5-25x56 Archives

Preface

As the shooting sport optics market continues to grow, it can be challenging to keep up with all the options. I try to keep informed on so many of the optics manufacturers, but admittedly it can be challenging at times. Today I bring you another optics brand that is new to me called Discovery Optics, oddly shortened then lengthened again to DiscoveryOpt Optics. Like some other Asian optics companies, DiscoveryOpt offers a variety of riflescopes at surprisingly affordable prices. According to the company’s mission statement, they seek to deliver scopes that rival the worlds best at factory direct prices. In order to evaluate this proposition, I present for you today a review of the DiscoveryOpt ED-PRS 5-25X56 Gen 2 Riflescope. I spotted these optics on display at the final Snipers Hide Cup at Rifles Only, and I was interested enough to give a closer look.

DiscoveryOpt ED-PRS 5-25X56 Gen 2, Riflescope, discovery optics, Desert tech, SRS M2, Anubis defense, banish, suppressor, two vets, tripod,

DiscoveryOpt Optics

Discovery Optics has a broad line of products, composed of just about every type of optical sight type you can imagine. It seems many Asian optic manufacturers start out their product lines based on what they see in movies. We have all seen the memes of Temu scopes stacked with ridiculous levels of bells and whistles. Yet the quality of any one of those features is questionable.

Discovery Optics seems to have moved past that, though browsing their website I still see some interesting products. But they also have done a very good job at emulating proper products that I wanted to try out. That is where the ED-PRS 5-25X56 Gen 2 riflescope comes in, on paper it boasts most the of desirable features we precision rifle junkies are after.

Zeroing the rifle and scope combination, the **Athlon Chronograph** as a luxury accessory

The DiscoveryOpt PRS Gen 2

When the box arrived, I was quick to open it. Quality packaging protected this scope, with a foam-lined box. Inside the box I found a selection of included accessories:

The ED PRS Gen 5-25X56 scope
A sunshade
Ocular and objective flip caps
A lens cloth
Manual and Spec card
Tool for adjustment
A lens pen
A scope leveling tool

I unpacked everything, and was quickly impressed with it all. The scope itself seemed really large, its turrets might be the largest of any riflescope I’ve ever used. The turrets are adjusted with no tools needed, you can remove them using only your fingers (all five of them if you want). The control surfaces have a nice texture to them, and they included a removable throw-lever on the magnification ring.

My initial inspection running the turrets and other controls up and down confirmed everything worked as designed. The reticle illumination fired on command, illuminating only the center of the reticle out to 1 MRAD. Parallax adjustment went from 25, 50, 100, 200, 500, Infinity. I spun on the shade, which made a flawless transition on the objective. Just for fun I installed the flip caps which were also pretty nice, they looked similar to Tenebraex caps but likely not as tough. After a few more minutes tinkering, it was time to mount this scope and see how it worked with a rifle.

Specifications

Mounting

I decided to mount the Discovery scope in my one-piece Anubis Defense scope mount. It too is a bit overbuilt and robust so I figured it would match. Leveling the scope was easy using the scope leveling tool included by DiscoveryOpt. There is a baseplate and a wedge you can use to ensure the bottom of the scope housing is perfectly parallel. It’s really a nice little tool, and can be used to setup scopes in a variety of configurations. It will definitely be staying in my toolbox.

I intended to mount the scope on my Desert Tech SRS M2, where I do a lot of my scope testing. This rifle makes it extremely easy to swap scopes around, and has very predictable accuracy to evaluate the scope performance.

Zeroing Turrets and Zero-Stop

After zeroing the scope to the rifle, it was time to slip the turrets back to zero. This is very easy using the finger secured turret caps. Just spin them loose and lift them off the inner hub. You can set the turrets back to zero, and snug the caps back in place.

DiscoveryOpt ED-PRS 5-25X56 Gen 2, Riflescope, discovery optics, Desert tech, SRS M2, Anubis defense, banish, suppressor, — slipping the turrets back to zero after zeroing the rifle

Setting the zero-stop is easily done during this process as well, using the provided tool. Loosening the screw that clamps the stop to the turret hub, you can slide it down against the base of the housing, and turn it clockwise against the stop lug. With the stop in place you snug the screw back up, and reinstall the turret.

With the turret zeroed, and the zero-stop set I was in business. Part of the reason I used my SRS M2 for this review is because I have exhaustive experience shooting it. The dope I have for the 6mm GT barrel is as predictable as the sunrise, so it would be perfect for testing the performance of the DiscoveryOpt PRS Gen 2 Scope.

Shooting the PRS Gen 2

My initial concerns about the eye-box being to tight weren’t warranted. By that I mean it was a little touchy getting perfect eye relief for a concise image, but once I got on the rifle it was much easier. With the rifle setup the way it fits me, I didn’t even really notice the slightly tighter eye-box. My experience has shown me that less expensive scopes tend to be touchy like that.

DiscoveryOpt ED-PRS 5-25X56 Gen 2, Riflescope, discovery optics, remington 700, two vets tripod, anubis defense, suppressor, two vets, tripod, CMMG, zeroed 36 Suppressor, — the PRS Gen 2 also functioned perfectly on my custom .223 **Remington 700** seen here with the **CMMG Zeroed 36 suppressor**

I moved to shooting from a 100 yard distance to a much wider canyon area. This allowed me to shoot as far as I dared, but for starters I picked out a small patch of snow sitting on a rock at 405 yards. I dialed my correction, and fired a shot that would scatter the snow.

