Arken EPL4

[steve123]

From what I gather the main thing people like about Arken is the turret feel and click spacing due of the LARGE and wide turrets which is of course fine if that's what one prefers, and I think these are very nice feeling turrets as well.

Most of the Athlon scopes have just as nice turrets as Arken but Athlon chose to make the turrets smaller in height and width which makes the turret spacing closer together which changes the feel compared to Arken, and saves a tiny bit of weight.

I could go either way as far as turrets go for target use but I do prefer distinct, audible turrets that don't have any or hardly any lash and also line up well. Both Co's do a good job here over most of the other Co's in the $400-ish price range.

Above the Arken but yesterday I used my Cronus G2 4.5-29x56 and those turrets are so nice they are right up there with, or exceeding, all the tier 1 and 2 scopes I've come across.
Over all these are my favorite turrets of any scope so far and we're talking about some $3000 - $5000 scopes I've compared with. It's a preference thing, I just love em, but of course most of those tier 1's and 2's are nice in their own way. Some of those tier 1's and 2's should be ashamed though because I did not find the turrets anything special at all and more comparable in feel to lower grade scopes.

About 15 years ago I bought a used $1700 USO 3.2-17, these were $2350 new back then, and I've had $50 scopes that had better glass, not kidding either. I sent it back to them, they supposedly fixed it and upon return it wasn't much better????? On top of that the turrets weren't very good. I very much disliked that scope!
See how far the scope industry has come since then! I'd seriously rather use a Argos G2 than that scope!

 

[HogKiller]

What are they supposed to do, not take any pre-orders on a product they have an humongous demand for? If you dont want to support a US veteran business because their products are manufactured in china and you just cant wait, that is your choice I guess. They are purposefully making their profit margins as thin as possible to provide us with some of the best scopes on the market for super low prices. Sometimes that means waiting a little while. I dont see that as a "FAIL", not by a long shot. By the way the Athlon is made in china also. In my opinion you are doing yourself a disservice not trying an Arken.

Side note have you considered an Element Helix? I think the Helix and EPL4 are very close and really like them both.

They are good people, they sent me a bunch of stuff when they accidentally sent me the wrong rings. It took me about 6 weeks to get mine, well worth the wait.

 

[HogKiller]

I apologize if I came off sounding a bit rude with my previous comments… I really like the stats on the new EPL4 and I still intend to purchase one. I’m just irritated with having to pay in advance for a product that hasn’t even been made yet.

I have a new rifle I’ve still never fired just sitting on the bench waiting for a scope and I can’t imagine having to wait until the 4th of July to play with it, so I suppose I should choose a alternate option for now

Have you tried contacting them?

 

[HogKiller]

From what I gather the main thing people like about Arken is the turret feel and click spacing due of the LARGE and wide turrets which is of course fine if that's what one prefers, and I think these are very nice feeling turrets as well.

Most of the Athlon scopes have just as nice turrets as Arken but Athlon chose to make the turrets smaller in height and width which makes the turret spacing closer together which changes the feel compared to Arken, and saves a tiny bit of weight.

I could go either way as far as turrets go for target use but I do prefer distinct, audible turrets that don't have any or hardly any lash and also line up well. Both Co's do a good job here over most of the other Co's in the $400-ish price range.

Above the Arken but yesterday I used my Cronus G2 4.5-29x56 and those turrets are so nice they are right up there with, or exceeding, all the tier 1 and 2 scopes I've come across.
Over all these are my favorite turrets of any scope so far and we're talking about some $3000 - $5000 scopes I've compared with. It's a preference thing, I just love em, but of course most of those tier 1's and 2's are nice in their own way. Some of those tier 1's and 2's should be ashamed though because I did not find the turrets anything special at all and more comparable in feel to lower grade scopes.

About 15 years ago I bought a used $1700 USO 3.2-17, these were $2350 new back then, and I've had $50 scopes that had better glass, not kidding either. I sent it back to them, they supposedly fixed it and upon return it wasn't much better????? On top of that the turrets weren't very good. I very much disliked that scope!
See how far the scope industry has come since then! I'd seriously rather use a Argos G2 than that scope!

I love the turrets, even the ELP, which has a small covered windage turret feels like it CLICKS. My next favorite thing is the little tiny .3 moa center dot. I've got three Elements a Nexus and two Titians, I just seem to prefer the Arken's and their slightly larger eye box and I've been having issues with the Elements, the turrets are freezing up, have to pop them off and lube the o-rings...per Element...really?

 

[Heavyopp]

Those of us with aging eyes can actually see the markings on the turrets without glasses, another bonus!

