Night Optics USA has been doing extensive R&D on a line of new ultra high performance day/ night tactical kits. The idea is to create a versatile system that could be used in a variety of situations. If you’re a hunter, but don’t do enough night-time hunting to justify a dedicated night vision weapon scope, you might consider adapting a night vision monocular that you can also use for other things like nature watching, hiking & night photography. If you are a law enforcement officer whose department is on a tight budget, you need the best bang for your buck!
We searched high and low for day scopes that offered a great combination of quality, performance and affordability, to use with our night vision products that could appeal to a wide range of users. When using night vision with a daytime weapon sight, the most important hurdle to overcome is light transmission. The weapon sight must have great light transference so that there is minimal degradation in image quality. When we tested our products with the new line of Bushnell Elite Tactical riflescopes, we knew that our search was over! Bushnell delivered everything that we were looking for – Quality, performance & affordability.
When the time came to put the new ERS kit through its paces we enlisted the services of Mr. Steve Langford. Steve is a man’s man, having hunted in some of the interesting places in the world, he flies commercial aircraft and is a competitive shooter. Steve is also a training specialist in sniper skills and night vision for US law enforcement and international military organizations. Steve has also consulted with companies like Bushnell, Ferfrans, Millett as well as serving as a firearms expert for court cases. Steve took the kit out for a shakedown and here is his report:
“The Bushnell Tactical HDMR scope was installed on an Armalite AR10 match grade rifle and sighted in during daylight at a range of 100 yards. The scope was easy to sight in with positive clicks and measured reticle there was no problem getting it zeroed.
After dark I installed the Night Optics USA D-930 Night Vision device and fired the rifle at the 100 yard target. I used a setting of 8x on the rifle scope which was a good magnification for this range, I also tried other magnifications from 3 1/2x to 21x. I found that the night vision scope with the ambient light of starlight and sky reflection from the city produced an outstanding, sharp and detailed images. I found that the optimal magnification settings were between 3 1/2x and 15x for the best image quality with no noise (Noise in night vision is the graininess of the image created by a variety of factors, including available light, image intensifier tube quality and the device power supply) and easily distinguished targets.
The point of impact with night vision was the same as with the day scope alone. Note: I recommend using the Mil dot reticle as the more detailed reticles can make it difficult to see the small aiming point on targets. In real world shooting it’s not necessary to be able to shoot a one-inch group at night, though I believe it is possible with this outfit if the shooter takes his time and aims carefully.
The combination of the Night Optics USA D-930 Night Vision device and the Bushnell Tactical 3 1/2x to 21x HDMR day scope is outstanding! The high quality glass in the Bushnell scope and the high-gain D-930 together make an awesome day/night kit! Bushnell & Night Optics have a winner in this combo and should be promoted as such. Law enforcement, military and sophisticated hunters will find the Bushnell scope and the Night Optics USA D-930 an outstanding package.“
Group fired at 100 yards at night using the Bushnell HDMR scope and Night Optics USA D-930 day/night adapter. Group measures 1.75” horizontal and .8” vertical. I was using the two sighters that are marked as aiming points.
In late November we set out to deliver some new marketing collateral for Shot Show 2012. The new booth and marketing materials turned out to be a huge success.
We handed out twice as many new catalogs in the first 2 days than we did in 4 days last year. Check out the new Night Optics USA catalog.
Back in January 2012 at Show Show in Las Vegas, Night Optics USA debuted the largest selection of new products in our 19 year history. The Bushnell acquisition added much appreciated interest in both of our locations, while new full color catalogs lept from the shelves so quickly that we needed to have more flown in overnight to close the show.
Questions? Comments? Let us know what you think. There is a lot more to come but we are extremely excited to have these amazing new products out there for our customers to enjoy.
If you’re wild hog in eastern Alabama, you should most definitely fear the night, especially any night that AJ Niette is out hunting. Niette prowls the agricultural fields near his home in Smiths Station, Alabama, night vision equipment at the ready, looking for the nocturnal pigs. Farmers here are hard hit by the destructive hogs, which root up their fields and destroy their crops. They routinely ask Niette if he can trim back the rampant hog populations.
“It’s a huge problem here, the damage these pigs do,” says Niette, 64, a retired engineer who now guides hog hunts as well as hunts the porkers on his own. “A farmer here recently called me. He had hogs ripping up his winter wheat and eating the roots. Acres of damage. So I went out to his place a few nights back, and killed eight of them. That’s what I call hog control!”
His hog control’s pretty darned effective, too. Last year, from August through October, on night hunts he guided and did on his own, Niette helped put 140 hogs down on the ground!
Anna Fermanova, A Latvian-American was sentenced recently for attempting to smuggle ITAR controlled night vision devices, to include 3 D-7 series generation 3 night vision weapon scopes as well as some other controlled devices, to Russia for resale to wealthy hunters; customers of her husbands Moscow based hunting business.
Though her defense was an ignorance of the law surrounding these devices, any company selling night vision in the United States is fully aware of the law associated with these products and take the appropriate steps to inform their customers. Online retailer’s websites are littered with ITAR/Export regulatory information so to over-look something that is so “in-your-face” is what we consider a weak argument. Fermanova must serve 4 months in Federal Prison, 3 years of probation, and 4 months of House Arrest as well as a $1000 fine.
For our protection and yours, prior to completing your online transaction all customers must agree that they understand the export restrictions associated with our products before being allowed to finalize their order.
We have also turned off Retail ordering capability for visitors outside of the United States. In the early summer we introduced a form that foreign visitors to our website could fill in with the item(s) they would like to order. We are then able to determine internally whether the item(s) can or cannot be shipped to the customer and whether or not it will require a license. It doesn’t pay trying to game the system and it isn’t worth risking your freedom over anything.
The excitement Shot Show 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada looms over the horizon. Shot is the largest and most important show of the year and making a great impression there sets the tone for the rest of the year. 2011 has been a remarkable year for the Night Optics USA team.
We launched a new website after nearly 5 years, and were recently acquired by Bushnell. Going into Shot Show 2012, we will be debuting some new products as well as an all new booth layout. We will still be in the same great location but more space! You can also find Night Optics USA in the Bushnell Booth.
Would you like to set up a meeting? Contact us and we’ll pencil you in! info@nightoptics.com
We will have some new Swag to give away, great Shot Show only deals on our amazing product line and maybe even a contest or two.
Stay up to day by liking Night Optics USA on Facebook or Follow Night Optics USA on Twitter!
Guns magazine published an article in their August 2011 issue about hunting with different types of reticles in day and night time situations. Its a good read. Check it out.
Night Optics USA, Inc. is now offering a new 3 position Variable Power Switch.
