Bryn Posted March 11, 2008 Report Share Posted March 11, 2008 Hi all Just wondering what most use when shooting rabbits at night. What are the advantages of each system? hand held or scope mounted? I know that with hand held you need two people. Also what make of lamp is the most popular? Thanks :blink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave-G Posted March 11, 2008 Report Share Posted March 11, 2008 (edited) Well as a starter for six - take the other person out of that particular task and you'll never have a light shone in your eyes to ruin your nite eyes. As to the most popular - horses for courses are very important here. Are you on foot, are you small, big or fit/unfit - or in a vehicle... with regard to size of the lamp and battery weight. Some are HUGE, get in the way of slinging your rifle - or carrying whichever other way you do. Others are really quite small and lightweight enough for a 4~5 hour vermin hunt on foot within 150 yards or so. Are you using air rifle, rimfire or Centrefire? or likely to 'upgrade in the near future. Edited March 11, 2008 by Dave-G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryn Posted March 11, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2008 Well as a starter for six - take the other person out of that particular task and you'll never have a light shone in your eyes to ruin your nite eyes. As to the most popular - horses for courses are very important here. Are you on foot, are you small, big or fit/unfit - or in a vehicle... with regard to size of the lamp and battery weight. Some are HUGE, get in the way of slinging your rifle - or carrying whichever other way you do. Others are really quite small and lightweight enough for a 4~5 hour vermin hunt on foot within 150 yards or so. Are you using air rifle, rimfire or Centrefire? or likely to 'upgrade in the near future. I would be using .22 rf , yes would be initially on foot, am quite fit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave-G Posted March 11, 2008 Report Share Posted March 11, 2008 (edited) If you are on foot best leave the big lightforce ones alone as they are way ott for rimfire ranges and get in the way every time you sling or lower your rifle, or even walk for that matter. It's also a possibly huge reflector that could give away your position easier than a smaller more discrete one. Deben (Google it) do a range of scope mounted lamps to suit most applications. The Mini and Maxi are probably the most popular, but have very wide field of lit area that is almost 180 degrees. This means stray light lights up trees and other structures as you scan, prepare for and take the shot - which easily gives your location away to quarry you are not looking or shooting towards. They also have a belt mounted gel battery with trailing leads to the lamp. The twin bullet connectors of this lead are constantly being moved and eventually become loose - just open up the male part of each bullet to make them a tight fit again. The more expensive PRO ones have a dimmer switch - well worth the extra few quid. The optimum "alone on foot for long periods at rabbit and rimfire ranges" is in my opinion the Deben Atom Tactical. Untill about a year ago I would have said this was strictly for air rifle range. They have now got a higher capacity butt mounted NimH pack (no trailing wires) that is suitable for 150 yards or so if you know your patch. They are also supplied with an extension lead that can be cut in half to provide a lead for a larger capacity battery. I use a 2500mah 13.2v pack which lasts up to five hours or so walkabout if I'm conservative with it. This unit's bulb is focused to a narrow four degrees and it also has a tunnel to minimise lighting up each side of the field between you and the rabbits. Look in my past threads for video clips taken through a Digital Ranger to see how tight the light beam is. Fleabag and I also made other clips using it - look for more from bolluxthen0 while on utube Click here Before anyone jumps up and down in shock and horror - the key point here is the 12v battery pack should be considered a storing place for the electricity you have available for use, but you don't use much of it if you are sensible with the dimmer. Cut to about half way through this thread - or read the whole thing if you have a cup of tea made. :blink: Click here Edited March 11, 2008 by Dave-G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lock&load Posted March 11, 2008 Report Share Posted March 11, 2008 (edited) Hi allJust wondering what most use when shooting rabbits at night. What are the advantages of each system? hand held or scope mounted? I know that with hand held you need two people. Also what make of lamp is the most popular? Thanks :blink: lightforce 140 lance scope mounted variouse filters available and you can always take it off and let someone use it as hand held,you cant do that with a hand held can you ? :blink: try the link below (decoying .co.uk) lamping equipment Edited March 11, 2008 by lock&load Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pavman Posted March 11, 2008 Report Share Posted March 11, 2008 I use scope mounted lightforce 170 with belt style batt pack, the white light is fantastic, on red filter i have problems picking out the taget if on foot but not so much when truck mounted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve b Posted March 11, 2008 Report Share Posted March 11, 2008 go for a cluson gun mounted lamp and it comes with a handle for hand held use, problem solved Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caspertguk Posted March 11, 2008 Report Share Posted March 11, 2008 I use lightforce 170 on shotgun or rifle, Nice bit of kit, dont find it too bright even for shotgun range if you twist it away from spotlight to a softer light. With a rifle i don't know of anything better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryn Posted March 12, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 12, 2008 Thanks for the info :blink: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnGalway Posted March 12, 2008 Report Share Posted March 12, 2008 Lightforce 140 Lance with a dimmer switch. Get the scope mounted model, they can be used as hand helds with absolutely no problems, but try mounting a handheld on your scope :blink: If you find it's too bright for you then you can downgrade the 75W bulb to 50W or even 30W (Target Sports in Bolton sell them via mail order). Solely for a .22lr then the 170 Striker is too much lamp for your gun, in my opinion. However, if you have or if you intend to upgrade to a centrefire rifle for foxing then it may be worth considering one for the future (saves buying two lamps... Or three like me.). I've also tried the red filter and I couldn't get on with it. I have an amber filter at the moment but have not gone out with it yet due to work. That's my two cents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldrick Posted March 12, 2008 Report Share Posted March 12, 2008 I find that the red filter on my Lightforce 170 doesn't freak the rabbits out (when I am in the 4x4) - they faff about, instead of zooming off immediately when I shine the unfiltered lamp on them. Whether it's the red colour itself that helps, or the muted intensity, I don't know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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