Night Vision NVRS Eye Relief, or lack thereof

[FortyFive2Life]

Hello all,

I've browsed the forums here for a while, but only created an account today. I've learned more about Night Vision systems here in the last few hours than I knew in the months prior to purchasing a NV scope. This is a very knowledgeable group, so let me ask a question if I might and I appreciate any help.

My background is purely civilian; no military or LEO experience. I had been looking into a NV scope to mount on my RRA .308, and without much of a pocketbook decided on one of the budget models that came highly rated, at least among the budget crowd

After receiving the scope I mounted it on my rifle using the supplied rail mount, but found it was extremely uncomfortable to look through the eye piece. Holding it in my hands the night before I could see through the scope clearly and was pretty happy with the sight picture, but mounted on the rifle was completely different. No matter where I positioned it on the rail, it did not line up with my line of sight at all. It seemed that if the entire scope was shifted about 1/4" to the left, it would be about perfect. As it was I had to practically lay my cheek on top of the stock to look through this scope properly.

So my question is this a common issue with these types of scopes where you must place your eye all the way up to the rubber cup? If I backed off the scope a bit and used my regular line of sight I could see through the scope, but it reduced my field of view significantly, enough that I wasn't satisfied.

To make sure it wasn't an issue with how close I could get to the scope on that particular rifle (fixed A2 stock), I moved the NV scope to my AR15 with collapsible stock and found no matter where I positioned my stock I had the same issue.

Now I was looking for a solution to this problem, and while browsing the forums here I've already been convinced to just return this unit, save my pennies, and make a real investment in a solid piece of equipment.

However, I am worried that the unit I replace it with will give me the same issues, since they are basically built the same. So what's the deal? Is it just standard that you can't view a NV scope the same as a regular rifle scope that has some eye relief and I just need to suck it up, or am I missing something here?

I am now looking at either the D-740 4X Gen2 HP or the M845 Mk.4 2.5X Gen2 from TNVC. The second is much closer to my budget at this time.

Any wisdom you guys could impart would be much appreciated.

-FF2L

 

[Victor-TNVC]

Re: NVRS Eye Relief, or lack thereof

First off welcome to the Hide!

Not sure what scope you have or if it's a shutter type eye guard which can be tricky if this is the case. We tell folks to trim those shark teeth out that will help.

Either way, you can PM us on your scope brand if you wish so I can gather a bit more info on what the issue is with the mount itself or the scope.

Some dedicated NV rifle scopes can be tricky for cheek welds and eye alignments due to the their heights especially with large objective systems such as the Raptor 6x, etc. along with how the mount may be cantilevered in some cases. BUT, they are all shootable of course.

I have seem some of the cheaper variants cantilevered way too far forward no matter far how back to the rear they are mounted on ones rail you just could not get into a workable shooting position. Getting in a good shooting position with these type of units can be almost impossible and awkward to say the least.

All in all, dedicated NV rifle scopes are not usually positioned the same as an ordinary day optic due to the above considerations, but with that said you can get into a workable position with proper eye relief and good FOV's with decent scopes on the market. Smaller 4x and the M845 obviously sit closer to the bore which allow for a better cheek weld and shooting position.

Stocks also play an important role and their adjustability. One of the best AR-type stocks and one I personally shoot-tested early on was the Magpul PRS. They really nailed it back then with the first adjustable AR type stock that was produced. Most folks back in the day were scratching their head on why a AR needed an adjustable cheek piece? Well for NV folks, this was a dream come true back then and still is for many large objective platforms.

Thank you for the consideration with our scopes. But do PM me if need be and not sure if you need to return you scope you have or if it's just a mount that can be replaced to get you better aligned or a design issue itself which could leave you no options. Rather you save your money if the scope you have can be rectified and your happy with the resolution already.

 

[FortyFive2Life]

Re: NVRS Eye Relief, or lack thereof

Just wanted to say a public thank you to Victor at TNVC for all the valuable help he gave me regarding my issue, without a sales pitch.

I appreciate those who are willing to share their knowledge without an expectation of return, but I'll absolutely be doing business with TNVC in the future. Thanks Victor!

FF2L

 

[Victor-TNVC]

Re: NVRS Eye Relief, or lack thereof

Thanks for the kind words, glad I could assist.

Vic