Arken EP5 is here (pics)

[Bmghunter]

Theres sooo much talk on the Arken on the other threads with opinions on every direction, and folks anticipating getting their EP5. Well look no further, I seem to be the first one to get it!! Feast your eyes on this. Photos of in the box, 5x, 16x, 25x. Parallax is set to what's on the photo, and the fence is 27 yards away with a sig kilo 2200 rangefinder.

 

[LonewolfMcQuade]

Did you have any other Arken model prior to this one? (For comparison)

 

[Bmghunter]

I have the EP4 and SH4 6-24 both. Can't compare since it's mounted.

 

[LonewolfMcQuade]

Curious of your opinion If the ep5 is brighter/clearer over the sh4 glass. How much a difference

 

[Bmghunter]

It's been a while since I've shot with them so I can't recall. I will need to mount this one up and head to the range with all 3 to compare. My EP4 vs sh4 experience was I was actually impressed and thought the sh4 was clearer than the EP4 when I had them side by side. I got all mine in the first batch of release if that matters.

 

[RUTGERS95]

I'm interested in the side by side as well. thx

 

[ICU22250]

For the price, I just had to try one of these EP5's, got the shipped email today, looking forward to playing with one of these budget friendly Arkens just to see what it's all about..

 

[Bmghunter]

I just got this mounted today on my savage 270 win on a MDT chassis. Will need to head to the range sometime soon to try it out.

 

[ICU22250]

I just got this mounted today on my savage 270 win on a MDT chassis. Will need to head to the range sometime soon to try it out.

Any thoughts on the new optic so far? Does it have a quality feel, as far as the turrets and all of the controls? I know glass is subjective so I won't ask.. I'll be interested in hearing your overall thoughts and of course if it tracks correctly.. I'll probably pull my AMG off my Tikka varmint 223 just to play around with the Arken when it gets here..

 

[Bmghunter]

Well feel of the turrets and quality of build has always felt very good. Optically it looks better than the photos due to limits of taking photos through a scope. I will see if I can take photos through the scope when I get to the range.

 

[ICU22250]

Well feel of the turrets and quality of build has always felt very good. Optically it looks better than the photos due to limits of taking photos through a scope. I will see if I can take photos through the scope when I get to the range.

Thank you sir, anxiously awaiting mine!

 

[z71rat]

Dang, that looks nice! Hope mine will be here sometime soon!!

DK

 

[thehun]

Glass in the 4-16 SH4 Gen 4 is exceptional for the price…the EP5 looks promising!

 

[Bmghunter]

Posting live from the range. EP5 at 100 yards, parallax set around 75 yards on the knob for best sharpness and least parallax. When set to 100 yard marking, it is clearly blurry. Eyebox is fine for me. Quite a bit of chromatic aberrations. Will need to compare with the EP4 and SH4 gen 2 next.

 

[ICU22250]

Posting live from the range. EP5 at 100 yards, parallax set around 75 yards on the knob for best sharpness and least parallax. When set to 100 yard marking, it is clearly blurry. Eyebox is fine for me. Quite a bit of chromatic aberrations. Will need to compare with the EP4 and SH4 gen 2 next.
View attachment 7785153View attachment 7785156

I seen the exact same today as far as parallax, but to be fair my AMG was even worse than the EP5 in that department, as far as the numbers lining up, probably the weather Conditions. I am actually very happy so far with the purchase, seems well worth the money to me. Now I've only played with it at 100 yards as of now so things could change but I honestly don't think it will.

 

[Bmghunter]

Here is my sh4 gen2 compared. Definitely less chromatic abberations on the sh4 looking at the edge of the black targets. The parallax knob also lines up better at 100 yards.

 

[thehun]

I love my 4-16 SH4 G2

 

[ICU22250]

Here is my sh4 gen2 compared. Definitely less chromatic abberations on the sh4. The parallax knob also lines up better at 100 yards.
View attachment 7785180

I didn't have any real CA to speak of, but I also wasn't shooting at a white background. The glass for a budget optic was pretty good actually, but I still need quite a bit more time behind it to see more..

 

[thehun]

To be fair…I’ve had CA in every single optic I’ve ever owned…yes…even a Schmidt (except Schmidt’s 12-50…that glass was stupid good).

