Night vision scope HELP

homesick · April 23, 2016, 06:30 PM

This has probably been beat to death before if so sorry. I'm looking a buying a night vision scope will be using it for varmints and hogs. Our gun club has night shoots also so I may do that too. I would like your feed back if possible on products, options and power. I have read and listen to the manufactures but want feed back from people who use them.

Double Naught Spy · April 23, 2016, 10:33 PM

Are you looking for a rifle scope or helmet/spotting/handheld scope?

What sort of distances are you shooting?

If rifle mounted, what rifle (caliber) are you planning on putting it on?

Are you planning on day hunting as well?

How much are you willing to spend?

Do you only want to consider NV or is thermal an option?

homesick · April 24, 2016, 03:33 PM

Looking for a scope
At night close ranges very max 100 yds mostly 50 yds
I have several rifles but more then likely 223 or 308
yes day hunting also
I would like to consider a thermal but budget is a factor and my experience with thermal is not good in day light.
I also have a bit of experience with ATN 5X18 NV and was somewhat impressed just not sure if it's a good one for the $

2damnold4this · April 24, 2016, 06:35 PM

I've seen videos posted by DNS while he uses thermal to hunt hogs and they are quite impressive.

I do wonder if thermal would be good for shooting paper or steel targets at night. Would the targets show up as well as a hog or coyote?

Double Naught Spy · April 24, 2016, 10:13 PM

homesick, depending on the NV you buy, you could easily pay for NV what the less expensive thermal costs. For example, a Pulsar Apex XD38 will cost you less than $3K, handle recoil up to .308 and work quite well at 100 yards and less.

You can go with digital NV that will allow you daylight capability as well, which is nice, and it with the cost of an IR illuminator (absolutely needed for digital NV at this point, like low end regular NV), you can set up for well under $800 and likely much less than that. Your choices at that price point are really the Sightmark Photon II which has a lesser quality image but is technology that works well, or the ATN X-Sight HD, which has lots of bells and whistles and a nice image, but the preceding X-Sight was fraught with problems and the jury is out on the new HD version. If it performs as advertised, it will be cost effective.

The problem with low end traditional NV and digital NV is the need for an illuminator. You are fine in an open field, but in a busy environment with lots of stuff in the foreground, overillumination of the close stuff can make it hard to see your target. On calm nights, the smoke from your rifle firing may result in you being blind for 1-5 seconds until the smoke clears, the IR light reflecting off of it like a smoke screen. That is the downside to IR illuminators. I hunted with Gen I and Gen II+ traditional NV and digital NV for 3 years or so, using IR illuminators. You can certainly be successful going this route, but you have to work through the problem.

Here is one of my videos showing the problem with reflectivity of an object in the foreground...
https://youtu.be/Zy1LBsRyHGg

Here are a couple of videos showing the white-out produced by the smoke after firing...
https://youtu.be/SkCXUWvgVuQ (two examples in this video, the 2nd example is with a hog and the problem was really bad then)
https://youtu.be/-LqjPNmhahs

This video shows problems with foliage reflecting light and also smoke...
https://youtu.be/m6y2dX6IpOw

I had a Pulsar Apex XD38a thermal scope for only a short while and didn't get a lot of video with it, but here is a good coyote example...
https://youtu.be/lUP3hb2HJ6w

This guy hunts a lot with the Apex XD38a and has a bunch of videos with it. He doesn't always state distances, unfortunately, and some of his shots are not short range, but you can see he gets plenty of utility out of it.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC85...fzHNuZq71yEPpw

homesick · April 25, 2016, 06:43 PM

Thanks for the info Double Naught Spy very helpful and informative

Double Naught Spy · May 17, 2016, 04:20 PM

The X-Sight HD release in 2015 was a terrible fiasco. This release was plagued with problems with ATN basically beta-testing the new scope on hundreds of buyers with the end result of none of the scopes every working as advertised.

Now the X-Sight II HD out and videos are starting to emerge. ATN had promoted the new, more powerful Obsidian II (computer) core to run their new units. From one of their press releases...
http://www.ammoland.com/2016/01/atn-...#axzz48wyMqZBI

Quote:

The new ATN X-Sight II is powered by ATN’s latest iteration of the Obsidian II Core, which is a highly specialized computer that is designed to run a suite of sensors and crunch huge files in the blink of an eye. It also utilizes HD optics and the first ever HD micro-display turns this day / night rifle scope into a true powerhouse.

Sadly, one of the problems of the original X-Sight was a flickering of the image that came as a result of the processor not being able to handle the video imagery. It was really annoying. Well, now there is the new and improved version and it still has the annoying video flicker.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBYV...ature=youtu.be

Can't say whether all the other bells and whistles work or not. They didn't work on the original X-Sight.

