Scope - Quality and Precision
Arken Optics SH4 GEN2 6-24x50mm FFP Scope - Lifetime Warranty - Precision Tracking Guaranteed - HD Glass - First Focal Plane (FFP) - Zero Stop - Illuminated Reticle
venturefirearms.com
Sweet thanks7x in stock as of now according to their website;
Arken Optics SH4 GEN2 6-24x50mm FFP Scope - Quality and Precision
Arken Optics SH4 GEN2 6-24x50mm FFP Scope - Lifetime Warranty - Precision Tracking Guaranteed - HD Glass - First Focal Plane (FFP) - Zero Stop - Illuminated Reticle
7x in stock as of now according to their website;
Arken Optics SH4 GEN2 6-24x50mm FFP Scope - Quality and Precision
Arken Optics SH4 GEN2 6-24x50mm FFP Scope - Lifetime Warranty - Precision Tracking Guaranteed - HD Glass - First Focal Plane (FFP) - Zero Stop - Illuminated Reticle
Now 6 in-stock... Damn, I like mine enough to where I'm having a hard time resisting just buying another one for no good reason. They're just a good deal IMO after shooting one now for a bit, kinda like a "poor-man's/budget Razor GenII"... 90% of the experience/performance for 1/5 the cost. No, the glass isn't near as nice as a Razor's, but it's damn close to PST GenII-nice in a very beefy Razor-like body (which is pretty cool for $400).
IDK, I think it more than lives up to 400 bucks (if your unit ends up being like mine and not wonky at all). It just may be a debate about how many dollars it's punching above that, and if all the units are consistent and solid...
Their durability is still unknown as they're new (the scope model and the company actually). I haven't seen anything yet that has me ordering a backup, but, 300 6mm creedmoor rounds and back and forth to the range a few times is hardly a torture test. So hopefully the internals are put together as well as the outside appears to be...
New to this side of shooting. Figured i would grab one of these to throw on a factory gun while my setup is being built.
After waiting months It showed up yesterday with a bubble in the glass on the very edge. Will reach out to them in the AM to see whats next.
After waiting months It showed up yesterday with a bubble in the glass on the very edge. Will reach out to them in the AM to see whats next.
That issue is unfortunate, however, I've had that happen with several big named optics before...
If CS and warranty are where they need to be, that will make the company.
Seems like they make good optics though...
Man, they flew off the shelf once you posted they were available.7x in stock as of now according to their website;
Arken Optics SH4 GEN2 6-24x50mm FFP Scope - Quality and Precision
Arken Optics SH4 GEN2 6-24x50mm FFP Scope - Lifetime Warranty - Precision Tracking Guaranteed - HD Glass - First Focal Plane (FFP) - Zero Stop - Illuminated Reticle
JMHO, and guessing here, but from playing with the scope it sure seems more than likely that there was significant influence from info found on the forum used in the design... I don’t know if the “SH” in the “SH4” designation is definitely a nod/homage to “Sniper’s Hide”, but I don’t believe in coincidence either
Honestly, If they’re indeed using the forum to push their designs, that’s a good thing for shooters, so hopefully both parties could work out something that’s mutually beneficial... a “Sniper’s Hide stamp of approval” would lend some instant cred to a new company and certainly would just add to sales IMO.
let us know pleaseCuriosity got me; have the Midas Tac, and a Razor gen 2 on order, thought for $400 I'd give it a shot, see how they compare
According to Arken web site the EP4 has " Extra-Low Dispersion Japanese Glass " ok great.
So how would Arken even know if the Chinese manufacture is actually using Japanese glass or substituting whatever glass to
increase profits.
Not like the Chinese manufactures have any honest business practices.
Is there any markings on the lenses with the MFG or country of origin, just thinking out loud.
This is not jab against Arken the US company.
So how would Arken even know if the Chinese manufacture is actually using Japanese glass or substituting whatever glass to
increase profits.
Not like the Chinese manufactures have any honest business practices.
