I just looked through 3 of my unmounted scopes

[boscoebrea]

I got Element Helix mixed up with Aztec Emerald, so I have the Aztec 5.5-25x50....Then I found my Sightron Stac 4-20x50, followed by my Arken SH4-Gen2 6-24x50.
Let me get the Battleship Arken out of the way, why it is built so good =heavy is beyond me;plus how they could sell at the price point they do is beyound me,it is what it is,battleship scope,it does not focus down to 25 yards,though the turret has 25 yards on it....34 mm Tube,em maybe why it weighs 36.6 oz.....good scope for stationary sports.
The AZTEC Emerald 5.5-25x50,no problem with 25yds focus,I like the reticle,focus easy ,good light,sharpe enough,but not great.25.4 oz....this scope is in a tough price range,I think it is worth it if you get a good deal.
I like Sightron scopes;This one is Stac 4-20x 50 ,no problem 25 yd,focus,good glass ,Simple Reticile on this one,this and the Aztec to Me are close, Sightron may have a little better glass.
I am looking at 30 yards with this scope trying to read small print,like I said Arken could not focus at this range,the other two could.
I did not spend more than say 10minutes doing this "test"...Sightron and Aztec are close enough to each other were the choice of the reticile could be the difference.
The battleship Arken is unquie,if you were using it as a hunting scope and were a stong,in shape linebacker person it is a great scope for not worry about banging it around,other than that put it on a bench and enjoy it , the other two scope are good cheaper middle class scope....under say$200 used.
If any of you own any of these scope I would love to hear what you have to say about them.
I going to compare them to the Hawke Airmax scope I have ......

 

[bchannell]

You are finding what I've been seeing in other scopes. I know I'll get flamed for this, but it's true. I have two Hawke Frontier 1" scope, a 3-15x44 and a 4-20x44.....well, I compared them to an Airmax 10x, a UTG OP3 4-16x44 and an Optisan 10x. With all at 10x, the Hawke Airmax 10x is the winner in clarity and brightness. At 15x, the UTG beats the Frontier, not by a lot, but by a little. To my eyes, you don't give up much if anything with the UTG against the Frontier. Now, build quality may be the issue with the UTG, but it sure works well so far. I'm pretty impressed with a $~200 scope.

 

[6gun]

I've been astonished by arken. I'm hoping to sell my vortexs, leupolds and weavers to fund replacing most of the with arkens at this point. My element helix is good enough for what it needs to do

 

[Dstrac]

I got Element Helix mixed up with Aztec Emerald, so I have the Aztec 5.5-25x50....Then I found my Sightron Stac 4-20x50, followed by my Arken SH4-Gen2 6-24x50.
Let me get the Battleship Arken out of the way, why it is built so good =heavy is beyond me;plus how they could sell at the price point they do is beyound me,it is what it is,battleship scope,it does not focus down to 25 yards,though the turret has 25 yards on it....34 mm Tube,em maybe why it weighs 36.6 oz.....good scope for stationary sports.
The AZTEC Emerald 5.5-25x50,no problem with 25yds focus,I like the reticle,focus easy ,good light,sharpe enough,but not great.25.4 oz....this scope is in a tough price range,I think it is worth it if you get a good deal.
I like Sightron scopes;This one is Stac 4-20x 50 ,no problem 25 yd,focus,good glass ,Simple Reticile on this one,this and the Aztec to Me are close, Sightron may have a little better glass.
I am looking at 30 yards with this scope trying to read small print,like I said Arken could not focus at this range,the other two could.
I did not spend more than say 10minutes doing this "test"...Sightron and Aztec are close enough to each other were the choice of the reticile could be the difference.
The battleship Arken is unquie,if you were using it as a hunting scope and were a stong,in shape linebacker person it is a great scope for not worry about banging it around,other than that put it on a bench and enjoy it , the other two scope are good cheaper middle class scope....under say$200 used.
If any of you own any of these scope I would love to hear what you have to say about them.
I going to compare them to the Hawke Airmax scope I have ......

I have that exact same Arken 6-24 sh4 gen2 on my bench rifle. I picked it up for around $360 or so over a year ago. Definitely a bargain price for that quality scope. The new equivalent Arken is in the $500 price range.

 

[6gun]

I have that exact same Arken 6-24 sh4 gen2 on my bench rifle. I picked it up for around $360 or so over a year ago. Definitely a bargain price for that quality scope. The new equivalent Arken is in the $500 price range.

I just bought 2 of the 4-16 versions sometime apart with Japanese glass. They beat the snot out of my leupolds and are darn near as good as a Bosch and lomb I've had forever (like contact lenses).

Paid 380 on "sale" for the first one. Double dipped on sales and coupons and got the second for 275. They're an incredible value and well thought out. The giant elevation turret took time to grow on me but for airguns it's awesome.

 

[Chasdog]

I've been astonished by arken. I'm hoping to sell my vortexs, leupolds and weavers to fund replacing most of the with arkens at this point. My element helix is good enough for what it needs to do

Im also in the scope upgrade mode. I’m ditching a couple of my vortex scopes. I just got a couple new ones. I picked up a Sightron S tac 4x20 x50 which seems nice, then I got a 4x16x44 I C German precision optics compact which is more impressive. Checks all the boxes. Ffp,10 yd focus,10 in. Length, 22 oz. ,illuminated reticle, simple reticle and great glass.
I’ll have to look thru some Arkens for comparison.

