Night Vision Scope for Hog Hunting

hey guys I've been trying to look for a night-vision scope for my 270. for hog hunting. I'm trying to look for one at a low price but with good quality. Anyone have any suggestions?

You get what you pay for. I prefer to use my ears and the combination of a kill light and xlr250

There have been several discussions of NV here. Low price and high quality are both very relative terms. Generally speaking, I would say that the best bang for the buck would be the Pulsar N550 if you want to save money, and based on reviews here, the N750 if you want to spend a little more.

I would second this... If you don't want to spend that much, you can revert to something like the XLR 250.

Unfortunately, nothing inexpensive is really worth buying. The best of the Gen 1 stuff will be adequate at short range if you buy good IR illumination, but you probably won't really like it. The next step up is the Pulsar N550, which has made a lot of people reasonably happy. I know of several people who have broken theirs, but the factory has been very good about warranty support, so that's one less worry. The N750 has been getting good reviews, but for that money, you can also get a Gen2 M845, which is a quality unit, so you have a decision to make. That's about $1800+, so you can see that the $$$ keep adding up.

Or, you can go used, which is something of a crap shoot. There is a lot of damaged NV gear on the market, and if yours breaks, then you own both pieces.

I took my chances and bought a used Gen 2+ unit that was being decommissioned by an upgrading SWAT team. I've no idea how much tube life is left, but I don't night hunt every day, so it will probably last me the next several years. I bought a quality unit and didn't pay a lot, as the device was older. Like I said, however, if it breaks, then I own both pieces. How lucky do you feel? How much $$ are you willing to risk?

Just got an email from Pulsar on price drop for the n750s. Not sure if it's temporary or permanent. My price on an n750 is now $1,625. I'll keep everyone posted if that changes.

Just so you know, Bearclaw, I'm in lust for one of the thermal units on your sig image.

Given that the N550 has better NV capabilities than standard Gen II and given the N750 is better than the N550 and has a drop in price, the N750 sounds like a real bargain.

Do you anticipate this move by Pulsar to create a market for the new clip on coming out?

If so, it may be a permanent price drop...

Sounds logical. The price is here to stay.

So is $1625 your retail price?

That's my THF member price.

Thanks guys for all the suggestions! I think im gonna go with the N550! I looked up videos and reviews on it and they all say its a really good scope for the price! Cant wait to use it in action!

Oh WOW Queefy is back.

I wonder if he is going to actually buy a scope, afterall Bearclaw has only been telling ya about them for 3 months.......

Ha! 3rd post is the charm!

One other advantage of the Pulsar n550 or n750 is you can use it in daylight. And record your shots with additional gear.

I run an atn Spartan gen 1 and with good ir illumination I can see to 150-200 yards. They retail for around $600

I use a Gen1 handheld monocular to scan the area because it's lighter and easier to wave around than the whole rifle and I've had it forever....
For actual shooting duties, a Pulsar N750 gets the nod.
I was lucky enough to get to compare the N550 and N750 head-to-head before I bought and the N750 won hands down.
The IR illuminator on the N750 that I don't see a need for additional illumination as it has 3 power levels and I haven't used more than level 1.
I picked up some PowerEx NiMH rechargable batteries and they run for over 8 hours per set if you want to constantly scan with the scope on the rifle.

I do that too. Really helps to see what is going on around you. I have some Gen II binocs that I like also....they bring everything out, but are heavier and more cumbersome to deal with..

Scanning with a heavy barreled AR with mounted NV gets old quick. I've got a no magnification Gen2 monocular specifically for that purpose. It doesn't have the detail of the scope, but I can detect movement, etc., and then zoom in on interesting objects with the scope.

In a perfect world, I'd use quality thermal for scanning and a high end D740 for shooting; but I'd like to stay married.

I hope to be able to get a thermal monocle for scanning (or my son for scanning when I am on the gun) and a NV clip on when the new DFA-75 comes out. Supposed to have the same quality of the 750 but be able to just slide on over the daytime scope. I am hoping to pull the trigger on that combo once I can rent/demo it this fall...thermal imaging for detection is great as you see there is something there, and direction of movement. Would love to be able to afford a ATN 640 or something high quality but even the 320's are in the range of 10K. With a cheaper thermal monocle and clip on, looking at around 4500-5K total and with separate pieces, it will make it a lot easier like said above.

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If im wanting to be able to see about 100-150 yards out at the farthest at night... which would be better for the price?

Hi Bowhunter -

I see you are using the search feature which is awesome !

You did post to a thread that is a few months old so some things have changed in this time, I know imagine things changing fast in night vision...

The n550 is dis-continued now, the used market prices are around 1k.

The n750 is a current model, there is a used one in the classified for 1k which is a smoking deal, but ordinarily the cost is 1200 for used and 1500 for new.

The Sightmark Photon is being released this month and you should be able to use it out to 150 yards with an external illuminator. It is a very different design than the digisights so I suggest you research it before making a final decision to buy.

Gen2+ TNVC M845 scopes are also a very solid option for hog hunting.

HTH -

BB

ok thanks man. what about these illuninators? am i going to need to buy one for a scope i get? and what exactly do they do?

First and foremost an IR illuminator shines a beam of near invisible light to the human eye, however it is in a spectrum that night vision devices see in.

For Digital and Gen 1 night vision they are a must

For Gen 2 / 3 it really depends on your preference

There is a bevy of options on IR, if you opt for a 850 nm version it should serve you well no matter what type of NV you go with.

Here is a video demonstrating what IR illuminators do:



Again there are many many options for what style and price you might need.

Here is one of the illuminators used in the video review

http://www.amazon.com/Streamlight-8...&sr=8-6&keywords=ir+illuminators

Not a bad price, there are also guys that make illuminators as well just keep searching

Gen2+ TNVC M845 is a good choice .. they also make a gen3 version but that's a lot more. If it were me, I would save up a bit and try to get a blemished gen 3 pvs-14.

Just one observation. If you go with the N550, N750 or the upcoming Photon, you can use them during the day also.

Also, 3 year warranty on the Pulsar and Sightmark. I would sell you either one so no bias here.

Optics planet has a sale on the opmod gen 3mm pvs14 itt pinnacle ends tonight midnight, sorry for last minute info.

I have purchased 2 in the past but for $2605.00 each with great specs sheets, it's lowest price pvs14 I have found, 5yr warranty.
If you are not happy the unit can be returned.

The sale price using code tencybr for an extra 10% off is $2429.10 free shipping.

If you have been waiting this the lowest price I have found for a new unit that was not a blem, those go for around $2K from various dealers.

This may sound stupid, but a dedicated nv scope like the M845 gen 2 or 3 would have to be sighted in at night time correct? And you cant use it during the day?

The lens cover has a pinhole that allows for sighting in during the daytime but as little exposure as possible is recommended - even through the pinhole.

Regular NV (Image Intensefication = I^2) cannot be used during the daytime.

As an example, watch this video - around the 1 minute mark I discuss zeroing I^2 in daylight.



BB

The Gen III PVS-14s are sweet, no doubt. Of course, you can only see with them. They are not sights. So on top of the expense of having the PVS-14s, you need some sort of NV compatible sighting system on your firearm as well...which means more $.

Looks like he sold his n750 for 1k - somebody got a good deal........

started hunting hogs at night during the darkage's, with all this high-tech, cams, nightvision, thermo. hog's don't stand a chance. Low-tech hog hunter, work hard, play hard easy part is finding hogs, work begin's whin ya have ta pac em out mile or two.