Bushnell Equinox

[wigwamitus]

Reading aaron's tip on the "focus hole" for a pvs-14, he uses "cheap ir pass through film" ... ok !

So I was wondering if we could use some of that to help with the "dot bloom" when running the dot sight in front of a magnified bushy EZ. We need some of the dot light to come through but not much. Maybe a filter like 650 would help? Need folks who know more about such film to weigh in!

 

[wigwamitus]

Ok, the Bushy 3x EZ finally came in yesterday. Did they have to ship it in from China !!??

==
So moving lots of crap around. Got Vortex 1-4x viper PST for 5.56(14.5) so pulled the EOTECH off there and put on the .308WIN test gun. Then mounted up the 3x BEZ. Now we have a nice small dot up there !!!
A one MOA dot magnified 3x is a 3 MOA dot, WAY better than the 5 moa dot from the TRS-32 magnified by the 4.5x to be a 22.5 moa dot!
So now ready to go try again to see how far out I can shoot. But, now the total cost of this solution has pushed up from close to $400 ($200 for the bushy EZ and $100 for the TRS-32 and $50 for the T-20) to closer to $800 if you replace the TRS-32 with the EOTECH.
==
I will get out as soon as I can with this setup to see what I can do.

 

[wigwamitus]

Pushed out to 200yds today with the 3x EZ behind the eotech with some subsonic .308. It was overcast today, so setup worked fine. Shooting with this setup on a sunny day is problematic - can't see eotech reticle. I am guessing because there is glare off the back of the eotech. Some sort of sunshade could mitigate. But now ready to try with real ammo at night.
The key to great distance and accuracy with this setup is the size of the dot. BTW, I could see the reflection of the reflection of the reticle, if that makes sense - another day issue.

 

[wigwamitus]

Well .. things aren't working on for me ...
Tried to go out again .. I moved the t-20 to the left side of the rifle to get it out of the way of the internal IR. I also raised up the t-20 higher. Still no joy. Couldn't see more than 50yds with any ir option.
So, took the bushy 3x and t-20 off the rifle, to rule out the EOTECH ...
No difference. Couldn't see more than 50yds with either internal or t-20 ... unless the object I was looking at was lite up by another light source.
The night I could see 500yds with the 4.5x was a moon night. Tonight was a no moon night. Heavy over cast.
Not sure what to try next.
Interested to hear what others are experiencing!!! Hopefully you guys are way ahead of me!!

 

[wigwamitus]

Well, finally getting back to this project. Got on paper (8.5x11 with a piece of 1 inch tape in the middle) at 100yds in the day time with the bushy EQ 3x behind the eotech esps3 ... so setup again ready to try tonight.
The bushy doesn't like the "real" .308WIN ammo ... it shuts off after each round. I was using FLC 149gr XM80. The DBM18A1B1 10gr 4000fps ammo is too light for this wind and trying to do 100-200yds. The 175gr SMK subsonic would work, but I don't have too much of that and don't want to use it for "testing" ... so will stick with the XM80 and hope I don't trash the bushy.
The setup looks the same as it did in this previous pic, except the T-20 is off right now.

 

[RattlesnakeDan]

I use mine every morning to check traps. I am able to pull into the ranch and parallel my traps about 175yds away,I can look and see if there are hogs caught or not. Saves a lot of walking with a flashlight at 4:30 a.m. Only when it is raining hard or foggy is there an issue of course. For me a great 200.00 spent.

 

[wigwamitus]

Friend had vehicle trouble tonight and that cut short my testing ... but I was able to hit within an inch of the bull at 50yds ... but can't see that target at 100yds ... there are three trees between me and the target and those branches reflect back too much light. I will have to go out into the pasture to test farther out. I do believe a target in the open can be engaged with this setup out to 200yds and maybe even 500yds with a moon or the T-20 ... but until I do it, I haven't done it.

 

[Pootie]

Still waiting on the rifle mount only from Bushnell. Back ordered til 2/16.

 

[wigwamitus]

Temp this morning started out at 4F, but by the time I got out it was 1F plus we have about a 10 mph NW wind so about -9F with windchill. My hands were tingling by the time I got back inside ... and I was wearing my typical soft leather "garden" gloves 80% of the time I was out.
I tightened up the zero on the Bushy 3x behind the EOTECH for this 149gr XM80 FLC ammo at 40yds. I'm going with 2738 MV, so AB says I should have second zero at 250yds, so that is the distance I will try tonight. I'll mount the T-20 on the left side as well as I suspect it will be needed. I'll go out and setup a target during the day, when it is "warm"

 

[Lrtx1]

Let me start by saying I know next to zero about night vision.

Is the equinox something that could be placed in front of a scope? Something like a leupold 1x4.

 

[wigwamitus]

I suppose it could be ... BUT ... I would try placing the Bushy EZ behind the scope ... like

Note the T-20 is offset to the side, so isn't blocking the LOS as might seem to be the case.

Mounting the Bushy in front of the reticle will introduce collimation issues, hence trying to avoid that.

 

[wigwamitus]

Oh, and since the Bushy's are already magnified ... having a 1x scope (or running a 1-4x on 1x) seems indicated.

 

[Lrtx1]

Is there any drawbacks to having the equinox on the rifle during the day? I was thinking I may not want it on there all the time and in front would be easier to still have a useful scope with it removed.

 

[wigwamitus]

If you read through this thread you will find that the drawback I mention is glare. I also mention the draw back of having to mount the scope farther forward. It does work in the day to use it behind the reticle - as I indicate in my testing.

Of course you can mount it anywhere you like as long as you accept the tradeoffs (such as lack of collimation).

 

[Lrtx1]

Thanks wig, I get it now.

 

[dwa]

What did you ever come up with this did you ever get it to work I'm contemplating on buying the AR mount.

 

[wigwamitus]

I got it to work out to 100yds, but never could get it to work out further. I could SEE out to 400-500 yds with it with the T-20 illuminator mounted on the rail. But with everything mounted on the gun, I couldn't get it to work out past 100yds. Never completed the diagnostic process as to why. It should work with a good illuminator added. Probably had something to do with everything not being lined up right on the gun.

 

[Jofus]

I already had this monocular and just saw a pic of one with the weapon mount and found this post when I searched. I think this would be pretty spiffy on my 22lr with a Ir laser sight since it would magnify the dot in a red dot. I suppose you could sight in with 1 moa red dot and regular magnifier then change to monocular and have a 4.5 moa dot that was dead on. Should be a cool way to video slaying squirrels in the back yard. Only one place in online search shows the mount for sale and it's out of stock. Guess ill message bushnell thanks for the part number.

 

[ScottJ]

I wouldn't expect great performance out of that setup. Even my gen 3 behind my NV compatible EoTech lacks range. The glass in the EoTech and other red dot sights looks clear, but it blocks a lot of light (and therefore image/range). For doing the night vision hunting on the cheap, I think a good setup would be the Bushnell Equinox Z for scanning around and an actual digital NV scope like the Sightmark Photon mounted on the gun... if you don't want to just use the rifle scope to scan.

 

[wigwamitus]

I agree, with a T-20 or other half decent illuminator mounted on the Equinox rail, the Equinox is a decent scanner out to 200yds maybe a bit farther, depending on the moon or the illuminator .. I have seen deer clearly at 400-500yds with a good moon ...

But based on experience with it so far, I wouldn't do any serious shooting with it.