 

[FN15]

Congrats and enjoy, Very attractive reviews.

 

[Bmghunter]

Here is the EP4 for comparison.

 

[Poorboyr]

Posting live from the range. EP5 at 100 yards, parallax set around 75 yards on the knob for best sharpness and least parallax. When set to 100 yard marking, it is clearly blurry. Eyebox is fine for me. Quite a bit of chromatic aberrations. Will need to compare with the EP4 and SH4 gen 2 next.
View attachment 7785153View attachment 7785156

Maybe I’m confused…. Are you saying the image quality is better in the EP4 and SH4 than the EP5???

Then you must have your pictures messed up because the image is better on the EP5. It isn’t even close based on your pictures.

 

[ICU22250]

To be fair…I’ve had CA in every single optic I’ve ever owned…yes…even a Schmidt (except Schmidt’s 12-50…that glass was stupid good).

All I'm saying is that it wasn't noticeable, im not necessarily saying that it isn't there but that I didn't notice it, probably a poor choice of words on my part, not trying to be a shill.. Lol

 

[Bmghunter]

Maybe I’m confused…. Are you saying the image quality is better in the EP4 and SH4 than the EP5???

Then you must have your pictures messed up because the image is better on the EP5. It isn’t even close based on your pictures.

Only referring to the chromatic aberrations being less on my sh4. It's more noticeably better in real life than on photos. All scopes are shaper in real life than the photos. But the parallax markings not lining up with view is clearly there on my EP5.

 

[Twistid]

The obvious CA is definitely disappointing

 

[ICU22250]

Maybe I’m confused…. Are you saying the image quality is better in the EP4 and SH4 than the EP5???

Then you must have your pictures messed up because the image is better on the EP5. It isn’t even close based on your pictures.

I have to agree with you, based on the photos, the SH4 definitely looked to show way more CA than the EP5..

 

[Bmghunter]

I wish the photos show things better, but just trying to get a photo is hard. Anyways, the sh4 when you focus on the target with your eyes, the color fringing on the bottom of the black circle is not as noticeable as the EP5. The first thing I notice on the EP5 is the red color fringe on the bottom. Yes these photos show the color fringe on the sh4 also, but viewed with my eyes, they were not as noticeable. Maybe my sh4 is an exceptional copy.

 

[918v]

Based on the pics the CA is acceptable. Far less than Kahles 624 at $3000 a few years ago.

 

[celltech]

I feel like CA is one of those things that really bothers some people, and others don't really care. It personally does not bother me.

What do you think of the edge to edge sharpness of the EP5 compared to the SH4? My SH4 seems muddy on the outside 1/4 of the view while my EP5 is sharp all the way across.

 

[DangerRanger]

mine is here too, so far with very little time messing with it, just spent an hour fiddling and looking through it and I’m impressed. I was extremely skeptical and so far it’s surprised me. It’s not magic, but for 550$ so far it’s pretty impressive.

A lot of the negative press is due to the outlandish claims of a few reviewers and the shilling by the company. The product on its own seems quite good.

 

[ICU22250]

mine is here too, so far with very little time messing with it, just spent an hour fiddling and looking through it and I’m impressed. I was extremely skeptical and so far it’s surprised me. It’s not magic, but for 550$ so far it’s pretty impressive.

A lot of the negative press is due to the outlandish claims of a few reviewers and the shilling by the company. The product on its own seems quite good.

This is my first observation as well, I wasn't expecting much for 550 with rings, throw lever, flip ups, level and a small bag. You really can't ask for much better than this at its price point really.. I still wanna get some more time behind it and see how she holds up and how the glass looks at distance but so far I'm very pleased..

 

[DangerRanger]

My initial thought on the glass is that they should have done a 4-20 though for a better scope. But they will probably sell more with the extra 5 mag up top because people want it. But imo the glass struggles over 20. It’s usable, but idk what you’re getting out of it

 

[ICU22250]

My initial thought on the glass is that they should have done a 4-20 though for a better scope. But they will probably sell more with the extra 5 mag up top because people want it. But imo the glass struggles over 20. It’s usable, but idk what you’re getting out of it

Again, for 550, what can you really expect... I had mine today right at about 18x getting zeroed at 100 and it seemed good enough, but as I said, I haven't had the chance to look any further.. Still good enough for people on a budget getting into the game or for a nice varmint rig 223, 22-250.. In my opinion, still a bargain for 550, especially where optics prices are currently and are heading.. All this still depends on durability/Longevity of course.

