European scopes and rear night vision?

[Suilven]

Anyone use a night vision rear add on with decent European glass?

Is it "good enough" or unusable?

Need something good enough for reds in clearfell/moorland dusk and dawn but want to keep my day scopes. All shots sub 200m.

Specifically, I've a schmidt 6x42 and a zeiss duralyt 3-12 x 50 as candidates; both 100m parallax and decent lens coatings etc etc.

 

[Foxyboy43]

Hmm.
The first problem with your S&B will be the base 6x magnification which will be pretty much doubled by for example a Pard. No experience with the Zeiss but this aspect shouldn’t be such a problem with the scope’s 3x. Parallax and Lens coatings can each be an issue but varies between scopes - I do have an S&B and will try it with my Pard 007 and come back with a ‘view”…..

 

[Essexsussex]

It would be annoying to have an other rifle etc but dedicate ATN night vision scopes are available very cheaply from ATN direct at the moment. Probably same as an add on or cheaper.

Not an answer to your question but when I investigated what you are investigating for a sb 8x56 this became the best answer for me at least.

 

[Foxyboy43]

Right then - at great expense and a lot of faffing….
Not the best morning for camera work - slight mist and low bright sun at my 1 o’clock however the S&B 6x42 and the Pard007A worked surprisingly well together (considering I was holding the two together without a collar and leaning on a bipod) - sight picture and reticle clarity was fine at my tested 60 and beyond 200m, out to 420 - I did not try to focus the reticle on the longer shots but this would be easy to do. However the base c.12x minimum and narrow picture could be a handicap particularly at shorter ranges. I would however be happy to take a shot out to 200 or so. Sadly the screen shots are too large to attach so I have had to resort to taking a foto of each with my Ifone and transferring each to my Ipad… but they will give you an idea…
60m

300m

300m
I would imagine the 8x56, giving a base mag of c.16x with the Pard would be way too much to handle and result in a very narrow fov.

 

[Suilven]

Brilliant work @Foxyboy43, very much appreciated

Hadn't thought of the multiplication factor on the base mag of my scope.

Think I need to rephrase the question then; how compatible is a Zeiss Duralyt with rear NV add on folks?

 

[Zio65]

With sunlight everything will be fine except the magnification, the problem will arise when you are in B/W version at night, the filters work on IR

 

[Bavarianbrit]

I use a Steiner 3-10x50 scope and had a Pard007 16mm lens which was OK then I picked up a Pard007 with the 12mm lens which gives no magnification. The reticule or the beast are in focus but not both, just a little off sharp but doable as I do often on foxes.

 

[Suilven]

It would be annoying to have an other rifle etc but dedicate ATN night vision scopes are available very cheaply from ATN direct at the moment. Probably same as an add on or cheaper.

Not an answer to your question but when I investigated what you are investigating for a sb 8x56 this became the best answer for me at least.

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.

 

[kenbro]

Have a look at a Vulpine 3.
Ken.

 

[Suilven]

That's top of the list Ken. Any idea what performance would be like through a zeiss duralyt?

 

[kenbro]

That's top of the list Ken. Any idea what performance would be like through a zeiss duralyt?

No, I’ve no idea on a Zeiss Duralyt but rear add ons aren’t fussy like front add ons.
Cheers, Ken.
Ps. Maybe @Cottis will chime in, please?

 

[Flash G 74]

Hello, What rear add on N/V are you looking at ??, A low base mag with AO or Side focus is required ,

 

[kenbro]

I thought, with the Vulpine, what you see through the scope before adding the Vulpine is what you see with it on.
Ken.

 

[Suilven]

Hello, What rear add on N/V are you looking at ??, A low base mag with AO or Side focus is required ,

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

 

[Flash G 74]

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.

Hello, It is more required than preferred, Going back my years people did try the early Pard add on with a normal scope but found not ideal, With a AO or side focus you will find they are much better and once set up you can keep note of settings and still use scope for dawn dusk shooting, If your 2 scopes do not have AO or side focus then you may need to puchase one suitable

 

[Suilven]

OK thanks, food for thought. Could the limitations of a scope without side focus etc be overcome with decent IR?

Found this on YouTube, if I could get this performance I'd be delighted. Duralyt plus pard.

 

[Foxyboy43]

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

As you know the S&B has no parallax adjustment and it focussed fine. You may be pleasantly surprised at how much light the simple 007A gathers at dusk - I know I certainly was. As has been said already with all those S&B coatings I wouldn’t really recommend it for night vision - that’s when the Pard and a cheap and cheerful Hawke are really good.

PS
Saying that if it ever gets dark I may well bodge it tonight….

 

[Suilven]

Please do @Foxyboy43 I'd be interested in your results.

Now thinking the duralyt would be my preferred option but given your experiments and the YouTube link showing a duralyt plus pard I'm pretty encouraged to give it a go.

I sold a Meopta Optika 6 last month which would have been ideal

 

[Foxyboy43]

Please do @Foxyboy43 I'd be interested in your results.

Now thinking the duralyt would be my preferred option but given your experiments and the YouTube link showing a duralyt plus pard I'm pretty encouraged to give it a go.

I sold a Meopta Optika 6 last month which would have been ideal

Silly boy!
This was a buck shot with my 6.5x55SE and a fairly stout homeloaded 130gn Sierra TGK using the Pard 007A on a £350 Hawke at about 90 yards. You should note that with this now elderly version you do need to move your scope forward a tad to be comfortable when the rifle is mounted. Also even with your eye touching the rubber eyepiece there is no recoil issue - at least with the 6.5. Newer versions of the Pard need less scope movement I believe….

 

[homer]

That's top of the list Ken. Any idea what performance would be like through a zeiss duralyt?

I have a vulpine and use it on a z6i, which has parallax down to 50m. Anything out past 100m is spot on, below 100m and you start to loose that crisp image because you cant focus any closer because of parallax. But its still a good enough image to shoot, just not crisp. This is my experience anyway.