So after a 16 week wait, I received my $440 Arken scope. Arken scopes have been massively hyped on the internet, though most of the positive reviews from a while back are the EP4 series, which is not available for order. That one uses ED glass, and the SH4 does not. Read on.
It's OK. It's built solid, and has good tactile feedback. Zero stop-- something missing on so many scopes is there on all of them. But optically... it is not in the league with much more expensive scopes. There's noticeable chromatic aberration (those colored fringes around edges). Understand that I am picky about optics though; probably more so than a lot of people. That said, I found it harder to read my "sharpie notes" written on targets at 100 yards with this scope, than with a Nightforce at 22X, and Bushnell Nitro at 24X.
Comparing it favorably to a Nighforce would be silly. It's not in that class. And honestly, it's not as clear as the $275 Bushnell Nitro scope that I got on sale... normally about $600. That thing has great optics, but mushy cheap-feeling turrets. The situation is very much reversed with the Arken.
There is a small "eye box", the region where your eye must be to see the whole view field of the scope. Not unusable, but it's small compared to my other high-magnification scopes. At least that's how it feels to me. Got to have just the right cheek weld at 24X, or you don't see the full field.
I tried a "box test", something I'd never tried before, but I only did it on one piece of 8.5x11" paper, and it seemed to track fine.
So it's good enough, but it doesn't appear to be breaking new ground at that price point. Now if that EP4 comes out again still far below a grand, that might be a different story.
You could do a lot worse though-- it's big and heavy, but very easy to manipulate the dials, and you can read the dang things without needing reading glasses, if you're of that age.
I'm not going to return or sell it, but I doubt I'll be buying another.
P.S. If you don't need to take it into combat, catching one of those Bushnell Nitro's on sale at Midway or whatever, is a real bargain at $275-ish. Wish I'd bought two, mushy turrets and all.
It's OK. It's built solid, and has good tactile feedback. Zero stop-- something missing on so many scopes is there on all of them. But optically... it is not in the league with much more expensive scopes. There's noticeable chromatic aberration (those colored fringes around edges). Understand that I am picky about optics though; probably more so than a lot of people. That said, I found it harder to read my "sharpie notes" written on targets at 100 yards with this scope, than with a Nightforce at 22X, and Bushnell Nitro at 24X.
Comparing it favorably to a Nighforce would be silly. It's not in that class. And honestly, it's not as clear as the $275 Bushnell Nitro scope that I got on sale... normally about $600. That thing has great optics, but mushy cheap-feeling turrets. The situation is very much reversed with the Arken.
There is a small "eye box", the region where your eye must be to see the whole view field of the scope. Not unusable, but it's small compared to my other high-magnification scopes. At least that's how it feels to me. Got to have just the right cheek weld at 24X, or you don't see the full field.
I tried a "box test", something I'd never tried before, but I only did it on one piece of 8.5x11" paper, and it seemed to track fine.
So it's good enough, but it doesn't appear to be breaking new ground at that price point. Now if that EP4 comes out again still far below a grand, that might be a different story.
You could do a lot worse though-- it's big and heavy, but very easy to manipulate the dials, and you can read the dang things without needing reading glasses, if you're of that age.
I'm not going to return or sell it, but I doubt I'll be buying another.
P.S. If you don't need to take it into combat, catching one of those Bushnell Nitro's on sale at Midway or whatever, is a real bargain at $275-ish. Wish I'd bought two, mushy turrets and all.
