Night Vision scope owners

C

cmatera

Active member
What's the best way to sight in a night vision scope ie. D-740, D-760? I know you're supposed to use a day cover if sighting in during the day, but does this get you accurate at night? Are there some type of special targets to use with an IR illuminator for final sight in?
 
you don't need anything special. I used shoot n see targets but didn't really need them. if you want to practice a bit at night at some distance, take a 1 gallon milk jug an fill it with water. sit it on top of an old 5 gallon bucket and see if you can hit it at whatever the longest distance you are comfortable shooting at. the milk jug filled with water will be easy to see a hit without running down and checking the target each time. do this after you sight it in with a regular target.

maybe someone has a better idea... the first NV scope I ever sighted in, I thought the same way you did, so I used a chem light as a target. it was simply too bright. just use a target with some contrast to it and you will be fine.
 
sight in with day cover. I've had no issue with zero from day to night. Though u need to use the same bullets. If u sight in with say a Hollow point and then shoot a fmj there will be a difference
 
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The hot setup to site in a dedicated NV scope is a 8" round black shoot'an see target.Wait till afternoon when the sun will not cause glare.Always site in with the day with cover on!!I shoot off a bench with bags.My NV scope has a dot reticle so I center in the 8" circle,then sqeeze off a round,I then check the point of impact with my spotter scope,I will then make windage and elevation changes as needed.I can usally get about 1" groups at 100 yards with my 2.5 magnification NV scope.During the season I zero every week on my NV scope,they are heavier and do not have the precise reticle controls that quality day scopes have,so watch them,they will stray,you will need to keep on it. I use the same target all the time and then put the the stickers over the holes.The large circle gives you good contrast to center on.
Leave the IR at home it has no bearing or importance for sighting in at all,unless you sight in at night witch is just a plane waste of time and ammo.
As I said the NV scopes do not have as precise reticle adjustments as day scopes,so if you going to shoot dogs at extended ranges,make a dope chart that takes in account the center of your bore to the center of your NV scope,and according to the ammo you site in and hunt with.
Use only holdover at night,do not try to click your elevation up on the scope,its night you cant see to adjust,and the dog is not going to wait for you.
Print your hold over dope in big print and memorize it,it will be worth it some day when a dog hangs up out at 300 yards.
 
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I sighted my D740 in Last Saturday night, started at 25 yards, 50 yards and then 100.

If you cannot see a target through your NV scope at these distances, how the [beeep] are you gonna see an animal??
 
Originally Posted By: BAYSTATE YOTEWait till afternoon when the sun will not cause glare.Always site in with the day with cover on!!Leave the IR at home it has no bearing or importance for sighting in at all,unless you sight in at night witch is just a plane waste of time and ammo.
As I said the NV scopes do not have as precise reticle adjustments as day scopes

baystate, why do you say to only sight in with day cover? The first scope I had specifically told you not to do that. it was a gen 2+ US Nightvision scope but it didn't work anyway worth a crap anyway... (parallax issues).

as far as it being a waste of ammo sighting in at night, i don't understand either. I have done so at night with less than 10 rounds.

I have never owned a D740 or 760, but have not seen any difference in being able to tune my ATN NightArrow in at all vs my Leupolds.

I am mostly curious about the sighting in during the day part. is it because you can see your target with the spotting scope? I can do that at night with the aid of a good flashlight or riding back and forth to it if is out a long way. just trying to figure out if I am missing something. thanks
 
I switched rifles and had to resight-in my D-740 V-gain yesterday evening. I started around dusk with the lens cover on. As the light dimmed I flipped the cover and lowered the varibale gain finishing up the sight in. There wasn't any POI change with the lens cover on or flipped opened at 75 yards. I sight in the M845 the same way,Raptor same way, and older D-740 the same way.
 
Originally Posted By: Phantom223 I switched rifles and had to resight-in my D-740 V-gain yesterday evening. I started around dusk with the lens cover on. As the light dimmed I flipped the cover and lowered the varibale gain finishing up the sight in. There wasn't any POI change with the lens cover on or flipped opened at 75 yards. I sight in the M845 the same way,Raptor same way, and older D-740 the same way.

