Posted By: jeepercreeper
Arken SH4 & Rings - 05/03/22 02:41 PM
Just got an Arken SH4 yesterday and got it mounted up this morning. As some of you know, Arken came on the scene a couple years ago and have started to make a name for themselves. I was in the market for a budget FFP scope and after having messed with the sub-PST lines of Vortex I was convinced that budget and FFP just cant be used in the same sentence. Stumbled across Arken and read about claims of their scopes being comparable to Vortex Razors and $2k-$3k scopes so got me looking into them more. They are Chinese made but their EP5 model has Japanese glass so that's the model I was after. However, the EP5 is backordered and a 30% off coupon popped up so I decided to just give one of their in-stock SH4s a shot. Also got some of their 34mm rings to mount it in. All in with rings, tax, free shipping I have $363 in it which you can't even get into a Vortex Diamondback FFP for.
Initial thoughts while unboxing is that it "feels" like a quality scope. It is big, beefy & solid. The turrets are REALLY nice - l would say on par with some of the $2k-$3k scopes I've used or played with. They are big, well marked, and better than any scope I own. The illumination is completely worthless - it's not even bright enough to use on a gloomy day. The parallax and magnification adjustment is smooth and easy to work although the "distances" on the parallax didn't seem that accurate. The glass seems to be on par with the Gen 1 PST I own. I'll do more comparison when I have time and when the sun comes out. I still need to shoot it and see how it tracks but initial thoughts are that this is the best budget FFP on the market right now. It is not a $2k-$3k scope but I'd say it's competing against $750 - $1250 scopes pretty easily. It is a pig though so it is not recommended for a hunting gun. It is your gun safe's worst nightmare.
Initial thoughts on the Arken rings are that they are high quality for $64. They are probably somewhere between the Vortex Pro Series and Precision Matched Rings for me, both of which I own. They came with 2 extra screws and are well machined and marked with torque specs. Even if I dont pick up any other Arken scopes, I'll probably continue using their rings unless they give me any issues.
I will work on some pictures and some real-world testing soon when I can. Just wanted to share my initial thoughts and give folks a heads up on the 30% off right now.
Initial thoughts while unboxing is that it "feels" like a quality scope. It is big, beefy & solid. The turrets are REALLY nice - l would say on par with some of the $2k-$3k scopes I've used or played with. They are big, well marked, and better than any scope I own. The illumination is completely worthless - it's not even bright enough to use on a gloomy day. The parallax and magnification adjustment is smooth and easy to work although the "distances" on the parallax didn't seem that accurate. The glass seems to be on par with the Gen 1 PST I own. I'll do more comparison when I have time and when the sun comes out. I still need to shoot it and see how it tracks but initial thoughts are that this is the best budget FFP on the market right now. It is not a $2k-$3k scope but I'd say it's competing against $750 - $1250 scopes pretty easily. It is a pig though so it is not recommended for a hunting gun. It is your gun safe's worst nightmare.
Initial thoughts on the Arken rings are that they are high quality for $64. They are probably somewhere between the Vortex Pro Series and Precision Matched Rings for me, both of which I own. They came with 2 extra screws and are well machined and marked with torque specs. Even if I dont pick up any other Arken scopes, I'll probably continue using their rings unless they give me any issues.
I will work on some pictures and some real-world testing soon when I can. Just wanted to share my initial thoughts and give folks a heads up on the 30% off right now.