I have an good assortment of scopes. Just about all are mounted with quick release mounts and I swap them around often depending on what I am doing.
I had a buddy tell me about Arkin awhile back and that they were given a discount of 100.00. Just use discount code "lets go Brandon". Well dang, I had to buy one. Dang thing was so good I now own 5 and will be rescoping another soon.
If the scopes model starts with an "S" it is china glass, if it starts with an "E" it is Japanese glass.
What I like beyond the clarity is the lighted reticle. Only the very middle lights up. My night force and vortex the whole reticle lights up and even on low setting it will blind you and block out the target. That has not happened to me with the Arkin. The tracking is dead on, best I have ever had. If you are bagged, every click will move the impact point.
VS

Wolfdog——now you’ve got me looking for new scopes. Lol

Wolfdog, my take on optics: ** If you plan on dialing for distance, get a scope that the turrets and the reticle match. Mil reticle, mil turrets, MOA reticle, MOA turrets, unless you can do a lot of math, quickly in your head, when you start twisting the elevaion turret. And remember, if a scope is second focal plane, variable power,, that the reticle will only be correct at a certain X power, usually, but not always, on max magnification.**

If you're one of those that buy a scope, mount it, zero it and never plan on dialing the elevation for any other distance, the Leupold will be as good as any. If you plan on dialing for distance, you'll most likely be disappointed. The practice of tapping on the turrets after making an adjustment is a "trick" that Leupold users use a lot. Take a look at the PRS equipment used by SERIOUS shooters. Leupold is around 1% of the optics used, mainly for that very reason. Don't even see a lot of them at benchrest or F class matches anymore, which are pretty much "set and forget the zero" games. Oh, and now Leupold says "Assembled in the USA" , not " Made in the USA".

Vortex..very popular with the tight T shirt, flat billed ball cap, cool kid crowd, but to my eyes, even the top of the line Golden Eagles leave a lot to be desired. Eye relief / eye box is too tight, and focus adjustment leaves a lot to be desired. Lifetime warranty is a plus, because chances are, you're gonna need it, more than once.

SWFA : Rugged, tough, and extremely reliable tracking. Glass, on the lower tier scopes, is not great, good, but not great. Plenty good enough for ringing steel out to 1500 yards, but not as clear as say a Nightforce or top tier Sightron. Dan Newberry, of OCW load development and BangSteel 'fame', and has probably watched more bullets go down range, out to a mile, through a spotting scope than you or I could imagine, says that the SWFA fixed power 10x and 12x are the only scopes that he has not seen fail on the line at BangSteel, and this man sees multiple scopes / rifles on the line at his range nearly every day, ranging from "budget" to over the top expensive. If you want reliable tracking, plenty good enough glass for 99% of all shooting, and a reticle that matches the turrets, its hard to go wrong with the fixed power 10 or 12x mil-mil SWFA scopes.

Sightron .. good stuff all the way around. Plenty of options to choose from in magnification and reticle designs. A lot of "bang for the buck".

Arken.. hasn't been around all that long, like Athlon, but both are getting good feedback from shooters that actually use their gear for more than " zero, check it with one or 2 shots at a milk jug before deer season" folks.

Nightforce/ March / S&B, Ziess, etc. Here you get into the "get what you pay for category". A lot of options, for a lot of money.
I love my Nightforce scopes on my F class rigs, but probably wouldn't want these same scopes on anything but a groundhog rifle for hunting, simply because of the reticle designs in my particular scopes. Other reticles, more suited for hunting, are available, and would be outstanding in the field.

Oh, and regarding glass quality. German glass has / was long considered to be the "best", but Japanese glass has quickly became the go to for most top end scopes.

My 3-15 SWFA was made in Japan. To my knowledge all of the SWFA branded scopes are assembled in Japan.

Maybe something to look into.

Wolfdog, some great advice being posted. got people who know the facts, or have some time behind their weapons. But what i like being said, advice given, about Arken optics, and other scopes that they are using. What I'm reading shooters who want shot group hole in hole group dime will cover. I'm not satisfied untill I have tight groups. German, glass used to dominate the high end optics, but Japanese glass, has come to be the leader at present. That's what I like about PRS shooting, see about everything out their in optics. As I stated Arken, EL 5, mounted on my 6mm ARC, EPL 4, mounted on 308 bolt rifle. As stated reason for change for me, the clarity of the reticle & lighted reticle, for early light & late light shooting at predators.Steiner, NightForces, Zeiss, Vortex Razors, used alot for PRS, shooting alot, & hunting. Used the EL 5 on my Rim X 22 LR, last weekend for a match 1st time out, switched from Zeiss LR 3, and can't make myself switch back at present. As stated on this topic, elevation, windage turrents, are a must for myself. I have shooting apps, and Kestral, for my yardage. Zero, my weapons, then reset my turrents back to zero, so I can go back to my original zero, after yardage adjustments. Here's where Vortex, Nightorce, Zeiss, Steiner, excell, have alot of elevation adjustment, especially when I'm going out past 700/1000 yds. As stated you get what you pay for in high end optics. I'm still amazed and very pleased with Arken, got another EL5 coming, got rifles, for it. I use QD mounts. The high end optics, do have adjustment reticle knobs, to turn the brightness down or up on the reticle. Keep putting rds, down range and experiment, with optics, If they don't work do as I do trade, try another. Good place for resale, buying Snipers Hide

Some good reviews here.

I have what's probably a dumb question but here goes..

Why the reticle with mil markings along with mil turrets needed?

Wouldn't one or the other suffice?

Basically this.
Say I have a mill dot reticle right I'm aiming dead center shoot and I'm off . If my reticle shows that I'm two mils left three mils low and my turret matches my reticle all I have to do is dial that adjustment to be dead on.
So shoot ,miss left two three low dail three two done.

How ever if it's a MOA reticle or turrets and vice versa you need to convert. Ideally you'd have your dope right and all and you'd ake a first round impact but if not it's nice to be able to not have to do that extra conversion
But if you billy bob deer hunters shooting all of 70yd out of a box stand it's not something you really need to worry about .

It's nice at the zero range too not going to lie . Why I love my SWFA and it's mil mil set up. Aim Center shoot a group. keep my point of aim on and measure with my reticle. Whatever I measure, again say off too the left 1mil and high 3 , I just go to my turret ,left 1 mil up 3 mils . I'm not sitting there going " welll looks about two foot left... And there's 12 inches in a foot so 2x12= 24. And 1click =1/4" @ 100yd and where at 150 so.." yeah no shoot measure match. So even if your gonna do hold overs 90% of the time that option is really good do have

garyII1959 and 1cav—nice info. Thanks.

87% unrelated, but good deal for a cheap price, lol.
Free shipping too.

https://www.primaryarms.com/primary...e-with-patented-cqb-acss-reticle-pac2-5x

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