My FIL has tasked me with procuring some NV optics for him. He is looking for a NV scope and also a NV optic that is not weapon mounted. These would be used on his property that is about three acres, so no need for magnification on either. He's semi-rural and wants them for hog eradication and security. Shots or identification of objects past 200 yards is unnecessary.

Budget is $4,000 for both. I don't have the time to learn about brands, options, features, read forums, etc. and am looking for yall's advice as a shortcut to feeling decent about dropping that kind of coin on something I know very little about.

Do you prefer thermal or NV?

Do you prefer a dedicated scope or a mount in front of existing scope, like the ATN-PS28 series? Is my thinking flawed that a mount-in-front device would serve fine as a monocular as well?

Which brands are good and which should be avoided?

Any recommendations on an exact model that you like and fits the above requirements? If you had $4k to spend how would you spread it between the scope and the other optic?

Thanks in advance for the help.

PVS-14 with an Aimpoint T-1, if you can get the package in your budget.

Let me get him set up with a handheld thermal unit for scouting and then a gen2 NV unit to weapon mount. I can do that for $3500 and leave extra room for a kickass IR to help things out.

One thing that may be problematic, what cal is he mounting on? Gen 2+ and Gen 3+ units don't do well on 308s.

Good brands:

Night Optics
TNVC
Armasite

Decent:

ATN
Pulsar
Bering

Stay away from:

Someone that builds these in their garage.

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PVS-14 with an Aimpoint T-1, if you can get the package in your budget.

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I'll second this. Should be able to get those under 4k if ya shop around.

PVS-14

Aimpoint T-1

cheaper optic

There are other options for optics as well, and ya should check with EyeGuy. He might be able to handle everything.

ETA: EyeGuy replied before I was done typing...

The caliber rating won't be an issue. The rifle options are 5.56, 6.5 Grendel, and 300BLK, in a mix of bolts and gas guns.

To be clear, I'm looking for two separate optics that total $4k or under. The PVS-14 is exactly what I'm looking for with its modularity between weapon mounted/hand held/goggle mounted, but two of those looks like $6-7k. I don't care if both units are the same if there is a lesser version of the PVS-14 that functions similarly.

EyeGuy, a handheld thermal unit and a weapon mounted NV unit sounds good.

As usual, I agree with Eyeguy... mostly.

I wouldn't shy away from Pulsar's thermal. To me they are good bang for the buck.

I assume he's planning to hunt other places with it as well? If not, why blow the whole budget? For his place he could do just fine with digital.

I would get a thermal monocular. You'll see animals with it that you may miss with night vision alone.

That list was in reference to NV only. On thermals, majority are using the same cores so you won't see as huge of a difference between them. Pulsar does make a good thermal for the price. The handheld I was quoting out was FLIR but a lot of good stuff out there. Night Optics thermals (which I have) are a little overpriced after their price jump last year... This is my opinion having gotten to play with a lot of other ones. Great product but could be a bit cheaper.

Here's a link to a video of pigs in the brush at my place. It was filmed on a Pulsar XD19A. Unfortunately I didn't have a way to get video but we couldn't see them with a PVS14 right off. After finding them with the thermal we were able to make them out with the PVS14.

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That list was in reference to NV

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Agreed. I'm not a huge fan of their digisight line. I think there are better options for the money.

Have both night vision and thermal. I'd suggest both since they are complimentary. See if Eyeguy can hook you up with decent thermal monocular in $1500 range. Then see about him getting you a D740 gen 2 NV scope. Think they were $2800 or so last time I looked at Tactical Night vision company. A little more than your budget , but not much. May add $150 or so for good IR illuminator (if it's super dark, cloudy etc.). The video provided from the pulsar above shows thee need for thermal . You'd never see that just walking or driving by using NV alone, with thermal you will see it, then shoot with NV.

Well after looking some this morning, I can't figure how to achieve your budget for both devices at $4K. Looks like entry level Thermal monocular is $2K. The TNVC D 740 is $2800-2900. This puts you at $5k. The good news is the entry level Pulsar looks like it's better than what I have which is all you will need, it will work great.

If there is no way to afford both, I'd choose the thermal viewer for now and save the extra $ to put towards D 740 to be added at later date. A high power weapon mounted flashlight will suffice in the meantime. This way, your dad can scan the entire field or yard or whatever in just a second or 2, if he sees pig etc., he gets weapon ready, turns on light and can shoot within a second or so. I find this method preferable to using a NV weapon mounted weapon to scan and shoot. Good luck.

In my experience thermal wins hands down. If you had the money, it would be nice to have both. But if you gotta choose, I would go thermal.

The thermal i have experience with is FLIR. Can't recall the night vision brand, but it is possible it was of lower quality and that is why I liked the thermal better.

We have both in the safe and the night vision stay there a lot more than the thermal.


Both are fun as hell, especially the first time you use them.

Handheld thermal from FLIR... $2000.

Armasight Gen2+ Sight $1500

Leaves $500 for tax and a better IR.

Thanks for all of the input. I'm liking EyeGuy's and other's advice of a FLIR and NV sight with an IR.

Maybe I can talk him up to a PVS-14, we'll see.