Photon XT 4.6x Night Vision Scope Review

I wonder if it will be like the older Photon 5x. They didn't make very many of them before they stopped and brought out the 4.6. It would be nice at times to have that extra magnification. I am pretty interested to know what the status of the 6.5 is also.
 
I'm curious how the photon will perform in cold winter conditions with good snow cover. Has anyone used the older digital units over snow? I like that Rolaids home build but do a lot of walking at night & would probably end up pulling/ breaking a wire out there with it!
 

Darknight, if you walk a lot I think you are correct that the Rolaids version is more prone to damage.

Not sure about the Photon and cold conditions.
 
Originally Posted By: DarknightI'm curious how the photon will perform in cold winter conditions with good snow cover. Has anyone used the older digital units over snow? I like that Rolaids home build but do a lot of walking at night & would probably end up pulling/ breaking a wire out there with it!

It looks to me like you ought to be able to contain the wires on a Rolaids type scope with tape etc. I think the lcd screen might be easy knock around while walking at night. I'm going to try my hand at making one and will see how it works though most of my out and about is on a four wheeler.
I have never used either of my Sightmarks on Snow. I've got the older model as well as the XT. I would expect that the snow would give you a lot of light reflection and make it a interesting going from dark patches to snow patches. As far as the electronics go, I don't see any issues there except for the battery life. Batteries probably won't give as much life in cold, but the electronics shouldn't be bothered at all. I say that with the authority (Ha!) of a retired EE. I've been retired too long to really know anything anymore, so take that with a grain of salt. Seriously, I don't think winter will be too hard on the scope.
 

1lobo,

Yes, you can contain the wires on the Rolaids unit. I taped them up to form one out-going lead from camera/LCD to battery.
That's not much of a problem. The thing you have to be careful with is the LCD screen that sits on top of the deal, and also
some care is needed with the long Picatinny rail that holds the bullet camera. If a guy cradles the rifle in his arm as he walks,
there shouldn't be much of a problem. You just have to be conscious of it and tread a bit softly. It's not like you would
throw the unit over your back etc. I feel that I can carry the unit in the field and do pretty good with it; just have to be
mindful of it.


The green in the photo is where I taped up the leads. The lead coming from the camera is fixed to the Picatinny rail too
so there are no loose wires there either. A pocket battery is available on Ebay also and that would make it easier to put
in a pocket and use the unit in the field.






Here are the three coyotes I have taken with the Rolaids unit, all from my little cabin at 60 yards.













I tried the Rolaids unit on a #1 Ruger too.



 
Originally Posted By: DarknightI'm curious how the photon will perform in cold winter conditions with good snow cover. Has anyone used the older digital units over snow? I like that Rolaids home build but do a lot of walking at night & would probably end up pulling/ breaking a wire out there with it!

From what I have read, batteries are the limiting factor in cold conditions.

Your mileage may vary
 
I've finally got some snow here, so I'll get out and see how the older Photon does. The XT does fine with snow. It reflects enough light to really help the view. I haven't had any issue with batteries. I expect a shorter battery life in cold weather, so I change mine out before I go out with it. I use rechargeables a lot and they don't last as well as alkaline. I haven't noticed any major consumption of power by the scope. I haven't tested for time, but I've had mine on for close to four hours in warmer weather than now. I always carry a couple of spare alkaline batteries when I am hunting with it. Changing batteries is easy enough at night and by feel. Downside for me with the scope is that it won't keep it's memory very long without batteries in it. Good idea to always mark down your x and y numbers somewhere handy.

I really like that Ruger Mark 1, David. Always admired them.
 
Hey Dave, with the .218 Bee and .17 Remington in your arsenal, you surely have a .220 Swift don't you? I looked at both of those calibers back in 1978 when I decided to go with the Ruger .220 Swift with a bull barrel. It pretty much drives tacks (when I'm shooting good) out to several hundred yards. Kevin
 

Hey Kevin, I don't. At one time I had wanted a Swift but just never got around to it. I do have a tack-driver of a 22-250 though.

I happened in to a local gun shop several years back and there were two brand new Ruger #1s - the .218 and a .22 Hornet. I grabbed the .218. It was only the second rifle in that caliber I had ever seen. They were / are rare. I phoned Ruger to inquire about the diameter of bullet to use for it, and the rep there told they don't make a .218 in a #1. I told him I'm looking at a brand-new-in-the-box one. It is a real pleasure to shoot. I use 40 gr. V-Max but have a box of 35 V-Max that I have been meaning to try. We shot some prairie dogs in Wyoming one year with it and were consistently busting them out to 175 yards and a few further than that. You can see instant red in the scope.

