Night Vision My updated Wilcox RAPTAR ES review

[TheGerman]

My initial review of the 'regular' ES that most of you have seen, can be referenced here: https://www.snipershide.com/shooting/threads/my-wilcox-raptar-es-review.6951201/

Going off of the first review of a commercially available RAPTAR ES with the Class 1 laser, this updated review is for an unlocked RAPTAR ES. However, even though I am referencing a different unit, the actual units and models are identical outside of a full power versus civi power laser/diode. Everything works the same way and uses the same cables, batteries, inputs, etc.

The reason I am supplementing the review is, incase you missed it, the RAPTAR was completely marginalized as anything other than a weaponmounted rangefinder due to the really poor output of the IR laser and the complete dogshit tier output of the illuminator. Having the opportunity to have remedied this, I figured this was basically the same unit as reviewed, but completely different.



Let's go over some of my gripes I initially had and see whats changed:

- Both the IR laser as well as the illuminator now work as they should. It's basically now a PEQ15 with a rangefinder screen on the back of it. This was obviously the biggest problem as I still to this day cannot fathom as to who actually thought a rangefinder capable of being weaponmounted with ranging capabilities over 1500m+ having an IR laser that went MAYBE a few hundred yards and an illuminator (probably the most important thing when shooting at range in the dark) that literally took a shit on itself after 15-20 yards, was totally fine.

The more I thought about this level of idiocy, I could only think that the guys at Wilcox sat around and discussed how there weren't many .mil sales on this unit (even the 'eye safe' version was sold to the .mil at some point for some random reason) and just decided to put diodes into the units that make $3 (free shipping!) IR lasers from wish.com look high quality and sell them to people for $4k+ looked something like this:

I want to note as I'm not editing the initial review, but I made a typo/mistake on the range the civi power IR laser on 'high' can be seen as I initially had said 800 yards; not sure what I was drinking, but its 400y at an absolute maximum on 'high' and a complete joke on 'low'. However, the 'low' setting on the unlocked version will actually get you to 600-800ish if there isn't alot of ambient light, and the 'high' setting will go as far as you want it to, but does have a bit of a bloom issue as all PEQ15s do.

- Form factor is exactly the same. Nothing has changed and it still suffers from its size if you plan to mount it using a quad pic rail as it vastly limits where it can actually fit. I went over my problems with this on a Mk12 and basic bipod in the initial review.

- Menu layout is still retard level dyslexic scrabble. You still have a better chance of spelling out LaFaunda while scrolling through the menu to mess with the backlight brightness than getting anything to actually make any sense as to what means what.

- It's still a battery vampire, primarily when its 'on' but not in use. Not sure what can cause this as its not like a GPS unit where its constantly pinging the satellite. It's just sitting there with the laser selected, but not emitting anything at all, and it'll drink the battery. We actually tested this to where we put new batteries in, turned it on, ranged a few things, checked the battery level and left the 'laser high' setting on and left the rifle alone for an hour. Came back and the battery had dropped 7%.

- This unit had either a generational upgrade as far as the mount, or I got lucky and ended up with a QD mount for it. The unlocked version had a STANAG mount that was basically a plate you installed over the pic rail, then mounted the pic rail cutouts on the unit body to and then mounted it all together via a goofy thumscrew. It was a mount on a mount on a mount that was A. retarded and B. a total pain in the ass to take off/put on. This was fixed with a QD pic mount section that attached on the bottom of the unit and then simply adjusted to the rail width via a set screw and clamped down/locked just like any of the QD KAC, LaRue, ARMS, ADM, etc mounts do. Now instead of performing surgery and needing both your multitool/screwdriver as well as a allen head key to get the mount off, you can simply step into sometime in the last 10 years and remove it with your finger.

From my testing, the QD mount has not moved/lost zero. It also doesn't go right back to zero either when removed/replaced, but honestly, you shouldn't trust any QD mount to do that anyways.