Is there any markings on the lenses with the MFG or country of origin, just thinking out loud.
This is not jab against Arken the US company.
I plan to compare, however, in this price range, I'll be comparing it against my Bushnell Forge and Athlon ARES ETR.
May possibly look at my Gen2 Razor just for kicks...
If you’all know of anymore of these available, please post. I had an opportunity to acquire a 4-16 from one one the Hide members but unsure if that fine aiming dot was suitable for my older eyes but am thinking at 24X, I shouldn’t have any problem. Thanks for any help finding one.
FYI/FWIW, I had posted this in another thread but it'd probably help some guys here - the representation/rendering of the VPR reticle on Arken's site isn't 100% accurate: in the pics on their site it makes it seem like all the lines in the VPR reticle are the same thickness/thinness, but IRL the "crosshair/X" lines are actually a bit bolder/thicker; it's actually better in-person IMO.
The lines for hold-off's and the "Christmas tree" stuff is still really fine/thin (but still usable), which I like because the whole reticle FOV seems a lot less busy than many reticles I've looked through, but the thicker "crosshair/X" lines draw your eyes to the center and make the more common .2-1.0mil hold-off's easy and fast.
This is just a shitty iPhone pic (never knew it was such a pain in the ass to capture a reticle pic with an iPhone lol), and does not represent the glass (makes it look shitty like there's tons of chromatic aberration, it's far better in-person), there is some chromatic aberration present in the glass for sure IRL, but it's not too bad and the parallax/focus can dial/tune most/all of it out and the image cleans up, but hopefully you can see the thicker "crosshair/X" I'm talking about...
Scope is at 24x, plates are at 400 yards, second pic is just a blow-up of the first:
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The lines for hold-off's and the "Christmas tree" stuff is still really fine/thin (but still usable), which I like because the whole reticle FOV seems a lot less busy than many reticles I've looked through, but the thicker "crosshair/X" lines draw your eyes to the center and make the more common .2-1.0mil hold-off's easy and fast.
This is just a shitty iPhone pic (never knew it was such a pain in the ass to capture a reticle pic with an iPhone lol), and does not represent the glass (makes it look shitty like there's tons of chromatic aberration, it's far better in-person), there is some chromatic aberration present in the glass for sure IRL, but it's not too bad and the parallax/focus can dial/tune most/all of it out and the image cleans up, but hopefully you can see the thicker "crosshair/X" I'm talking about...
Scope is at 24x, plates are at 400 yards, second pic is just a blow-up of the first:
How does the Arken SH4 Gen2 6-24x50 compare to the Primary Arms GLx 6-24x50 ATHENA BPR Mil?
I currently have a Ruger RPR .308 w/ a P.A. 4-14x44mm ACSS HUD DMR that I plan to learn about LR with. I knew the ACSS reticle is not the best reticle for precision, but I needed a minute of man, easy under stress reticle, and it seems awesome for that.
While researching, I also watched a Texas Plinking YouTube video about the Arken Optics SH4 Gen2.
Best Long Range Precision Scope For Under $500?
I then found this thread, and you all have created some very good points which poise the Arken SH2 as a great value at the price.
I currently have a Ruger RPR .308 w/ a P.A. 4-14x44mm ACSS HUD DMR that I plan to learn about LR with. I knew the ACSS reticle is not the best reticle for precision, but I needed a minute of man, easy under stress reticle, and it seems awesome for that.
While researching, I also watched a Texas Plinking YouTube video about the Arken Optics SH4 Gen2.
Best Long Range Precision Scope For Under $500?
I then found this thread, and you all have created some very good points which poise the Arken SH2 as a great value at the price.
I haven’t looked through an EP-4 vs the SH4 GenII, but seems the extra $200 supposedly all goes towards just buying/equipping better glass with the EP-4’s...
So after having the SH4 GenII for a bit which is crazy for the money IMO, I’d say if Arken is really just dropping in better glass that is really noticeably better, I’d go for it since it’s still a screaming deal.