 

[efem09]

You said your self that your experience with Athlon is limited. As is mine with Arken.
This guy is glassing a golf ball at 229 yards with 3 different scopes including an Athlon Helos and an Element Titan. Guess who is at the bottom of the 3 scopes...you guessed it, the Titan. The Athlon gen 2 all have stainless steel turrets and is the first time I hear anyone saying that they don't track.
I can also link a bunch of reviews from people that are saying that the Titan from Element ain't all that much. Yeah it maybe tracks fine but so as many other scopes with much better glass.
Bottom line if you want to support an Amercan company that is fine, but American Vereran owned is also Riton and they have some good offerings too. I think a lot of people have jumbed into the Arken bandwagon because of Cyclops and regreted it later. Bottom line, for a little bit more money there are better offerings out there without the hussle of waiting 2,3 or 4 months.

Element is just FX scopes under a different name, Frederik Axelsson invested in the company when they first started.

 

[MongooseV8]

You said your self that your experience with Athlon is limited. As is mine with Arken.
This guy is glassing a golf ball at 229 yards with 3 different scopes including an Athlon Helos and an Element Titan. Guess who is at the bottom of the 3 scopes...you guessed it, the Titan. The Athlon gen 2 all have stainless steel turrets and is the first time I hear anyone saying that they don't track.
I can also link a bunch of reviews from people that are saying that the Titan from Element ain't all that much. Yeah it maybe tracks fine but so as many other scopes with much better glass.
Bottom line if you want to support an Amercan company that is fine, but American Vereran owned is also Riton and they have some good offerings too. I think a lot of people have jumbed into the Arken bandwagon because of Cyclops and regreted it later. Bottom line, for a little bit more money there are better offerings out there without the hussle of waiting 2,3 or 4 months.

Well I just dont agree with any of your points. 229 yards is a good start. I never said the Athlon scopes dont track, and I doubt you will find many people that regret buying an Arken. Not per capita of scopes sold, certainly. And normally you dont have to wait for an Arken, only after a brand new product line has been released or a big sale (like last holiday season). They catch up to demand and have regular stock after a little while. I also dont agree with other offerings. Ime to get a better scope overall than an Arken you have to spend a lot more, and there are only a handful of choices. They are heavy though and I dont like that.

I watched both videos and took away something much different. The image quality differences most people notice is in the darker colors and shadows, and the Titan and Arken look better to me when compared to the Athlons. In the first video the shade and dark branches are more vibrant and crisp in the Titan, but he uses two bright colors for his test. In the second video you can see the darker dot better through the Arken. When using a scope outside in different lighting conditions at different ranges, its almost always the darker colors and shadows that you struggle to see. Now something to keep in mind is looking through the scope in person is much different than through a camera and mirrors, then compressed and uploaded to youtube. You have a high priority for image quality and thats good for your style, but to me its similar to a nice paint job on a race car. And dont get me wrong I never said Athlon scopes are bad, I think they are a great value. And I dont think the Titan is the best scope ever made either. But it is a great scope I own and have actually used, so I can offer that as a first hand comparison to the Athlons I have used. I actually prefer my Helix overall to the Titan, because it is lighter and the turrets feel better and its a Mil scope. The image quality isnt quite as good, but its still great. The reality is all these scopes have wonderful image quality and we are splitting hairs. The whole scope industry has taken many leaps forward in just the last 10 years, and any of these are way more than you need on any air rifle. The real practical differences are in turret performance.

 

[MongooseV8]

From what I gather the main thing people like about Arken is the turret feel and click spacing due of the LARGE and wide turrets which is of course fine if that's what one prefers, and I think these are very nice feeling turrets as well.

Most of the Athlon scopes have just as nice turrets as Arken but Athlon chose to make the turrets smaller in height and width which makes the turret spacing closer together which changes the feel compared to Arken, and saves a tiny bit of weight.

I could go either way as far as turrets go for target use but I do prefer distinct, audible turrets that don't have any or hardly any lash and also line up well. Both Co's do a good job here over most of the other Co's in the $400-ish price range.

......

For me turret feel is nice to have but thats not what makes the Arkens so great. It is the turret tracking, consistency, no slop, precision, temps, and return to zero. And the truth is most scopes on the market fall short. There are some awesome scopes that do as good or better, but its a short list. There are a lot of us out there that use Arkens because they have been proven to be rock solid reliable. I have owned and used scopes much more expensive that are really only good for a set it and forget it rig. Need to adjust for drop and a steady wind? Ok take a guess and take shot, only to miss and lose your window. For what I do there is rarely a chance for a second shot, so the scope needs to work the first time every time. The actual click sound and feel is helpful and I like it more on the Arken than say a Bushnell Elite. However Ive never seen a click sound or feel take out a ground squirrel

 

[Hangtown-Shooter]

Have you tried contacting them?

