European scopes and rear night vision?
- Thread starter Suilven
- Start date
Freeforester
Well-Known Member
Have a look at this, works perfectly with any glass, and no reflection of IR nor refocusing required. £76. Line up with your passive thermal, thank me later!
Freeforester
Well-Known Member
That, and the red deer’s’ disdain for IR illumination.
Hi - no idea, Vulpine seems to get a good write-up but I'll take a recommendation.
AO or side focus is required, or preferred?
If I can use my day scope for the dawn/dusk work I need nv for I'll be happy.
If @Foxyboy43 can get a good sight picture out to 200m+ on a schmidt I think an add on could be all I need for now
Hi,Hi - no idea, Vulpine seems to get a good write-up but I'll take a recommendation.
AO or side focus is required, or preferred?
If I can use my day scope for the dawn/dusk work I need nv for I'll be happy.
If @Foxyboy43 can get a good sight picture out to 200m+ on a schmidt I think an add on could be all I need for now
I have used Vulpine MK3 and a PVS14 on Meopta and Zeiss Scopes, an S3 4-25 x 50 and a Diavari 6-24 x 72. The Vulpine is great for the money, I have 2 of them and if you’re looking you can have one for £300.
They do need an IR to work. The Vulpine is great on foxes out to 350 and the PVS14 is good out to 400 yards +. However not sure that it’s worth the extra thousands of pounds
I have used most of the thermal scopes on the market and the Alpex 4K. I got fed up of the inability of thermal and digital scopes to zoom without horrendous pixelation of the image. With the PVS14 there is no issue zooming out to x 25 and the Vulpine is crystal clear at x18 on the Meopta. Also as you are using a high quality scope there is no issues with constant loss of zero which is quite prevalent with electronic scopes.
ATB
Nick
I would add, when I have been out foxing and put the ir on a red deer to have a look at it, they dont like it. They stand alot longer in a while light than an ir.
Heym SR20
Well-Known Member
I have tried these rear add ons in the past. Admittedly pre COVID. I was hunting wild boar at night in Germany. I tried a clamped on one that went on the eyepiece on my 6x42 Zeiss scope. My host insisted on me using it.
What was really off putting was the loss of eye relief to the scope. I know that my rifle recoiled quite heavily and to use it I would have to hold my head in a very odd position.
When I got to my highseat, I tried it out. Couldn’t get comfortable with it, so took it off.
Later that night at about 3am onna December morning I shot a good boar on the field with my naked 6x42 scope.
Thats the beauty of the vulpine, it doesn't add any extra length to your eye relief.
Suilven
Well-Known Member
Thanks all. Encouraged by this thread I've picked up a used vulpine from here. Will report back on how I get on.
I like your simple solution @Freeforester, have you tried one?
Might be hijacking my own thread, but this would be legal for the hour before/after dawn/dusk in Scotland as "other special sighting device for night shooting" I assume. Suppose it doesn't make sense to allow night vision/thermal and not a white light..
I like your simple solution @Freeforester, have you tried one?
Might be hijacking my own thread, but this would be legal for the hour before/after dawn/dusk in Scotland as "other special sighting device for night shooting" I assume. Suppose it doesn't make sense to allow night vision/thermal and not a white light..
Don't bother - you're wasting your time
Buy a cheap Hawke scope that focus adjusts down to 10 yards, has a mag range from around x3 up to less than around x15 and you'll get far better results than with high end glass and a rear add-on
Cheers
Bruce
Essexsussex
Well-Known Member
They work well as day scopes as well - but, will be heavier than the 6x42 for carrying about.Cheers @Essexsussex, I think you're right and a 2nd rifle with dedicated NV is the way I'll go eventually.
For the ground I have in mind the focus is the hill; we arrive pre-dawn, do what we can on the clearfell first thing then we're up on the hill the rest of the day. Access is via quad. In winter we're back on the clearfell for dusk.
A 2nd rifle would mean a trip back to the car, not a deal breaker, but if I can get away with a rear add on for decent glass that's a good enough solution I can use right now for a few hundred quid.
