Night vision options

[codybrown]

So I'll start off by first saying that I don't have thousands to put towards a night vision or thermal scope. That leaves me with the options of the digital camera style systems. I have my eves on a few, but I'm looking for firsthand experience from anyone who has used them. My choices so far are:

1. Pulsar N550
2. Sightmark photon
3. Sightmark wraith

I'd like to stay away from ATN, from what I've heard customer service leaves something to be desired. All three of the scopes listed have a street price of $500-$600. The Pulsar is discontinues so the best savings would be that one since standard price on it was well over $1k.

The scope will be going on a Remington Model 7 22-250 strictly for coyotes, shots 200 yards and under. I'll be using a 900 series IR torch with whatever option I end up going with.

I'd appreciate any input about the 3 options listed, and also any others that you may have experience with.

 

[dfanonymous]

Check out armasight products too. Must of their stuff is cheaper for gen 1 nightvision, but gen 1 works fine if you don't know the difference.

 

[Oi.223]

I own and have used Gen3 NV and digital nv scopes. I had settled in on scanning with a FLIR PS32 and shooting with a Photon XT. That worked pretty well, but I sometimes struggled with changing from the FLIR to the Photon. I am now using an Apex XD50A thermal scope and I find it much more productive than any other system that I have used in the past. The scope will save zero settings from three different rifles and is not hard to change if you wish to do that. I leave mine on a dedicated rifle as I am too lazy to mess with it and I like building rifles.

The most economical way to get a good hunting solution would be to go with a HD19A to scan with and a Photon XT to shoot with. That would work for you for quite a while, but I think you would eventually want to migrate to a thermal scope on the rifle I now do general scanning with my PS32, but refine by looking through the rifle sight. A lot of folks are reluctant to scan with the rifle, but I'm not. I use a primos trigger stick and it's pretty comfortable to scan around with it. You can always try out a setup by renting something from a dealer like UNV if you have doubts about how it will work.

 

[Kmccord]

I have a Sightmark Photon 6x50, but mine uses the 940nm laser, the short time I have had it, it works great. I have mine on an AR-15 and have taken three hogs at 80 and 100yds all head/neck shots, the clarity is good, but it is not HD clear, it is heavy. If you get this one or any other digital NV scope, plan on purchasing a USB power source, using four AA batteries in the Photon series with setting on highest IR Illumination, your batteries will be dead within one hour. My hog hunt with the 10k USB battery power source never drained for over two hours of continuous IR on highest setting, it should last a minimum of 6hrs with the USB power source. I purchased one at Walmart for 25.00. If it was me, I would look around for the newest version on your list the Sightmark wraith, I believe that one is in HD and I think it has color as well and is a bit cheaper according to the website. The one I have is WiFi, can be viewed on a smartphone with an app, so if your kids or hunting buddy wants to see what you see, it also records at 7min intervals, has a lot of reticle options along with various colors to fit your need. I like mine, I enjoy observing wildlife at night, you will not be disappointed in one.

 

[codybrown]

The Sightmark wraith and the Pulsar N455 are at the top of my list. I'm still debating between the 2.

 

[Kmccord]

I forgot to mention, the Photon series is not a step up in magnification, it is 2x mag., so going from 6x you get 12x nothing in between, that I do not like, so verify the zoom before purchasing.

 

[geo4061]

What improvement are these over a good scope with a good light with a red lens?

 

[Kmccord]

Just from my experience, the light red or green worked, but I had some that would begin to get nervous after a while. My experience with digital night vision, they do not know I am there, no nervous looks calm. One night while hunting for hogs, standing in the middle of my pasture, 60yds away Coyotes opened up I turned around and observed five of them standing and howling then stretched and laid down, they did not pay me no mind, no lights just IR looking at them through the scope, pretty cool walking in the dark and observing what is going on around your place. As for the price, at 629.00 for the Sightmark Photon 6x50, I can use it day or night, records my hunts, one shot sight in, to me it fits me for a scope to pig hunt or anything else during normal shooting hours. The next best thing would be thermal, but those start off at 1900.00 and go up into the 10's of thousands.

 

[codybrown]

What improvement are these over a good scope with a good light with a red lens?

What I'm trying to accomplish will be just a completely invisible position in the dark while calling coyotes as long as I use a 940 IR torch