Arken EP5 vs Vortex Viper PST Gen II

[Saluki2003]

I currently have Vortex scopes on my 308 R700 and AR-15 and I'm pretty happy with them. I was looking at getting another Vortex Viper PST for my new 7 PRC build till I found out about the Arken scopes.

Is the Vortex worth the much higher price tag compared to the Arken?

Thanks for any advice you guys can share here.

 

[Gohring65]

I currently have Vortex scopes on my 308 R700 and AR-15 and I'm pretty happy with them. I was looking at getting another Vortex Viper PST for my new 7 PRC build till I found out about the Arken scopes.

Is the Vortex worth the much higher price tag compared to the Arken?

Thanks for any advice you guys can share here.

I personally wouldn’t spend the extra money over the Arken, but there are some quirks I don’t like.
The Arken eye box is sensitive, the parallax on my particular model needs constant adjusting to keep it clear and parallax free. I had a chance to compare my two arkens with a Athlon helos gen 2 6-24 and a Burris xtr3 5.5-30.
The ep5 came in last, the Burris is in a different class and it showed big time. It blew them all away, not surprising though.
The sleeper was the first gen Arken ep4 6-24x50, it came in third, the Athlon helos gen 2 was ahead in eye box, eye relief and glass right behind the Burris. The ep4 Arken had a better eye box, less sensitive parallax over the ep5 with slightly better glass. My recommendation would be look at the Athlon helos 34mm gen 2 6-24 it can be had for under 600$ on Amazon and it’s a put together better in terms user friendly optical performance. I have no doubts the Arken tracks and is pretty robust. But I instantly could tell I would have a lot less eye fatigue using the Athlon. In arkens defense I was comparing two 6-24 4 time ratios to a ep5 5 time ratio, the 4 time ratio scopes have had years or research and development to get it perfect, I think it’s just harder to get the performance out of 5 time ratio systems not impossible just harder.

 

[Mongoose67]

I currently have Vortex scopes on my 308 R700 and AR-15 and I'm pretty happy with them. I was looking at getting another Vortex Viper PST for my new 7 PRC build till I found out about the Arken scopes.

Is the Vortex worth the much higher price tag compared to the Arken?

Thanks for any advice you guys can share here.

I had a PST Gen 2 and sold it. My Bushnell Forge and DMRII have better glass and I paid less for them. The EP5 is a good scope, but the usable range in 5-20x. Above that its not very usable. I'm looking for something for my 6.5c that has more usable magnification than the EP5.

 

[FredHammer]

I had a PST Gen 2 and sold it. My Bushnell Forge and DMRII have better glass and I paid less for them. The EP5 is a good scope, but the usable range in 5-20x. Above that its not very usable. I'm looking for something for my 6.5c that has more usable magnification than the EP5.

I got a DMR II and DMR III. Glass is noticeably better on the III, but they both track like micrometers. Bombproof ass scopes!

 

[Mongoose67]

I got a DMR II and DMR III. Glass is noticeably better on the III, but they both track like micrometers. Bombproof ass scopes!

I would certainly pick up more if the price came down. Any opinion on the new Match Pro ED?

 

[FredHammer]

I would certainly pick up more if the price came down. Any opinion on the new Match Pro ED?

I have not fondled or shot one.