Both at the range and in the field I found the DiscoveryOpt ED-PRS scope to be very easy to use. The turrets can be felt and heard with every click, making it easy to adjust blindly. Though it wouldn’t hurt my feelings if they were a touch sharper. Shooting back and forth from near to far, I had no problems focusing the reticle for sharp contrast on the target. The included throw-lever made it easy to swing between magnification settings.

Quality

The feel of this scope is robust, it feels well built. With its oversized turrets I would expect it to stand up to bumping into and getting smacked during use. As I moved from target to target while shooting, not once did I feel like I was looking through a cheap scope. It looked like the sharp clear images I am used to seeing, allowing me to see the wind moving snowflakes across the hundreds of yards to the targets. And picking out the details of distant landscapes

the parallax adjustment was a bit touchy, but perfectly serviceable

Durability

Turning the controls of this scope in the freezing temps of the high Rocky Mountains didn’t change much to its feel. The way this scope seems a little bit overbuilt and gives the impression it will last through tough use. Time will tell of course if that proves to be the case, I’ll continue to use it as designed to see how it lasts. If you’d like to hear about that, check back in the future as I’ll update this review as time goes by.

So far, the bouncing about in a scabbard on an ATV, or in a soft case in the bed of the truck haven’t seemed to phase the scope. Carried on a sling through snow and brush, dialing back and forth sweeping both power and corrections it hasn’t lost zero or focus. Which I’d consider the bare minimum for durability

Accuracy

I like to bolt down scopes to a sturdy mount, and see how they measure up against their actual travel. To do this, I put out a yardstick at 100 yards, and measure the travel of the reticle. I do this both against the yardstick, as well as the reticle measurement to see how close they measure up. This way I can confirm repeatability and actual travel vs. the indicated.

On paper you can also see this manifest doing a box test. DiscoveryOpt’s scope was more than close enough for most of the shooting I do. Making corrections and come-ups precise enough for first rounds hits time after time.

Pros and Cons

There are many things to like about this scope, but there are a few things I would count against it. These aren’t a huge deal depending on your shooting practices and budget, but they are things you should know before you buy it.

Cons

First off, this scope is pretty big. You can probably tell in my pictures that is is bulkier than most comparable scopes. I have many 56mm objective scopes, this one has the largest external diameter of all of them, many of them easily fit inside this one. And it’s not just the body of the scope, turning the turrets on this bad boy make you feel like a Soviet Akula submarine operator.

the large turrets with their big numbers are easy to see even for failing eyesight

Ok, maybe I exaggerate a little, but they are the biggest I’ve seen. Additionally, as soon as I picked up the box containing this scope, I knew she was gonna be heavy. At 44-ounces it might be the heaviest 5-25X scope in my inventory.

But even with all that said, I must temper it with the price point. At print, the MSRP of this scope is $359.99. Which is $200 less than the comparable Arken I recently reviewed. And after shooting the Discovery Optics scope, I think the only reason I’d choose the Arken over this would be weight requirements. And these days people are throwing weights and extra things on their rifles anyways so it might not even be a problem. For some folks, the Chinese origin is reason enough to second guess one of these products. I’ll leave that up to your discretion.

Pros

Now let’s get to what I like about this scope; Optically it punches above its weight, a decade ago I would have expected looking through a Chinese scope under four-hundred dollars to look like a glass of tea. But even as my eyes begin to show their age, I think this scope looks pretty good. Sharp detail and good focus make placing precise hits and target identification great. The parallax adjustment is a bit touchy but fully functional, similar to the eye relief.

I mentioned the berthy turrets, but other than their size they are fantastic. Seeing the numbers up close is great with how big they are printed, and ten-MIL turrets are a must. And being able to easily and quickly slip the turrets to zero without any tools is a great feature. And the robust zero-stop is the coupe de gras for me.

The reticle inside is pretty close to what everybody is making these days. There is plenty of detail and subtensions for every need. I like that only the center 1MRAD is illuminated as well.

Pictures don’t do it justice, like most scopes, it looks better than photos can show

Value for your money might be the big thing here, the included extras and performance for such an entry level price would have blown the pants off of 2005 me. I can’t believe that as little as a decade or so ago, I paid more than this for scopes I would consider borderline trash today.

My Conclusion

My initial impression looking through these scopes was pretty positive, and after taking one out for some serious shooting my positivity remains. The concerns we all typically have with inexpensive scopes made in China seem to have been overcome these days. For at least this scope, I feel like the performance more than warrants its price. Giving judicious shooters a great value with all the features we like in our precision rifle scopes.

-CBM

If you like this scope, here is another one that you ought to consider

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.

Arken Optics, EP-5, 5-25x56, riflescope, scope, — right out of the box

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.

Arken Optics, EP-5, 5-25x56, riflescope, scope, Desert Tech SRS M2 — the EP-5 mounted in the **Zro Delta mount**

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.

Arken Optics, EP-5, 5-25x56, riflescope, scope, turret — setting the Zero-stop screw

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.

Arken Optics, EP-5, 5-25x56, riflescope, scope, zero stop

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.