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
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
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.
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.
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.