Might eventually do the nightcap boonie mod.

quote:

How much weight do you have on it?

Counterweight contents: 13.24oz
NVG (PVS14, AA, arm, mount): 19.24oz
Nightcap (hat, chinstrap, shroud, counterweight pouch): 8.96oz

So, my whole system weighs about what an ACH weighs.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: KSGM,

In fiddling with my thermal eye cup mod this evening, I looked at a running vehicle at the top of the driveway. It was an apparent heat signature. This little Leupold LTO tracker isn't bad; that warm engine was 400m away. You definitely don't need to break the bank to get a usable thermal, if merely knowing something is out there will satisfy your requirements.

You just using that as a hand-held?

Yeah. That's the only option with this particular thing.

Has anyone used a TLR VIR?

quote:

Originally posted by KSGM:
Yeah. That's the only option with this particular thing.

Sweet. If I don't end up doing a COTI, I'm going to get a handheld of some sort this year.

quote:

Originally posted by Voshterkoff:
Has anyone used a TLR VIR?

Not personally. I may end up getting one for pistol use. Villian Weapon Systems had an external focusing lens system they were teasing last year, but I can't find anything about it on their site. I dunno if it's still in the works or not, but it made it a lot more functional. The big downsides with the TLR VIR are that both the dot and the light are always on at the same time when you fire it in IR mode - you can't independently control them. The light is also very floody and doesn't throw much past about fifty yards. For a pistol or a PCC, I think it would be great. In fact, one would work out really well on my SBR'ed Scorpion, which I'm thinking of switching to for most of my night shooting. For a rifle, I'd want something more potent.

I was thinking about it on my Ruger MK4, and perhaps for my Glock 20.

Yeah, I think if you want IR illumination in a small rail mounted platform, that's probably about as cheaply as one can do it and still get functionality.

I've been thinking about it, and for my purposes of something to throw on my Scorpion for night shooting, there's not a lot of options that are better. I don't have a lot of handguard space, so I don't want a big honkin' MFAL on it. I just want IR light and white light, but even the Inforce WMLx seems like it might be too big. It's also not something I can just remove and put on my pistol if I want to. I kind of narrowed it down to the TLR VIR II by process of elimination.

If you want a decent demo of the laser itself, the light and it's limitations, and what the VWS EFL does on it, this is a great video. Honestly, it does what I need a light to do in this role. I went ahead and ordered a VIR II and EFL. For my purposes, I just don't think I'm going to do much better, especially for the money.



https://darqindustries.com/products/tlr-vir-ii-efl

$115 this weekend once you add to cart. I will also note that I emailed VWS about a half hour ago asking if they were still making it because I couldn't find it, and I got a cheerful reply six minutes later with a link and the explanation that it's a Darq (used to be Gooningear) exclusive. Six minutes. On a Saturday. Before Easter. I replied that I was astonished and wished them a happy Easter and got another cheerful reply about ten minutes later explaining that they're always checking the support email, even on the weekends and wished me and mine a happy Easter as well. I am a sucker for great attitude in customer service, so that combined with the video pushed me off the fence.


*Edit- Even if you don't add the EFL, it's still very usable for pistols. This video shows it well.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: P220 Smudge,

A decent illustration of the value of the higher optic mount, when things like NVGs are part of the equation.

Got the TLR VIR II and EFL. My initials thoughts.

It is extremely floody on it's own. It lights up my whole back yard when activated from one end. The light is bright without autogating my tubes, the laser is also bright enough without being too much. Both together all the time when activated doesn't bother much so much right now, but will have to see what it's like actually shooting it. There is no choosing not to activate the laser, so PID and using just the optic to aim means you're also looking at a laser being projected on the target. I'll have to shoot it and see how it goes.

The EFL is really cool. I believe it's molded Delrin, it's a stout grade of polymer. The lens is recessed enough that I'm not really worried about the lens getting smudged or scratched. It fits very snugly on the light, and that's even before tightening. I took it to a hike last night and messed around with it in the parking lot, shining it out in the desert. It projects a defined beam out to distances I would use a pistol or PDW at. After a minute or so of trying it out and liking the results, I pulled the EFL off to compare what the VIR was like stock, and it was shocking. 180 degrees of light, and not much throw. It lit up the whole desert in front of me.