I might just wait for the VPR reticle to make its way into the EP-4 first though, because I dig it more than the other reticles they’ve offered thus far.
Just got my Arken SH4 in today, so far it looks really good!
I plan to look at the optical clarity tomorrow compared to some of my other optics.
I plan to look at the optical clarity tomorrow compared to some of my other optics.
I placed the order here; https://venturefirearms.com/ and received it in about a week.
What I did was that I signed up to be notified when they'd be back in stock, and when the scopes came in stock ordering was easy and shipping was fast. Scope arrived well packed.
It was late when I got the scope so I could only mess with the turrets and parallax; I haven't looked through the scope in daylight yet.
What I did notice was that the side focus wheel had a good bit more friction around the 40 yards mark, so while watching some TV series I gently worked the side focus wheel back and forward. I guess the friction / damping grease wasn't applied evenly. After about 10 minutes of working the sidewheel that was sorted; the friction / resistance was the same throughout the range. Happy!
First impressions; hell of a lot of scope for the money!!
Got mine from the link on here as well.
It is a great value if this scope tracks well as good as they say.
This rifle is my trainer and loaner for when we run courses. She a pretty run of the mill .308 Franken rifle. But shoots tight, is super reliable and predictable with 175gr match ammo. What I do want to highlight is the optic. This is the Arken Optics USAEP-4 6-24x I picked up a few weeks back. Other than zeroing the rifle I hadn’t spent much time behind it. The more time I spend behind the optic the more impressed I am. The glass is what really sets this optic apart from anything else in its class. It is clear that Arken spent the majority of their focus on the glass quality (puns intended). I am super impressed with the clarity, crispness of the reticle and color transmission. I don’t have any quantifiable evidence to bring to you on it’s performance thus far. But I can say that switching to this after spending time on other quality optics, I wasn’t disappointed.
With any optic the trade space you have to give up to have top of the line features all around, is price. Since Arken didn't want to compromise on price, I feel that they sacrificed some on features. While overall feel and usability of the scope is still well above other scopes in its class. I did recognize a few things I think are worth stating.
1.Turrets: these track very accurately as has been demonstrated by numerous other reviews. But, they aren’t very crisp. They are almost gritty, and I would compare them to maybe a PST or 2010 era MK4. This is my personal feeling, I would like to see that cleaned up in the Gen II.
2. Zero stop: it works, is easy to set-up and needs almost no instruction. It is also unlike anything else I’ve used. There a set screw to set the zero-stop, and another set screw to hold in the zero-stop set screw. Which I promptly lost the second set screw upon firing a mag through my .308 AR-10. The recoil was enough to back the screw out and now it’s lost forever. I suppose Loctite would fix that, but I am hesitant to use such things on optics. I will be contacting customer service for a replacement screw and just holding-over for engagements in the interim.
3. Parallax: this adjustment was finicky in my opinion. I was able to properly set my parallax, it just took me much longer to find the sweet spot. Nothing dramatic, but probably 5 seconds longer than my MK5. Not a deal breaker, but worth noting
1.Turrets: these track very accurately as has been demonstrated by numerous other reviews. But, they aren’t very crisp. They are almost gritty, and I would compare them to maybe a PST or 2010 era MK4. This is my personal feeling, I would like to see that cleaned up in the Gen II.
About this / perhaps related; out of the box my gen 2 SH elevation turret had a similar thing to what I noticed with the parallax, where at some spot in the range friction increased, and then smoothed out again when working the dial / turret.
As with the parallax I worked the elevation turret back and forward a couple of times (without abusing it) and after about 10 turns back and forward it smoothed out 90%, and the clicks got less gritty. Again i suspect the assembly person unevenly applied friction / damping grease, so the grease had to migrate around a bit to even out the resistance throughout the range of the focus and turret system. But all seems well now. Just have to mount it up and see what it does in the field, which might be a week or 2.