Not directly, but I did go ahead and place an order through their website for a 4-16x44 MRAD with the 1pc mount combo pack

 

[Hangtown-Shooter]

My 2-4 week + wait only took a little more than a week… Great job Arken!

 

[MongooseV8]

Had mine out today and plugged a squirrel with a 17.5 Nielsen. Pretty good scope for a walk around setup under 100yds.

 

[Hangtown-Shooter]

Had mine out today and plugged a squirrel with a 17.5 Nielsen. Pretty good scope for a walk around setup under 100yds.

That’s my intended purpose for this optic as well… a quality “lightweight walk-n-stalk“ setup with a nice useable reticle and nice turrets. I’m still experimenting with finding the ideal mounting solution, but I am getting close and should have things dialed in by this weekend. PESTS BEWARE!

 

[Dairyboy]

If I were in the market for another scope, I'd probably go for one of these. They look great. Would be a hard choice between my 4-20x50 Helos BTR Gen2 though. And yes I have a 4-16x50 SH4 Gen2 so I can directly compare and they compare very closely. I'd probably pick the Athlon over Arken though. Probably just due to size. Had a 4-14x44 SH4 Gen1 I greatly regret selling. But again I could happily buy the Helos BTR Gen2 line or this EPL4 line and not need consider different scopes.

 

[Dairyboy]

Can anyone confirm that they don't have a Christmas tree reticle? I saw 2 pics on there site and one did and other didnt. Would be a shame if they didn't have it

 

[Hangtown-Shooter]

Can anyone confirm that they don't have a Christmas tree reticle? I saw 2 pics on there site and one did and other didnt. Would be a shame if they didn't have it

I’m not a fan of the “Christmas tree“ reticle personally, and this reticle design is one of the feature‘s that originally attracted me to this model.

 

[Dairyboy]

Bummer. Good to know. I realized the pic I saw with the Christmas tree was just a pic on the page dividing the scope and then there other scopes below. I never used to like them either but shooting in the wind it is a huge help. Still won't take it off the list for future scopes if I need one but wish they had a choice between the 2

 

[M0ist0ne]

Element is just FX scopes under a different name, Frederik Axelsson invested in the company when they first started.

Believe it's run by his son now? It's a mid-tier trying to compete in the high end market. It's almost like a belief that if they price em high, that's what they'll be. But in reality they're probably 'worth' about 2/3's of where they price them.

Imo, the arkens are a low-mid tier at a low end price point. Not hating, I've had the sh4g2 and presently own two EP5's. I'm not a glass snob so I could get two ep5's for the price of a Cronus or ares etr and does what I need it to do.

 

[jps2486]

I have experience with both Athlon and Arkens. I have 3 Arken SH-4, 6-24, two Athlon Midas-Tac 6-24X50, an Athlon Heras BTR Gen II 6-24X56, and the new Athlon Heras 6-24X56 SFP. Whew! All excellent scopes, but some just a little better than others in certain regards. My take is: Arkens are bright and clear with a nice reticle and wide FOV. Only downside is that the focus is not precise. While it focuses ok, I wouldn't use it for FT because it doesn't "snap" in at different yardages plus it only focuses down to 25 yards. I don't have the new EPL 30 mm version, so I can't comment on that, but since it's FFP, I guess I'll pass. All my Athlons have excellent glass, reticles, turrets and focus to 10 yards. The Midas is marginally the best. The reticle is almost perfect but not illuminated. The Helos has an illuminated reticle, but like the Arken, it's a 34 MM tube and heavy. While I haven't mounted the Heras yet, it has all the features I want for airgunning and rimfire shooting, plus I have the choice of FFP or SFP. I prefer SFP, and thankfully, someone heard me. All the other scopes I mentioned are FFP and when I turn the magnification down, the reticle shrinks, of course, and my old eyes lose it below 12, so these are kind of useless at low magnification. Of all these scopes that I have, my choice would be the Athlon Heras. Get your wallets out, boys!
Please do you homework on the Athlons. Many don't focus to 10 yards if that's important to you.

 

[gbmarcht]

How many people actually got there's by now? I've been waiting for mine for several months now...starting to get impatient. What's the consensus on the 6-24X EPL4? Is the glass up to the task?

Got mine last week, about 5 weeks for 4- 16 moa. Haven't gotten to try it out yet but will be mounting on my HW97 .177. Impressed so far with build quality, optics, and turrets for scope in this price range.

 

[gbmarcht]

Have a Athlon 6-24x 50 Gen 2 FFP on my TX200 .22 so will be interesting to compare the 2.