- The cable is still a giant weak point as its proprietary from Wilcox. I can only image what a total disaster it would be having to deal with Wilcox on getting a new cable let alone what that would cost. The cable suffers from a bit of over-engineering as it uses a sort of dual input setup, where whatever setting you have selected will 'fire' as well as a 2nd slaved input to always activate the LRF, regardless of the setting. I'm sure this dual input system could have been adapted to use the dual Insight pressure pad from literally 15 years ago, but wasn't, because Wilcox.

- Another nice 'upgraded' feature I noticed was on the illuminator focus dial. On the original it was smooth and you could simply rotate it freely. I'm sure that didn't help under recoil, but I never gave a shit about the illuminator so it really didn't matter. However, now that the illuminator isn't total dogshit, it matters. It was nice to see that the rotation on the adjustment now has a small bit of feedback on it to where every so often, it will have a small bit of force to overcome to turn it. Kind of like how there is feedback when turning your turret, but a bit lighter yet still tacticle.

- This version also came with a nice multicam pouch. Not really a giant thing, but if you plan to dismount the RAPTAR and store it, this is something nice to have as well as a place to store the unit, spare batteries (youll need these!) and the cable together.

- Overall price is still absurd for what it is. Street price is better but still kind of 'meh' that is made more tolerable if its fullpower. I would never again pay 3k+ for a weapon mounted range finder that had absolute shit tier IR output, let alone pay several more thousand for an onboard ballistics suite where you realistically will only use the elevation adjustment from (and doesn't even take shot angle into account) and have a $10 glow in the dark arm board and grease marker run rings around at night.



Other than that, just like the last unit, it just works as far as the LRF. Now with the added 'benefit' of actually being able to use the IR laser/illuminator as you would with a legit PEQ15, this really opens up the capabilities when shooting distance at night as you can now range a target without coming off the gun in the dark, designate a target or location to your element via IR, illuminate something for PID/retinal reflection on animals at night as well as just to see if what you think you see is actually there, or just a shadow, or 5 guys instead of 1.

Complaints about lack of features (cosine, better menu, better cable, etc) are now mostly overshadowed by the full power IR levels as this was absolutely the missing link that made the 'regular' unit just leave me wondering WTF I had just paid for.

 

[TheHorta]

The brand new full power Raptar S, in addition to having a 100mW laser instead of a 50mW (minor visual difference until you get out past 500m) has some nice software tweaks and finally takes full advantage of the Kestrel 5700 BT LINK (for ELR shooters and real snipers, not so much for hunters and bumping around in the night) as well as a few other cool things. The menu is better on the S too, instead of having that ridiculous green LED display on the non-S or S/ES units. I think they’ve made a few welcome software improvements on the latest iterations, especially as it relates to TracIR and Kestrel interface. Also, the GB units were circa 2016 production, and I think the atrocious LED screen on the non-S models suck a lot more juice. The OLED screen on the S models seems to have noticeably greater battery life.

My 09/2020 unit:

My 11/2016 unit:

One of my unlocked GB ES units:

That said, it’s still a brown mother of a brick, has a terrible mounting system unless you get the Mt. Palomar Observatory mounting system that sits atop your scope.

Their cables are notoriously full of suck, which is why they ship two with every S unit. But... when you get a TracIR-enabled NOD from BAE/Trijicon or PoT is when the fun really begins.

All in all, it’s still a device filled with compromises and poor design choices, and one that commands a premium more due to lack of viable options than being worth the money they charge. We all know Wilcox is working on a replacement as are a few others, so I’m hopeful another MFG will deliver the goods. But full power IR definitely covers a multitude of sins.

Like you said in a previous post, whatever Wilcox comes out with next will likely follow their established pattern of delivering great stuff with a few major WTF’s thrown in for good measure.

 

[Choid]

Newer s/es have the same better display, I believe.

 

[TheHorta]

Newer s/es have the same better display, I believe.

