Digital scopes, yes or no?

New Avon Arms
I shot a fox last night in full dark, looking through an Alpex 4k lite at 120m, but with an IR illunator. Shot placement was not as critical at that range but was still no where near as good as glass in daylight - at 200m that would have been a guess in the general direction nd I would have likely not taken the shot. Digital is great for marginal light, thermal best for full dark and glass for daylight. I have a Lynx 3.0 which is a cheaper thermal spotter, but in full dark you can see the details in rabbits at 200m plus, to the extent that I can’t see the object of the heat source through the Alpex unless it moves. If I had to do 400m shots in full dark to fulfil a cull plan I would be using thermal scopes only. I still only use glass for deer in woodland because I don’t need to pull the trigger and part of the fun is getting close.
 
I have an Alpex 4K LRF on my .270 and Leica and Swarvoski on my 30.06 and .308. I much prefer the glass, both on clarity, build quality and light weight. However, the Alpex is 100% better in the extreme low light when its still deer legal to shoot. I dont use the Alpex normally past 250 metres at these times because of picture pixelation when zoom is high and also a feeling of lack of depth of field in the sight picture. Lastly I find the Alpex quite heavy on the rifle.. On a different note I have also run into quality related issues with Hik products, where I have had almost nothing go wrong with my glass scopes over many years.
I treat the Alpex as a tool, it gets the job done where a glass scope would not and because of this its still sitting on the .270.. but I cant say I like it..
 
Personally I wouldn't shoot anything at 400 yards apart from targets, but that is just me.

I am looking forward to having a look at the new Alpex at the Stalking Show
 
I've not used a thermal scope so ignore the following if you wish.

My take from what I've read from owners is they lack confidence in the unit's ability to hold perfect zero. This would not give me confidence to reach out to 250 yards, let alone 400.

K
 
Klenchblaize said:
I've not used a thermal scope so ignore the following if you wish.

My take from what I've read from owners is they lack confidence in the unit's ability to hold perfect zero. This woukd not give me confidence to reach out to 250 yards, let alone 400.

K
Click to expand...
Not sure what make of scope they're using but my Nocpix 50r and DNT4k have never shifted zero - despite the Nocpix rifle bouncing around in the Gator most of the time. I've not shot at anything living further than 225yds but shot gongs out to 300 without any issues.
Now they'll probably go into meltdown :lol:
 
All very interesting information chaps. Looks like the technology is still a bit lacking for the kind of distance I'm regularly taking shots at. Fingers crossed it moves on a little with the new hik pro a bit so would be interesting to know what happens with those. For now I will keep my money, and hope the deer get a rest during the comming off season and stay out a little longer in the mornings. At the moment I get a matter of minutes of glass light in the mornings and they are gone back into the out of bounds. If im lucky they stop for one last brows and I get a shot.
 
Have I benefitted going digital?
Yes.
Do I miss glass?
Yes.
Have I just returned to glass one of my vermin rifles?
Yes.
Could I fully return to glass for all my rifles?
Yes.
Should I fully return to glass?
Not necessarily.
 
I’m beginning to think that for full dark, thermal scopes would be the best solution. The resolution on my thermal spotter is streets ahead of my digital with IR. That resolution in a scope would be deadly for foxes, provided you know your ground and therefore hazards and backstops. A fox in a thermal can’t be anything else. A grainy image of a fox like creature in probably a fox…but might not be.

As per Smellydog’s post above, I put an old Leupold 1.5-6 x 35 scope back on my .22lr, which also has iron sights. Hole on hole at 50 yards, it’s a lovely, light, handy thing again and I will be sneaking up on rabbits, when/if the weather in Devon allows. Bright image, balance, nothing to charge, It bought me joy again.
 
Klenchblaize said:
I've not used a thermal scope so ignore the following if you wish.

My take from what I've read from owners is they lack confidence in the unit's ability to hold perfect zero. This would not give me confidence to reach out to 250 yards, let alone 400.

K
Click to expand...

That’s incorrect, maybe some add ons suffer from zero shift if used incorrectly but dedicated units are 100% reliable.
 
RCS Deer Management said:
That’s incorrect, maybe some add ons suffer from zero shift if used incorrectly but dedicated units are 100% reliable.
Click to expand...
Even at higher zoom levels at extended ranges? It would seem by searching threads and from PMs i have recived some do experience zero loss at higher zoom levels. When zoom is reduced zero returns to as expected.
 
Here’s my thoughts

Glass image is still the best for clarity by miles
Digiscope can help you put deer on the ground where glass can’t
I think 200m ish is my max with digiscope in the hour before/after sunrise/set
I have Pulsar C50 on my 6.5x55 and 308 deer rifles. I have S and B glass on my 300 Winmag for Scotland

They are a tool that will help you shoot more deer, but they have their limitations. One frustration is the lack of depth perception that seems to be common through all of them producing some hits that are not ‘classic shot placement’.

You will learn when and when not to squeeze off - even though you think you can see enough of the deer
 
jonylandrover said:
Even at higher zoom levels at extended ranges? It would seem by searching threads and from PMs i have recived some do experience zero loss at higher zoom levels. When zoom is reduced zero returns to as expected.
Click to expand...

I use my thermal scopes day in day out and see perhaps another dozen regularly that are in heavy use by my colleagues. No issues at all. There will obviously be faulty units out there, just like there are faulty scopes, but in general it’s a non issue. There are a lot of people shooting thermal scopes out past 800m now, they are certainly capable at ranges past the capability of the average stalker
 
RCS Deer Management said:
I use my thermal scopes day in day out and see perhaps another dozen regularly that are in heavy use by my colleagues. No issues at all. There will obviously be faulty units out there, just like there are faulty scopes, but in general it’s a non issue. There are a lot of people shooting thermal scopes out past 800m now, they are certainly capable at ranges past the capability of the average stalker
Click to expand...
It would seem a lot of mixed opinions really then. Its a lot of money to spend on something to just test it. The jury is still out on the decision for me then 🤔
 
jonylandrover said:
Afternoon all. I have been watching on here for a while now and the popularity of digital scopes looks to be quite high, namely the Hik Alpex 4K LRF for example. Curiosity got the better of me and a had a look at a new one last weekend. in the shop its hard to tell what it will be like out in the field.

From those using digital now for a while, what's your thoughts compared to glass?

I'm tempted, I like the LRF and built in ballistics that digital offers me. Are they that much better than glass in that 1st and last light times?

A lot of my deer shooting now is up to 400 yards on Reds, you just cant get closer and still have a safe shot on my particular spot.

will digital be better than my glass keeping that in mind?

Do I take the plunge or do I keep my glass and the LRF in my pocket.
Click to expand...
Digital is pretty Rubbish during the day compared to any reasonable glass , At night its Digital or thermal ! The only thing after that is a spotlight TBF i have killed a lot of stuff at night with spotlighting and "lamp shy" is hardly a thing now because very few folks now use with spotlights
I personally struggle with setting -up a good zero with my Alpex and i have no real desire to use it at all in daylight . If i could get one with regular dials i would chuck the thing in .
 
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