Scope for night?

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unloaded

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Looking for a scope to use day/night. For an AR shots under 200yds. These are two that I'm looking at right now, let me know if you have any opinions on them or better options.

Valdada IOR Hunting Rifle Scope 4x 32mm 7A Reticle Matte (or maybe 4A reticle)
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/966987/valdada-ior-hunting-rifle-scope-4x-32mm-7a-reticle-matte

Weaver Super Slam Euro Style Rifle Scope 30mm Tube 1.5-6x 24mm First Focal Illuminated German #4 Reticle Matte
http://www.midwayusa.com/product/383768/...4-reticle-matte
 
Unloaded,
It may depend upon how much you are willing to spend. One of my AR-15's is a Bushmaster Varminter. It is set up for night hunting with a Digisight N550 Day/Night scope. It was $1400.00 from Optics Planet. I was out last night for 3 hours, 3/4 moon and clear night. We made several stands. I could easily see out 250+ yards with just the IR emitter internal to the N550. When I turn on "da Torch" from TNVC, I was seeing clearly out to 400 yards. The N550 lights up the night far better than my XLR-250 lights. The XLR's get me out maybe 250 yards, but it's not a "bright" 250 yards. With the N550 it's amazingly clear.

The neat thing about the N550 is that you can use it during the day as well. It does not work off of the same technology as standard night vision. It is easy to sight in, you can easily create your own reticles, video your hunts, and much more.
 
I cant give an opinion on those listed,but I am wondering why you are looking at smaller objective lense sizes.I have a 3-9x50mm on my AR.We do most of our hunting in the dark or low light with no lights and the large O lense really makes a big difference.Along with heavy duplex reticle we have no problems at all,and most of our shooting is 200 yards or less also.The 3-9x50 is a Redfield Revolution,lifetime warrenty,made by Leupold,under $220.Good Luck!!
 
Originally Posted By: mikeygI cant give an opinion on those listed,but I am wondering why you are looking at smaller objective lense sizes.I have a 3-9x50mm on my AR.We do most of our hunting in the dark or low light with no lights and the large O lense really makes a big difference.Along with heavy duplex reticle we have no problems at all,and most of our shooting is 200 yards or less also.The 3-9x50 is a Redfield Revolution,lifetime warrenty,made by Leupold,under $220.Good Luck!!

I'm with Mike on this. When it comes to night hunting and using non-night vision scopes, bigger is better when it comes to objective lense. Also remember that the lower the power the better also. 3-9 is great, 2-12 would be even better. Coming from personal experience, the better the glass, the brighter. When I first started calling, I used my .280. It had a cheap Tasco 3-9x50 World Class. I never realized how terrible the glass was until I replaced it with a Nikon Buckmaster (not top of the line, but it was all I could afford at the time). That's when I realized what spending a few extra dollars on a scope really does.

I still can't afford to spend a lot on scopes (growing family & mortgage), but my go-to night scopes are a 2.5-10x50 Bushnell Elite 4200, 3-15x50 Weaver Super Slam, Zeiss Conquest 3-9x40, and the above mentioned Buckmaster (still one of the best values in scopes in my opinion!).
 
Well, it's not just for nights only. I've been wanting to go lower on magnification for a while. I like a big FOV and usually have my scopes at 4x or less when hunting. I thought I might kill two birds with one stone here. Both have big exit pupils and much better glass than the Burris FF2's I normally use. The only time I crank up my scopes is when working up a load.
 
Fixed power scopes are always going to be brighter as they have about
half the lenses of a variable. And I would stay with a 40 or 44 mm objective
in the 4x range and a 50 if you get into a 7x or larger. (My statement is based
on all other things being equal)
 
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I have to tell you I Quality scope of any Mfg. will work.. In Iowa I have shot at night a 1.75 X 5 Burris FF a Weaver 3x9 40mm and a Redfield 4x12 40mm all 25yrs or older. I have shot coons & jackrabbits at night with no light. I even once shot a beaver in a corn field at night about 75yds went to pick him up after the shot and triped on it when I went to retrive it was very dark as I could not see it till I kicked it with my boot. All with out a light. I never could see the need for a 50mm lens even the Burris with a 24mm lens is clear when turned down.. Most hunting was done on a snow covered ground.
 
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I would say getting the right reticle is as important as the specific scope. I ran a heavy duplex Nikon Buckmasters 4x-12x-50mm on my AR while in New Mexico. It is the same scope I run on my combo gun here and on my deer rigs. I made a 200yd shot on a coyote during the day as well as shooting at prairie dogs out past 300yds with no hinderances. The same scope was whacking coyotes at night from 80yds to 275yds. It is clear and bright, but the heavy duplex is easy to pickup for fast daytime targets and easy to see at night with low light.
 
i was going to go with a vortex viper pst in 2.5-10x44, but it is back ordered. unfortunately the fixed power scopes generally dont have large objectives. i run fixed 12x40 leupolds on my ar's and my 243, and up to now on my 300 fireball, but the 12x40 is just not bright enough. i have 4.5-14x50 30mm tube leupolds on my ar10's, and they are BRIGHT. but i dont need that much magnification on a 200 yard night gun, and of late i am not real impressed with leupolds.

ideally i would like a fixed 6x with a 50mm objective.
 
