This is my opinion, so it's worth what you paid for it, if you decide to get night vision, as in monoculars, binoculars, or a scope, get 3rd generation with IR. You will be happy with nothing less, even with them, you will need at least a quarter moon to see clearly. Even then it will be a little grainy. Now if you want to "see" in the dark get a hand held thermal unit you can point. They are 10 times as good as night vision, total darkness they are great. I see you are in Tennessee, so you have pigs. My advise is to get a thermal scope and put it on a dedicated rifle. Did I mention they are great. I have both, and I had to learn the hard way. I bought the Flir R series Thermal.
You get what you pay for with NV and thermal. There is no Ruger American equivalent in the NV world. That said, I'm a fan of Pulsar products, especially their thermals. YMMV
They say everything happens for a reason. For me that reason is usually because I've made some bad decisions that I need to pay for.
You get what you pay for with NV and thermal. There is no Ruger American equivalent in the NV world. That said, I'm a fan of Pulsar products, especially their thermals. YMMV
Pulsar makes some nice stuff!
I enjoy handguns and I really like shotguns,...but I love rifles!
You get what you pay for with NV and thermal. There is no Ruger American equivalent in the NV world. That said, I'm a fan of Pulsar products, especially their thermals. YMMV
Agree. Pulsar makes very good NV which I prefer to Thermal
I would also like to know about the ATN and the SightMark Photon products. Anybody?
I know nothing about ATN beyond their reputation in regards to warranties, which isn't good. I had a Photon 4.6 for a couple years. It's an "ok" digital night vision which will require you to use IR. That works great if you sit in the middle of a winter wheat field to call, but any vegetation, or rain/fog/snow is going to blind you with the IR reflection in the scope. I kept mine as a backup for a couple years after getting my thermal, but finally sold it this year. I'm going to end up with either another thermal or a gen2+ or gen 3 NV scope. I REALLY love thermal though.
They say everything happens for a reason. For me that reason is usually because I've made some bad decisions that I need to pay for.
I'm sure someone has. The use of a PVS14 monocular with an ir laser sight on the gun in pretty common. It's supposed to be OK for shorter ranges. I have both the helmet mounted PVS14 and IR laser, but don't know if I can get used to aiming/shooting that way.
That's a tough question DF. Most of us don't have the scratch to compare models first hand, and it really depends on what you want to do/how far you need to shoot. I've been a fan of Pulsar for a while but they are having some major issues with their new Trail line. That said I would not be afraid to grab another APEX. I've also been looking at the new FLIR PTS223 as a budget backup. I'd stay away from ATN based solely on CS reputation.
They say everything happens for a reason. For me that reason is usually because I've made some bad decisions that I need to pay for.
That's a tough question DF. Most of us don't have the scratch to compare models first hand, and it really depends on what you want to do/how far you need to shoot. I've been a fan of Pulsar for a while but they are having some major issues with their new Trail line. That said I would not be afraid to grab another APEX. I've also been looking at the new FLIR PTS223 as a budget backup. I'd stay away from ATN based solely on CS reputation.
They say everything happens for a reason. For me that reason is usually because I've made some bad decisions that I need to pay for.