- Joined
- Sep 29, 2023
- Messages
- 327
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Let me start by saying that I buy my own scopes and these are my thoughts and soley mine.
I am a licensed FFL HOLDER so I do enjoy the benefits of shooting alot if different scopes
On my guns and guns I set up for others
Across a wide variety of recoil levels.
I personally have multiple Nf nxs nf competition leupold mark 4/5 vari-x 1 /3 Swarovski many burris and vortex optics.
Have shot high end shmit/ benders us optics
Etc I've looked thru alot of high end glass.
So I have a unique perspective of what I'm looking for
Optics have changed dramatically in the last few years the industry and more importantly the shooters have demanded more features and better glass at a price they can afford.
Companies have responded.
One in particular is Arken optics.
I was first exposed in a simple picture from a long time friend in a test of his current Prs rig.
I was particularly intrigued by thr scope an Ep5 5-25x56 mm with 34mm tube.
He told me he had been running them for 5 years and I know him well and knew he was a shooter and put his gear to the test.
Prs by nature is designed to test tge shooter and gear on the clock so I knew what that ment. Shoot and scoot is tough on a scope by nature.
I thought man if it holds up to that abuse it might hold up to our heavy hitting recoil.
So I got an ep5 5-25 and mounted it up on my savage 45 smokeless.
It shot well held zero and tracked very good.
The glass quality while not a NF is not far from it.98 percent a tiny bit of fuz around the edges at full power.
At midrange I see no difference at all one to the other it would take years of scope use to tell the difference even at high magnification.
The reticle is a Christmas tree a bit busy for hunting but great at distance target work
At 1/4 the price of a Nf it deserves a look for sure..
I liked the scope so much I ordered 3 of the EPL-4 4-16x44 to put on my hunters and my wife's rifle.
I really like the reticle in this scope simple effective moa with 40 moa elevation in the glass good enough for well over 800 yards in my 308 or 6.5
All the epls use the same reticle
The 308 shoots 150gn bullets at 3000 ft sec and with this set up I've made 500 yard cold bore shots on steel with excellent results.
A doe taken at 70 yards with a neck shot
Savage axis 308 it's a .5 moa hunting rig.
At 8 pnds
I had such good luck with the scopes I thought a real muzzleloader test was in order.
So I ordered a midrange scope and there new lh scope both in 6-24×50mm 30mm tube.
One went on a cva 45/ 70 conversion to smokeless
I sighted it in with a couple shots and I got to tell you I'm really impressed for a 199 dollar scope. It tracked well and held zero perfect.
I put just a touch over 20 rounds and counting on this rig.with zero issues.
It's there low end scope with Chinese glass but I got to tell you guys I couldn't be happier with the purchase beyond my expectations
Thr scope features capped turrets which is nice for a hunting rifle but still has the excellent reticle of the EPL 4
A great hybrid for the situation to get you out to 300 yards and beyond.
Next up a real torture test.
I mounted a EPL -4 6TO24X50
on my remington 700 heavy barreled test gun.
If you look at "rem 700 16 twist" you can see the evolution of this set up
The set up has been on and off repeatedly in different stock configurations with well over 100 rounds of smokeless rounds down range. A lifetime of use for some of our members.
The current set up.
In all this I had reservations on the viability of long term use..
I even though I'd blown it up as I worked thru this gun I'd shaken loose actions crews
Changed torque bedded the stock in the quest for accuracy. Changed stocks Changed to a bipod changed loads approaching 3400 ft pnds of energy this ain't no soft shooter.
In the end the scope has performed as good as any high end glass I could have easily put on it.
Today I shot my into my top ten best lifetime groups that I can rember at .275 MOA
That's saying alot after 40 years of shooting some at the professional international level.
With a 400 dollar scope.
I'm supper impressed with the arken line up
I haven't had any complaints yet except one
I had one scope with a miss match thread pitch in the sunshade. A call to arken and a box of sunshades is on the way.
There rings are top notch although a little pricey for there budget line.
