Posted on 07/28/2010 8:26:29 AM PDT by Neoliberalnot
I am contemplating buying a night-vision rifle scope for hunting wild pigs and disposing of varmints that attack my garden under cover of night.
The gist of it was you need the hard-hitting subsonic round in addition to being able to see the critters at night, or else the whole herd will quickly take a powder after the sound of the first shot. Even so, the pigs were smart enough just to recognize the sound of bullet hitting meat and scatter when that signal was registered.
Gen 1 isn’t worth the money. You definitely won’t be able to get any decent capability past 50 yards with it.
For longer ranges and positive ID on your target, I’d go with a gen III minimum. You’ll spend quite a bit to do this but it’s worth it.
Contact US Night Vision and talk to Steve Gibbons. He’s our contact for this type of technology and he knows what he is talking about.
Eat more carrots.
The best scope for the money is a used AN/PVS-5 with at least GEN II Image Intensifiers in them. The PVS-5 has a very large focal objective which collects more ambient light than smaller objectives. This permits you the highest resolution of target available. The scopes that mount to your day scope are problematic. First, the issue of alignment of two separate optics is a real ball breaker. Second, as stated the smaller focal objective collects less light, thus presents less resolution. Third, the image on the back side of the image intensifier tube is magnified by the day scope (8x, 10x) thus presenting a very grainy picture to the shooter. It would be cheaper to designate one rifle as a night shooter and dedicate the night scope to the rifle than to attempt to have one rifle do it all. BTW, rifles are a lot cheaper than quality night scopes. Just sayin. With your range requirements you could easily get by with a rifle offering 3 minutes of angle inaccuracy.
Rule #1 from the Bugs Bunny Sniper School.
Correction, I meant AN/PVS-2 Starlight Scope. PVS-5 is goggles and TVS-5 Crew Served Weapons night sight. Its been a while since I work these things.
All great comments. The thing about being a freeper is there is an expert on almost any issue. I can dedicate a rifle, but I have an Aimpoint on one .223. I am going to look seriously at the PVS-5. I have to get this purchase made before hunt in September. Thanks again.
Got it.
The coyote uses an Acme NVD..
Read my correction. Its a AN/PVS-2 Starlight Scope. Military used them from late 60s through 90s. There should be some very good ones available used. You can always buy a new I2 tube (these are the expensive things not the optical housing). Be sure to test any night scope before buying. There are test sets available. You don’t want to spend big money for a tube that is burnt out, or else you will be spending every night looking at a green light. Simple test would be to use an eye chart (100% resolution black on white) with 6” leters on the first row declining to 4 and 2 inch leters below. Place it at least 100 meter from you. You should pick a night with without moonlight and away from urban illumination and see how much of the chart you can read under pure starlight conditions. If you can’t find the chart then the tube is dead. If you can find the chart and read at least the first row, then you have a basically good tube. If you can read the second and third row, you have an exceptional tube. The PVS-2 will require a unique mount for your rifle as it was designed for the carrying handle of the M-16. There are Picatinny rail mounts for the PVS-2 and would recommend their use to mount to the rifle. Remember, your investment in this combo is 70% or better for the sight and less than 20% for the rifle.
Best value on the market IMO is the Yukon NVRS Tactical 2.5x50 Night Vision Rifle Scope, Weaver Mount. It is Gen I but has internal focus that overcomes most of Gen I image issues. The focus allows you to have a sharp image from about 5' to infinity. Long distance (100 yrds+) will require larger IR illuminator on moonless nights.
Have you thought of back lighting them with low wattage lights?
No. I’m guessing you must be living in San Francisco.
a great combination for your NVG scope would be a cheap visible laser ( you can buy an IR one if you can afford it), or you can use a Infrared Filtered flashlight to illuminate and mark your targets.
Also consider a suppressor. It will help contain the muzzle flash, help control muzzle flip, and not alarm those within earshot of your nocturnal activities.
Are you speaking literally or euphemistically?
Then there’s the little gizmo that detects body heat. I don’t think they’ve combined it with a set of cross hairs yet, but that may work better if you can find one.
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