Not IR specific but in general principle - my guess is that it’d probably come down to how easy it’ll be for you to zero and confirm zero of the IR laser. My shooting situation for the last several years is such that it has been pretty difficult to obtain a really good zero on normal irons/optics and then verify it whenever the need arose. It has been a giant pain in the ass, much moreso than I expected. If you have the land to shoot whenever you want, at the distance you’d zero it, I doubt it’d be that much of an issue.
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What is your blood pressure like ? Zeroing an IR Laser at night under NODS is a PITA. being able to shoot on your own property (with a suppressor to placate the neighbors) may help mitigate this a little but it’s still worth the differnce in price to me.
Lasers are expensive but to me the ease of daylight zero allowing me to more easily switch it between guns makes it a buy once, cry once investment.
Yeah, saying that you want budget NV is like saying you want budget European sports cars. Now that I’m down a few $10k in this rabbit hole, here are my recommendations for some who wants a decent general purpose NV set up at the lowest possible cost. First, get a PVS-14. This monocular is extremely versatile in that it can be handheld, mounted to a helmet, mounted to headgear, or placed behind a red dot optic. If you plan to use it exclusively for home defense, get a DBAL-A3 or ATPIAL-C which have enough IR illumination to handle what you will encounter around your home or vehicle. If you plan to hunt with it, get a DBAL-D2 which has a much more powerful LED IR illuminator (at the expense of weight and a faint red glow that no animal would see). This setup will cost you about $4.5K depending on the timing of sales and promotions.
When it comes to thermal alternatives to NV, there are some pluses and minuses. IMHO, the entry point for a decent thermal setup is also about $4.5K but you are talking about a thermal scope that is dedicated to a particular rifle. This is great if you want to hunt hogs, but leaves a lot on the table when clearing your home.
Just mi dos pesos from an hombre who has played this game from multiple angles.
Last edited by Sensei; 12-16-2018 at 11:49 AM.
I like my rifles like my women - short, light, fast, brown, and suppressed.
"First, get a PVS-14"
Thanks for the experienced summary.
I'd be grateful for any insight you have on which PVS-14. TNVC, for example, has 4 of them:
1) TNV/PVS-14 HARRIS GEN3 PINNACLE $3258 (TNVC assembles Harris parts)
2) TNV/PVS-14 L3 GEN3 OMNI VIII $3195 (TNVC assembled L3 parts)
3) TNV/PVS-14 L3 GEN3 OMNI VIII WHITE PHOSPHOR (THIN-FILMED) $3935 (TNVC assembled, L3 parts, thin film)
4) TNV/PVS-14 L3 GEN3 UN-FILMED WHITE PHOSPHOR $4020 (TNVC assembled, L3 parts, unfilmed)
The description for #1 says "Harris PINNACLE tubes are feature a thinner thin (??film?? - ed)
that allows them to capture and process more light, providing the user with a brighter image.
So #3 and 4 are white phospor instead of green (I don't know how much that improves things?).
#1, #3, and #4 might work better in very low light levels, at the expense of being less rugged (particularly #4, see below)??
I'd probably mostly use it head mounted, just for fun, but would like the option to use it on a 5.56 rifle. Any sense on
how much ruggedness you lose for the higher sensitivities, and how much sensitivity you get for the extra $$?
(I'm not married to TNVC or these brands; I just looked there because my sense is they are a reputable company,
other suggestions welcomed)
FWIW: What the descriptions say about weapons mounting:
#1 "These tubes are weapons rated for 5.56x45mm NATO."
#2 "These tubes are weapons rated for 5.56x45mm NATO."
#3 PVS-14’s can be mounted on helmets for hands-free use, behind weapon optics, or simply as a handheld device."
#4 "However, the PVS-14 housing is not. PVS-14’s and other NVG’s are designed to be worn on
the head 99% of the time. Their lightweight polymer housings are not designed to stand up to heavy
caliber weapon shock."
I can't comment on the durability of it but white phosphor is incredible. Then again, even PVS-15s are a huge difference.