 

[cavedweller]

I got Element Helix mixed up with Aztec Emerald, so I have the Aztec 5.5-25x50....Then I found my Sightron Stac 4-20x50, followed by my Arken SH4-Gen2 6-24x50.
Let me get the Battleship Arken out of the way, why it is built so good =heavy is beyond me;plus how they could sell at the price point they do is beyound me,it is what it is,battleship scope,it does not focus down to 25 yards,though the turret has 25 yards on it....34 mm Tube,em maybe why it weighs 36.6 oz.....good scope for stationary sports.
The AZTEC Emerald 5.5-25x50,no problem with 25yds focus,I like the reticle,focus easy ,good light,sharpe enough,but not great.25.4 oz....this scope is in a tough price range,I think it is worth it if you get a good deal.
I like Sightron scopes;This one is Stac 4-20x 50 ,no problem 25 yd,focus,good glass ,Simple Reticile on this one,this and the Aztec to Me are close, Sightron may have a little better glass.
I am looking at 30 yards with this scope trying to read small print,like I said Arken could not focus at this range,the other two could.
I did not spend more than say 10minutes doing this "test"...Sightron and Aztec are close enough to each other were the choice of the reticile could be the difference.
The battleship Arken is unquie,if you were using it as a hunting scope and were a stong,in shape linebacker person it is a great scope for not worry about banging it around,other than that put it on a bench and enjoy it , the other two scope are good cheaper middle class scope....under say$200 used.
If any of you own any of these scope I would love to hear what you have to say about them.
I going to compare them to the Hawke Airmax scope I have ......

i owned all three. The S-Tac and the Aztec both focus as close as 10 yards. The Sightron glass and turrets are superior to the Aztec. The Arken is a great paperweight or more appropriate to a powder burner or bench gun

 

[Chasdog]

Weight is of primary importance to me on my hunting guns. This eliminates many scopes from the list for consideration. Add in the 10 yard focus, ffp, illumination in reticle, price, power, and the list is manageable.

 

[JEFFPPC]

I got Element Helix mixed up with Aztec Emerald, so I have the Aztec 5.5-25x50....Then I found my Sightron Stac 4-20x50, followed by my Arken SH4-Gen2 6-24x50.
Let me get the Battleship Arken out of the way, why it is built so good =heavy is beyond me;plus how they could sell at the price point they do is beyound me,it is what it is,battleship scope,it does not focus down to 25 yards,though the turret has 25 yards on it....34 mm Tube,em maybe why it weighs 36.6 oz.....good scope for stationary sports.
The AZTEC Emerald 5.5-25x50,no problem with 25yds focus,I like the reticle,focus easy ,good light,sharpe enough,but not great.25.4 oz....this scope is in a tough price range,I think it is worth it if you get a good deal.
I like Sightron scopes;This one is Stac 4-20x 50 ,no problem 25 yd,focus,good glass ,Simple Reticile on this one,this and the Aztec to Me are close, Sightron may have a little better glass.
I am looking at 30 yards with this scope trying to read small print,like I said Arken could not focus at this range,the other two could.
I did not spend more than say 10minutes doing this "test"...Sightron and Aztec are close enough to each other were the choice of the reticile could be the difference.
The battleship Arken is unquie,if you were using it as a hunting scope and were a stong,in shape linebacker person it is a great scope for not worry about banging it around,other than that put it on a bench and enjoy it , the other two scope are good cheaper middle class scope....under say$200 used.
If any of you own any of these scope I would love to hear what you have to say about them.
I going to compare them to the Hawke Airmax scope I have ......

Sightron STac for the money is hard to beat plus I love the reticles. Only bad scope I have had from Hawke was an Air Max. Only scopes I like from Hawke are the Sidewinders, I have several, but will buy no more until the get rid of the reticles they have in them.

 

[steve123]

Athlon Helos G2 6-24×56 for the win in this approximate price and mag range.

I have never understood why such a great FFP scope is over looked so much??

IQ is down a hair compared to Midas Tac but still good yet loaded with all the nice modern features.

So good it's still on my very expensive 22rf so that's saying something.

 

[Mr.H]

The mentioned Arken SH-4 is a heavy weight........compared to the EPL-4 at 23.7 oz, which focuses down to 10 yds and currently on sale for $303 on the Arken site (price increase imminent). For the money, I'm not sure anything comes close........

I walk around with my air rifle, so lighter the better.

 

[boscoebrea]

That Arken scope is cheaper now with the 20% off,I like the EPL-4 I think around $274,

 

[Ezana4CE]

The Sightron STAC in SFP and FFP are a lot of scope for the money. I really like these. The only complaints are that the reticle is pretty thin and the parallax knob has single dot markings, no numbers or anything to differentiate one setting from another. As for the thin reticle, it’s way more noticeable on the FFP version at lower magnifications. These scope are well built for the price point and have a nice, but simple finish. i like the built-in throw lever. Nothing looks or feels sloppy to me, but I’m only speaking from using two of them.

Another favorite of mine is the Hawke Sidewinder FFP. I like the reticle, the brightness on the incremental IR settings, and the glass clarity. I also like the included sunshade and low-profile, screw-in throw lever. The weight is good and I like the overall build quality. Most of all, I like the lifetime warranty.

For a compact budget scope the Vector Veyron 3-12x44 FFP has been a good hunting scope for me for the price point. The glass is decent for the money. It does pretty well at the highest magnification. I’ve used this scope a lot in low light while squirrel hunting.


I haven’t done a side-by-side glass comparison between the Sightron STAC and the Hawke Sidewinder, so it’s hard to say which has better glass. These scopes were good enough for me to buy another. I use these scopes for hunting and I haven’t had parallax focusing issues with any of them. I don’t dial turrets outside of setting or adjusting my zero.

 

[boscoebrea]

I agree; I have a Sightron scope with a nice reticle. The SI 4-12X40 has parallex adjustment in the front. Also, you can get the 3-9 Sightron used and good price, though it does not have parallex adjustment. I can still use it for 25+ yards; it has a thick reticle.