In today’s market you want a 10 year old tactical (bushnell, weaver,etc) or a current vortex or Athlon. With a budget of 500-800, options are limited.

I have the Vortex Diamond back 6-24x50 FFP and my only issue with it is that at its lowest magnification the cross hair is so fine it can be difficult to use and worse with low light. Its great at the higher magnifications, just wish it was illuminated but at $400 its a great deal.

Thanks for the feedback on Athlons. I've read just a little about Arken, same for SWFA.



Understood. Yeah, I'm at the lower end of these. Would love if I can increase the budget, which might happen over time.

For the price and what you are doing with it. Like mentioned above the Arken is hard to beat. Clearer than a Vortex in the same price range. The fit , finish and general feel of the optics is way above any piece of crap Vortex in the 1000.00 range.

Take a look at the EP5 6-24 the glass is slightly sharper and clearer than the SH-4 Gen II series

SH4 Gen II 6-24. One needs to realize that the EP5 and SH4 Gen II’s are large heavy tactical style scopes. If you would like a lighter scope. You can go to Arken’s web site and take a look at their EPL-4 scopes . These are a new lightweight “Hybid” with EP5 glass and internals. These will be available to the public soon. I have been testing several of the EPL-4 6-24’s in MOA for a short while. So far they have been tracking well and repeating well.

Bellow is a photo for size comparison. The new EPL-4 series is quite a bit lighter and more compact then the EP5 and SH-4 Gen two series. Bellow is a EPL-4 (Light weight) 6-24x50 MOA, sat on top of one of my Leupold VX-5HD 3-15’s. I believe the 6-24 EPL-4 is only 4 Oz or so heavier than my VX5-5HD 3-15 pictured.

swampfox war horse with the WLS discount code would get you there easy maybe even with their hostile engagement rings and a liberty or justice mounted on it

Damn here I am with a pistol on my side that has a Swampfox RDS mounted RIGHT ON IT as always lately, and I completely forgot about their scopes.

I have heard and read only good things about them. Seem to be a great bang for the buck, just no personal experience with them.

I have a few of theres and they are solid budget glass. They are not high end ( although the warhorse is getting there) but very good and they hit outside of their price point.

Anyone have comments on PA's SLx product line? Their 5-25x56 is in the same entry/low end price range. I thought I'd read it's also MIC (whereas the PLx is MIJ).

ref: https://www.primaryarms.com/primary-arms-slx-5-25x56ffpprifle-scope-illuminated-acss-athena-bpr-mil-reticle