I generally do not do reviews. Mostly because I tend to be very critical of things that almost always end up being more negative than they really are. But with that being said I felt compelled to write about my recent Arken scope purchase. I was not given this scope, I bought it and paid full price for it. I had no contact with Arken before buying it and have zero loyalty to them or any other scope. I bought it to try and I am really glad I did.

So I recently bought a 4-16 power Arken with the 34mm tube. I have owned a few ~$500 scopes recently so I was expecting about the same as most, clear but not crisp optics, muted colors and mushy turrets. When it arrived it was late at night so I was unable to look through it but as I turned the turrets I realized this was not like any other $500 scope I have handled. The clicks are solid and have both tactile and audible indicators that would be hard to miss for anyone other than maybe Helen Keller.

It sat a few days but today I really got into it and without a doubt this is the most impressive scope I have used as of late. I thought my Athlon Ares BTR was a great value at ~$500 but the Arken is the deal of the century by comparison.

I looked through the Arken was was immediately surprised at the clarity but also the generous eye box. It amazed me how the nice the view was. The rest of the scope fades away and there is virtually zero black ring about the view. The edge to edge clarity can only be described using one word, amazing. The eye box is the most generous eye box I have ever seen in ANY scope other than a very low magnification scopes. I cannot say enough great things about the eye box and how the view goes all the way to the edge. It does not fish eye either at minimum to maximum magnification. The generous eye box and edge to edge clarity make using the scope in a hurry easy. The reticle itself is very usable, even at the lowest magnification you can still use it like a duplex reticle. At the highest magnification the lines are still small and crisp. The reticle is laid out perfectly with a tree on the bottom and a BDC above horizontal. THE BDC is spec'd for a 5'10 tall man and 19.5" wide shoulders out to 1,100 yards. And because the shoulder BDC uses a solid line you do not have to guess at distances between the 100 yard increments. Put the shoulder between the lines until the shoulders are touching then you are on.

Today was a very clear day so I decided to compare it to a few other scopes. I was looking at a mountain top with a tree line mixed with green and gray trees with a blue sky as the background.

First I compared it to the Athlon Ares BTR 4.5-27. I set both at 12x and there is no comparison. The Athlon feels like a cheap BB gun Tasco by comparison. The Arken was amazingly clear compared to the Athlon. The colors were also popping in the Arken compared to the Athlon. The turrets are magnitudes better than the Athlon. I do like the zero stop of the Athlon better but other than that they Arken curb stomps the Athlon. My Athlon, if it doesn't sell, will end up on a 22 trainer.

Thinking it can't be that good I compared the Arken to my Steiner M7 4-28. I found it very hard to see a difference between the two. The Arken's clarity is comparable to the Steiner and the colors are just as vibrant. The hues are not the same, not sure which is more correct, but without a doubt both have vibrant colors compared to the Athlon. The eye box is better with the Arken at the same magnification than the Steiner. The Steiner's clicks are audible and tactile but not as much as the Arken. The only thing I am unsure about is the durability of the Arken. Without a doubt the Steiner is durable and I have not used the Arken enough to make a judgement.

And although I no longer have it I would say that the Arken is better than the Vortex Gen 2 Razor I had. I got rid of the Razor because it did not work well with my eyes. The colors seemed off and it didn't impress me with its clarity for a $2,000 scope. The turrets on the Vortex were definitely not as positive as the Arken and the eye box wasn't as good as the Arken from what I remember. I can remember always struggling to get behind the Vortex and with the Arken it seems easier.

At dusk is where the Arken really seemed to shine. I was spotting for a friend today as it got dark. I was behind the Steiner and once it go to a point I could no longer call the hits I put it away thinking I was done. But I decided to pull out the Arken and see how it looked. The target was easy to see compared to the Steiner and I could easily see hits on a white paper at 100 yards with the Arken after it had become impossible with the Steiner. BTW, the friend I was spotting for could not believe how nice it was for the price. He kept looking through it, shaking his head and speechless at the clarity but especially the view.

This weekend the Arken will be put on a 50 BMG to check its durability. And in the coming weeks it will be tested on a 300 PRC to check long distance tracking. I will try to get other shooters to put it on their hard hitting guns to try to break it. And if it does Arken will no doubt take care of it because their customer service is also amazing. I did not have a problem with the scope itself but with something a worker did. There was a minor blemish on the gray finish and a worker used a black sharpie to try to mask it. I would have never noticed the blemish if they had not used a black sharpie to mask it. It did not affect function but regardless Arken CS was all over it. Within 10 minutes I received a phone call and over the next 24 hours I received at least a dozen calls and texts as we worked to make it right. In the end they did everything right and resolved it far beyond what I was expecting. I was even given the personal number of the main Arken CS guy and told to call or text anytime.

