Arken SH4 6-24X50 GEN2 FFP MOA

[trickg]

Just got this email from Arken: 30% Off all In-Stock:

Code is: SAVE30%

Seems like a good deal . . . ?

EXAMPLE:

SH4 Gen2 6-24x50 $464.99 ***30% OFF = $325.49***

That's an incredible deal...so good I might order an SH4 too. I don't "need" it, but dang - seems hard to pass on.

 

[JB62]

Thanks !

Had had my eye on the SH4 4-16, with that pricing could not hold off any longer. This site gets me into trouble….

 

[km04]

Just got this email from Arken: 30% Off all In-Stock:

Code is: SAVE30%

Seems like a good deal . . . ?

EXAMPLE:

SH4 Gen2 6-24x50 $464.99 ***30% OFF = $325.49***

Damn you Arken...looks like I might be getting another one...

 

[km04]

UPDATE: Just got back from the range and things are looking very good. The scope is dialed in and working just fine. Today my best group at 100yds was 5 rounds all touching, though it was in a line, not the clover leaf I was looking for. 30 minutes in and my first group on the second target was wide open, all my doing. At this point I stopped shooting, as I tend to let the previous group get in my head and affect future shots. No need to get more worked up and waste good ammo. Tomorrow I'll take the wife out for some shotgun shooting and just have fun. More to come later.

 

[trickg]

I thought I'd jump back into the fray on this.

I have an EP5 on order, but Arken was offering the SH4s with a 30% coupon code, and although I tried to resist, I couldn't and I succumbed to the pressure of getting that scope for such a deal. Part of it was that even though I've been told that I should have my EP5 in hand before the end of June, the 4-6 week lead time seems like it's closer to 8-12 from what I've seen on the Arken pages on FB, and I wanted to make sure I had a good scope that I was familiar with on my bolt gun before my trip out to Nebraska next month where I plan to spend a day or two in a prairie dog town.

The truth is, even the SH4 is probably too much scope for me - I don't "need" all of the features it packs into the package, but I appreciate it for what it is. The glass is clear edge to edge, seems to have an excellent field of view, even at full power, and from what I can see, it tracks well, although I doubt I'll have much use for what it really has to offer unless I decide to get into trying to reach out to longer distances.

I got the scope zeroed at 50 yards a week or so ago, and I was creating a single raggedy hole that calculated out to about .25 MOA, although that's as much due to the rifle and load I'm using as the scope. With that said, as one of my friends here on MDS has pointed out to me, "you can't hit what you can't see." With the glass being as clear as it is, I could clearly see my bullet holes at 50 yards, and I have no doubt I'll be able to see them at 100 yards - don't know about further than that. Seeing a 22 caliber hole at that distance is a bit of a challenge, especially for my eyes.

Part of why I chose the EP5 initially was because of this video:



This video shows the EP5 with glass that is pretty clearly better, and it seemingly has a more forgiving eyebox - I'm curious to see just how good it is when it finally gets here. When it does, I'll move the SH4 to my 18" AR.

There are a lot of other videos pitting both the EP5 and SH4 against the Vortex Venom, and the Arkens do seem to edge out the Vortex, although frankly, I'm quite certain I'd have been happy with the Venom.

Something I did want to point out is the side focus. I do some dry firing with snap caps from inside the house, scoping on things out the window, and from what I can tell, the side focus is pretty accurate on distance. There's a small object about 150-180 yards out by my estimation, and it comes into focus beautifully when the knob is just a hair over 150 between the 150 and 200 marking on the scope. I hope my EP5 is just as accurate.

 

[KRC]

How "accurate" the focus distance (parallax) on your scope will be relative to the etched numbers will depend upon how your eyepiece is adjusted to achieve a clear reticle with your individual eyesight. My eyesight is very poor, I wear contacts to shoot, and my "focus" distance numbers are usually off quite a bit. Not a big deal, even in timed competition when various distances are shot within a single stage.

 

[trickg]

I've read that as well, that a person's eyes can affect how well a scope focuses based on the numbers on the side focus/parallax dial. My eyes are only ok these days - I'm old enough that my eyes just aren't what they once were, but I still don't wear corrective lenses regularly, although maybe I should, just to clear up things a bit at distance. But with that said, my numbers seem to be pretty close to the mark. I'd say that if the numbers are off, it's by less than 20 yards.

 

[ScottW]

Well, I said I'd update ya...here's the latest. The two piece scope mounts the rifle came with did NOT properly fit the scope, totally my fault (this was something I should have noticed, but I guess in my excitement of getting the new scope I over looked it). Well I mount the scope good n' tight on the two piece rail and went shooting. Only shot for about an hour or so, maybe less, I was just sighting in the scope, and things went well. That was two weeks ago. This past weekend I go to shoot and get exactly 5 rounds downrange, first 3 on paper, but nowhere close to last week. The other two, I have no idea where they went. Both myself and the RO at the range were surprised to say the least. I put the rifle on safe and go to look at my scope and it falls off the rails!!!!!!! Luckily it landed on the shooting table, just a few inches drop. So now I am pissed, this should not have happened. Upon further inspection I could see the wear marks from the scope sliding on the mounts. I then noticed that the mounts were not quite right in that the slots were just a little smaller than the lugs on the scope and it was just sitting on top of them. I went online and got the proper mount. It was delivered the next day and promptly mounted, PROPERLY this time. Will keep you posted on how the next day at the range goes.

