Today we visit the Arken 4-16x SH4 Gen 2 and we look together to see if this is a good mid range optic choice.
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The Arken SH4 4-16x offers incredible glass and features at a low price point but we wanted to test it out and see just how well it performs.
One of the first things you’ll immediately notice is the amazing turrets. These turrets and clean, crisp, and have no slop. I’ll even go so far as to say they’re some of the best turrets on the market. There is no movement at all in the turret until the clean break of moving to the next position.
The turrets also have a zero stop that uses a set screw to ride against the stop at the top of the turret. While the turrets are ultra precise though, the zero stop kept doing some oddball stuff. You really have to find the sweet spot. Sometimes it makes the whole thing messed up and you gotta get it just perfect so it works well.
Looking at the magnification ring, I found the super short knurling on the magnification ring and long throw to be a bit of a challenge. It was a long throw from 4 all the way to 16, which isn’t ideal in a mid range optic.
I also had significant challenges in the lower magnification due to the slightly tight eye box and the reticle that turns into kinda “just aim with the mess in the middle” at 4x. I had issues getting this optic to perform when trying to do anything inside 20 yards. The 4x magnification was just too much and really needed an offset red dot.
One great thing is the absolutely killer VPR reticle used on the Arken 4-16. This optic is first focal plane so the entire reticle changes in size as the magnification range changes, making all of the markings true at all magnification ranges.
The reticle uses an amazing Christmas tree reticle that gives you all of your distance and windage markings to just make a series of quick shots using holdover. Each windage marker is also placed every 0.25 mils to give you a reference point instead of every mil or 0.5 mils.
I did also have some compatibility issues with some mounts. Our scalarworks 1.57 leap mount did not work correctly and caused the mount and optic to run into each other, preventing proper leveling. Just be aware of this as you buy scope mounts as you would be wise to purchase the Arken Optics branded scope mounts.
Finally, I found the illumination to be an area that I would love to be improved on the Gen 3 version. The illumination as it currently is was very hard to see in anything besides extremely low light. And the areas that were illuminated didn’t provide me with a shooting solution that I could use in low light besides short range shots at the center dot. It would be amazing to see the entire christmas tree reticle illuminated in the future.
Hopefully this look at the Arken Optics 4-16x SH4 Gen 2 was useful in your purchasing decisions.
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Music by: @Barren Gates