Best optic under $800
- Thread starter Jb343434
- Start date
Regarding the Arken, I have the SH4 6-24x50 Gen2 FFP MIL VPR scope. I ordered it last Oct to go onto a PRS rifle. It did not arrive until December after XMAS but it was well worth the wait. It is the best modern optic that I currently own and rivals the supreme clarity of my Unertl vintage 20x tgt scope but comes with all of the modern features that make it far superior to that fine old optic. The turrets are superb and the quality is more like that of a scope costing 2x or 3x the price. Would I buy another? Yes, am looking to do just that now. I put this scope onto a NRL22 rifle for a while and shot in night shoot BR matches under minimal lighting conditions and the scope allowed me to clearly see the finest lines on the tgt and self score with near 100% accuracy from 50y with confidence. There are a handful of minor digs: The illuminated center reticle does not offer enough brightness to be useful at all in daylight. This is minor but does hurt its utility in fast paced PRS and NRL22 type matches. The center cross in the reticle needs to be bolder in my opinion but that is a trade off I know. When the parallax is off a little, there can be a small amount of chromatic perturbation. The outer edges of the image would appear more green and colors might become slightly distorted when at max magnification. This goes away with careful adjustment or at lower power settings. It is a minor distraction and has no bearing on the function at all and I only notice it at dusk in lower light, diffuse light conditions. I am not 100% in love with the reticle. Again, with FFP it is a trade off and few can fit every function. At max power it is too fine for my taste but that only matters when shooting off a bench. In 90% of the situations, I would not be using max power so I can maintain a wider FOV and when that is the case the reticle is A-OK. I like this scope. I have seen some $1000-1500 scopes that lack its clarity at max mag. The nearest comparable scope to me would be the Vortex Laser and that is what 4x the price? High praise to the team at Arken Optics.
Compared to any FFP scope with similar features, I give it a 95% and for the price I have seen none that can match it 100%++
Irish
I would go with athalon in that list but look at the Midas tac it’s a really nice scope for the money
Well time is the best judge that i know, i bought these scopes two days apart ( athlon aries btr and the arken sh4….. the athlon has been awesome! It works flawlessly, and im rough on my stuff. It works no bs, I love it! The arken sh4….. not so much! I had it for 2 days and it shit the bed, the eyepiece came loose from recoil on a 6.5 creedmoor with a muzzle brake… emailed arken and they took care of it plus some!!! kudos to them….. i get a new scope back a week later that looks like the eyepiece has been super glued to the tube with residue all over the scope. The first arken I had had a super clear picture and focused great the one the sent me back is hazy/ fuzzy and cant be focused very well with the parallax. Im not trying to piss anybody off just giving my account of these two scopes. Wish i would have went bushnell forge or another higher end bushnell rather than the arken at this point, take it for what its worth
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I just bought one and received it in about 10 days...$449.00 and free shipping https://www.arkenopticsusa.com/onli...d-Reticle-with-Zero-Stop-34mm-Tube-p230440516
I always shop around for quality used or discontinued optics at a discount before making a purchase. SWFA optics are great values on the used market, and I've been impressed by the SWFA 3-15x that I run on my Grendel and the SWFA HD 5-20x that my hunting partner uses on his Bergara HMR.
I have an Athlon Ares 2.5-15x BTR Gen1 on my SPR and it's a step above the SWFA 3-15x. I haven't compared it to the SWFA HD glass head-to-head, but I suspect they're pretty close.
I recently picked up the Bushnell DMR II 3.5-21x on clearance pricing for my 6.5 Creedmoor and think it's an excellent deal now that it's discounted. CameraLand has some on sale for $900, and it's one of the better values you'll find since it has an excellent track record for durability, and the G3 reticle is underrated:
The Arken SH4 Gen2’s are impressive for the funds thrown at them!! I have almost all of the varied models of Arkens, and they definitely do the job well!
DK
DK
Now is a great time to get a new scope during our Birthday / Labor Day Weekend Sale through Tuesday September 6th. Please give a call, 516-217-1000, to discuss different options
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