Over all I'm going to continue shooting them and smile when I shoot well with them knowing I got far more than what I paid for.
I am a licensed FFL HOLDER so I do enjoy the benefits of shooting alot if different scopes
On my guns and guns I set up for others
Across a wide variety of recoil levels.
I personally have multiple Nf nxs nf competition leupold mark 4/5 vari-x 1 /3 Swarovski many burris and vortex optics.
Have shot high end shmit/ benders us optics
Etc I've looked thru alot of high end glass.
So I have a unique perspective of what I'm looking for
Optics have changed dramatically in the last few years the industry and more importantly the shooters have demanded more features and better glass at a price they can afford.
Companies have responded.
One in particular is Arken optics.
I was first exposed in a simple picture from a long time friend in a test of his current Prs rig.
I was particularly intrigued by thr scope an Ep5 5-25x56 mm with 34mm tube.
He told me he had been running them for 5 years and I know him well and knew he was a shooter and put his gear to the test.
Prs by nature is designed to test tge shooter and gear on the clock so I knew what that ment. Shoot and scoot is tough on a scope by nature.
I thought man if it holds up to that abuse it might hold up to our heavy hitting recoil.
So I got an ep5 5-25 and mounted it up on my savage 45 smokeless.
It shot well held zero and tracked very good.
The glass quality while not a NF is not far from it.98 percent a tiny bit of fuz around the edges at full power.
At midrange I see no difference at all one to the other it would take years of scope use to tell the difference even at high magnification.
The reticle is a Christmas tree a bit busy for hunting but great at distance target work
At 1/4 the price of a Nf it deserves a look for sure..
I liked the scope so much I ordered 3 of the EPL-4 4-16x44 to put on my hunters and my wife's rifle.
I really like the reticle in this scope simple effective moa with 40 moa elevation in the glass good enough for well over 800 yards in my 308 or 6.5
All the epls use the same reticle
The 308 shoots 150gn bullets at 3000 ft sec and with this set up I've made 500 yard cold bore shots on steel with excellent results.
A doe taken at 70 yards with a neck shot
Savage axis 308 it's a .5 moa hunting rig.
At 8 pnds
I had such good luck with the scopes I thought a real muzzleloader test was in order.
So I ordered a midrange scope and there new lh scope both in 6-24×50mm 30mm tube.
One went on a cva 45/ 70 conversion to smokeless
I sighted it in with a couple shots and I got to tell you I'm really impressed for a 199 dollar scope. It tracked well and held zero perfect.
I put just a touch over 20 rounds and counting on this rig.with zero issues.
It's there low end scope with Chinese glass but I got to tell you guys I couldn't be happier with the purchase beyond my expectations
Thr scope features capped turrets which is nice for a hunting rifle but still has the excellent reticle of the EPL 4
A great hybrid for the situation to get you out to 300 yards and beyond.
Next up a real torture test.
I mounted a EPL -4 6TO24X50
on my remington 700 heavy barreled test gun.
If you look at "rem 700 16 twist" you can see the evolution of this set up
The set up has been on and off repeatedly in different stock configurations with well over 100 rounds of smokeless rounds down range. A lifetime of use for some of our members.
The current set up.
In all this I had reservations on the viability of long term use..
I even though I'd blown it up as I worked thru this gun I'd shaken loose actions crews
Changed torque bedded the stock in the quest for accuracy. Changed stocks Changed to a bipod changed loads approaching 3400 ft pnds of energy this ain't no soft shooter.
In the end the scope has performed as good as any high end glass I could have easily put on it.
Today I shot my into my top ten best lifetime groups that I can rember at .275 MOA
That's saying alot after 40 years of shooting some at the professional international level.
With a 400 dollar scope.
I'm supper impressed with the arken line up
I haven't had any complaints yet except one
I had one scope with a miss match thread pitch in the sunshade. A call to arken and a box of sunshades is on the way.
There rings are top notch although a little pricey for there budget line.
Over all I'm going to continue shooting them and smile when I shoot well with them knowing I got far more than what I paid for.
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