Night Vision PVS-14 vs dedicated clip on devices

[LCatGA]

I have my PVS-14 with great quality L3 tube. I also have ITT F7201A Day / Night Vision Scope but it's permanently mounted on 1 gun
I can clip on my PVS-14 in front to scopes on other rifles or save some money and buy a clip on.
What would be advantages of dedicated device?

 

[Killswitch Engage]

In front with a 14 is not a great plan. It's uncollimated and going to result in impact shift. You would be far better off behind the day optic but I doubt you're goin to gain much over your dedicated optic you already have. A clip on is a no brainer if you have the funds for it.

 

[LCatGA]

I understand what it's not going to be as good as my dedicated Day/Night scope but goal is to Night enable as much of my other firearms as I can.

How do you mount PVS-14 behind riflescopes???
What are the good clip-ons?

 

[CoryT]

Mounting in front is a non-starter, the impact shift is large in most cases. Also note that the PVS-14 is not designed to take recoil, it is rated for 5.56 or less. You can use a Monoloc to attach it to a day scope ocular, but you then need to deal with the eye relief. A clip on system like the CNVD or UNS models can take recoil up to .50 BMG, works on any day scope with no changes to zero or eye relief and will provide excellent image quality out to 1000 meters, depending on the model and your day scope.

 

[the impactzone]

High Tech Redneck makes a a couple of good mounts that are fast to mount in low light best for scopes under 8x

 

[SkyPup]

Use PVS-14 on helmet with an IR laser for situational awareness and short range shooting and keep a dedicated NV scope on the rifle for longer night hunting situations. A clip on NV is going to be more expensive than a dedicated NV scope.

 

[CTM1]

You have a F7201A Day / Night Vision Scope and if happy you could buy another F7210A "without" the NV module from Aurora Tactical or from the Seiler who is the OEM for around $900.

If you want to go PVS-14 coupled to the eye piece of a traditional day scope look into the mono-loc which retails for around $480. You can search and find them cheaper. Works great.

 

[Surgeon_Shooter]

Put that bad boy behind a quality day scope and get after it. I did it for years! But, I suggest using it on a very low recoil rifle. I used mine on a very low recoil .308 suppressed.

 

[LCatGA]

F7201A is decent dual purpose scope but I would not buy another body to use as a day scope
Everything has a bit of the yellowish tint and glass is not on the pair with scopes you can buy used for $900 such as a Bushnell 3.5-21 DMR. Plus I already have quite a few rifles/scopes to mount it on. I did not liked prices on clip-ons I have seen

Need to find something decent in $4-5K budget

 

[gaphighpower]

If you want to go that PVS-14 coupled to the eye piece of a traditional day scope look into the mono-loc which retails for around $480. You can search and find them cheaper. Works great.

+1 on the MONO-LOC

Pricey, but rock solid.

 

[Strykervet]

PVS14 is a head mount device. I have a Larue QD mount on mine that fits their QD riser for EOTech sights on an M4 and that works pretty well, but I almost never use it. What I use instead are IR laser/illuminators on a few rifles. For an M4 firing 5.56, it's good out to ~300m easy (or however you zero your rifle such that your trajectory intersects the line of sight twice). This is using .7mW lasers.

As for the EOTech, it works fairly well that way, but it's limited. You can only see in the dark when aiming. Or you can go back and forth if you choose. I just think it has a very limited use. I've never seen the mono-loc, but a guy on here used two hose clamps and a piece of radiator tube it looked like, and he was shooting (under 600m I think) using a 5.56 bolt gun with a 14 attached to a Vortex scope, and he was hitting his targets. But as was mentioned above, it's not made for it and it's not as accurate due to optics (?).

I imagine you have to zero the day scope to the 14 when you attach it. I'm guessing this based on my experience as an SDM instructor. We taught to use the lasers and head mounted 14's to 300m (most PEQ2A's were locked, and some guys still had PAC4C's --that's why I know .7mW will work out to there). But I farted around trying to get the 14 behind the ACOG (while head mounted still) and though you could see your target, aimed well, getting consistent hits was extremely difficult. I never bothered mounting the 14 behind the ACOG because then you'd of course have to move it back and re-zero it for day use.

For a rifle, for serious shooting at night using a day scope that you also use during the day, you can't beat a front mounted clip on. Provided all your scopes are mounted at 1.5" from top of rail to center of optic, and you have enough rail in front of the scope and both scope and NV device are on the same plane, it'll work on any of those within a given magnification range depending on the device used (some are good up to 12x or so). The housings are also built to withstand more abuse and recoil vs. the 14.

I'd DEFINITELY save up for the clip on. It's what I'm going to do in fact. It's worth it in the long run.

As for putting a 14 on a .308... You may get away with it for a while, or you may just get away with it period. Without an accelerometer to mount to the rifle though, you have no idea of the rearward acceleration of the NV device under recoil, and that's more important than the actual felt recoil of the rifle itself.

 

[CTM1]

I imagine you have to zero the day scope to the 14 when you attach it. I'm guessing this based on my experience as an SDM instructor.

No need to re-zero the day scope when you add a PVS-14 behind it. If your day scope is already zeroed just add the PVS and shoot.

