Gen 1 NV or Digital Night Vision

[uthornsfan]

I am looking at getting a Gen 1 NV scope or possibly a Digital Night vision with a long range IR illuminator.

Has anyone used anything like this and have any thoughts or advice? I am not wanting to break the bank, I don't do a lot of night time hog hunting but that's what this will be for. It will be short range, MAX 150 yards, on a Ruger SR-762. I am not that worried about utilizing it during the day time as I have other guns that I can use during day time hours.

I have been looking at the Sightmark Photon, Firefield NVRS, Armasight Spark.

[Beiruty]

budget?

[Bitter Clinger]

Beiruty is spot-on. Likely the decision will be budget driven.

For an interesting comparison with images, see:
http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_6_18/32995 ... Guide.html

[uthornsfan]

Beiruty is spot on.

My budget is budget :)

The 3 that I listed are all under $500. I am not expecting miracles and have read decent things about each of them. I would primarily be hunting hogs from a blind / feeder setup with less than 100 yard shot nearly all of the time.

[GeekwithaGun]

I've been looking at options for a mounted scope with NV, ATN has a budget friendly digital HD scope with IR NV. Found a review from last year on on at The Truth About Guns, links provided.

https://www.atncorp.com/smart-hd-weapon-sight

http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2015/0 ... ght-optic/

MSRP for 5-20x is $699, 3-14x $599 and the external IR is $149 (see product page)

The write up was done over a year ago and it looks like a lot of firmware updates between now and then. Considering the cost of a 5-20x high end scope is twice the price, this seems like an option to me.

[der Teufel]

The Photon digital NV scope should be a contender. I think they run around $500-600, and are generally considered to be better than a Gen 1 NV scope.
There's some discussion here concerning an older model:
http://texashuntingforum.com/forum/ubbt ... _XT_4.6x42

I have one of the first models made, and for occasional use it's hard to beat for the price. However, you should be aware that, if you hunt hogs, ANY night vision equipment is merely a gateway drug to eventually buying a Thermal NV Weapon Sight …

[bblhd672]

Informative article I read this past week at Shooting Illustrated:
https://www.shootingillustrated.com/art ... paign=1216

[uthornsfan]

I absolutely want thermal. However I dont have a spare $3k+ laying around.

I bought a Firefield nvrs to give it a go. I liked the idea of a gen 1 nv that doesnt require batteries to operate. Doesnt fit on my sr-762 as I cant get a good eye placement or use my charging handle because it needs to be pretty far back.

Bought a picatinny extension so we will see how that goes.