I suppose it's possible your scope is defective, but more likely it's a mounting problem. Boresight the barrel vs looking straight through the rings, without a scope. See if the agree within a reasonable (say, 10 MOA or so) margin of error. If not, fix the mounts. If the rings are parallel to the bore and you can't zero the scope, then it's probably defective. I mounted an SH4 to a Remington 700, and couldn't zero azimuth. The SH4 has only about +/- 20 MOA of azimuth and it turned out the rifle was actually drilled with the scope mounts about 20 MOA misaligned to the bore. The solution for me was to use Burris XTR Signature rings which allow up to +/- 40 MOA of mechanical alignment adjustment

Two reviews have appeared, one from Arken Optics USA Dealer and one from RugerGunDog, but they are both general descriptions, neither give critical comparisons of optical quality. I'm hoping for something that shows side-by-side comparison of optical quality...that's what I'm hoping the EP5 provides and looking for someone to provide this type of test

I had a problem once, needed to mount Pic rings (Burris) on a Weaver rail (special for Springfield 1903). Sounds similar to your situation. It was a little tedious but I filed the lugs down til they would fit. This is OK to do since only one side of the lug needs to precisely mate to the slot in the rail. This is what happens, for example, when using Weaver rings in a Pic rail. I would file one side of each lug only, mount the unaltered side of the lug toward the muzzle, and slide toward the muzzle. That way the recoil tends to mate the unaltered, precision side to the rail slots. The filed side is in empty space, does no harm. If memory serves, it was also necessary to shorten the lugs so they wouldn't bottom in the Weaver slots before the flat surfaces mated.

If I understand the OP correctly, that's not his issue. I believe his issue is that with the scope zeroed to the rifle, the azimuth is considerably off-center. He expects equal deviation left and right. This is usually the result of the rings not being aligned to the bore. With 1 inch and 30 mm, a solution is to use STD type rings, which allow azimuth adjustment. With 34 mm, the only solution I know (and a very good one, not Mickey Mouse) is to use Burris XTR signature rings. These allow up to +/- 40 MOA (more than 10 mil) of left/right and up/down adjustment of the scope body. The SH4 has rather limited adjustment span in azimuth, so you don't want to use it all up compensating for misalignment of the rings to the bore. Furthermore, scope give best optical performance when centered in their adjustment range. So these rings allow the scope to be installed with optical center at the range normally expected Check them out. They are quite expensive but solve a lot of problems.