Arken EP8 LPVO

by moondog on November 26, 2023 with No Comments

Arken changed the landscape of long range shooting with their SH4 and EP5 rifle scopes. Consumers could expect high performance features of a >$1000 scope for less than half. With the EP8, Arken aims to do the same for LPVOs.

When I visited the Arken booth at Shot Show earlier this year, they didn’t have an EP8 prototype or mention they were working on an LPVO. It came as a surprise to me and everyone when Arken Optic released their first LPVO, the 1-8×28 EP8. It’s been back ordered since it’s launch and I was grateful Arken finally sent one for me to test.

The EP8 features a 34mm tube with an impressive 110 MOA of internal adjustment and a first focal plane BDC reticle at a meagre 21 oz. The Japanese glass provide bright and clear image but at 8x there was chromatic aberration. Despite this, at 8x the EP8 is as sharp as a 10x SIG Tango. Its eyebox was relatively forgiving even at 8x, with good eye relief at all magnifications.

The scope features 2 levels of Night Vision compatible illumination (invisible to the naked eye) and 9 levels of visible illumination in red. At max brightness, the reticle is daylight bright but not Nightforce level red-dot bright. At 1x I was able to quickly and intuitively aim using the holosun style reticle.

This KL Box (“killbox) reticle becomes evident at higher magnifications. At 8x circle zooms out of view and the center dot enlarges to reveal a horse shoe reticle with an interlocking set of BDC brackets and wind holds. The reticle designed in a way to allow you to bracket an IPSC target or human torso to range estimate your target from 400yards to 800yards. Moreover the design automatically aligns your aim to your targets center mass when you bracket it to estimate its range.

This design is simple, efficient, and brilliant. With the EP8 Arken has a good shot at shaking up the optics world yet again. As of this writing, the EP8 is out of stock with a 6-week minimum wait which says it all.