whats the best brand of night vision scopes

I am using a USNV 443 sight right now and it's pretty nice for the cost. The Raptor4x is about the best but cost twice as much and I don't beleive Excalibur is selling in to the Public right know as all there stuff is going straight to the military.maybe a used one out there some where for sell.? As far as brands USNV, Excalibur have been th nicest for me to deal with.I bought a AM III mono from Kerif NV my last buy and Ken was very nice to deal with I beleive he sells several different brands of NV to and has a web sight to.
 
I have an ATN 7900 3rd gen with the infrared illuminator. For the money {$1800.00} it is not bad at all. I also have a Litten 845 MKII that is absolutely excellent, has the red dot reticle. Both are on 17 HMR's. Whatever you get make sure you get the infrared illuminator, you will need it to see the eyes glow and to light up the real dark nights that most predators move on. Good luck.
 
Everyone uses tubes from ITT or litton. Grades may vary depending on contract and Mil spec to A to D commerical spec. If it is true mil spec unit cost will be over 3500++ dollars.
Some units will come with system or tube sheets giving you tube ##s so you know what you are getting. Price matters as if something is to cheap to be true in NV it isn't true.You can get a A-grade commerical spec tube from about any company if you ask for it then it is just what housing they offer it in and how you like it. Optics matter as if the optics suck the performance will be lower even if the tube is high grade. Tasco to a leupold to Zeiss. night scopes are no different glass matters.
 
From looking on the internet there are a ton out there. I would say that your best bet is the more expensive the better. Here is a site that may give you some more options, opticsplus.net. Good luck.

Chris

Optics plus
 
This is what Steve Roe from optics plus says to answer your question.
"The ATN is much cleaner and clearer for the money. The night leopard Gen 1 spotting scope will put most others to shame costing twice as much..."
Good Luck and Happy Hunting
 
Well, I guess they would be pushing ATN; it's about all they sell. If you want an objective opinion, do a search on the Night Vision Forum, ATN is generally considered low-end, using poorer quality image tubes. Gen 1 tubes are 100% Russian made, and the Gen 3 tubes are indeed made by two US Mfgrs., ATT and Litton. The quality gear is made and sold by US Night Vision and a few other US companies using top-end US built tubes and quality optics. Gen 4 is a bunch of hype- there is no official Gen 4. Unfortunately in the NVG business there are few standards, and sellers can pretty well claim what they want to. The better units are sold with "tube data sheets", which list the specs for the image tube in the unit. Top of the heap commercially at present is the USNV-14 mini monocular in Gen 3, 64 lp/mm, true mil-spec quality, as Uncle is currently buying quite a few of these to add to the Mil-spec Litton PVS-14, which at present is nearly impossible to find commercially. Many manufacturers use housings and image tubes from the same sorces, so it often boils down to who has the best warranty/customer service, and uses the best quality in their components. USNV is hard to beat in that respect, IMHO.
usnv-14_small.jpg
 
Well you are right there about companys. I am a true NV junky buying aleast two gen 3 units a year and have for many years straight now.Been messing around will all types of NV for about 10 years now. The best companys I have bought from over the years are USNV,and Excalibur.Excalibur is selling No NV units this year to the little the little guys like us as the Military is getting all there units at this time.I got the last American Eagle III "prime" mono to ship in the last 6 months and mostlikey the next 1 year plus from them. All are going to military contracts and I was very lucky to find one and then had to back order it for a long wait.Without the help of Kerif Night Vision I would have not had one to buy Thanks to Ken at Kerif NV for helping me out. Nice alittle unit it has become my favorite unit for general viewing and the performance is well above military Omini 5 min specs. The USNV-14 I have been using was one of the first sold and it is a very,very nice unit.First rate tube and optics,plus it can be weapon mounted and head mounted making it a good choice for a NV system that will do it all. In NV you get what you pay for period and don't be a fool and think any different. a $1900 gen 3 weapon sight or mono will not compare to a $2900 weapon sight or mono 99% of the time. If it did I would be all over it. Yes sometimes the difference will only be maybe 15% or 25% total performace difference if tubes are the same with better optics being the differnce but it can be alot greater with a better class tube and optic both combined. Make sure you can return the unit form whoever you buy from in case you are not happy and watch out for the small print and 10%-15% restocking fees some somes have.These could cost you several hundred dolars if you choose to return the unit. Overall most companys are honest and treat youy well,but there are bad guys out there just looking to make a buck so be carefull.
 


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