I do have a couple of complaints though. The biggest one I have, and it is kind of a big one for me, is the magnification ring is stiff. Stiff enough that it will need a throw lever. Perhaps it will loosen up over time but as of right now it is stiffer than I would like. Not the end of the world as I generally do not dial up or down the magnification but for some it might be an issue. The other issue is it comes with those cheesy elastic scope covers that almost always end up in the junk drawer. I would prefer a set of decent covers like Butler Creeks or something actually usable. The covers that come with it are much higher quality than most but it would be better with decent flip up covers from the factory.

I am not sure what sort of voodoo magic, selling of the soul they had to do to get the planets to align the way they have but whatever they did they have an amazing scope. Clear optics, amazing turrets, seems to track perfectly and has a very useful reticle. Hard to imagine a better scope at any price.

I like the Arken enough that as long as it is durable and tracks well I will be selling my Steiner M7 and replacing it with a few more Arkens, they truly are amazing but especially so for the asking price.

I welcome ANY questions.

I have to agree with Rob on the razor..every single person who has gotten behind mine has gushed about how good the eye box is and how good the glass is..including guys using optics that cost double or more then the razor...Be interesting to see the long term reliability of this new scope though..I have a lot of friends who are super cheap bastards...Ie they fucking squeak when they walk....

Yea and the turrets on the Razor are real, real good.  They are my second favorite turret.  My first is Tangent Theta that costs twice as much.

Pretty much spot on with my initial assessment. When compared to the Steiner T5xi the EP4 performed noticeably better in how it controlled CA. The Steiner, by comparison, was pretty terrible in that regard. It even outperforms my MK5HD with regards to CA control. Edge to edge clarity, color, contrast, etc. was on the level of scopes costing well north of $1K and I'd even put it up against glass in the $2K range. Yes, it's that good. If you would've told me a sub $600 Chinese made scope could outperform optics well above its price point from reputable manufactures I would've laughed in your face and called you on your bullshit. That said, I heard the glass was outsourced (not made in China), so that could be why the optical performance is so good. I'm not sure if there's any truth to this, so don't hold me to it. However, the body, mechanics, etc. all appear to be of very good quality and very robust. Click adjustments are comparable to the Vortex Razor Gen II (going off memory), very tactile and audible.  This scope does not have that cheap scope feeling at all. Complaints I have about the scope are the same (tight power ring). Only mine had a couple mil indicators that weren't completely etched on (Arken said they'll fix it, but they've been backlogged). I got tired of waiting for Arken to send me a "free" power throw lever, so I just sucked it up and purchased one from Anarchy Outdoors, which helps with the super tight power ring. Lens shade color doesn't quite match up with the body of the scope, but it's negligible. It also doesn't come with an owners manual (at least mine didn't), but you can view the PDF from their website. It's important to understand how to properly set the zero stop because the screw will walk out on you causing it to not return to zero. This might be lost on your average Billy-Bob-Mouthbreather, so I thought I'd point it out just in case someone runs into the same problem and defaults to the old "Chinese junk!" non-constructive criticism. Pay attention to how to properly set it and it'll work flawlessly. Currently running it on my Remington 5R 6.5CM.

@Dolomite_Supafly
@Blackfoot_7

Please discuss how your Arken Optics are performing now? Its been about a year. Are they still amazing for the price.

Very good optics at the price point. I traded my 4-16x back to Arken due to a minor defect in the reticle. They sent me a new optic. I wanted a bit more range on the top end than what they were offering so I sold it. Overall, it's probably one of your best budget options out there right now.

I still stand by my feelings about the Arken. Still as good and so far it has survived on several 5.56 ARs, a 308 bolt gun and a 50 BMG bolt gun.

@Blackfoot_7

Thanks for the update.

@Dolomite_Supafly

Your awesome review reeled me in. I started doing research at Snipers Hide after reading your review. There are some great reviews about Arken Optics scopes from SH users, but the CS, marketing and management may be a little rough around the edges.
Somehow, several accounts tied to Arken Optics USA are banned and they have the owner at SH (lowlight), not too happy with them for what equates to business ethics issues.

Overall, everyone who owns one seems to love them, and anyone who has an issue, gets taken care of. The only issue I found was waiting to get it shipped out, since there's a backorder wait of 7-8 weeks.

Do you know how Arken's SH compares to the GLx series of Primary Arms scopes?

I have not owned that PA scope so I do not know how they compare to the Arken.