Last Updated on March 9, 2021
Shooting with night vision scopes is really tricky as there are numerous options available. But learning how to shoot with night vision scopes is a must-have skill that every nocturnal hunter and shooter needs to acquire. For every night vision device and firearm, there are different shooting methods.
Night vision scopes come in several generations and each one is powerful than its former version. Scopes of gen 1 and gen 2 are inexpensive but they won’t provide suitable resolution images to identify targets without an additional light source. But the generation 3 and above that night vision scopes (NVS) ensures premium performance.
After choosing the perfect night vision scopes, you have to learn how to shoot with night vision scopes. You can shoot with night vision scopes in several ways. Now, I’ll explain some prominent and easy ways here.
How to Shoot with Night Vision Scopes
Night vision scopes used for shooting and hunting games like squirrel can be categorized as head-mounted and firearm-mounted. The head-mounted night vision scopes aren’t very comfortable to wear for long. So, I don’t like the helmet style, rather prefer the firearm mounted scopes that are good to use comfortably.
Anyway, the shooting techniques using night vision scopes with pistols or rifles are discussed below.
How to Shoot with Night Vision Scopes: With Handgun
Probably handgun is the last-ditch emergency device while you’re shooting under night vision scope. Let’s talk about some options below.
1st Method: Tritium Night Sights
The basic tritium night sight can be used as handgun night vision scopes. Basically, you can see three ‘blobs’ of tritium lights (also used for predator hunting) that grow under night vision.
If using IPS-14, some people may see the sights with unaided-eye and also see the target with night vision eye. This is not ideal for all. For their focusing, just need to close the non-aided eye and shoot with the blobs with night vision eye.
Some experts think the three-dot tritium sights may confuse you as the ‘blob’ is in the front sight. They find two-dot sights handy. If you have proper training with a handgun in the day then the trained index and blobs can get you pretty far.
2nd Method: Mini Red Dot Sights
One of the easiest ways of your handguns to solve the sighting problem is using red-dot sight. With the red dot on your pistol is like a rifle. It’s actually very easy because you needn’t line up the front and rear sight. Just watch under the night vision to the target using the index. You need to look for the dot to float in front of your point of aim and shoot.
How to Shoot with Night Vision Scopes: With Rifle
1st Method: IR Laser
This is the preferred method for both pistols and rifles. The laser can be sighted on parallel or converge. You should keep in mind, all laser sights have parallax.
Come to the parallel sight, where the laser beam is parallel to the bullet trajectory. Laser windage and elevation adjustments are done by small Allen wrenches. The parallel sighting is always the same and it doesn’t change at the target gets further or closer. This offset can be possible as much as 2.5”.You can make zeroed by 3 or 5 shots with increasing the yardage range.
Another way is the converged sighted where the laser beam and the centerline of the bore intersect each other at a specific distance. Sometimes it might also be overreach converged sight. If a laser-sighted in at 10 yards it means the offset won’t more than 20 yards.
You may think, which laser sight is perfect for you. Actually, it’s an arguable topic it depends on how much offset the laser has.
2nd Method: Rail-Mounting Scopes
Another simple method is to mount the NVS behind the compatible day scopes with the mounting rail or any other mounts. Be sure, you est the illumination level on night mode. Otherwise, the tube may be damaged. You won’t want to make a permanent burn mark of the illuminated dots on the phosphor-screen.
An alternative to the rail-mount, you may simply have it head-mounted and shoot by seeing it through the sight. To do that you need to move the optic little to the front.
Before all of these, learn the necessary things that need to be considered first for using a night vision scope.
Conclusion
Here, I’ve explained different methods on how to shoot with night vision scopes. It’s not a theoretical session, you need to go through the practical field. Shoot with the night vision scope and enjoy the taste of night hunting and shooting.
Kalman is a hunting expert who has a vast experience with wild game hunting. Though night time hunting is his favorite, he masters the art of daytime hunting and shooting. Being a nature lover and outdoor enthusiast, he wants to pass the knowledge acquired over time to the next generation.