 

[DangerRanger]

Again, for 550, what can you really expect... I had mine today right at about 18x getting zeroed at 100 and it seemed good enough, but as I said, I haven't had the chance to look any further.. Still good enough for people on a budget getting into the game or for a nice varmint rig 223, 22-250.. Im my opinion, still a bargain for 550, especially where optics prices are currently and are heading.. All this still depends on durability/Longevity of course.

No I agree! I’m just saying I think there wouldn’t be any neg to say about it if it was just a 4-20 scope. I’ll just use it like a 5-20 personally. I owned a crimson trace 2 series 6-24 that was very comparable and shot it mostly on 18x

 

[Chrisrider93]

I ordered my ep5 on December 31st. Super excited waiting for it to come. Has anyone else ordered one around that same time that has received it yet? I’m just trying to get a gauge on when mine will ship. Hopefully soon!

 

[FuhQ]

I ordered my ep5 on December 31st. Super excited waiting for it to come. Has anyone else ordered one around that same time that has received it yet? I’m just trying to get a gauge on when mine will ship. Hopefully soon!

I ordered mine really early morning on 12/31 (like 1-2am) and it still has not shipped.

 

[Silversaver]

No I agree! I’m just saying I think there wouldn’t be any neg to say about it if it was just a 4-20 scope. I’ll just use it like a 5-20 personally. I owned a crimson trace 2 series 6-24 that was very comparable and shot it mostly on 18x

I have the Crimson Trace series 2 6-24 scope. If you like it and think it is good then I’m worry about EP5…. CT just a bad scope…

 

[DangerRanger]

I have the Crimson Trace series 2 6-24 scope. If you like it and think it is good then I’m worry about EP5…. CT just a bad scope…

I’m comparing glass

Other parts of the scopes are nothing alike. 2 series turrets were coated in Peanut butter

Fwiw my CT tracked and idk if this one does yet so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[z71rat]

If that is all the CA there is, the price tag of $549 is awesome! My AMG and Gen2 Razors had that much!

DK

 

[DangerRanger]

Mine has far more than my AMG. Not saying this is bad in its spot but def not close to my AMG

 

[thehun]

My initial thought on the glass is that they should have done a 4-20 though for a better scope. But they will probably sell more with the extra 5 mag up top because people want it. But imo the glass struggles over 20. It’s usable, but idk what you’re getting out of it

Why I point people to the SH4 G2 in 4-16…in my example…the glass is top notch. Beats a lot of optics that I’ve had over the years that push up to with some big names…

I absolutely love the 4-16 variant from 4x to 14x...like most optics...it gets a little tight at the max mag range...so I back it off a little...most of the time I run it at 12X and I do not see this being replaced with a more expensive unit...I freakin' love the turret spacing and feel...

 

[ICU22250]

Why I point people to the SH4 G2 in 4-16…in my example…the glass is top notch. Beats a lot of optics that I’ve had over the years that push up to with some big names…

I absolutely love the 4-16 variant from 4x to 14x...like most optics...it gets a little tight at the max mag range...so I back it off a little...most of the time I run it at 12X and I do not see this being replaced with a more expensive unit...I freakin' love the turret spacing and feel...

I want one now after getting the EP5, how far down does it parallax too as I need some rimfire scopes to play with?

 

[thehun]

Goes down to 25 yards....mine is on a 16" shorty bolt gun...fits perfectly for that role.

Another impressive aspect that many have not pointed out...as far as my example goes that is...a perfect reticle alignment...no canting or spacing left to right of the reticle...

To be fair...having a 14" body and a 5-25 mag range...you will see glass compromises...take for example my PMII US 3-20 I had...its glass was NO WHERE the same quality as a PMII 5-25...but being more compact...its going to happen...same with EOtech 5-25...so...make sure you guys understand that fact...

The 3-15/4-16 seems to me the gooldie locks range for entry/mid priced optics in my opinion...anytime I get behind an mid range or less optic that pushes above 18X...glass quality suffers and usually have to dial back those optics back to get a good image...

