Night Vision Scope

[ellebarto]

I've been lamping bunnies for a while with a friend and really enjoying it on a great piece of varied land. Increasingly I want to go out on my own so I'm looking at all the different ways I can achieve this without a buddy to hold the lamp.

 

I'm considering everything from a rifle mounted lamp, a remote controlled roof mounted lamp Ive seen advertised by A1 decoy, to a night vision scope and would welcome peoples opinions based on real experience?

 

At present, all from within the land rover, we have used a hand held nightforce 2 million candle power lamp witha red filter and a very cheap but bulky 5 million candle power flashlight, which I have to say is my favourite but defo needs a pal to handle it!

 

I have to say I'm keen on night vision because it seems a small and self contained way of shooting without loads of extra kit!

 

I have seen scopes at the £600 price range but my local dealer tells me they are worthless and you need to spend £2k to get anything that actually works in the field and isn't just a gimmick. I tend to be shooting at anything between 50 to 100 yards with a .22 and dont need to see the Taliban 500 yards away!!!!!!

 

Anyone have any suggestions or recommendations?

[Billy.]

Pulsar N550 will do the trick for you.

 

Cheap, but with a much much better tube than the Gen 1+ (closer to 2+) for around £800.

 

First bit of the video is Gen 2+ and the second is the N550. There's about £700 in price difference, as a decent Gen 2+ will cost about £1,500

 

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[ellebarto]

That looks spot on. So do you have one of these and expereince of shooting with it? Great video clip!

 

It looks perfect for the bunny shooting I do. Do you know if they have any kind of life span? Its a fair outlay for a piece of kit but if it lasts then its a good deal. Indeed if the generation 2 can spot me a target over 100 yards I could use it on other rifles as well making it more flexible and worth spending the extra cash!

 

I see you have a price for the Pulsar N550. I couldnt see it that cheap anywhere so where were yu looking out of interest?

 

Cheers for your help, great stuff!

[Billy.]

That looks spot on. So do you have one of these and expereince of shooting with it? Great video clip!

 

It looks perfect for the bunny shooting I do. Do you know if they have any kind of life span? Its a fair outlay for a piece of kit but if it lasts then its a good deal. Indeed if the generation 2 can spot me a target over 100 yards I could use it on other rifles as well making it more flexible and worth spending the extra cash!

 

I see you have a price for the Pulsar N550. I couldnt see it that cheap anywhere so where were yu looking out of interest?

 

Cheers for your help, great stuff!

 

Unless they've upped their prices on the N550, then they've removed it from sale to make way for the newer units they were planning to introduce this year.

 

The N550s have been like gold dust, due to the popularity.

 

No, I don't have direct experience of using them, but I've used Gen 2+ and from the videos, it looks much better.

 

Lifespan - you should expect a much longer lifespan, as the night vision is processed digitally, rather than using an extremely fragile pressurised tube. (citation needed, I know!)

 

I think one of the American companies was selling this, but you need an export licence to get them to this country. There was a huge thread a few months back where some twit put a video of him shooting bunnies and just injuring them and failing to correctly dispatch the rabbits. At the end of the thread a member offered to get them imported - so have a search for the thread.

[steve_b_wales]

Look at the Cobra Merlin NV with day scope adapter. I use it on my .22LR and .243.

[ellebarto]

Look at the Cobra Merlin NV with day scope adapter. I use it on my .22LR and .243.

 

What kind of ranges do you use that at? I assume its the Genration 1 version that sells at around the £600 mark?

 

The problem with all thee sites is that they dont seem to post an effective range against them. Dont get me wrong, I'm not expecting pin clear images at 300 yards but I'm willing to spend the money that will let me pick out a bunny clearly at 100 yards.

 

Questions is do I need to spend £2k to do that or is something at the £1k mark or less useable?

[Billy.]

What kind of ranges do you use that at? I assume its the Genration 1 version that sells at around the £600 mark?

 

The problem with all thee sites is that they dont seem to post an effective range against them. Dont get me wrong, I'm not expecting pin clear images at 300 yards but I'm willing to spend the money that will let me pick out a bunny clearly at 100 yards.

 

Questions is do I need to spend £2k to do that or is something at the £1k mark or less useable?

 

Yo can turn a Gen1+ into a decent scope, so long as you buy a powerful IR Laser. The problem is that they can be around £175 for a good one...

[ellebarto]

Yo can turn a Gen1+ into a decent scope, so long as you buy a powerful IR Laser. The problem is that they can be around £175 for a good one...

 

I dont mind that, I just need to make an informed decision and I'm struggling for resources at the moment! My local shop is OK but they know I will spend what it takes and I only what to buy what I need!

[wymberley]

Hi,

I've just got a N550. Price, £1000 plus a bit if you have the extra IR lamp.

So far: Depending on your rifle mounts, you may need a Weaver convertor.

Mounting and zeroing, no problem.

Extra IR not required in my opinion.

For some unexplained reason it doesn't seem to focus past 100yds in daylight but does in the dark, am looking at that again.

Only shot in day-time so far, furthest shot, 88yds (range finder), 6" long joey, no problem, for full sized I can't see 100 being a problem.

Mag is 4.5 and a doubler (specifically to type) is on the way but don't know when exactly.

Mine came with re-chargeable batteries and charger, a spare set is essential.

Although I've been out briefly at night, I haven't had chance yet to shoot with it. If anyone is interested I'll follow this up when I have. Am I pleased so far? Yes.

Cheers

[Billy.]

Hi,

I've just got a N550. Price, £1000 plus a bit if you have the extra IR lamp.

So far: Depending on your rifle mounts, you may need a Weaver convertor.

Mounting and zeroing, no problem.

Extra IR not required in my opinion.

For some unexplained reason it doesn't seem to focus past 100yds in daylight but does in the dark, am looking at that again.

Only shot in day-time so far, furthest shot, 88yds (range finder), 6" long joey, no problem, for full sized I can't see 100 being a problem.

Mag is 4.5 and a doubler (specifically to type) is on the way but don't know when exactly.

Mine came with re-chargeable batteries and charger, a spare set is essential.

Although I've been out briefly at night, I haven't had chance yet to shoot with it. If anyone is interested I'll follow this up when I have. Am I pleased so far? Yes.

Cheers

 

I saw that someone made a doubler on the BBS. It worked a charm, but I'm glad to hear they're making an official one

[wymberley]

I saw that someone made a doubler on the BBS. It worked a charm, but I'm glad to hear they're making an official one

Yep, as I understand it he's now well on the way with a variable version but I no longer use that site so things may have changed.

Cheers

[steve_b_wales]

My Cobra Merlin NV has added IR by means of a Blazerlite with IR filter, mounted on top of the scope. With this set up, I can identify animals at up to 200 yards, but obviously don't shoot them at that range.The great advantage of the Cobra, is that it can be fitted to different rifles, without losing zero etc.

[camo304]

You could try and get hold of a D300 gen2+ i picked one up for this ish £640 and it nocks the dogs off my merlin you don't have to use ir laser if shooting up close it's like green day light this goes on my 22-250 22lr hmr and air ranger