Arken Optics EP5 5-25x56 FFP long range riflescope MIL VPR reticle, Illuminated, Zero Stop

Designed by a former Navy SEAL, the ARKEN sniper/tactical scope is high quality without the high price

Designed from the ground up, the Arken tactical long range precision scope performs as well as scopes 2x and 3x the price.  Mike Riley, the designer of the scope and US Navy SEAL sniper team member, took his experience in combat to design a sniper style rifle scope that would be affordable enough for the average shooter.  Mike and his team took that challenge on, and in creating Arken Optics took the best glass available, had it polished like high-end scopes and put the right number of coatings on the lens to make the optical quality very good, while not seeking to spend two or three times as much, and then designed a rugged housing to withstand the forces of a .50 caliber rifle and then moved to the turrets to create just the right comfortable feel and audible clicks.  Coupling this forward-thinking design, the Arken team added a reticle that allows for both dial-in and hold-overs in the form of a modified Christmas tree - the VPR reticle.

Key Features

• ED Japanese Glass
• First Focal Plane
• Zero Stop Turret
• Illuminated Christmas Tree Style Reticle
• Repeatable Precision Tracking
• Solid Rugged Construction
• Dial-in Parallax
• Solid Audible Turret Clicks
• 34mm Tube
• 32 Mil of Elevation Travel
• Lifetime Warranty

Working the best design and technical engineering team, the Arken team found the right balance of precision engineering and cost.  When designing a rifle scope, it is easy to design a cheap scope:  polish the glass for less time, and apply fewer coatings and bake them for less time.  It is also somewhat easy to design a world-class alpha scope, where money is no object:  give the polishing all the time it needs to be flawless and apply three coatings and let each bake for the maximum time, and assemble all the products in Japan, Austria, Germany or the US.  What is hard is to design a scope that comes as close as needed to the alpha scope for $4,000 and pull-back on the degree of perfect to the point where cost savings are achieved with very little change in quality.  That is what Arken has done, and quite frankly, they have done it probably better than anyone else.

Arken Optics provides high quality optics for the precision shooter.  The Arken Optics EP5 is the perfect combination of crystal clear glass, solid tactical turrets with crisp clicks and repeatable tracking guaranteed, housed in a heavy duty, lightweight package.  The best value on the market, coupled with their lifetime warranty that is second to none and exceptional customer service that gives you a lifetime of stress-free shooting.

Arken Optics products are designed to combine quality, performance and precision with tremendous value. The EP5 is a FFP (First Focal Plane) optic that features Japanese ED glass to enhance clarity and minimize dispersion. The Arken EP5 is outfitted with our AZS (Arken Zero Stop) and incorporates adjustable elevation and windage turrets with tactile and audible clicks. These turrets are 10 MIL per revolution.

The EP5 line of scopes is Arken's top of the line scope.

Those of you who know us at Charlie's, know that we know our scopes.  Some call us scope snobs.  So, we are slow to introduce our customers to lesser priced scopes, unless we find incredible value.  We have run this scope by external scope experts, and most all agree, that the Arken EP5 is something special.  When shopping for a scope, most customers like a reference point:  What does this scope compare to?  From our perspective, Arken has sought to build the EP5 to be as durable as a Nigh force NXS or ATACR, and as usable and accurate as a Vortex Razor.  Did they succeed?  Probably pretty close, but we are not going to tell you that you can get Razor or ATACR durability and quality, but more like one level down.  On the other hand, the price of the EP5 would compete with a Vortex Venom, a Burris RT, or a Sig Tango 4, all the while performing closer to a Vortex Viper PST Gen2 or a Burris XTR3 or a Sig Tango 6.  This is the sort of useful information that a scope buyer needs.  All the data in the spec sheet will read like you think it should.  We have not met a customer who was unhappy with their EP5, and we find just as many customers who buy one that buy two or three, and give them as gifts.

The design of the EP5 uses an "ultra short" style profile, with a length of just over 14" and a full 2" of ring space on each side of the top turret.  The weight is a little on the heavy side at 39 ounces , due to the number of lenses and the durability of the tube and turrets.

Why would I buy the EP5 over other Arken optics?

This is really the best question.  Arken offers four models of scopes:

• EP4:  One of the earlier models, the EP4 features a 4x magnification and ED glass from Japan and 50mm objective lens.  The ED glass makes for a slightly better image, but there is no illumination
• EP4L: The EP4 line, now made lighter.  Still 4x magnification with ED glass from Japan.  Now with 30mm tube and illumination.  The lighter scope is sure to be win for lighter weight applications
• SH4:  Tough as nails, and a scope that people look at twice.  34mm tube and 50mm objective lens and using some of the best HD glass from China.  In side by side demonstrations, it is very hard to tell the difference in optical quality between other Arken offerings, but Arken has found ways to cut costs to make this the most affordable high performance scope, and turrets with 8Mils per rotation
• EP5:  Top of the line from Arken, offering 5x magnification, ED Japanese lenses and a 56mm objective lens.  The turrets have a 10mil per rotation, making them easier to compute on the fly.

So, why choose the EP5?  For those looking for longer distance shots, the 34mm tube will be a better choice over the EP4L with a 30mm tube.  The side by side comparison with the SH4 Gen2 shows the EP5 with a slight edge, and you are getting top of the line Japanese ED glass and 56mm objective lens for more light.  Also, the 10mil per revolution makes on the fly adjustments that much faster than multiplying by 8 on the SH4.  You might think of it this way:  The SH4 Gen2 is often compared to the Vortex PST Gen2 and the EP5 is compared to Nightforce scopes.  The Arken EP5, you are getting the top of the line from an up and coming brand, and you can strut your stuff with the best.

"That value proposition is strong here. Whether that eases nerves of a first purchase for a beginning shooter, provides a lower cost option that lets you outfit more rifles with their own scope you so you don’t have to share, or opens up the possibility for a shooter to get into long range that otherwise would not be able to swing a scope that runs more than a big screen TV, this Arken is giving a lot of people a nice option they never had before."  - Sniper's Hide review

Specifications

For a review of this model, see the Review of the Arken EP5 from Optics Trade Blog