Tag Archives: rifle scope

Shooting Sports

Strike Eagle vs. Arken EP5

You won’t find more vociferous groups of fanboys and haters than Vortex and Arken owners. Online, each is convinced their scope is the best. Today we are going to compare their 5-25×56 FFP long-range scope offerings and see who is right: the Strike Eagle (street price $700-$800) and the EP5 GenII 5-25×56 (street price $335-$535).

The Strike Eagle ships with both a throw lever and sun shade. The EP5 ships only ships with a sun shade but in the past, Arken has offered a bundled promotional “Accuracy Pack”: a throw lever, scope rings, and bubble level. The EP5 tested is one such scope.

Physically, the EP5 appears more stoutly constructed. The EP5 has the better-quality turrets. Its clicks are loud, crisp, and precise. The Strike Eagle feels mushy by comparison. The EP5’s turrets are also quite tall and oversized turrets which provides more physical space for larger and easier-to-read numbering.

Optically both scopes are surprisingly similar. The Strike Eagle also offers a more forgiving eye box. The Strike Eagle has a brighter and higher contrast image but with slightly more chromatic aberration at high power. Both scopes performed identically in resolving detail in my US Air Force reference chart.

In the end, both scopes’ optical performances were so similar that it’s pointless to claim one is “better” than the other. The Strike Eagle had a slightly brighter image but with more chromatic aberration. The Arken Long-range shooters will be well served with either scope for their similar optical performance. But for conscious shooters, the Discovery Optics ED-PRS is the clear winner.

BUY

Arken EP5 on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4h7Vnio

Vortex Strike Eagle on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4gA4Ejq

RESOLUTION

ED-PRS: Group -1 / Element 6

Strike Eagle: Group -1 / Element 6

SPECS

STRIKE EAGLEEP5
Magnification 5-25x
Objective Lens: 56 mm
Tube Diameter: 34 mm
Focal Plane: First
Reticle: EBR-7C (MOA)
Illumination: red
Eye Relief: 3.7″
FOV @ 100 Yards: 24.0-5.2
Parallax: 15 yrds-Infinity
Elevation Adj: 110 MOA
Windage Adj: 78 MOA
Per Click: 1/4 MOA
Per Rotation: 25 MOA
Length: 14.6 in
Weight: 30.4 oz		Magnification 5-25x
Objective Lens: 56 mm
Tube Diameter: 34 mm
Focal Plane: First
Reticle: EBR-7C (MOA)
Illumination: red
Eye Relief: 3.7″
FOV @ 100 Yards: 24.0-5.2
Parallax: 15 yrds-Infinity
Elevation Adj: 110 MOA
Windage Adj: 78 MOA
Per Click: 1/4 MOA
Per Rotation: 25 MOA
Length: 14.6 in
Weight: 30.4 oz

Shooting Sports

CVLife Eagle Blaze 7-35×56

The Eagle Blaze series CVLife’s newest attempt to put out a step-up from basic scope. With the 7-35×56 FFP they largely succeeded. This scope has a focal plane (FFP) tree reticle, zero stop, and uses Japanese ED glass.

The turrets push down to lock, are user-resettable with a coin, come with a zero-stop ring, and have audible and tactile positive clicks. But the turret top must be severely cinched down or else the turret top will twist from its position. You are better off leaving the turret in the up, unlocked position; otherwise, your numbers will not sync to your zero.

Optically, the ED glass did reduce chromatic aberration. While the glass is not as sharp as more expensive scopes, its higher magnification top end compensates for this loss in detail and resolution. I was able to resolve lines into the Group 0 section of the USAF chart.

CVLife continues to improve the quality and features of their long-range optics line. While not the dirt-cheap but basic, sub-$100 prices that CVLife became known for, this 7-35×56 Eagle Blaze comes in at a sub-$500 street price. This makes it possibly the cheapest 35x scope with Japanese ED glass.

