I booked a hunt in Georgia in pecan fields. Apparently covered up in hogs. The guide offers ARs with thermal. My mission is to use my rifle (just on one hog then switch to semi-auto goodness) so I'm ready to buy entry level night vision. I've all but decided on the ATN x-sight. The guide says the shots are all within 100yds so I am looking for an affordable IR light for out to 100yds roughly. I don't want to spend $200 for a light on a $600 scope of I can avoid it.

Thanks for any help,
Dale

Simple...
https://smile.amazon.com/Evolva-Future-T...ywords=ir+light

And a mount. Could be any 1" scope ring you have laying around extra or something like...
https://smile.amazon.com/Olight-Offset-M...ight+rail+mount

I like these. They are offset and you don't need a tool to get them on or off.

Well that was easy! Awesome! Thank you very much

Any projected issues mounting it on a bolt action? It's a 308 savage hog Hunter. I remember reading something about eye relief could be a problem and first review on Amazon says was recoil sensitive on a 308 bolt

I would highly recommend saving some coin and buying an entry level thermal first. The X-Sight works (I have one and it's been on a .308 AR) and with a good illuminator you can see pretty well. The issue is the weapon mounted illuminator also illuminates the smoke from your round, making a quick followup shot or even a quick survey if you hit, very difficult. I gave up and bought an entry Thermal.

I was out Sat night with a Night Vision Monocular and my Thermal Monocular. Missed an oppty to shoot my first Bobcat as I never saw him with the NV, but he was easily seen with the Thermal when I picked it up. He walked down into a ravine by the time I got my rifle up.

There's a post here from not too long ago showing what I'm talking about.

Charlie

Charlie, while thermal would be superior in most hunting (not necessarily for navigating) circumstances, entry level thermal costs more than the whole rifle and entry level night vision setup, potentially more than for 2. It can be hard for folks to justify spending that kind of money for limited hunting opportunities or before they have ever gotten a chance to go. Thermal really is a significant investment.

Then there are those who would point out that entry level thermal is nothing compared to high end thermal. You can always find something better. This issue really becomes how much you are willing to spend and willing to risk.

However, maybe a better choice for Dalep would be to do a one time rental of thermal from Tyler (bearclaw) over at Ultimate Night Vision. He could have thermal for his special hunt and then decide is it is worthwhile to save up the money for his own unit.

I really appreciate all the input guys! I actually did a hunt with high end thermal in April of this year. It was awesome but the amount I'll use it I can never justify the cost. That said, $600 for something I may use 5 times a year is easier to swallow for sure. You still have your xsight and want to sell it Charlie?:)

As for follow up shots, I'll likely be using it on my bolt action rifle exclusively. We don't have the sounders of hogs like I see in a lot of videos. Where I hunt I may see 5 pigs on camera at most. I really like the idea I can use the scope during the day hunts to record hunts as well. I'll be on a javelina hunt in February plus all the deer hunting I do here. Unfortunately with the recent hurricane it'll be weeks at least before I can even reach hunting area do to the water being 6' high where I hunt

I'm in the usual group, said IR-NV was all I needed...

Then I bought the NVM14 NV Monocular used ($1,000). You'll likely end up with a Monocular as looking through the scope all the time gets REALLY old. Then I bought the ATN-OTS Thermal Monocular used ($2k), hey why not try a Thermal Monocular? Got really frustrated with the above mentioned X-Sight problems and bought a base model used Thor for $2,200 from a THF member. It's not the quality of what DNS uses with his videos, but it is Thermal. Do you see a pattern here?

Dalep

I thought the X-Sight would be a really cool day scope to, for the reasons you said, until the batteries died while I was squeezing the trigger on the biggest buck I ever would have shot. I kid you not. My Leupold doesn't need batteries.

I will sell you my X-Sight. I sent it back to ATN as it was intermittently shutting off when I would shoot. I expect they'll send a new one vs repair, we'll see. I'll let you know when I get it back if it's somehow repaired or a new replacement.

I did do a couple of rentals from UNV as well, highly recommended.

Charlie

No joke, I'm planning to make the purchase in first of November (taking the fiancé to Disney the 20th which isn't cheap) so if you get it back I'd happily buy yours.

Your horror story does worry me lol. The scope dosnt have low battery indicator? Maybe it'll end up as only a night vision scope...

Maybe I need to learn the hard way but... My savage is a $400 gun. One day I will end up with a AR10 build that will deserve a "proper" scope. Currently the misses and I are trying to spend our money on experiences and trying to limit toy spending. Counting down the 11 months to Scotland hunt:)

You can RENT a thermal for a weekend, week, or a season. Something you might want to check into to for this hunt.

