Night Vision Equipment

[smokeyoakey]

Hi All Can anybody please give me any feedback on Night Vision Scopes etc Do they work are they any good, anything would be much appreciated. Cheers Smokey

[groach1234]

Hi All Can anybody please give me any feedback on Night Vision Scopes etc Do they work are they any good, anything would be much appreciated. Cheers Smokey

 

Wrong section buddy.

 

George

[steve_b_wales]

Get yourself a Cobra Merlin NV with day scope adapter. It can used on different scopes without adjusting zero, and when used with added IR, it's excellent.

[smokeyoakey]

Wrong section buddy.

 

George

 

Sorry George Just thought i would get more feedback on this section, where do you suggest i post it Cheers Smokey

[Doggone]

Hi All Can anybody please give me any feedback on Night Vision Scopes etc Do they work are they any good, anything would be much appreciated. Cheers Smokey

Smokey

Check these out. http://www.nvscopes.com/night%20vision%20s...0HTH%20752.html

I bought one for foxing a few years ago, and used to put it on a rimfire for rabbits. Eventually I bought another, 2nd hand, so that I didn't have to swap things over. After a few teething troubles I now have a Steyr 22/250 with a day and night scope in one and an Anschutz rimfire with the same. Both scopes are very accurate in daylight and darkness. If there was something I could change it would be a bit more magnification, maybe up it to 8x. However I can shoot foxes on the darkest of nights out to 300yds, what more could you ask for?

Andy

[wymberley]

Smokey

Check these out. http://www.nvscopes.com/night%20vision%20s...0HTH%20752.html

I bought one for foxing a few years ago, and used to put it on a rimfire for rabbits. Eventually I bought another, 2nd hand, so that I didn't have to swap things over. After a few teething troubles I now have a Steyr 22/250 with a day and night scope in one and an Anschutz rimfire with the same. Both scopes are very accurate in daylight and darkness. If there was something I could change it would be a bit more magnification, maybe up it to 8x. However I can shoot foxes on the darkest of nights out to 300yds, what more could you ask for?

Andy

 

The money!!!

[smokeyoakey]

The money!!!

 

 

Cheers Guys for the feedback much apprieciated, apparently we are going (hopefully) to have a look at a Longbow night vision scope on friday

[pavman]

Smokey

Check these out. http://www.nvscopes.com/night%20vision%20s...0HTH%20752.html

I bought one for foxing a few years ago, and used to put it on a rimfire for rabbits. Eventually I bought another, 2nd hand, so that I didn't have to swap things over. After a few teething troubles I now have a Steyr 22/250 with a day and night scope in one and an Anschutz rimfire with the same. Both scopes are very accurate in daylight and darkness. If there was something I could change it would be a bit more magnification, maybe up it to 8x. However I can shoot foxes on the darkest of nights out to 300yds, what more could you ask for?

Andy

 

Andy

 

do you have the 6sg or the 6hg how long have you had it and have you had any problems

[stevethevanman]

I went into this alot and bought a Cobra Merlin 2+ for my HMR.

 

It is what you pay for it sadly in the NV field, I have looked through numerous gen 1 tubes as well as Gen 2, and gen 2+ and gen 3..the differance form gen 1 to gen 2/gen 2+ is loads!!

 

Its basically the differance of being able to hit a rabbit at 45yds vs out to 200yds.

 

There are eastern european tubes and american tubes, generally the better units come from America illegaly imported by companies who have guys who bring them back..the only real way to get hold of these is ebay ect...there was one guy on there who sold american military ATN units until ebay shut him down.

 

Also you will find the bigger the target the easier, so with gen 2+, expect to achieve shootability of foxes out to 300yds on a good day with illuminator or strong moon light :blink:

 

You do encounter some problems however in that you will have hardly any room on the stock after attaching a monocular, so its really better if your going to be exclusively night sohoting with NV to buy a dedicated scope...but expect a quality unit say gen 2+ to cost alot of money, well over £2,000 pounds most likely for something like a longbow.

 

ALSO..dont believe what people tell you about it being a magical weapon, on my frequently shot grounds you can make them IR shy, as the IR light hits them from the illuminator they can become jumpy, where it does shine however is close range foxes, into 100yds and HMR killable is easy to do

 

There is also tube LIFE expectancy to think about, the tube is basically the thing in the NV unit that intensifies the light and it doesant last forever. They only have a certain number of hours on the tube in which it can work at its peak before it starts to degrade, you will tell when it is starting to degrade because when you look through it with good IR, nice and bright, there will be little black spots on the screen which look out of place. That can be a warning if there are loads that the tubes life is winding down.