BUY

EagleBlaze 7-35×56 FFP Scope: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DRGC77Z3

20% Discount Code: C3GSP3DL

Amazon https://amzn.to/4lzo6iI

RESOLUTION

Group 0 / Element 1

SPECS

EAGLE BLAZE FFP

Magnification: 7-35x

Objective: 56mm

Glass: Japanese ED

Tube Dia: 34mm

FOV: 18.6′ – 3.7′ @ 100 yds

Eye Relief 3.6”

Parallax Adj: 35 Yards – ∞

Max Elevation Adj: 155 MOA

Max Windage Adj: 75 MOA

Click Value: 1/4 MOA

Length 15.5″

Weight 32.7 oz

Shooting Sports

One Year Later: ED-LHT 3-15×50

I posted a review of the Discovery Optics ED LHT 3-15×50 FFP scope over a year ago. At the time, I found it and the entire ED line of scopes to be an excellent value. The 3-15×50 variant was the smallest and lightest of the ED series, with the same precision turrets and high-resolution Japanese ED glass. But it had a tight eyebox, and its tree reticle was unusually thin, even at its maximum magnification. This is probably because it uses the same etched reticle as the 24x ED variant, and when a FFP reticle is scaled to 15x, it shrinks in size and thickness.

A year later, I decided to mount this scope onto a BCA 22LR AR upper, so I could use it at 100 yards. I thought the fine reticle would not obscure the 2″ diamond bullseyes on my target, while allowing just enough top-end magnification to self-spot from the bench.

While zeroing out the scope at the gun range, I invited the RSOs and club members to test out my setup. I wanted to see if their opinion and first impressions of the scope differed from my original review. Their consensus echoed mine. The scope had clear glass, but most found the eyebox to be tight, and many were not used to a reticle that thin and fine-lined. Despite this, when I revealed that the scope cost under $275, most were surprised and nodded in appreciation.

The scope certainly performs better than its price, but its thin reticle makes it less than ideal for general-purpose shooting or hunting. It may be a better scope for airgun or rimfire Benchrest, where its thin reticle helps in aiming at the X-ring on a well-lit target?

BUY

https://amzn.to/44uCWAZ (12% discount link: MOONDOG315 ) 
https://discoveryopt.com/   (10% discount link: MOONDOG)  

RESOLUTION

Group -1 / Element 4

SPECS

Magnification 3x-15x
Objective 50mm
Field of View 12.6M-2.5M@100YDS
Eye relief 88mm-83mm
Exit pupil 11.97mm-3.3mm
Tube diameter 30mm
Click Value 0.1MRAD
Elevation Adj ±23.2MRAD
Windage Adj ±17MRAD
Length 333mm
Weight 792g (27.9 oz)

Discovery ED-LHT Gen2 3-15×50
Shooting Sports

SHOT 2025 Meopta Tactical Scopes

Czechoslovakia is one of the top arms makers in the world, though most Americans often overlook and underappreciate it. Meopta is a Czech-based company that manufactures various products, mainly optics. At SHOT Show 2025, Meopta showed off its newest optics for military and law enforcement. It’s new enclosed reflex sight utilizes OLED technology to create a sharper and clearer projected reticle.

Shooting Sports

SHOT 2025 Meopta Scopes

Czechoslovackia is one of the top arms makers in the world, though often overlooked and under appreciated by most Americans. Meopta is a Czechia-based company that manufactures various products mainly in the field of optics. The company was once well-known for its professional photographic and movie cameras, although it no longer manufactures such products. At SHOT Show 2025 Meopta showed off their wide line of hunting and target scopes that offer high-quality glass and precision construction.

Product Reviews, Shooting Sports

Monstrum Challenger 5-25×56 FFP

https://youtu.be/vez2wjy7HNw

Monstrum released the Challenger 5-25×56, a new budget FFP long-range scope. This improves upon their older G3 4-24×50 long-range scope with features appealing to PRS style shooting with a larger 56mm objective lens, zero-stop turret, and a Christmas tree reticle. Remarkably it has all of that at a lower price than the G3.

The Challenger ships with several accessories including a decent set of high-height rings. It does not include a sun shade which many budget PRS scopes include. The Challenger has a built-in fin on its magnification ring so doesn’t need an additional throw lever.

The illumination knob has 6 levels of brightness with an Off in between the settings. The elevation turret is non-locking but has a built-in Zero-Stop activated by screwing down a worm screw accessible under the turret cap. An odd design feature is the screw-down turret top on the elevation which covers the turret screw and access to the Zero-stop worm screw. This makes resetting the turret zero a little bit more work.