I have an acog TA01 4x32 on my r15 .223, it works for me during day and night (illuminated). No batteries needed and the reticle has subtensions out to 800 yards in 100 yrd increments, although I question my ability to hit something that far with .223 and 4x. I also use the subtensions to range coyotes. My handloaded 55 sierra blitzkings match the subtensions pretty good. Eye relief is tight but on the .223 it is fine. Larger recoiling caliber rifles may bruise your eyebrow. My larger caliber ar10 has a nightforce nxs on it that I love, but is pricey.
 
Unleaded,
I actually have the Weaver Euro that you mentioned and I absolutely love it. I have low magnification scopes on all my guns. I live in Maine though so long shots are not the norm. I fully understand what the others say about the larger objective gathering more light. That being said, I did not originally buy this scope for night hunting. Mainly target shooting and dawn dusk coyote hunting on my AR-15. I have since purchased and mounted the XLR250 kill light on it and am more than happy. The lighted reticle shows up brilliantly in both red and green against the kill light background. It does wash out slightly on the higher two settings, which are not needed anyway. So far, no disappointments at all. Not trying to contradict the above guys, all valid points. Just giving my opinion from someone who actually owns one of the scopes you are considering. If I must give a negative, it would be that it is a tad on the heavy side. It's built like a tank though and the weight really doesn't bother me that much. Good luck in your search.
 
I'm running the Mueller 3-10 sport dot here . I've been running it for 2 years now and I'm well pleased for the money. That illuminated dot makes a heck of a difference at night. At first I was iffy about the dot being accurate, but I've been able to keep 1" groups at 100 off the bench so it's definitely minute of coyote capable out to all night ranges. I'll also say I'm impressed with it's toughness. It's in and out of the truck, slung around, banged up like only night hunting can do and it's still holding zero just fine.

Joe Bob Outfitters has these for $160 right now.
 
Some information that is good to know:



A 50mm objective does not gather or transmit more light to your eye than a 40/42mm objective in a 1" tube. It is the the exit pupil and the light transmission quality of the glass that determines low light visibility and what you can see at sunrise, sunset, and at night. The exit pupil should be as large as the human eye under the same conditions. The exit pupil is calculated by dividing the objective diameter by the power setting on the scope. At night a 42mm objective scope set on 6 power will give you a 7mm exit pupil which is optimal and matches your eye and transmits the maximum light the eye can see.

From Nikon: "As far as 30mm vs. 1", they do not gather or transmit any more light than a 1" scope, but they provide a larger sweet spot to enhance resolution."

From Leupold: "The key to a scope providing a bright image to the shooter is not how much light it "gathers" but how much usable light it transmits. "Gathers, transmits, what's the difference?" Quite a lot, actually. First of all, rifle scope do not "gather" light, they transmit it. Yes, large objective scopes allow more light to enter the scope, but that by itself does not guarantee that the image will be any brighter than a smaller objective scope's. In other words, the better the glass and coatings you get, the better your night hunting."

Since a healthy eye pupil is 7, think in numbers of 7:

First number represents magnification setting, 7 represents healthy exit pupil, last number is your objective lens size.

1X7= 7MM
2X7= 14MM
3X7= 21MM
4X7=28MM
5X7=35MM
6X7=42MM
7X7=49MM
7X8=56MM

FYI- The quality of the glass and the size/type of the reticle make a big difference in what you can see in low light conditions as well. Not to mention; what looks good to someone else might not look good to you which in my case would be red dots, holographic, and/or reflex type sights (look blurry to me)

Also, some illuminated reticles can drown out or obstruct the sight picture and/or light up the tube at night because the setting/adjustment control doesn't allow you to dim it enough.

I have a trijicon accupoint, Nikon Monarch, Bushnell 4200, and other scopes as well. Dollar for dollar for hunting at night, day, bad weather, etc the 4200 is a great buy. IMO
 
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good info TXCOONDOG, will have to try this info out to see if it works. I've allways been under the impression that you must keep the power turned down to see clearly during low light hours, and also when using a light at night.
 
Definately larger front objectives (50MM or higher) and lower magnification will give you the best performance at night.
 
I am waiting on a 30mm P.E.P.R. so I can set up my R-15 with a recently aquired Leupold VXR 3X-9X. It has a 50mm obj. with the 30mm tube, CDS Turret and FireDot Duplex. I have an upgraded weapon light that clamps on the forearm rail.

R-15Light.jpg


I'm not really much of a night hunter but from time to time here on the ranch a bit better low light sight picture can be helpful. I am hoping that if I crank it back to 3X it will prove to be useful.

It will be interesting to see how it compares to my VX3 40mm objectives.

Any advice for me?
 
Originally Posted By: DoubleCKI am waiting on a 30mm P.E.P.R. so I can set up my R-15 with a recently aquired Leupold VXR 3X-9X. It has a 50mm obj. with the 30mm tube, CDS Turret and FireDot Duplex. I have an upgraded weapon light that clamps on the forearm rail.

R-15Light.jpg


I'm not really much of a night hunter but from time to time here on the ranch a bit better low light sight picture can be helpful. I am hoping that if I crank it back to 3X it will prove to be useful.

It will be interesting to see how it compares to my VX3 40mm objectives.

Any advice for me?

where did you get that fore-arm rail,i need 1 for my r-15?
 


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