 

[Eight_Ring]

My EP-5 arrived Friday. I had ordered the evening of December 21. I have followed the Arken threads, discounted both the hype and the doomers/nay-sayers, and bought based on specs, warranty, and price.

I hit the range yesterday. Personally, I'd say this is a hell of a lot of scope for $550, including mount, caps, throw lever, etc.

It isn't a $2K scope for $550. It isn't even a $1100 scope for $550. But it's an awesome scope if your budget is $550.

So far I haven't seen anything that disappoints or surprises me. The glass seems fantastic to my eye, even at 25X magnification--but I don't own any high-end glass, the best scope I have owned previously was the Primary Arms GLX 6-24--which I also think is an excellent scope at the price point I bought it at--$550. When I sighted in at 25 yards I just shot once, milled the correction, dialed, and nailed it. 2 shot zero. Went to the 100, figured calculated the drop from a 25 yard zero, and was within 3 clicks.

For the haters--yes, the scope does have fails. My parallax did not adjust/focus to 25 yards at 25X magnification. Looks like it missed by a couple yards. Oh well. At 200 and 300 yards my parallax does not align with the yardage indicated. It is actually surprisingly far off, not even close--but I don't particularly care about that. The focus coincides with the correct parallax adjustment--good enough for my purposes. The illumination is not daylight bright (again--oh well)--but there are 3 workable settings at dusk. Setting 4 is about perfect, and I liked that the illumination switched off between the illumination intensity settings.

I will be doing a box test at some point this week, and I will update.

All in all, so far so good, and I'm glad Arken got into the scope business.

 

[Bmghunter]

My EP-5 arrived Friday. I had ordered the evening of December 21. I have followed the Arken threads, discounted both the hype and the doomers/nay-sayers, and bought based on specs, warranty, and price.

I hit the range yesterday. Personally, I'd say this is a hell of a lot of scope for $550, including mount, caps, throw lever, etc.

It isn't a $2K scope for $550. It isn't even a $1100 scope for $550. But it's an awesome scope if your budget is $550.

So far I haven't seen anything that disappoints or surprises me. The glass seems fantastic to my eye, even at 25X magnification--but I don't own any high-end glass, the best scope I have owned previously was the Primary Arms GLX 6-24--which I also think is an excellent scope at the price point I bought it at--$550. When I sighted in at 25 yards I just shot once, milled the correction, dialed, and nailed it. 2 shot zero. Went to the 100, figured calculated the drop from a 25 yard zero, and was within 3 clicks.

For the haters--yes, the scope does have fails. My parallax did not adjust/focus to 25 yards at 25X magnification. Looks like it missed by a couple yards. Oh well. At 200 and 300 yards my parallax does not align with the yardage indicated. It is actually surprisingly far off, not even close--but I don't particularly care about that. The focus coincides with the correct parallax adjustment--good enough for my purposes. The illumination is not daylight bright (again--oh well)--but there are 3 workable settings at dusk. Setting 4 is about perfect, and I liked that the illumination switched off between the illumination intensity settings.

I will be doing a box test at some point this week, and I will update.

All in all, so far so good, and I'm glad Arken got into the scope business.

Agreed with your views 100%. Also I don't get involved in the other threads because of the extreme views there that's why I started this one.

 

[thehun]

My EP-5 arrived Friday. I had ordered the evening of December 21. I have followed the Arken threads, discounted both the hype and the doomers/nay-sayers, and bought based on specs, warranty, and price.

I hit the range yesterday. Personally, I'd say this is a hell of a lot of scope for $550, including mount, caps, throw lever, etc.

It isn't a $2K scope for $550. It isn't even a $1100 scope for $550. But it's an awesome scope if your budget is $550.

So far I haven't seen anything that disappoints or surprises me. The glass seems fantastic to my eye, even at 25X magnification--but I don't own any high-end glass, the best scope I have owned previously was the Primary Arms GLX 6-24--which I also think is an excellent scope at the price point I bought it at--$550. When I sighted in at 25 yards I just shot once, milled the correction, dialed, and nailed it. 2 shot zero. Went to the 100, figured calculated the drop from a 25 yard zero, and was within 3 clicks.