As to the .17 Remington, it is one of the most amazing cartridges I have ever used, and I have used a bunch of them. The words "drop-dead performance" pretty much sums it up.
 
That's cool Dave!!
That .218 sounds fun!! I don't have a .17 Rem, but my go to chuck rifle used to be my 22o Swift, its now my .17 Fireball Remington 700 heavy barrel with a 36 power fixed Luepold target scope..
 

I imagine the .17 Fireball is a sweet little number. It most likely would serve me better for fox than the 17 Rem since I get some bad exits at times.

As to the Photon XT, I have decided to sell it. If anyone is interested, just send me a personal.
 
I wanted to dig this thread up, now that we have sub-zero temperatures and snow cover here in the midwest to ask if anyone has used the Photon in these conditions and if so, how well it performs within 200 yards in the cold with good snow cover.
Thanks for any input!
 
I have been hunting with one all season. Last week before the full moon (about 75%) I was using it with great results without any IR. We had about 4 inches of snow and I was able to target one coyote at 150 yds and one at about 190 (using google earth afterwards). with both dogs they showed up just like it was day time. I would say the batteries don't seem to last as long but I have not kept great track on those. Typically I scan with the FLIR and only turn the Photon on once I pick up an animal with the FLIR.
 
Originally Posted By: stupidnewbieI have been hunting with one all season. Last week before the full moon (about 75%) I was using it with great results without any IR. We had about 4 inches of snow and I was able to target one coyote at 150 yds and one at about 190 (using google earth afterwards). with both dogs they showed up just like it was day time. I would say the batteries don't seem to last as long but I have not kept great track on those. Typically I scan with the FLIR and only turn the Photon on once I pick up an animal with the FLIR.


I am very interested in how the Photon XT is performing. I ordered one right after Christmas, expecting delivery mid-January. Apparently the demand is very high, and now I am being told that the earliest it will ship is early March!

When you are using IR, are you using the on board only, or something else. I would also be interested in some actual hunt video if anyone has it.
 
I've used the on board out to about 100yds, but I have a secondary IR built by some guy the UK (I forget what model he calls it). With that one on zoom I have been able to positively ID a couple Coyotes well past 300 yds. Heck, I've been able to see racks on small bucks well past 200 with it.

I think it has been well worth the money for me, but I don't have anything to compare it to. I will say this - I've used lights for years, and when the LEDs got to where you could use them at long range I went to them. What I've noticed this year is that the coyotes don't know I'm there unless I make some type of noise. In years past I called in my share of coyotes, but they were always looking right at the light. Good hunters say the LEDs don't bother them but I'm becoming more and more convinced they "see" LED lights just like the old ones. What I see now with this NV is they are focusing on the FP and not on me. That's a huge plus where I hunt as there is pressure on them from October to March.

I think the reason they all of a sudden became so hard to find is because all the people waiting on the X-site jumped ship. As a matter of fact I think Site-Mark should sent the ATN X-sight engineers a sales commission check.
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I've been using a Photon 4.6x XT since just after they came out. Before that I was using a Photon 3.5x. The older model is still a good scope and I have it on an AR. The Photon 4.6x XT does a better job of gathering light and I like the higher magnification, which is why I bought it. I use a t-20 with one and the light from the guy in the UK on the other one. Both lights are great and let me shoot reliably out to 200 yds. I've killed one coyote at 225 with my XT. I've used a higher nm (920nm) light on the XT and the coyotes don't act like they see it. It just doesn't light things up enough to suit me. The scope is better tuned to the 850 nm source. 850 nm IR sources are dirty emitters and put out some light in the red spectrum and I think that's what the coyotes see. You can see some of that light when the 850 nm lights are turned on. If you can see it, the coyote can.

I use the on board light for closer work and the T20 for longer range stuff. I've got the T20 rigged with a pressure switch and can add it any time I think I need to.

I do not think you can go wrong with the Photon. Some have found it to have focus issues, I have not. It is not as good as a Gen3 scope, but it's very workable, and for my money it's a good working tool. I've got Gen 3 and I've used an X-sight and I prefer the Photon for general purpose night hunting. You can see better without supplemental light with the Gen3 scope, but the Photon gets really close to the same capability with a T20 and a WHOLE lot less invested. The x-sight wouldn't see anything without an IR light, the Photon will see some on a moonlight night and really comes into it with supplemental ir.

Sorry I can show you any videos from what I've done with mine, but there are plenty of them out there and all I've seen are good representations of the scopes ability. In fact, the scope generally outperforms the videos.
 
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