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Night Vision Which budget night vision optic?

A

AK4900PA

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Minuteman
May 25, 2013
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Looking to pick up a budget night vision scope and narrowed it down to...

AGM Neith DS32-4MP 2.5-20x50mm
Sightmark Wraith 4K Mini 2-16x32mm

Primary use will be for hog hunting on a 12.5" AR-10 in .308 at <150 yards.

Would love to hear opinions from anyone who's had a chance to handle either of these units.
 
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I would look at a thermal weapon sight before either of those.

Bering optics line is pretty budget friendly.

Iray has a discount of $1000. now on the RH25 unit.

Tons of options now.
 
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Being budget minded I'd take a look at the Arken Zulus. However, I would probably wait for them to release the version that has the better IR illuminator and the laser range finder. I've been happy with my Pard NV008S LRF but this updated version is spec'ing out much better.
 
For hunting, I'll also say you want thermal instead of image intensifier (night vision). Practice a lot before shooting, as ID can be hard, but it is much much much easier to detect animals with thermal. If you stick with night vision, budget to include the illuminator, which will be a couple hundred dollars on top of the scope (a few come with a good enough one, though).

For your range, under 200 yds you can live with lower resolution. I had 160 resolution (thermals are always in vertical lines of resolution, 640 is the gold standard now for things not mounted to helicopters etc, mostly it's factor of 2 down, 320, 160...). Do not let yourself get confused by display resolution specs; thermals are electronics, so there's a sensor and a display (a screen). The display will always be higher resolution by far than the sensor.

And then, while I would rather suggest better makers, or a clipon system so you can have a day gun you turn to night, you CAN sneak into thermal for under $1000 with things like the ATN ThOR LT in 160. I don't know them all, so start your research again or start with suggestions people here are giving and see if the budget can be stretched or there's a discount (lower res) version of what is suggested instead.
 
I have been using AGM Micro Python 35 for 4 years now and its been great lil Thermal unit although its not quite as good as the newer ones. I use for daytime woods hunting groundhog and chipmunks when they are stationary and hard to find in the brush. Go thermal and not look back.
 
I just ordered an AGM Rattler TS50-640 thermal for Coyote hunting, but the more videos I watch of the Arken (HITTAC) Zulus 5-20x NV scope, the more I’m interested in buying one for a cheap knock-around day/night scope on my 16” .300 BLK AR just to see how good they are.

If it was an Arken-only product, I wouldn’t even consider it, based on my past experiences with new Arken product releases (I’m 0-2), but being that Arken bought out HITTAC, which was an already established NV optics brand with a good reputation, and Arken is keeping the entire HITTAC company intact, and is simply putting their logos on it, I’m interested. I will probably order one, since Arken has a satisfaction guarantee, and does take their customer service seriously. So, I guess it’s hard to lose in that scenario? 🤷🏼
 
I use a the Sightmark Wraith in 1080, the biggest downfall is the IR so I upgraded to a coyote cannon IR.

Here is my option after a lot of dead coyotes and hogs with a few years behind the Sightmark:
-Under 200 yards the 4x gets aggravating as once you take the first shot and everything starts to scatter.. its hard to keep up with everything going on due to the lack of FOV at 4x
-The bigger IR light makes my setup awkward and heavy but it stays in the tripod so its not as bad.
-NV has its perks for identification but nothing hides from a thermal, luckily my hunting partner runs a thermal (AGM Varmint) so he spots everything.
- Just of distance is terrible hunting at night, get use to understanding the distances of land marks to your location.
 
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FuhQ said:
I just ordered an AGM Rattler TS50-640 thermal for Coyote hunting, but the more videos I watch of the Arken (HITTAC) Zulus 5-20x NV scope, the more I’m interested in buying one for a cheap knock-around day/night scope on my 16” .300 BLK AR just to see how good they are.

If it was an Arken-only product, I wouldn’t even consider it, based on my past experiences with new Arken product releases (I’m 0-2), but being that Arken bought out HITTAC, which was an already established NV optics brand with a good reputation, and Arken is keeping the entire HITTAC company intact, and is simply putting their logos on it, I’m interested. I will probably order one, since Arken has a satisfaction guarantee, and does take their customer service seriously. So, I guess it’s hard to lose in that scenario? 🤷🏼
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Did you get the 25% discount? I had point accumulated from previous purchases and they kinda fucked me out of it. Zulus does look interesting to play with but not sure I will purchase one now though.
 
Well, I got a response back from Arken. Seems they don't have any timeframe for when the laser range finder version or enhanced IR will be available. So it looks like I'll stick with my Pard NV008S LRF for a while longer. The upgraded spec's of the Zulus and features will keep me watching.
 
Big Phish said:
Did you get the 25% discount? I had point accumulated from previous purchases and they kinda fucked me out of it. Zulus does look interesting to play with but not sure I will purchase one now though.
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Fuck it… I decided to order one to try… I’ve wasted $500 on worse. And if it’s not up to snuff, then I’ll just send it back and get a full refund. 🤷🏼

Yeah, it was $163 savings with the 25% off coupon code. My points were only like $64.00, I couldn’t use both at the same time, so I used to coupon for the extra $100 in savings.
 