I seem to recall my manual stating not to turn the scope on with the day cover for more than a few minutes (doesn't sound like you are doing that) or it could damage the scope and that it was not intended to be used in day. I have moved it between rifles but have always sighted at night. I just never wanted to take the chance of damaging it.

for the time being, I am using a PVS-14 behind an Aimpoint so I simply add or remove the PVS-14 to switch between day or night and my POI never changes because the Aimpoint never changes. I am limited to 3x or 1x both day and night. the ATN Night Arrow is dedicated 4x on a different rifle.

I just need to start shootin some yotes!
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I zero during the day with cover on, @ 100 yards, a black shoot & see target works well, its good to have a target that is a dark contrast to the background as in a dark target on a white backer board. No difference in day and night zero. I will also sight in my thermal on a steel target that I will heat up with a propane torch on a hot day. I found that the Vortex ballistic calculator on their web site works well and will use the truing feature double checking the dope at the farthest range and truing the results, then print it out on photo paper in large text with mils corrections that coincide with my mill dot reticle from 0-650 yards in 50 yard increments as well as a 10mph cross wind . Tape it on my for end and cover it with a brown sock that will slide over it to hide the white paper. I like to double check zeros at night but have not found any difference in POI. and I have shot hogs @ 100 yards during the day with the day cover on, again dark contrast on a light background, and I do no tleave teh scope on during the daylight zero, I turn it off while i check the target so it is on only for a minute or two
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243 superformance 58gr V-max, crono at 3750 fps out fo a 20" +.8 mill at 50 yards 0.0 at 100, -.3 at 300 -1.6 at 500 yards -3.0 at 650 yards, have shot it at 500 on a full size IPSC steel target with good hits at night
 
I found that the first mill is the top of the line that starts the mill dots, not the first mill dot, the bottom of the cross hair is approx. 0.3 of a mill my POI at 300 yards I just give it a wag on .5 holds as in 500 yards with this load is 1.6 mills. The stadium line or thick ones on the outside to be approx .6 good for ranging
Now I have taken a coyote decoy and placed it at known ranges and ranged it to see what the mills were in reference to a 12” chest on a coyote and found it to be with this scope, tuff to range at night on the fly but find this gets me in the fur, my only problem is hogs come in so many sizes its hard to figure
1.mill =300 yards
.8 = 400 yards
.4 = 500 yards
.3 = 600 yards
crosshairsd760mod.jpg

On my trip with Tony T this worked well ranging at night ranging them the whole time they were on the way in so when they hung up I had a pretty good idea, but we did run into that pup that we all thought was 250 and full size coyote, as he was just over a mill thick, first shot missed high, took him on the run thinking I had just made a he11 of a running 250 yard shot only to pace it off at 150, and a pup not as thick as my 20 rd mag
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now I have not had the chance to shoot coyotes beyond 300 at night, but with this set up @ 300 I use the bottom of the cross hair as the POI and made 300 yard head shots on steel IPSC target a 6x6 head. it was spot on the one coyote i took at that range 300 yards paced off @ night would love to make a 500 yard hit on a coyote at night, the scope will do it's part I'm sure its just a matter of me ranging on the money.

this is the main reason I went with the D760 over the 740 as the 243 win is flat shooting and I didn't want limit the weapons performance with the scope
 
I know it was a small pup and even Tony said I normaly let them pass that small, but the poperty owner said come kill all these pups and get the parents as well, and it was a he11 of a shot at night on the run, I have seen jackrabbits bigger than that pup. I did feel kind of bad when Gunner wouldn't even finish him off. but I swear 3 of us thought it was a big coyote at 250. thats night hunting for you and more reason to positive ID before the shot and to do that you need good glass, almost lit up a bull laying in a pond one night thinking it was a big hog till he turned his head and I saw the tag in his ear, thank god for that.
 
thanks for the info. I have the same Remington .243 you have and I very well may one day get the 760 for it too. I need to shoot something with what I have before I get more... lol

I have a Nikon ProStaff 3x9x40 mounted on a Savage .243 bolt. this is how the 58 gr Vmax comes out with that scope. pretty easy to remember but this is a day scope.


savagereticle.jpg
 
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