Preface
In the pursuit of excellence and functionality, it seems there are too many optics manufacturers to count these days. One of the many companies fighting to earn your money is Arken Optics, a Texas based company with its production done in Asia. Arken Optics prides themselves on rugged performance and extreme clarity, back by a 100% lifetime warranty. Today we will take a look at my first venture into their products, with the Arken Optics EP-5 5-25X56 riflescope.
Our market has been flooded with Asian made optics over the last few decades, and they have become so competitive that even big brands like Nightforce and US Optics have opened lines of offshore sourced optics in order to hold onto their share of the market.
The Arken Optics EP-5
Arken’s EP-5 scope uses Japanese made lenses that are assembled in China according to the internet. This should come as no surprise, as so many of the scopes you find on the market today share the same origin. The lower cost of these optics is matched by a lifetime warranty, something you simply must have these days. Long gone are the arguments about why something is covered versus not, most companies now have a no questions asked repair or replacement warranty. For you and me, that is definitely a good thing.
The Arken EP-5 is built around a 34 millimeter tube, which has become the standard for these type of optics. The large fifty-six millimeter objective gathers quite an image and compresses it down nicely for your observation. With the reticle placed in the first focal plane, you can always count on the values of the reticle subtensions as you zoom the scope in or out.
The large erector assembly houses heavy duty turrets to adjust the reticle for most any shooting scenario. Ten Milliradians per rotation is what I consider the minimum standard for a good long-range scope. With 1/10 MRAD clicks and a zero-stop these turrets are made for serious shooting business.
Features
| Arken Optics EP-5 5-25X56 FFP features | |
| Magnification | 5-25X |
| Objective Diameter | 56mm |
| Eye Relief | 3.4 Inches |
| Field of View | 25.3-4.9 ft @100 Yards |
| Tube Size | 34mm |
| Turret Adjustment | 1/10 MIL |
| Reticle Position | First Focal Plane |
| Reticle | VPR Illuminated |
| Zero Stop | AZS Zero Stop |
| Elevation Adjustment Range | 32 MIL |
| Windage Adj. Range | 16 MIL |
| Adjustment Per Revolution | 10 MIL |
| Parallax Adjustment | 25Yds – Infinity |
| Illumination | Red |
| Length | 14 Inches |
| Color | Matte Black |
| Weight | 39.2 Ounces |
| Sunshade | Included |
| Battery | CR 2032 |
I mounted the EP-5 on my rifle using a Zro Delta 34mm cantilever mount which gave the appropriate sight height. The rifle it would go on is my Desert Tech SRS M2 which at the moment has a 22-inch 6.5 Creedmoor barrel in it. This setup would be very familiar to me, and allow a good platform for evaluating the Arken EP-5.
On the Range
Springtime in the Rocky Mountains is a great place to shoot, and that is where we would go to shoot with this Arken scope. The open country would allow target engagement at various distances and angles which is good for testing turrets and reticles. Moving from one target to another across different draws and canyons gave a great depth to shooting, and sharply analyzing optical clarity.
Controls
The turrets of the EP-5 are very prominent, they are both physically big and have a broad movement. The 1/10 MRAD clicks are very tactile and audible, its very easy to adjust them without even looking as you can feel and hear each click.
Adjusting the focus and parallax is done with the left-side turret. It is adjustable from twenty-five yards to infinity, this allows you to optimize the clarity of the reticle at nearly any useful range. The reticle is also illuminated, and the illumination control is located on top of the side-focus turret. Power for the illumination is done by a CR2032 lithium cell, which oddly enough wasn’t included with the scope.
Tension of the controls on this scope are just right in my opinion. The resistance on the power adjustment ring was neither too soft or too hard, the same could be said about the turrets and other controls. A good texture is also machined into the control surfaces, allowing great purchase with your bare or gloved fingers.
Optical Performance
The Japanese lenses in the EP-5 proved to be very good, particularly considering the price of this scope. At all power settings I found the scope to be bright and very detailed in the image. The details of the reticle matched the sharp image of the target area, this made it very good for measuring target sizes and making corrections.
Looking at things like animals, trees and rocks even at distances like two-thousand yards away still provided great detail. Whether or not I would use this scope for shooting at that kind of distance, it certainly provides a beautiful image.
You can buy Arken Optics at Optics Force
In low light situations like pre sunrise, the big lenses of the EP-5 work overtime. Every scope looses some brightness as you increase the magnification, and this one is no exception. But picking out antlers among branches is still very doable. Particularly when you optimize the power low enough to brighten the image but still high enough to see detail.
Tracking Reliability
Scope tracking that matches reticle values is incredibly important. I found the Arken EP-5 to be perfectly accurate for pretty much any shooting scenario, particularly considering its low cost of entry. Not only was the EP-5 accurate in it motion, it also has a great deal of travel. The thirty-two MRAD of internal movement is even more valuable when mounted on a canted system like the SRS M2. The 30 MOA built into the scope rail allow you to zero the scope nearer it’s mechanical internal lowest point, getting full advantage of the scopes movement.
The Zero stop on the EP-5 is a simple and robust system. There is a set screw with a pin-like non-threaded pin that you can screw down from the exterior top of the turret. By turning the screw down, it creates a stop on the inside of the turret. There is a second set screw ninety degrees to the rear of the zero-stop screw to prevent it from moving. You can easily set the zero-stop or disengage it using the screw.
Pros and Cons
I had a hard time coming up with something I disliked about this scope, in fact if you twisted my arm I think the only thing I could say would be that it is a little bulky when compared to similar scopes from other manufacturers. Perhaps you might complain about not including a battery for the illumination, as most every other manufacturer does. I suppose it is much easier for Arken Optics to avoid the logistics, and labeling requirements that come with batteries.
On the plus side, the Arken Optics EP-5 is a genuine great value. Like some other manufacturers, they basically use a direct to consumer sales program. I expect this is partially responsible for the very affordable price point of Arken Optics. I was particularly impressed with the quality of the scope when I saw the street price of under $700.
Conclusion
The Arken Optics EP-5 is an excellent bargain that gives a fantastic optical performance and reliable mechanics. No doubt that is why they have become extremely popular in the precision shooting community. I expect I’ll see more of Arken Optics soon.
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