April 23, 2016, 06:30 PM	#1
homesick Senior Member Join Date: February 11, 2011 Location: Central Florida Posts: 378	Night vision scope HELP This has probably been beat to death before if so sorry. I'm looking a buying a night vision scope will be using it for varmints and hogs. Our gun club has night shoots also so I may do that too. I would like your feed back if possible on products, options and power. I have read and listen to the manufactures but want feed back from people who use them.

April 23, 2016, 10:33 PM	#2
Double Naught Spy Senior Member Join Date: January 8, 2001 Location: Forestburg, Montague Cnty, TX Posts: 12,717	Are you looking for a rifle scope or helmet/spotting/handheld scope? What sort of distances are you shooting? If rifle mounted, what rifle (caliber) are you planning on putting it on? Are you planning on day hunting as well? How much are you willing to spend? Do you only want to consider NV or is thermal an option? __________________ "If you look through your scope and see your shoe, aim higher." -- said to me by my 11 year old daughter before going out for hogs 8/13/2011 My Hunting Videos https://www.youtube.com/user/HornHillRange

April 24, 2016, 10:13 PM	#5
Double Naught Spy Senior Member Join Date: January 8, 2001 Location: Forestburg, Montague Cnty, TX Posts: 12,717	homesick, depending on the NV you buy, you could easily pay for NV what the less expensive thermal costs. For example, a Pulsar Apex XD38 will cost you less than $3K, handle recoil up to .308 and work quite well at 100 yards and less. You can go with digital NV that will allow you daylight capability as well, which is nice, and it with the cost of an IR illuminator (absolutely needed for digital NV at this point, like low end regular NV), you can set up for well under $800 and likely much less than that. Your choices at that price point are really the Sightmark Photon II which has a lesser quality image but is technology that works well, or the ATN X-Sight HD, which has lots of bells and whistles and a nice image, but the preceding X-Sight was fraught with problems and the jury is out on the new HD version. If it performs as advertised, it will be cost effective. The problem with low end traditional NV and digital NV is the need for an illuminator. You are fine in an open field, but in a busy environment with lots of stuff in the foreground, overillumination of the close stuff can make it hard to see your target. On calm nights, the smoke from your rifle firing may result in you being blind for 1-5 seconds until the smoke clears, the IR light reflecting off of it like a smoke screen. That is the downside to IR illuminators. I hunted with Gen I and Gen II+ traditional NV and digital NV for 3 years or so, using IR illuminators. You can certainly be successful going this route, but you have to work through the problem. Here is one of my videos showing the problem with reflectivity of an object in the foreground... https://youtu.be/Zy1LBsRyHGg Here are a couple of videos showing the white-out produced by the smoke after firing... https://youtu.be/SkCXUWvgVuQ (two examples in this video, the 2nd example is with a hog and the problem was really bad then) https://youtu.be/-LqjPNmhahs This video shows problems with foliage reflecting light and also smoke... https://youtu.be/m6y2dX6IpOw I had a Pulsar Apex XD38a thermal scope for only a short while and didn't get a lot of video with it, but here is a good coyote example... https://youtu.be/lUP3hb2HJ6w This guy hunts a lot with the Apex XD38a and has a bunch of videos with it. He doesn't always state distances, unfortunately, and some of his shots are not short range, but you can see he gets plenty of utility out of it. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC85...fzHNuZq71yEPpw __________________ "If you look through your scope and see your shoe, aim higher." -- said to me by my 11 year old daughter before going out for hogs 8/13/2011 My Hunting Videos https://www.youtube.com/user/HornHillRange

April 24, 2016, 03:33 PM	#3
homesick Senior Member Join Date: February 11, 2011 Location: Central Florida Posts: 378	Looking for a scope At night close ranges very max 100 yds mostly 50 yds I have several rifles but more then likely 223 or 308 yes day hunting also I would like to consider a thermal but budget is a factor and my experience with thermal is not good in day light. I also have a bit of experience with ATN 5X18 NV and was somewhat impressed just not sure if it's a good one for the $

April 24, 2016, 06:35 PM	#4
2damnold4this Senior Member Join Date: August 12, 2009 Location: Athens, Georgia Posts: 2,526	I've seen videos posted by DNS while he uses thermal to hunt hogs and they are quite impressive. I do wonder if thermal would be good for shooting paper or steel targets at night. Would the targets show up as well as a hog or coyote?

April 25, 2016, 06:43 PM	#6
homesick Senior Member Join Date: February 11, 2011 Location: Central Florida Posts: 378	Thanks for the info Double Naught Spy very helpful and informative