For the haters--yes, the scope does have fails. My parallax did not adjust/focus to 25 yards at 25X magnification. Looks like it missed by a couple yards. Oh well. At 200 and 300 yards my parallax does not align with the yardage indicated. It is actually surprisingly far off, not even close--but I don't particularly care about that. The focus coincides with the correct parallax adjustment--good enough for my purposes. The illumination is not daylight bright (again--oh well)--but there are 3 workable settings at dusk. Setting 4 is about perfect, and I liked that the illumination switched off between the illumination intensity settings.

I will be doing a box test at some point this week, and I will update.

All in all, so far so good, and I'm glad Arken got into the scope business.

So don't take this personally but how can you say it doesn't compare to high end optics when you haven't owned any? That doesn't make much sense.

Fairest review I think we can say about the Arkens is that it packs a ton of features with good performance (my Arken example has great glass)...while it doesn't compare to high end optics like some reviewers have stated and want you to believe (I owned/own them)...it makes you double take an optic purchases that is $500 - $1500...I've had some Steiner German made optics that had hoorrrriiiibble optical qualities and it was over $1500 bucks...so there is that...

 

[Eight_Ring]

So your point is that some scopes made by big name optics companies are overpriced crap and the price is based on the optics companies advertising budget?

OK. I can buy into the notion.

In my post I said that the glass seems fantastic to MY eye...but I don't own any high end glass. I have looked through Swarovski and one other high-end scope, and the optical quality of those examples was unmistakable. I know this from my optics experience with photographic lenses--I quite well know the difference between a Soligor lens and a Nikon Nikkor lens.

I own (as I had stated) a Primary Arms GLX, and the build quality is absolutely better on the PA, and that is just a $799 scope with which I happen to have familiarity. There are probably worse scopes to be had for $1300 from some optics manufacturers, sure--but what are we really accomplishing here?

I'll reiterate my original point. The Arken EP-5 seems like a helluva lot of scope for $550, and (so far) I am very glad to have purchased it. Anybody wants to tilt at windmills, have at it--I don't particularly get off on empty arguments and tribal feuds.

 

[cageli]

So don't take this personally but how can you say it doesn't compare to high end optics when you haven't owned any? That doesn't make much sense.

Fairest review I think we can say about the Arkens is that it packs a ton of features with good performance (my Arken example has great glass)...while it doesn't compare to high end optics like some reviewers have stated and want you to believe (I owned/own them)...it makes you double take an optic purchases that is $500 - $1500...I've had some Steiner German made optics that had hoorrrriiiibble optical qualities and it was over $1500 bucks...so there is that...

The way I would describe Arken scopes: These scopes hold their own league at this price point. They will serve you well so you can take them to hunt and matches (prolly not to battlefield though). I would not compare it to other $500 - $5000 scopes as there is no point. We are buying scopes for the functions. We are not trying to make other people who bought more expensive scopes look like fools. German made scope has much more involved on labor etc, so they will naturally be more expensive comparing to Chicom scopes. The bottom line is, These Arken scopes are serious and solid rifle scopes that you can consider for your firearms instead of airsoft... you will not regret if you buy one, but you should not feel like you paid $500 for a $1500 scope.

 

[thehun]

For sure I think some optics are over priced…100%…some just don’t ever want to admit their $1500-2000 optic lacks optical quality…

For example for me the biggest let down was the Steiner M5Xi line both the 3-15 and 5-25…the image on both just seemed really subpar. Terrible CA, waaay to high contrast and it made the image look “artificial”.

Arken is a huge bang for the buck. PA GLx is a solid line too.

 

[thehun]

The way I would describe Arken scopes: These scopes hold their own league at this price point. They will serve you well so you can take them to hunt and matches (prolly not to battlefield though). I would not compare it to other $500 - $5000 scopes as there is no point. We are buying scopes for the functions. We are not trying to make other people who bought more expensive scopes look like fools. German made scope has much more involved on labor etc, so they will naturally be more expensive comparing to Chicom scopes. The bottom line is, These Arken scopes are serious and solid rifle scopes that you can consider for your firearms instead of airsoft... you will not regret if you buy one, but you should not feel like you paid $500 for a $1500 scope.

Agreed.