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Fuck it… I decided to order one to try… I’ve wasted $500 on worse. And if it’s not up to snuff, then I’ll just send it back and get a full refund. 🤷🏼

Yeah, it was $163 savings with the 25% off coupon code. My points were only like $64.00, I couldn’t use both at the same time, so I used to coupon for the extra $100 in savings.

Fuhq posted

Just asking if they had used it yet . ?????
 
bulldurham said:
Fuck it… I decided to order one to try… I’ve wasted $500 on worse. And if it’s not up to snuff, then I’ll just send it back and get a full refund. 🤷🏼

Yeah, it was $163 savings with the 25% off coupon code. My points were only like $64.00, I couldn’t use both at the same time, so I used to coupon for the extra $100 in savings.

Fuhq posted

Just asking if they had used it yet . ?????
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I canceled the Arken order for several reasons, and bought the new AGM Neith DS32-4MP instead. Very happy with my purchase. Higher resolution than the Arken, and made in the USA. 👍🏼

They’re sold out at Midway USA, which is where I got mine, but B&H Photo has them in stock for the same price.


IMG_3291.jpeg
IMG_3265.jpeg
IMG_3280.jpeg


For reference, the pontoon boat is about 200 yards away, the house is about 100 yards away.

IMG_3273.jpeg
IMG_3277.jpeg
 
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I recently bought the Pard NV007 and for the same reasons you are inquiring about. I have it on an Athlon Helos and Impact as well. It is surprisingly clear and should work well for seeing and filming the coyotes at night around here. I went with the removable night vision because I did not want a scope mounted to the Impact that was dedicated to night vision or needed batteries to operate during the daytime. For the money spent, it has all the benefits I need and is a good product with less "issues" that some of the other models and types have.
 
FuhQ said:
I canceled the Arken order for several reasons, and bought the new AGM Neith DS32-4MP instead. Very happy with my purchase. Higher resolution than the Arken, and made in the USA. 👍🏼

They’re sold out at Midway USA, which is where I got mine, but B&H Photo has them in stock for the same price.


View attachment 8296328View attachment 8296326View attachment 8296327

For reference, the pontoon boat is about 200 yards away, the house is about 100 yards away.

View attachment 8296329View attachment 8296330
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What kind of life do you expect from that thing on a 556 gun(I’m ASSuming)?

I’ve got a 10.5 inch 22 mag I hope to make a critter gitter alongside my 5.7 bolt gun. I’ve got a C35 and pvs 14s with an IR, but something cheap enough that might last a while would be fun as an extra
 
roostercogburn98 said:
What kind of life do you expect from that thing on a 556 gun(I’m ASSuming)?

I’ve got a 10.5 inch 22 mag I hope to make a critter gitter alongside my 5.7 bolt gun. I’ve got a C35 and pvs 14s with an IR, but something cheap enough that might last a while would be fun as an extra
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That’s a 16” .300 BLK shooting 220 subs. So, should hold up fine. I think it’s rated to handle stuff like .308 Win, maybe larger. 🤷🏼 Call them and find out for sure, but 5.56 shouldn’t be an issue at all.
 
Eddyshot said:
I recently bought the Pard NV007 and for the same reasons you are inquiring about. I have it on an Athlon Helos and Impact as well. It is surprisingly clear and should work well for seeing and filming the coyotes at night around here. I went with the removable night vision because I did not want a scope mounted to the Impact that was dedicated to night vision or needed batteries to operate during the daytime. For the money spent, it has all the benefits I need and is a good product with less "issues" that some of the other models and types have.
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I’m thinking about giving their new front mounted FD1 a try.
 
My AGM Thermal unit has held up for I think 4 years now and I have dropped it quite a few time with the rifle also and have approx 1000+ hrs on itand it still killing unwanted critters. AGM is rock solid in my book.
 
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New video is up with the AGM Neith NV scope shooting a life-sized steel deer @ 200 yards with the 16" .300 BLK and 220 subs.

 
I ended up buying the AGM Neith. Currently on my 22lr upper and I'm loving it. For the money I'm very happy with my purchase. I was going to move it to my .308 AR-10, but I'm concerned the recoil may effect the long term reliability so I'm probably going to end up putting it on my 300blk upper.

If money was no object I would've gone thermal, but for my intended purpose and current budget it's worked out great.
 
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AK4900PA said:
I ended up buying the AGM Neith. Currently on my 22lr upper and I'm loving it. For the money I'm very happy with my purchase. I was going to move it to my .308 AR-10, but I'm concerned the recoil may effect the long term reliability so I'm probably going to end up putting it on my 300blk upper.

If money was no object I would've gone thermal, but for my intended purpose and current budget it's worked out great.
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It should hold up just fine on the .308... But if you're concerned, contact AGM, and talk to them about it.
 
FuhQ said:
It should hold up just fine on the .308... But if you're concerned, contact AGM, and talk to them about it.
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Not really concerned. It's rated to .308 so I'm sure it'd be fine. I just figure it's likely to last longer on the 300blk.
 
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So far, I'm very impressed. It's my first digital optic so it took a minute to get used to not having traditional windage/elevation/parallax. The controls are fairly intuitive though.

All I've used it for at this point is the range and killing some racoons. I definitely feel like it was worth the money.
 
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