The windage turret is a more typical, push-down-to-lock design. It has an exposed slotted turret screw top to reset the turret to 0. Unfortunately, my model’s turret markings did not exactly line up with the tube’s indicator dot, a tell-tale sign of cheaper, budget construction.

Glass and optical quality are also where Monstrum compromised to achieve its low price. The image at its lowest of 5x shows noticeable chromatic aberration. The image was not sharp from center to edge, with noticeable softening and distortions at the outer 1/4 of the scope image. Color fidelity was good but with a slightly warm balance. The was average for a budget PRS scope: tight.

The new reticle is the Challenger’s best improvement over the G3. It is a more tactical style reticle than other PRS Christmas tree reticles, with a thick “+” as its central aim point. This made the reticle much more usable from 5x-16x than typical FFP reticles but was too thick for Precision target shooting as it obscures the central X ring of a bullseye. This reticle will be more appealing to hunters than Benchrest shooters.

For long-range hunters or gong plinkers on a budget, this scope is priced low enough to be worth a try. As a competition PRS scope it has disappointing optical performance. But factoring in its jaw-dropping street price of $199, the value calculous for this scope shifts radically toward its favor.

BUY

Monstrum Challenger on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4gSoS7J

RESOLUTION

Monstrum Challenger: Group -1 / Element 2

SPECS

CHALLENGER
Magnification: 5-25x
Objective Lens: 56 mm
Tube Diameter: 30mm
Focal Plane: First
Reticle: CM4 MOA, MM4 MIL
Illumination: red
Battery: CR2032
Eye Relief: 3.5-4 in
FOV @ 100 Yards: 25.3-5.06 ft
Parallax: 25 yrds-Infinity
Elevation Adj: 45 MOA
Windage Ad: 45 MOA
Per Click: 1/4 MOA
Per Rotation: 20 MOA
Length: 14 in
Weight: 37 oz

Shooting Sports

Strike Eagle vs ED-PRS

The Strike Eagle 5-25×56 is Vortex’s best long-range scope under $1000 (with a street price of around $700-$800). Optical technology has advanced as fast as prices have dropped. New “budget” scopes now offer higher optical quality and performance. One of the best examples is Discovery Optics’ ED-PRS which sells for half the price of the Strike Eagle.

The ED-PRS ships with more accessories than the Vortex. My model is the first edition Gen2. The newest version of the Gen 2 has updated tool-less turrets and does not ship with scope rings. The ED-PRS has tall oversized turrets which are easier-to-read numbering. The ED-PRS turrets had more precise feeling clicks and a wider range of adjustment. Both scopes appeared to be well constructed but the ED-PRS is almost a full pound heavier and certainly appears more chunky.

Both scopes offer bright and clear imagery that is very similar in quality. The Strike Eagle has a brighter and higher contrast image but with slightly more chromatic aberration at high power. The Strike Eagle also offers a more forgiving eye box.

Both scopes showed good color rendition at the gun range and the ability to see details in low light at 25x. Because of the Vortex higher contrast glass, the Strike Eagle seems a bit sharper but both scopes can resolve the same level of detail in the US Airforce reference chart.

Long-range shooters will be well served with either scope for their similar optical performance. But for conscious shooters, the Discovery Optics ED-PRS is the clear winner.

BUY

ED-PRS on Amazon:

https://amzn.to/4dqSKYf (10% discount code: MOONDOG525)

https://discoveryopt.com (10% discount code: Moondog)

Vortex Strike Eagle on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4gA4Ejq