Both work very well. I think if I was going to use the VIR on a pistol, I'd maybe skip the EFL unless I was somehow convinced that I wanted to try shooting one out past about 20 yards for whatever reason. It would be fine on either a pistol or a subgun/PDW bone stock. The EFL gives usable light out far past that, and depending on your needs, could be fine on a carbine. In fact, I'll be trying that the next time I go shooting and report back.

I couldn't really decide if this was more relevant here or in one of a few different silencer-related threads. This video doesn't feature a silencer, so we'll put it here. I'll likely refer to it in a suppressor thread too, in the not-to-distant future.



When researching flash reduction online, you're likely to encounter a timeline of sorts. It seems that, for a while, folks were of the opinion that a silencer was the best flash hider you could have. Then the tables turned, and things like the BE Meyers 249F, Smith Vortex, and AAC Blackout were deemed superior to silencers, when it came to flash reduction.

If you consider night vision observation, things become even more confusing. Based on my recent observations (which I will try to document and share), the right silencer is seemingly far superior to even the vaunted BE Meyers 249f. The video in this post illustrates the flash with and without night vision. The IR spectrum reveals a significant signature.

I suspect part of the motivation in the flash hider touting crowd, is the use of either over-bored cans, or cans that aren't designed with flash signature reduction in mind.

What I observed through my PVS14 recently, using a SF RC2 and a Otter Creek OCM5 on the same host, was the bright streak of the bullet and a perfectly spherical orb about three times the diameter of the silencer, right at the silencer's aperture. This orb is not nearly as bright or large as the jagged bloom projected by either the 249f or Vortex in the above video.

It's worth mentioning that a silencer also affords the opportunity to use an ablative, to even further cut flash. However, the employment of a "wet" silencer creates other visible signatures with their own unique problems.

Another thing I happened across not long ago, in a YT video, was a reinforcement in an opinion I have. Aiming passively through a dot sight with your unaided eye, and superimposing that red dot into your night vision image of your aided eye is not viable.

A guntuber described the exact experience I have had: your POI is off by 4-8 inches at CQB distances. Not every shot, but more of them than not. I suspect it has something to do with either the distance between your eyes, the NVG tube not being perfectly parallel to the weapon/sight, or a combination of both.

In conducting more flash observation, the difference between the RC2 on my former 12" mid host, and the OCM5 on my current 11.5" carbine host is not really measurable.

I tried the OCM5 with ablative as well (spat in the back of it twice); it reduced the flash and sound a little bit, on the first two shots.

I observed the OCM5 without the aid of the PVS14. The only visible signature is the aperture of the silencer lighting up. I have seen it described as a flash about the size of pencil eraser; I'd say that's accurate.

When the IR spectrum is in play, there's a bloom around that tiny dot, similar to the bloom around an IR aiming laser dot. The streak of the bullet also becomes visible.

I intend to conduct one more round of observation, using 73gr FTX Critical Defense ammo. I hope to see a small improvement in flash performance, over the 55gr XTAC I've been shooting.

I suspect that the signature, even with the XTAC, would be zero (aside from the bullet streak), if viewed from anywhere in the 180 degree fan aft of the front end of the can.

Really want to do another night shoot soon before it starts getting stupid hot out, but I also want to save my ammo for when my cans get approved. Fingers crossed for a batch. I dunno, may have to just go do it anyway.

It fell on a work night and the night after a big group hike, so it looks like it’ll just be a few of us tonight, but in a few hours, we’re gonna climb one of the lesser mountains here and set up some lawn chairs and watch for the meteor shower. It’s not supposed to be anything like the Perseid shower that was amazing last year, but it should be fun regardless. More of a hang out and chat and look at the sky rather than huff and puff and stare at the ground for four miles kind of thing. Should be fun.

Planning a trip for maybe later this month or early May where I meet a friend of mine who lives in Denver halfway in some low or zero Bortle spots. Bringing our telescopes, and of course, my NODs. He’s never had a look, so it should be fun for him. I drove the family through some zero Bortle between El Paso and Odessa last weekend. My wife got to stare out the window at the stars while I drove. She was in awe, said she’d never seen them like that and said she wants me to take us camping somewhere out in the dark. I plan to do more stargazing with the family this year, really looking forward to it.