bicykillgaz Posted July 29, 2014 Report Share Posted July 29, 2014 hi gents, I recently bought an S&B 8x56 off here but i'm not overly keen on the reticle or the size of it. i've decided i'm going to probably sell it and reinvest the money into some form of night vision and most likely a photon. what sort of money should I expect to pay for a secondhand unit and would I be best looking for one with a doubler? is there anything else needed to get the best out of them? i'm gonna be shooting rabbit and the odd fox on horse paddocks, I guess I need to be able spot at 100-150yrds and clearly identify/shoot at 70yrds. cheers gary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbo33 Posted July 29, 2014 Report Share Posted July 29, 2014 Hi Gaz, Personally, I think a lot of people ask too much for them secondhand. New they are £399 from Scott Country, who I believe are the main distributers. Second hand, the asking price seems to be around 380 + post! I bought a new one and had all sorts of problems with the dealer taking it back, as it was clearly faulty. However, eventually they did, without refunding the postage both ways. I would be concerned that had I bought secondhand, I would have had no redress with the issue had it cropped up. The issue with mine was it ran out of left windage. I believe a few others have had this, and the answer, according to the shop I bought it from, was to fit some adjustable mounts at £70 odd!! Having said that, I thought it was in principle, an excellent unit. You will need a T20 IR for it as the picture is really grainy with the inbuilt IR see nitrojoe on here. It transforms the unit. You will also need a weaver mount and scope ring to attach it to the photon. I had a spare scope ring kicking around, and bought a weaver mount from flea bay for £6. Also, as it is, your ok out to 40 yards on bunnies, maybe a bit more, but after that, you really do need a doubler and an adapter. Its 5x mag as it is, but it seems more like 3 when compared to other scopes. So to get the best out of the unit, add on, T20, £35, Doubler lens £80, adapter £40? weaver mount £6 or look around for seconhand bits. This isn't meant to be a negative reply, just factual. I will buy another shortly as the dark evenings close in. Hope this helps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snipers eye Posted July 29, 2014 Report Share Posted July 29, 2014 get yourself an ns 200,will easily be enough for the ranges you require,i have an ns 50,am shooting rabbits out to 70 yrds,thats enough range at night i care to shoot at with my .22, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bicykillgaz Posted July 29, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 29, 2014 Cheers for the info turbo33 never even thought about issues with warrenty. What sort of ranges are you looking at with the doubler and extra IR? Hi snipers eye, I did look at the ns50 and ns200 but it would mean swapping scopes as I've only got fixed mags. Not sure I like the idea of a portable tv on my scope either, I do all my shooting on foot so think it would get in the way whilst walking with it over my shoulder. I can see the benefit of one if you just shoot from a vehicle or a stationary position though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snow white Posted July 29, 2014 Report Share Posted July 29, 2014 Had mine for 18 months shoot rabbits out to 100 yards fitted with t20 ir and doubler all the best if you get one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bicykillgaz Posted July 29, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 29, 2014 Did you have any issues with yours Snow White? They seem a bit like the hatsan of the night vision world, some people have got a good one and swear by them but others have had bad ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbo33 Posted July 29, 2014 Report Share Posted July 29, 2014 Hi Cheers for the info turbo33 never even thought about issues with warrenty. What sort of ranges are you looking at with the doubler and extra IR?No probs Gaz. Not sure on ranges as I mounted it on the fac air. Then when I came to put it on the 22lr, that's when the issue with the windage cropped up. All I can say is a mate popped one on his 243, and I was there when he was zeroing at 100yds. Popping the rounds nicely into a circle slightly under 2". That was with the doubler and during daylight. When I caught up with him and asked how it was at night, he said it was plenty good enough for foxing at that range, and was repeating slightly tighter groups I don't think the analogy with a Hatsan is quite the same, they are way better than that I just always seem to be one of the lucky few who get a dodgy one of anything I tried the idea of the NS50/ns200 screen job. The advantage is you can swap between rifles without altering zero. But, we all have our different preferences, and personally I think the photon is a much better arrangement. The hold required for a rifle wearing a "screen" just doesn't feel right to me, so agree with you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bicykillgaz Posted July 29, 2014 Author Report Share Posted July 29, 2014 Sounds a bit more promising. What's it like to use in daylight is it a clear or grainy picture and what's battery life like? Sorry for all the questions but my luck is a bit like yours and I tend to end up losing out. so I would rather know as much as possible before taking the plunge. Cheers mate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbo33 Posted July 29, 2014 Report Share Posted July 29, 2014 (edited) Sounds a bit more promising. What's it like to use in daylight is it a clear or grainy picture and what's battery life like? Sorry for all the questions but my luck is a bit like yours and I tend to end up losing out. so I would rather know as much as possible before taking the plunge. Cheers mate Don't worry about the questions. Its a bit weird in the daylight as the pic is black and white. Not a problem, just an odd experience when you look from normal colour vision to b/w. It is grainy, but not un useable. Just don't expect it to be as clear as your normal scope. The view is COMPLETELY different. It is very handy when shooting inside a darkened area such as a barn if you're on vermin. Close range ratting and ferals, I would think its superb on its own. It would be a luxury to have it on a dedicated night rifle. But in the absence of that facility, I will be quite happy to pop it on for the night stuff, and just check zero as I usually do anyway and stick with the day scope for that work. Edited July 29, 2014 by turbo33 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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