Night Vision? Sure - I'll have some please...

From my limited experience, there are two main types of night vision - illuminated by infra-red (IR) light and thermal.  And both have their pros and cons.

Thermal is more expensive but it can see through environmental conditions like fog, smoke, rain, haze, etc.  It also has a much greater "reach" being able to identify differences in heat out beyond 400 yards (367 metres).  However, the picture or resolution is not as sharp as IR.  For example, a calf at 400 yards, while visible as an animal, may appear to be a large boar.  Being certain of your target is critical with thermal scopes.

IR scopes, on the other hand, are just the opposite of what is stated above - less expensive, limited in range, cannot see well when the environment turns to crap, and has a clear, sharp picture.

Strictly for the cost element, I dove into the IR night vision world.  And I was able to get a scope, IR laser range finder, IR illuminator (flashlight) and quick detach rings for HALF the price of just the thermal scope.  It all works together via bluetooth technology.

I went with the ATN X-Sight 4K Pro 3-14X.  You can check it out here:

https://www.atncorp.com/x-sight4k-pro-day-night-rifle-scope-3-14x


Interestingly, it is a digital scope.  There is a teeny tiny screen inside that displays whatever the scope is looking at - day or night.  And yes, it is quite beefy.  With everything on the gun plus a suppressor, this set-up is going to need bipods or shooting sticks.  

Once charged (via the supplied USB cable), I went through the set-up.  Set-up was lengthy, like 90 mins, but it also helped me get familiar with all the settings.  The manual is quite helpful - and I dare say one of the best manuals I have ever read.  Concise, easy to follow, and lots of pictures for us dummies.  Run-time is estimated at 18 hours prior to recharge.  That's a looong night of hunting.



You get to pick the color of the reticle, and you can see the wealth of information that it puts on the screen for you AND it will record videos & take still photos as you desire.  I set mine up to capture video based on the shot taken.  Once I fire, 15 seconds before & after the shot are saved to the SD card in the scope and visible immediately via iPhone or internal scope playback.  

I still need a nice day to ensure my laser and light are aligned and then of course, I need to sight it in.  This thing has a one shot sight in.  You fire and then move the reticle to where you hit.  Done.  Sighted in.  

Here's the best 80-second video I've seen on the scope and its abilities.  Time will tell if I get that lucky or good!  But hey, I'm willing to try.  And before someone asks, I mounted this system on my Ruger Precision Rifle in .243 caliber.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTNHf-vpHZQ


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