 

So I would suggest that you dont buy second hand unless you know it has had a good life ..with not constant use, that is where a NV digital scanner which is much cheaper helps, as you scan with that then use the N.V. to take the shot

 

Try and buy new if you can, but its a lot of choice, I recommend you speak to a U.K. NV import speacialist if you can find one, as not all NV gear is created equal and some are massviely over priced for what they do, while sometimes you can find a bargain.

 

For instance the American ATN units that are gen 3 military grade, either new or barely used cost a fraction for what they do here, and those guys off ebay were making almost £1000 pound profit of each unit by bring them in from abroad :blink: ...however as you guessed it, those units thrash the pants off the sporting units in the U.K.

 

Hope all that information helps, alot I know but there is alot of choice.

 

Steve

Edited June 9, 2010 by stevethevanman

[steve_b_wales]

I agree that you can't compare the Cobra Merlin with the upper priced NV units. However, mine is attached to a quality scope (S&B Zenith) and I have a Blazerlite scope mounted lamp with IR filter attached. When switched on, I can clearly, and safely see for up to 200+yards. I don't take shots at that range, but it's good to be able to view at that distance.

[pavman]

I went into this alot and bought a Cobra Merlin 2+ for my HMR.

 

It is what you pay for it sadly in the NV field, I have looked through numerous gen 1 tubes as well as Gen 2, and gen 2+ and gen 3..the differance form gen 1 to gen 2/gen 2+ is loads!!

 

Its basically the differance of being able to hit a rabbit at 45yds vs out to 200yds.

 

There are eastern european tubes and american tubes, generally the better units come from America illegaly imported by companies who have guys who bring them back..the only real way to get hold of these is ebay ect...there was one guy on there who sold american military ATN units until ebay shut him down.

 

Also you will find the bigger the target the easier, so with gen 2+, expect to achieve shootability of foxes out to 300yds on a good day with illuminator or strong moon light :blink:

 

You do encounter some problems however in that you will have hardly any room on the stock after attaching a monocular, so its really better if your going to be exclusively night sohoting with NV to buy a dedicated scope...but expect a quality unit say gen 2+ to cost alot of money, well over £2,000 pounds most likely for something like a longbow.

 

ALSO..dont believe what people tell you about it being a magical weapon, on my frequently shot grounds you can make them IR shy, as the IR light hits them from the illuminator they can become jumpy, where it does shine however is close range foxes, into 100yds and HMR killable is easy to do

 

There is also tube LIFE expectancy to think about, the tube is basically the thing in the NV unit that intensifies the light and it doesant last forever. They only have a certain number of hours on the tube in which it can work at its peak before it starts to degrade, you will tell when it is starting to degrade because when you look through it with good IR, nice and bright, there will be little black spots on the screen which look out of place. That can be a warning if there are loads that the tubes life is winding down.

 

So I would suggest that you dont buy second hand unless you know it has had a good life ..with not constant use, that is where a NV digital scanner which is much cheaper helps, as you scan with that then use the N.V. to take the shot

 

Try and buy new if you can, but its a lot of choice, I recommend you speak to a U.K. NV import speacialist if you can find one, as not all NV gear is created equal and some are massviely over priced for what they do, while sometimes you can find a bargain.

 

For instance the American ATN units that are gen 3 military grade, either new or barely used cost a fraction for what they do here, and those guys off ebay were making almost £1000 pound profit of each unit by bring them in from abroad ...however as you guessed it, those units thrash the pants off the sporting units in the U.K.

 

Hope all that information helps, alot I know but there is alot of choice.

 

Steve

 

nice write up steve lots of good tips :blink:

[Doggone]

Andy

 

do you have the 6sg or the 6hg how long have you had it and have you had any problems

 

One of each actually, I bought the sg about 5 years ago, from a chap at Leicester for £1900 I think. He was a dealer and it was his demonstrator. Had a bit of trouble with the front lens wobbling about and changing point of impact. Got it sorted with several layers of tape. The other one is the hg which I bought 2nd hand in 08

The chap had only had it a few months, I believe I gave him £1500 for it inc. LED. He had the receipt for £2800) That one has been no bother at all, well, perhaps point of impact changes half inch at 100yds when changing from night to day function, moving parts and optics don't mix. As far as difference in the tubes I can't really see any. I use the sg with led for rabbits to 100 yds, and the hg with laser for foxes to 300 yds, the magnification is a bit lacking to go any further, although you can see them a lot further if there is a contrast between the colour of the fox and its background. Not easy to see a fox clearly on a ploughed field for instance. The beauty of night vision is being able to study the animal without spooking it, saves any disasters when you have to make that quick descision, as you light it up for the shot when lamping. You're welcome to come and have a play if you're ever around this way.

Andy