RESOLUTION

ED-PRS: Group -1 / Element 6

Strike Eagle: Group -1 / Element 6

SPECS

STRIKE EAGLEED-PRS
Magnification 5-25x
Objective Lens: 56 mm
Tube Diameter: 34 mm
Focal Plane: First
Reticle: EBR-7C (MOA)
Illumination: red
Eye Relief: 3.7″
FOV @ 100 Yards: 24.0-5.2
Parallax: 15 yrds-Infinity
Elevation Adj: 110 MOA
Windage Adj: 78 MOA
Per Click: 1/4 MOA
Per Rotation: 25 MOA
Length: 14.6 in
Weight: 30.4 oz		Magnification: 5-25x
Objective Lens: 56 mm
Tube Diameter: 34mm
Focal Plane: First
Reticle: SFIR MRAD
Illumination: red
Eye Relief: 3.3-3.4 in
FOV @ 100 Yards: 25.3-5.06 ft
Parallax: 25 yrds-Infinity
Elevation Adj: 36MRAD (124 MOA)
Windage Ad: 17MRAD (58 MOA)
Per Click: 0.1MRAD
Per Rotation: 10 MRAD
Length: 415mm (16.34in)
Weight: 1255g (44.3oz)

Shooting Sports

SHOT 2025 Leupold VX HD Gen2

At the Leupold booth in SHOT Show 2025 I was brought into their meeting room to see just one scope. But this scope was the Gen 2 update of their flagship VX hunting line. The VX HD Gen2 features ED glass and a newly redesigned tool-less resetable turrets. These turrets have a lever which sits flush into the circular turret, which swings out to release the turret top to reset the zero.

BUY

Amazon Leupold VX-6HD Gen 2 3-18×44 https://amzn.to/3QQjwyM

Shooting Sports

Discovery XED 6-36×56

Last year, Discovery impressed me with the ED-PRS Gen2 5-25×56 scope with its high-quality glass, features, and street price under $500. They told me they were working on a 6-36x version but had delayed production until they were satisfied with the results. The wait is finally over with the XED 6-36×56 with a street price of just under $700.

This scope is share many of the features of the new ED-PRS Gen2 MOA like its new throw lever design and its tool-free turret screw tops. The XED is slightly longer and heavier overall with a noticeably wider parallax dial than the ED-PRS. The biggest change is the XED’s 35mm tube which allows a wider range of adjustments.

The XED utilizes Japanese ED glass for excellent optical clarity and brightness while minimizing chromatic aberration. Most high power scopes have tight eyeboxes, the XED is unforgiving at 36x. Tight eyebox aside, for those that require a bit more magnification than the ED-PRS 5-25x, the XED is tough to beat.

BUY

Discovery Optics website: https://discoveryopt.com/zh/products/xed-6-36x56sfir-ffp-mrad-moa-zero-stop-diameter-35mm-optics-scopes
10% discount code: Moondog  

Amazon: https://amzn.to/4iiqadn
10% discount code: MoondogX636

CLARITY

Group 0 / Element 1

SPECS

Magnification: 6-36X
Objective: 56mm
Reticle Position: First Focal Plane
Max Elevation adjust range: 120 MOA
Max Windage adjust range: 62 MOA
FOV: 19.5 FT(5.9 m)-3.1 FT(0.9 m) @ 100YDS
Exit Pupil: 9.51-1.54 mm
Eye Relief: 3.7 in (9.5cm)
Click Value: 1/4 MOA
Focus Range: 40 yards-infinity
Tube diameter: 35mm
Length: 16.7 in (425mm)
Weight: 45.2 oz (1287g)

Shooting Sports

Discovery Scope Bubble Level

It’s hard to believe, but you can improve your long range accuracy for less than $20 by simply attaching a spirit bubble level to your scope. Discovery Optics makes such an accessory. It’s a spirit level mounted in a metal ring which you can clamp onto your scope tube to you can read the angle and levelness of your scope and rifle setup.

If your scope is not 100% directly above your rifle bore, which can happen as you press your cheek to your stock or simply adjusting your shooting position, or when setting up a hasty shooting position, this can create a slight canted angle either to the right or left of center. This will in turn can make your shot land ever so slightly to the right or left of your aim point. By assuring your scope is level to your bore with a spirit level, you can avoid this simple mistake.

This scope level is made of aircraft grade 6061 aluminum alloy with an easy-to-read bubble bead in the spirit tube. It comes with two ring adapters allowing the bubble level to be mounted on either 1″ (25.4mm), 30mm, or 34mm scope tubes. It is probably the best $20 you’ll spend on your scope set up.

BUY

10% discount code Moondog7075

Amazon https://amzn.to/3D8MfvD

Discovery Optics website https://discoveryopt.com/