About this / perhaps related; out of the box my gen 2 SH elevation turret had a similar thing to what I noticed with the parallax, where at some spot in the range friction increased, and then smoothed out again when working the dial / turret.
As with the parallax I worked the elevation turret back and forward a couple of times (without abusing it) and after about 10 turns back and forward it smoothed out 90%, and the clicks got less gritty. Again i suspect the assembly person unevenly applied friction / damping grease, so the grease had to migrate around a bit to even out the resistance throughout the range of the focus and turret system. But all seems well now. Just have to mount it up and see what it does in the field, which might be a week or 2.
Turret clicks are really tactile on mine with no slop...
Parallax is smooth, reticle is clean and only a small portion of the reticle is Illuminated but it's usable.
Glass is good, not the best but clear and better than many at the same price point.
I'd say it's close or similar to the PST2 but not quite at the Athlon ARES ETR level of clarity.
Still, this is a great optic, and impossible to beat at this price.
My experience is similar, though honestly the turrets on my SH4 GenII are awesome... I’ve played with scopes that were $2000+ where the turrets/clicks weren’t near as nice.
Well, I just had a little look outside. All looks good except the parallax; I can not get it to focus.
When i get it in focus as close as possible and I move my head behind the scope the reticle moves off the target. Adjusting the side focus helps but stops before I can get a steady sight picture where the crosshair does not move away from the target.
I compared / doublechecked this by using another scope, an older vortex viper in the same range, and sure enough, no issues there, so it's not my eyes, it's the parallax being out of whack..
Let's see how good the customer service is...
When i get it in focus as close as possible and I move my head behind the scope the reticle moves off the target. Adjusting the side focus helps but stops before I can get a steady sight picture where the crosshair does not move away from the target.
I compared / doublechecked this by using another scope, an older vortex viper in the same range, and sure enough, no issues there, so it's not my eyes, it's the parallax being out of whack..
Let's see how good the customer service is...
I considered this scope, when I was looking, but went with a Vortex. I will admit, those turret hashes/numbers are very bold compared to the Vortex. With my aging eyes, those would have been nice. MacWell, I just had a little look outside. All looks good except the parallax; I can not get it to focus.
When i get it in focus as close as possible and I move my head behind the scope the reticle moves off the target. Adjusting the side focus helps but stops before I can get a steady sight picture where the crosshair does not move away from the target.
I compared / doublechecked this by using another scope, an older vortex viper in the same range, and sure enough, no issues there, so it's not my eyes, it's the parallax being out of whack..
Let's see how good the customer service is...
View attachment 7482149View attachment 7482150
Well, bummer, sounds like a trip back to HQ is in order. Not the first scope to ever have to go back...
Hopefully they’ll take a look at it and get a new unit in your hands within a reasonable amount of time... They’re only a great value if they perform correctly.
But with 15 others... if it were me I’d say you’re already scope-rich so stop complaining
The seller Venture firearms gave me a phone number and an email and told me to get in touch with Arken. He told me he was sold out and did not expect another batch for about 3 months...
So, I called Arken and a recorded message instructed me to send a text message. Did that and I emailed as well. Let's see....
So, I called Arken and a recorded message instructed me to send a text message. Did that and I emailed as well. Let's see....
After further evaluation of my optic, I am having the exact same parallax issue as you are...
Looks like we'll be sending both of ours in for repair.
Man, I hope their turnaround time is good.
I called and then texted 8336580070 but you can also email them.
Obviously I look to get a response after Thanksgiving...
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I spoke with him as well, and he was nice but it has me wondering about their quality control now...
Update, Joseph at Venture Firearms was awesome, now I'm waiting for Arken to get back with me...
Honestly, this issue is more widespread than I thought, as I've seen others having the same issue back in March of 2020...
I had a parallax issue with a Nitro and Bushnell upgraded my Nitro to the most expensive Forge because they didn't have my Nitro in stock.
That was earlier this year during the pandemic, that's great CS!
So far Arken hasn't impressed me...
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