Freeforester
Well-Known Member
I have one at home, yes, and another slightly larger one I’ve had these past 5 odd years.
Small amount of light seen from the quarry point of view (low lumens), but intense beam seen from the scope point of view. All you need do is attach one to t’other. That’s it, no other adjustments or faff.
I’ll send a comparative pic with them both when I’m back next week.
I've used the pard 007S and 007SP on both The Zeiss V4 4-16x50 and a Leica Amplus 6 2.5-15x50. The low light performance is excellent with all these combos, in the evening it will give another 20 minutes of shooting light. Once it gets dark enough to need the IR I found the Zeiss was only average but the Leica was excellent. On my last hunt I shot a Red stag at 400m and a yearling hind at 450m using just the built in IR on the 007SP. The 450m was at the max range, the target was starting to get a bit vague but good enough to score a hit. One thing I see has not been mentioed is the exposure setting on the Pard. I go into the settings and increase the exposure in low light and when using an IR, it seems to improve the image quite a lot.
Foxyboy43
Well-Known Member
Hmmm. I found that simply putting it on night mode but not turning the IR on was great - also applies to the Pard 008s….
Freeforester
Well-Known Member
Original LEP rig set up on scope, new LEP for comparison, left:
New setup:
New LEP set up alone:
Original LEP rig:
Removing the 2g spring pocket clip and replacing with a non ‘Campagnolo-drilled-out’ alkathene water pipe push-fit spacer adds 1 gramme, though this could easily be reduced by slightly shortening and/or drilling holes in it to reduce that extra weight ‘penalty’:
Batteries for the wee torch weigh 19g, one third of the whole rig; a replacement 21700 cell for my original LEP weighs 72g, ie 25% more than the new torch and battery combined (57g).
Operation is silent; a throw lever could of course be added, but I personally prefer it as it is; the rest you may imagine, having seen the video at #24. The low-power first setting gives plenty of light with which to positively ID and shoot out to beyond the distance I’d consider sensible.
In summary, there’s not much not to like:
Simple to attach, and agreeably lightweight and unobtrusive;
No different light wave band used, so you retain the sharp focus of your preferred day scope — this means less faff when in use;
No adjustment nor IR reflection off vegetation (no spill from LEP);
Easy to carry replacement batteries in the event of a longer duration session;
Minimum weight and bulk addition to achieve the result;
Power cells can be recharged via USB C from eg car, power bank, etc.
NV? Yes, but just not as is commonly considered.
A bit ‘Left field’, then? — Sure, but effective?
— Certainly.
At £76 to your door, worth thinking carefully about….
New setup:
New LEP set up alone:
Original LEP rig:
Removing the 2g spring pocket clip and replacing with a non ‘Campagnolo-drilled-out’ alkathene water pipe push-fit spacer adds 1 gramme, though this could easily be reduced by slightly shortening and/or drilling holes in it to reduce that extra weight ‘penalty’:
Batteries for the wee torch weigh 19g, one third of the whole rig; a replacement 21700 cell for my original LEP weighs 72g, ie 25% more than the new torch and battery combined (57g).
Operation is silent; a throw lever could of course be added, but I personally prefer it as it is; the rest you may imagine, having seen the video at #24. The low-power first setting gives plenty of light with which to positively ID and shoot out to beyond the distance I’d consider sensible.
In summary, there’s not much not to like:
Simple to attach, and agreeably lightweight and unobtrusive;
No different light wave band used, so you retain the sharp focus of your preferred day scope — this means less faff when in use;
No adjustment nor IR reflection off vegetation (no spill from LEP);
Easy to carry replacement batteries in the event of a longer duration session;
Minimum weight and bulk addition to achieve the result;
Power cells can be recharged via USB C from eg car, power bank, etc.
NV? Yes, but just not as is commonly considered.
A bit ‘Left field’, then? — Sure, but effective?
— Certainly.
At £76 to your door, worth thinking carefully about….
Last edited:
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