 

[RobertB]

The PVS 14 can be used with the same zero and dope. LOP needs to be extended because of eye relief DUH! LOL and you probably wouldn't want a hard kicking gun on it as they say the tube is mounted to the body and nothing is there to dampen recoil. I shot a friends rifle with that setup and it can work pretty well. Its nothing like a clip on but goes to show how versatile a PVS 14 can be, Long rifle, head mounted, hand held, AR mounted, spotting scope mounted. Its the jack of all trades but master of none in the NV world. I don't want to live life withouta 14!!! Good luck

 

[Delta4-3]

Its the jack of all trades but master of none in the NV world. I don't want to live life without a pair of 14's!!! Good luck

Fixed it for you!

 

[Ident]

Clip-ons and PVS-14 are both great devices and both have drawbacks. If you filter it all out it comes down to money. The reason a PVS-14 is by far the most popular device is because of its flexibility. It ca do double duty as a head mount or works in conjunction with a NV compatible weapon sight (or rear mounted behind a day scope). A clip-on does the one thing a 14 will not do- its forward mounted in front of daytime optics and is collimated to maintain the daytime sight zero. You can remove it and use it as a handheld mono but because its designed to be used on a weapon with magnified optics the image is quite small- usually leaving the user wishing for another device to navigate or spot with.

If money (its always the money, isn't it?) isn't a factor you would buy both or possible a thermal imager as another hand held device or as a weapon sight. Since you racked up $15-$20k or a lot more at this point its not doable of most first time buyers. The 14 is the most flexible (and cost effective) out of the units so thats why it usually wins out. If a customer uses their PVS-14 often we usually see them come back sooner or later for another NV or thermal device.

Regards

Jason
Ident Marking

 

[Surgeon_Shooter]

Clip-ons and PVS-14 are both great devices and both have drawbacks. If you filter it all out it comes down to money. The reason a PVS-14 is by far the most popular device is because of its flexibility. It ca do double duty as a head mount or works in conjunction with a NV compatible weapon sight (or rear mounted behind a day scope). A clip-on does the one thing a 14 will not do- its forward mounted in front of daytime optics and is collimated to maintain the daytime sight zero. You can remove it and use it as a handheld mono but because its designed to be used on a weapon with magnified optics the image is quite small- usually leaving the user wishing for another device to navigate or spot with.

If money (its always the money, isn't it?) isn't a factor you would buy both or possible a thermal imager as another hand held device or as a weapon sight. Since you racked up $15-$20k or a lot more at this point its not doable of most first time buyers. The 14 is the most flexible (and cost effective) out of the units so thats why it usually wins out. If a customer uses their PVS-14 often we usually see them come back sooner or later for another NV or thermal device.

Regards

Jason
Ident Marking

That could not have been said better

 

[AEROMechanic]

Clip-ons and PVS-14 are both great devices and both have drawbacks. If you filter it all out it comes down to money. The reason a PVS-14 is by far the most popular device is because of its flexibility. It ca do double duty as a head mount or works in conjunction with a NV compatible weapon sight (or rear mounted behind a day scope). A clip-on does the one thing a 14 will not do- its forward mounted in front of daytime optics and is collimated to maintain the daytime sight zero. You can remove it and use it as a handheld mono but because its designed to be used on a weapon with magnified optics the image is quite small- usually leaving the user wishing for another device to navigate or spot with.

If money (its always the money, isn't it?) isn't a factor you would buy both or possible a thermal imager as another hand held device or as a weapon sight. Since you racked up $15-$20k or a lot more at this point its not doable of most first time buyers. The 14 is the most flexible (and cost effective) out of the units so thats why it usually wins out. If a customer uses their PVS-14 often we usually see them come back sooner or later for another NV or thermal device.

Regards

Jason
Ident Marking

Jason,

What would be the next step up from the PVS-14 in the NV department, and what would be the cost difference?

I see the PVS-14 for roughly $3450ea.

 

[Afalex1]

The Ident Marking/ICT labs recoil hardened pvs-14 or pvs-14 RC would be the next step up and still be versatile. It can handle the recoil of a 338 lapua!

From there my opinion would be a helmet mounted 14 and a designated NV scope, such as, a SPRS-4 with an ICT Labs tube. Then add in a L3 Thermal X320.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I847 using Tapatalk 2

 

[TexasGunTrustLawyer]

I have to agree with Jason and surgeon shooter. I'm not a fan of the 14 behind the optic. I would have sworn it isn't earth it, but surgeon shooter brought his rig to the range and we had what turned out to be educating for me.

The clip on is the preferred method for me.

On an interesting note, I was present when we tried a PVS 14 with 3x Behind an eotech and it worked fine at 100 yards. That was many years ago and I want to try it again and look for data points that I didn't know to look for back then.

 

[shooter6.5]

TGTL.

Several days ago I used a 14 behind an eotech and killed several pigs. Works great. I also have the 3x magnifier but generally do not use it as it really limits your FOV IMHO.

What I like better is my PVS-24 in front of the eotech. I can use the day reticle which is better for my old eyes. No need for the NV reticle. I also mount it in front of my ACOG. The clip on is the way to go.

 

[Loggers Inn]

Put that bad boy behind a quality day scope and get after it. I did it for years! But, I suggest using it on a very low recoil rifle. I used mine on a very low recoil .308 suppressed.

Not bad for a beginner set up, use a 4x or lower power for best tesults