nightvision

[chadermaran]

Does anyone here use nightvision on there crossbow? I do alot of coyote hunting and want to try it with my crossbow. I have read that the vibration from the crossbows are no good for them. i just wanted to know if anyone had any experience with them or not. I have talked to afew salesman and they had no idea. They said they have heard of this, but they didnt think it was true. If the scope could take the recoil of a gun, a crossbow would be no problem. I personally dont want to take there word on it and end up with broken optics.

[Mike P]

The initial recoil of a crossbow is the same as an air rifle...opposite that of a rifle or shotgun. The internal bracing that supports the crosshairs is directional or engineered for the type of weapon.

There are other differences such as parallax and light gathering. Most riflescopes have a fixed parallax setting at 100 yards. This means that's the average distance where it'll work optimum.

Riflescopes weren't meant for taking 20 yard shots, again just the opposite of a crossbow scope.

That was really a good explanation in very simple to understand language that several of us here, myself included, are able to understand.

Thanks bstout.

[awshucks]

Does anyone here use nightvision on there crossbow? I do alot of coyote hunting and want to try it with my crossbow. I have read that the vibration from the crossbows are no good for them. i just wanted to know if anyone had any experience with them or not. I have talked to afew salesman and they had no idea. They said they have heard of this, but they didnt think it was true. If the scope could take the recoil of a gun, a crossbow would be no problem. I personally dont want to take there word on it and end up with broken optics.

If you use a 1" scope on your xbow now, why not check out the red lens lights available that just clip onto the scope? They are much cheaper than night vision.

[chadermaran]

Thanks for the explanation on recoil and replies. I talked to a rep today and he told me since i am shooting gen 2 nightvision he wouldnt try it becasue of the replacement cost. The way Bstout explained the recoil was alot better then the way this guy explained it. He called it reverse recoil and he said it is no good for nightvision. I do have a red light and i guess ill dig it out and use it again.

[wabi]

The recoil of a crossbow can be mild enough to get by with a conventional rifle scope (in many cases) for a period of time, but chances are it will at some point trash the optics. I've stuck a high quality rifle scope (Leupold) on my crossbow for a short time just to check to see if an accuracy problem was my crossbow scope or something else and the scope held up fine. I only put 30 - 50 shots total on it, though.
I have also put a much less expensive rifle scope on for temporary use (while waiting for a new scope to arrive) and trashed it in less than 30 shots!

I have often wondered if an air rifle scope would work? Many of them have parallax adjustment, and they are built for similar recoil.

BTW - I own an air rifle (Mod 48 RWS side-lever "springer") that has trashed several air rifle scopes. It has fierce recoil and the first scope I put on it was an expensive Simmons air rifle scope. After about 500 shots the accuracy "went south" and on close inspection I found the objective lens was about to fall out! It has also trashed BSA & Webley air rifle scopes.

[butch]

If the NV is capable of being mounted on a shotgun/rifle it will be good to go on a crossbow. If there is a warranty question with the manufacture, ask his boss if he would be interested in some research and development for marketing purposes. Ive seen compaines do this before. They don't build NV to deal with only one direction of recoil (way to$$$$$$$)