Arken Optics

kev74 said:

Any one have experience with Arken Optics scopes?

I've been seeing good reviews in videos, but haven't seen anything that doesn't seem like it might be a paid (or somehow compensated) promotion.

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They get pretty damn good reviews for a China made scope.
If you havent,,, read this thread.

I saw a good video on YouTube about them

A friend got them in a couple of rifles.
They are not bad but I see some potential Issues and some chromatic aberration but things expected with many chinese scopes.
They would. not be my first choice but he is happy for his type of use.
Also not sure about support and warranties in the long run.
Is that the only choice you have?

I got one early this year for my Ruger 77/22 to shoot NRL22 at my Club. The 6-24x 50 is a bit much for under 100 yds and our max is 200 yds so the 4-16x 50 would have worked just fine. The turrets do have a nice crisp click and the numbers are nice an large. For what I am using this for on a 22lr it's a nice scope.

I Arkin just sent me a Black Friday email with some really good deals!!

I am always leery of products that sell you on low price + features. I would rather focus on nailing the basics.

I own two of the EP5's.

I have one on my RPR 338 Lapua Magnum and the Ruger American 6.5 creedmoor that I'm currently overhauling.

I shot it on the 338 LM for 2 days over 500 rounds of match grade at varying yardage of to 300-1100. No issues with holding zero, the glass has excellent clarity and the turrets are big with no slop.

Edit: It also has a 34mm tube. I feel it's a lot sturdier than the Vortex Viper. Also, because the turrets are larger there is 0-10 mils rather than the Viper which would require two full turns to hit 10 mils.

My only gripe would be at max magnification the etching on the reticle isn't super crisp like a Nightforce.

They are definitely worth the money and then some.

I shot an Arken EP5 during a demo and was so impressed, I ditched my Vortex Viper for it. In the end, I saved money which went toward a SendiT electronic level.

And yes, they are Made in China but so are a myriad of Vortex optics; just food for thought.

kev74 said:

It would be going on a budget AR10 308 range toy. The longest I get to shoot is 200 yards. I have a hard time justifying something nice.

These Arken scopes are getting good reviews, but seem like they've popped up out of nowhere.

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whats your budget?

I have only heard good about them. True they are made in China but I believe there is a 100% warranty. There premium line does use Japanese glass.

I have one on a rifle but Im not a good guide on high quality glass. I have the ep4 6-24x50ffp and my only real comaint is that the reticle is super fine on low power that its hard for me to see. I reber reading that they had since made it a little thicker, and I dont see the ep4 on their website any more. It also seems like their prices have come down. They had good reviews at sniperhide.com

The SH4 isn't that great, the EP5 is much much better.

That guy Kyle is a moron. At the end of the review, he gives alternatives which are almost double the price of what an SH4 is. You can't review an item that fulfills a certain price point and then compare it to ones out of it's league.

Other flaws with his review...

1. It's not even mounted
2. Why only testing at 100 yds?
3. If he's complaining that the sunlight was giving chromatic abborations, why wasn't the sunshade on it?

RooftopKorean said:

The SH4 isn't that great, the EP5 is much much better.

That guy Kyle is a moron. At the end of the review, he gives alternatives which are almost double the price of what an SH4 is. You can't review an item that fulfills a certain price point and then compare it to ones out of it's league.

Other flaws with his review...

1. It's not even mounted
2. Why only testing at 100 yds?
3. If he's complaining that the sunlight was giving chromatic abborations, why wasn't the sunshade on it?

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1. Bad form in a review. Agreed.
2. I don't know.
3. I don't know. I've never had to use a sunshade myself to make a scope work ,but the only Chinese optics I'll own are red dots and prisms.


All my longer range scopes are Japanese. I personally even found that a lot of Philippines optics didn't track reliably. Of course, this was 5 years ago. I'm more into real life shooting again and haven't touched long range or calculated anything in a long time.