Yeah, all AB models have the nicer display.

 

[deersniper]

Did you have zero loss issues with the original single screw direct mount ?

Also. Link to glow in the dark arm board?

And your sure the ballistics doesn’t take angle into account ?

 

[TheHorta]

Did you have zero loss issues with the original single screw direct mount ?

Also. Link to glow in the dark arm board?

And your sure the ballistics doesn’t take angle into account ?

Only the S and S/ES models have AB which includes inclinometer.

 

[jwramp]

@deersniper
https://www.snipershide.com/shooting/threads/glow-in-the-dark-dope-cards.6918082/

 

[TheGerman]

@deersniper
https://www.snipershide.com/shooting/threads/glow-in-the-dark-dope-cards.6918082/

Same idea.

Mine is some kind of hardened plastic sheet of glow in the dark material that has some give to it, that I cut down to be the exact size to fit into an oldschool Sunrise Tactical arm board. You just have to remember to 'charge' it in the light beforehand or you're in for a disappointment.

If I remember where I found it I'll link it. I remember it seemed to be a pain in the ass to find for some reason.

You can then write on it with either a grease marker or a map marker/eraser and close the flap of the arm board incase youre worried about the glow it gives off.

With it inside the arm board and behind a sheet of plastic, its been rained on and has had zero smudging. It's also out of the way on my left forearm where when prone/kneeling its still in a natural position and I dont need to take my head off the gun, which at night, is extremely important.

Also pulls double duty if you dont have a weapon LRF but your spotter has one either slaved on a spotting scope, or has a NV capable LRF. That way once you are both walked in on the target, PID, he can range it while you both work the wind call. He gives you the range, you reference the armboard. Verify target hasn't moved; shoot.

This goes even faster if you're able to bypass the large spotting scope at night and instead put an Ashbury PVS mount on a PLRF15c and modify it with a rail to take a PEQ15. It turns it into a slightly magnified, handheld, night vision LRF with an onboard capability of illumination and designating a target via IR. Plus absolutely zero setup/break down time for equipment.

I'm going to need to put up a paypal tip link, giving all you fobbits these tips

 

[cschastain2]

Thank y’all...That was a great info read

 

[stefan73]

Same idea.

Mine is some kind of hardened plastic sheet of glow in the dark material that has some give to it, that I cut down to be the exact size to fit into an oldschool Sunrise Tactical arm board. You just have to remember to 'charge' it in the light beforehand or you're in for a disappointment.

If I remember where I found it I'll link it. I remember it seemed to be a pain in the ass to find for some reason.

You can then write on it with either a grease marker or a map marker/eraser and close the flap of the arm board incase youre worried about the glow it gives off.

With it inside the arm board and behind a sheet of plastic, its been rained on and has had zero smudging. It's also out of the way on my left forearm where when prone/kneeling its still in a natural position and I dont need to take my head off the gun, which at night, is extremely important.

Also pulls double duty if you dont have a weapon LRF but your spotter has one either slaved on a spotting scope, or has a NV capable LRF. That way once you are both walked in on the target, PID, he can range it while you both work the wind call. He gives you the range, you reference the armboard. Verify target hasn't moved; shoot.

This goes even faster if you're able to bypass the large spotting scope at night and instead put an Ashbury PVS mount on a PLRF15c and modify it with a rail to take a PEQ15. It turns it into a slightly magnified, handheld, night vision LRF with an onboard capability of illumination and designating a target via IR. Plus absolutely zero setup/break down time for equipment.

I'm going to need to put up a paypal tip link, giving all you fobbits these tips

You can get the more flexible glow in the dark sheets that we used to cut out our cat eyes with. Use a permanent marker for your range dope. You don't need it getting smudged with either brush, clothing rubbing on it or sweat washing it off. We normally just used red lens flashlights or dorked with our nods and the illuminator till we could read what was on our write in the rain notepad. Oh the good old days.