Night Vision Goggles

I have some Gen III ITT goggles. I have not used them coyote hunting yet. What firearm do you use them with? It is difficult to get a cheek mount on a standard rifle.

So, how do you aim?
 
I havent used them other than training, but we use a device that shoots an infrared laser that the goggles pickup. You just put the IR light on the target and pull the trigger.

I would think that you would almost have to have that device. Unless of course you had a night vision scope.

I just did a search and it must not be available.
 
Are they affordable to mere mortals? I would have thought that sort of thing would be well beyond my price... maybe not
 
There is a lot of info on NVG's on AR15.com, under arms & tactics, night vision. There are several dealers that contribute to the discussion and they are way less biased on that site than others I have read. Night vision is a disease, an expensive one! I got a Gen III pvs-14, IR laser, IR illuminator, all the goodies. You cannot beat it for night excursions. The Laser correctly bore sighted is an awesome tool, because you can keep you daytime scope on your rifle, and use the laser at night. The NVG amplifies the laser and what you put the laser on is dead. An IR laser, if you can find them, are invisible to the human eye, as well as the IR illuminator, but both will still cause an animals eyes to reflect light, so you get the spotlight type eye locator, but without alerting the animal because they cannot see the IR. IF you ever buy, learn as much as you can about them before you commit. You can get took. You want to get tube with the best spec's as possible. All NVG's have black spots in them, it is inherret of the technology. YOu can live with the spots, what you want is a tube that has a high signal to noise ratio at least 64 lpm. Unless you live somewhere that you can lay prone and take long shots, you will be best served with a monocular. It can be head, weapon mounted or hand held. It is 1x, but you can buy a 3x or 5x lens for it and be good for at least 300 to 400 yards. The head mounted set up with weapon mounted laser is in my opinion the best. One of the guys at ar15.com that knows his stuff is Vic Dicasola; Check out the picture thread and hunting pics.
 
I borrowed a 6X US Night Vision scope from a buddy and I am spoiled now. I have been doing some shopping and for a good Gen III tube or better you gotta get your wallet out big time. The one I am using cost my buddy about $4000. The one I am looking at is a the 4X Rapter made by NVEC, $4895. Maybe someday.......

I am thinking the most affordable option is the head mounted monocular with the IR laser attached to the rifle. With the scope on my AR it is now a dedicated night hunter. Having said that, this is my excuse to build another upper for Day use. Can't have to many!!!
 
I agree with everybody above. I also have a PVS14(ITT), laser, IR Illuminator, etc. I had the pleasure of hunting with Vic at a friends place. He does know his stuff and makes a lot of recomendations for modifications for the IR and NV stuff based off practical general public use.

NV and NV gear is not cheap. It is pointless to go the cheap rout, you want be happy. BEst shot so far with NV and laser, 80 Yrds, bobcat in the neck. Best shot seen, 130 yrds, bobcat in the shoulder.

My next NV purchase is probablly going to be a D740 /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Another thing to add, if you shoot a rifle with a 3rd Generation or any night vision for that matter, it may be a wise decision to get some sort of flash hider like a Vortex or something because the muzzle blast out of a rifle will white out the NVG temperarilly. I use a 5.56mm suppressor and have no flash issues, but with a muzzle flash it might be difficult to tell where an animal ran off to or make a second shot. If you don't want to go the laser route, you can get one of the NVG compatable Eotech's or Aimpoint. If you mount the Eotech a little high you will have no problem looking through and making a shot. I have done it plenty of times.
 
The few places I have found that have IR lasers sell only to military and LEOs. Do you know of a place that sells them to the general public?
 
Any IR laser you see will be restricted by the FDA because the output levels of the lasers are not eye safe. The ones that you see for sale that are the military type cannot be purchased by a civilian or an individual police officer. The only place that I have found that will sell an IR laser is a company called Hayes Research, 480-204-4634. I think their website is hayesresearch.com. The model they have is called the IWAL 2. I bought one and so far it has been an awesome unit. They get around the FDA by selling it as a kit, which is simple to assemble. It is machined out of aluminum and is adjustable for windage and elevation. With the NVG you can see it for hundreds of meters.
 
Anybody heard of Bravo 7 Night Vision Goggles. Got a buddy that says Army surplus Bravo 7 Night Vision can be had for 600.00

Thanks,Keith
 
Hootiewho,
where did you get your suppressor? I have been thinking of investing in one so that I could do the same thing. I have a NEF .223 that I would gladly thread to put one on. Can you send me a picture or send info of how it is mounted or a site in which you got it. Plus how much did you spend and what kind of ammo, subsonic or not. Just gathering info for an educated purchase. I don't want to go into blind.
 
I bought mine through a local class III dealer. There are numerious companies that manufacture suppressors. The first thing is to make sure that you live in a state that will allow you to have one, and live in a juristiction that the cheif law enforcement officer will sign your paperwork. I did a lot of research on mine before I bought, and I went with the Advanced Armament M4-2000. It is a quick detach flash suppressor, that uses a modified A2 bird cage flash suppressor to mount to. It being a .223 suppressor, it can be used on a .22 long rifle, .22 mag, as well as most of the .22 caliber rifles. In SC, you cannot use a centerfire at night, so it is on the .22 mag to reduce the muzzle flash, what little there is. I use it on my AR when hunting during the day. I got it mainly because a lot of the people you ask for permission to hunt on their land, don't care to hear gun fire. It makes my AR sound about like a .22 rifle firing shorts. It is even quieter with Engel Ballistic Research's 63 grain subsonics; all you hear then is the click of the firing group and the bullet impacting down range. Some of the suppressor companies that I recommend are Advanced Armament, Ops inc, Gemtech, SWR. I have heard suppressors from all of these companies and they are all well built, quite cans. One thing to understand about a rifle can is that they are not like what you see in the movies. The most accurate movie example of a can is in Tears of the Sun, when the seal team comes to the outskirts of that village and the seal sniper does some shooting out of a tree. If you want super quite, then you will want a 9mm or .22 lr can. If I am 100 ft away from you and shoot my AR, you will hear something, but it will not at all sound like a gunshot, and most of the noise you hear will be the bullet impacting. I have found that it is great for getting that second animal to come in, because they are not as spooked. There are a lot of class III dealers on AR15.com, and they have a suppressor forum there as well. Another great source of info is on www.silencertests.com
I would recommend a QD can like the AAC M4-2000, simply because it will not unthread itself when you are shooting. Cans get real hot after only a few shots and the last thing you want to fool with is having to tighten a regular threaded can to the barrel after shooting a few rounds. Also, I would not recommend you use a thin barreled rifle as you platform. Most cans weight in excess of 18 oz, and that will cause a point of impact change in any rifle when you fire with the can on vs. off. My can sits back over the barrel by about 1.5 inches, and extends the barrel lenght by 5.5 inches. You will also get about 50 fps gain in velocity, due to a thing called free bore boost, where the gases are still expanding behind the bullet, but the bullet isn't actually contacting anything. It will also tighten up your groups a good bit. It acts as the most perfect muzzle crown you can get, thats why most rifles that get a suppressor, usually gain a little in the accuracy department. Hope this info helps.
 
if you guys were to buy a night vision set up for varmint hunting and money was no object what would you suggest i buy. i want a complete set up to see them comming in and shooting them . i am using a 223 caliber with a supprossor. I am considering ATN products. any advice? thanks.
 
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is is possible to use a red light to see animal eyes comming in , than go to a night vision scope to shoot it and or follow it?
 
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