NVD for your rifle

[stubbicatt]

Guys. For various reasons I would like to obtain night vision for my rifle.

There seems to be a couple of ways to approach this. One way is to purchase and wear night vision goggles, and employ some sort of low luminosity type red dot... close range only.

Another method is to obtain a night vision rifle scope. This is great for the actual aiming and firing.

Yet another seems to be to get a monocular or some arrangement to mount in tandem to your scope.

I would like to be able to observe terrain with goggles, but when it comes time to fire a shot, I would like to be able to see clearly what it is I am shooting at with moderate magnification.

Distances for observation are critical, but for shooting probably no greater than a couple of hundred yards.

BTW, this is for predator hunting.

I appreciate any good advice you can offer. I understand that 3d generation is preferrable, but what are the better brands or choices in 3d generation?

 

[kBob]

Sounds like you could use a set up much like the Army used shortly after the development of the early vision goggles which were initially thought of as an aid to pilots and drivers of all kinds.

Individual riflemen would be issued a set of goggles, typically night movement point men or or who ever was on watch during a "sleep over' with 30 friends out in the bushes.

The M-16A1 rifle would have a then small ( a bit smaller than a two C cell maglight) clamped on the rifle IR only laser clamped to the side of the carrying handle. This allowed the rifleman to scan with the goggles and if a target was seen use the laser aiming device to show him where his rounds would strike.

You could use a visable red laser if hunting varmits and zero it to mach tragectory at a known range. Playing with a cheap laser pointer rather than a weapons grade device I have used a visable red dot to point at things viewed through my cheapo Russian monocular out to about 100 yards.

DOn't laugh to hard but I have an aquantence that has used a head mounted AN PVS14 third generation night vision set----just like is in use in the sand box---- to veiw a red dot from a carefully aligned laser pointer with high teck woden wedges and duct tape to hold the laser pointer in place to provide telling hists on rats......with a blow gun.

Of course the red dot appears through the scops as a bright spot of whatever color our image screen is and some times at close range the laser either shuts down the scope or leaves hellacious "trails" that may be permenant damage or just an announance for some time.

Critters do not shot back and many can not see red.

THe "problems" with a weapons mounted NVD are mainly that you can not scan with out pointing the weapon at what is being scaned Whether it is something that should be shot or not) that using the NVD off the weapon to scanrequires that you remount the NVD before a shot can be made giving the target a chance to be lost to you, or until recently rifle mounted NVDs were bulky.

Before this current war in Iraq and Afganistan the Ranger battalions had been reporting good succes in testing using the aim point with an IR setting teamed with a mount for the AN/PVS-14 mounted in tandom wiht the aimpoint closest to the target.
My understaningis that some units still do this. I have had no luck trying to use a disposable cheap visable red dot scope turned to its lowest setting with my first generation el cheapo but YMMV.

The performance of less expensive first generation scopes can be improved throug the use of an IR illuminator.....which is why many of the Russian imports come with one. Still not as good as or as long ranged as a "Merican" made third generation by a long shot, but a lot cheaper.

-Bob Hollingsworth

 

[stubbicatt]

Kbob. Thanks so much for the input. What about use of NVD goggles with tritium sights? You suppose the glow from the tritium would be too much for the NVD? I could use this setup perhaps to get hits reliably to about 150 yards or so...

 

[DMK]

What about use of NVD goggles with tritium sights? You suppose the glow from the tritium would be too much for the NVD?

I would think so.

I once saw a picture, taken through night vision, of a man with a holstered sidearm equipped with tritium night sights. It looked like he turned on a flashlight and stuck it in a belt loop so it would be shining up his side.