Night Vision Gen 1 Nightvision with Extra IR Illuminator

[cwilson912]

I am looking at purchasing a Gen 1 nightvision scope. The two scopes I am looking at are both on Amazon. The first is the night owl optics nightshot which seems to be the better choice due to weight and quality and the second is the Firefield FF16001. The firefield is 100$ cheaper which would allow me to spend more on an IR illuminator. Does anyone have any experience with either of these two scopes or advice on which IR illuminators are best for mounting on a AR handgaurd. The scope will be going on my suppressed 300 blk.

 

[wigwamitus]

rather than a true gen1 tube unit, if you want to go super budget ... consider a digital NV unit like the Photon for shown price $500

https://www.opticsplanet.com/sightmark-photon-xt-4-6x42s-digital-nvriflescope.html

As to ir-illuminators, the T-20s work out to 200yds for sure.

 

[cwilson912]

I have seen the digital ones but I’m trying to stay as close to 300$ as I can. The night owl is a little more than I want to spend but if it did quite a bit better I will spend the cash.

 

[wigwamitus]

You will be 5000% happier with the Photon ... it is actually usable. It's main problem is too much magnification The street price for the Photon should be at or below $450.
The T-20s should be well under $50 with a mount.

 

[cwilson912]

I will definitely look into the photon. The night owl night shot is actually digital instead of gen 1. I didn’t catch that when I read about it initially. Do you think that no matter what brand it is I will be happier with a digital Instead of a gen 1?

 

[Strykervet]

Anything is better than gen.1, gen.2 is where it starts getting serious. I'd see if I could track down a PVS4 for a good deal, maybe save up for it if I had to. That's a solid scope that'll stand up and do the job. It'll also accept updated tubes IIRC, so you can upgrade it later if you like. They'll keep resale value fairly well too. Not familiar with the digital stuff but gen.1 has been around since WW2, the German Vampyr, and while I guess it's better than nothing, most preferred to use nothing until something better came along.

Each gen. is what, an order of magnitude greater than the previous one? So gen.1 magnifies light 100x, 2 magnifies it 1000x and 3 magnifies light 10,000x? I could be wrong with that but it's what comes to mind.

 

[redneckbmxer24]

You'd be doing yourself a serious favor buying a better optic. Gen 1 is going to be a turd regardless of how good of an illuminator you use.

For $1500 +/- you can get a gen 3 PVS-4 or you may still be able to find a Simrad KN203 if you wait for one to pop up.

 

[godofthunder]

If you are on a tight budget I think the digital NV would probably be the way to go.

 

[Rerun7]

I’d personally keep saving until you can get something better than a gen 1. You’re going to get a lot better performance for a little more budget.

There is a gen 2+ clip on in the for sale section right now for $875 and the seller is a stand up guy.

Edit to add: I have a couple friends who bought gen 1 scopes (digital) and after looking through them I wouldn’t put my money there. Very dark and low refresh rate so there was a lot of lag.

 

[wigwamitus]

Not all digital nv are created equal ... I've tried several ATN, they were all non functional ... couldn't see 25yds ...

==
The Photon is the only one Ive seen used by real hunters ... and even though they moved on from those after a while ... they do work inside 100yds with supplemental illumination. In some conditions, out to 200yds.

So Photon or bust, if you want something that has been used by hunters in the field. Otherwise, up to the budget thermals in the roughly $2k space.

 

[Rerun7]

Fair enough, pretty sure the ones I looked through were ATN