Poor mas thermal

[Walker570]

As most of you know I have just been given an old NV set up.  Now it works fine after some repairs and has accounted for 3 foxes already, however I can see why shooters go out and spend a lot of money on a thermal spotter as swinging the rifle around to check the layout is awkward. All of my shooting is from a high seat and it is still not good....soooo I got to thinking the other evening whilst waiting for 'customers' and came up with this idea.   I took an old scope I had, fitted it out with 'connectors' for IR up front and the screen and also a handle underneath.  I just have to find a way to arrange a battery position ...probably under the handle.  Anyway I put it all together this morning in about 45 mins and then tried it out across the yard and it works a treat. You can swing it round like a large torch much easier than the rifle included.  Spot a 'customer' switch off and then pick up rifle.  DaveG is providing me with a new NV so that can go on the rifle.

Call me a penny pincher but I do believe it will work.  What do y'all think ..... been abused by professionals, so have at it.

Note nice piece of fallow antler being used as the handle.

Edited November 25, 2018 by Walker570

[oowee]

As with all this stuff its a slippery slope to more and better kit. 

It will work no problem at all. The magnification of the scope should be as low as possible to give greatest fov. Then wide beam on IR to light up that field. This will reduce spotting distance overall. The length of the overall unit is not the best maybe for sweeping and overall it might be a bit clumsy when you have to lay it down quickly and pick it back up in the dark, but no doubt it will work. Do you need the scope in the set up? 

[TIGHTCHOKE]

And next you'll be putting an antler stock on it!

[racing snake]

Agree with Grant, it's workable but not ideal and sooner or later you're going to want to upgrade. If you're shooting from a high-seat it's OK, but if you're going to be walking around sooner or later something's going to come unstuck with all of that. I've never been a huge fan of external screens for spotting or shooting, as it can give your position away when you power it up. A super-wary fox might not come in if it can see the light. You can get relatively cheap hand-held IR monoculars these days which, although a step up from your homemade solution, still have limitations.  As far as a spotting device is concerned, are nowhere near as effective as a thermal spotter. Also, using a scope to mount it on, you're governed by the scope's minimum magnification, which can still be too high for spotting (you need lowish mag (x2 - x3) with a wide FOV for ideal spotting.

It's going to depend greatly on how you approach your night time fox shooting. If you're going to get setup in a fixed location and stay there, then more cumbersome solutions can prove suitable (though not ideal). If you're going to put the rifle on your back and walk the land then you're inevitably going to lean towards buying more dedicated and less obtrusive kit.

As a side note, there's a fundamental difference between thermal and IR. That setup is still IR. It's simply not possible to compare IR to thermal as a form of spotting. Thermal knocks IR out of the park.

Edited November 25, 2018 by racing snake

[The Heron]

Using your rifle as a spotter is not a good idea.

[Walker570]

6 hours ago, The Heron said:

Using your rifle as a spotter is not a good idea.

THAT was the other reason I was looking for an alternative. Waving a loaded rifle about is not on.  As I said ALL of my foxing these days is from high seats and high seats with plenty of room. I am even making adjustable pivotable rifle rests to go on the rail.  I do appreciate what is said about thermal , my friend has one and yes they are very good but the outlay for the amount of work I need one for is out of the question.  As said, this is the poor mans version.  I also do not like the back lit effect of a screen but I have a slide on cover which reduces this by about 50%.  Most of my fox control is around farm buildings which are lit all night, so an extra bit of light doesn't concern foxes that much.  Scent is the big enemy.

The scope I am using is 3 power and even with the small Deben IR I am seeing out to 100yrds.  If I put the 140 Lightforce with IR lens on it will go out to 200 easy.  With the spotter all I really need to see is eyes.  I can then switch the rifle on and check it out. Obviously the proof of the pudding will be in the eating.