I looked at rentals but saw for 3 days it was $200-400. If I'm worried about having high end optics I can just use the guns provided by the guide. I'm not prepared to spend a large chunk of cash on higher end scope and if rent a scope it can be used towards a purchase but end result will be me buying a sub $1000 scope.

I really do appreciate the input and hard push for getting a better scope. Maybe I'm dumb but if it's the case, I'll have to learn the hard way. If I decide I need to upgrade I may lose a couple hundred dollars but will sell on eBay. The purchase of a high dollar scope isn't in the cards so I'll at least get a year of use out of it

I have an XSIGHT II 5-20. I use a Flash Hider / Brake combo as well as locate my light forward and below the Flash Hider / Brake. Makes for an excellent shot and screen distortion is minimal.

I greatly appreciate the tip!

If you end up with the X sight invest in a small external battery pack and let the scope run off it instead of eating up your internal batteries. I struggled with the power issue for months and months started using the external and never had power issue again. Put a stock pack on and keep battery in it and run the cable to the scope and you are good to go.

Yeah I have that. Works well.

The new ATN X-Sight II comes with an IR light but it is useless after 125 yards. I would recommend the T-%0 on Ebay or Amazon which will be good up to 300 yards or so (this is what I have on mine).

Below is a video of the stock IR light in heavily wooded area at 100 yards. You can see it is not the best.



Below is a video of 100 yards with a T-38 IR light from Ebay - a good bit of a difference.



Below is a daytime kill video at 40 yards with base magnification

Any tips on what battery pack to use? I am planning to start with the IR light DNS suggested so only other thing I'll need is a battery pack.

Thinking I will try and mount the IR on the barrel so I can get it out on the end to help with preventing sight issues for follow up shots

http://www.strikeindustries.com/shop/ind...ml#.V__DdBlRXqC

That's what I use. Not sure if it's allowed to post products n if it's not then apologies ahead of time.

Any external pack will work with a 2 amp outlet. As a rule of thumb you will get 1 hour of use per 1000Mah. So a 20,000 MAH battery pack will give you about 20 hours of use on the X-Sight.

15.00 at walmart.com and free shipping

https://www.walmart.com/ip/20000mah-Doub...-Black/46519216

That $15 battery pack seems like a real cheap option to prevent the worst case scenario of power failure on the scope. That was my one big concern and that seems pretty well solved. Buy two of those and keep batteries internal of the scope and shouldn't ever run out on a hunt

This is the battery pack I use and I never have an issue. I keep a good set of Lithium Ion batteries in the scope just in case. I have hunted for 15 hours straight with no issues with this battery pack.

Don't want to drag up an old post but need more help... I know, I'm needy.

Went to my local shop to mail out a rifle. Decided to ask what he can get an X sight for. Turns out he can get the lower magnification plus his markup to me for $425. Compared to $600 everywhere that seems a no brainier. Unfortunately it's on back order which I've read has been an issue all over.

He then asked me if I knew about the photon (sales rep has recently been in to promote them). He's calling tomorrow to get me a price. He can get those ASAP and if it's around $100 less it seems like a great choice and I'm inpatient.

What's suggestion for an affordable dvr? The other perks of the x-sight didn't really appeal to me but the built in dvr was a big bonus

Make sure it is an X-Sight II 3x14 - and that is a very cheap price (only 25.00 above dealer cost) so it is a little skeptical for that price.

The Ballistic Calculation is an awesome feature as it will auto adjust the reticle to compensate for distances. You can load your ammo profile into the scope and it can pull weather from your phone for the calculations to be dead on.

Also the WIFI feature is awesome. If you are teaching someone how to shoot you can guide them when to pull teh trigger, how to aim, how to be steady how breathing effects your steadyness ect..

The features that seam trivial come in handy once you start using them.

But my favorite feature is recording your hunt.

Note the 3x14 is a larger field of view at closer distances, BUT it is not as clear at farther distances and higher magnifications. This is NOT a glass scope, but the HD display helps on the X II models.

If it doesn't cause the scope to freeze.

X-sight does have a lot of bells ans whistles, which a lot of people like. Function is what matters most for me.

If you buy a photon you will need to buy 30 mm ring mount. Not sure where you live but those are harder to find around me. Not sure if you have a short notice issue. Just something to consider.

The GPS is what causes the scope to freeze. Make sure the GPS is turned off. If it is searching for signal there is a good chance it will freeze the scope. That is the biggest flaw so far on teh X- Sight II.