I’ve been looking at these scopes for a while now and would be very interested in how it tracks, if you happed to do a box test with it. I’ve only been using Vortex for a while now, but I must say these these haves peaked my curiosity.

 

[trickg]

I’ve been looking at these scopes for a while now and would be very interested in how it tracks, if you happed to do a box test with it. I’ve only been using Vortex for a while now, but I must say these these haves piqued my curiosity.

I currently own two of them - from what I can see they track perfectly, but you don’t have to look too hard on YouTube to find all kinds of videos that show how Arken scopes track.

 

[ScottW]

I currently own two of them - from what I can see they track perfectly, but you don’t have to look too hard on YouTube to find all kinds of videos that show how Arken scopes track.

Th

I currently own two of them - from what I can see they track perfectly, but you don’t have to look too hard on YouTube to find all kinds of videos that show how Arken scopes track.

Thanks, you know I’m on YouTube constantly, but never thought to look the Arken on there. Is the build quality good on them? They are such a reasonable price point compaired to the Vortex & Leupold scopes I have used for years, it has made me wonder.

 

[km04]

What Trickg said as far as tracking, plus I'll add that they do track great.

Build quality on them is great. Solid metal construction with brass in the turret for the zero stop, no plastic. There are a few videos showing this as well. I don't think you'll be disappointed if you bought one.

 

[Russ D]

I just picked up a second SH4 today. I wasn’t planning on buying another, but I couldn’t pass up the chance to upgrade another rifle for such a cheap price. The tracking and amount of travel on the turrets is really impressive. I think I will pick up another EP-5 at some point as well.

 

[trickg]

6 months later, I've still got no complaints with either of my Arken scopes, although I can't say the same thing for the AR I have the SH4 mounted to - it's not exactly impressive from an accuracy standpoint, but the SH4 was fine when I had it on my Bighorn build, so the issues with accuracy are not related to the scope.

I'll have to try a heavier bullet in the AR to see if maybe that will help. It's an 18" barrel with a 1:7 twist, and a 223 Wylde chamber. On paper it sounds pretty good, but it's one of the least accurate ARs I own.

I also plan on breaking it down to see if maybe I can do some things to accurize it such as lapping the receiver face and bedding the barrel extension.

 

[Russ D]

6 months later, I've still got no complaints with either of my Arken scopes, although I can't say the same thing for the AR I have the SH4 mounted to - it's not exactly impressive from an accuracy standpoint, but the SH4 was fine when I had it on my Bighorn build, so the issues with accuracy are not related to the scope.

I'll have to try a heavier bullet in the AR to see if maybe that will help. It's an 18" barrel with a 1:7 twist, and a 223 Wylde chamber. On paper it sounds pretty good, but it's one of the least accurate ARs I own.

I also plan on breaking it down to see if maybe I can do some things to accurize it such as lapping the receiver face and bedding the barrel extension.

Who made the barrel? Before I did all that I would replace the barrel with a WOA SPR. I have yet to see one that wouldn’t shoot. Chamber and twist don’t mean a thing if it’s not a good quality barrel with a quality cut chamber.

 

[trickg]

Who made the barrel? Before I did all that I would replace the barrel with a WOA SPR. I have yet to see one that wouldn’t shoot. Chamber and twist don’t mean a thing if it’s not a good quality barrel with a quality cut chamber.

It's a PSA upper that was purchased as a complete upper - I have no idea who made the barrel.

Lessons learned - this is one of those things where I've learned a thing or two over time. My last two ARs were full builds where I also did the barrel installation, and they are both more accurate than this one. One has a Faxon barrel, the other a Ballistic Advantage, so it's entirely possible that the barrel itself is the issue on that upper.

 

[Russ D]

It's a PSA upper that was purchased as a complete upper - I have no idea who made the barrel.

Lessons learned - this is one of those things where I've learned a thing or two over time. My last two ARs were full builds where I also did the barrel installation, and they are both more accurate than this one. One has a Faxon barrel, the other a Ballistic Advantage, so it's entirely possible that the barrel itself is the issue on that upper.

Have you tried any match grade ammo? Some barrels just won’t shoot crap ammo. Even if you match the bullet weight to the twist, if it’s cheap ammo it probably won’t make a difference. Most of my 1/7’s shoot 55 gr. Flat based handloads the best, because it’s the best quality ammo I make. The faster twist just means it will stabilize heavier bullets for better balistic/terminal performance at longer ranger.