Laser Genetics ND3X50 Review

[sako 23]

For the pedants; I guess I missed out tbe fact that I've shot 4 foxes using this & a lamp !

 

Fireblade how does the nd work then, can you only see the light through the scope so you need a lamp to spot, or is it just easier to spot at greater distances with the lamp and then call looking through the scope?

[pestcontrol121 11]

A shooter close to me has offered to come on one of my shoots and give me a 1st hand look at the ND3X50.

Now i can go out on my shoot and see Mr fox 5 out of 7 days a week so will see if the ND3X50 is as good as the reviews , the foxes on this shoot are lamp shy so this should be interesting.

[sako 23]

A shooter close to me has offered to come on one of my shoots and give me a 1st hand look at the ND3X50.

Now i can go out on my shoot and see Mr fox 5 out of 7 days a week so will see if the ND3X50 is as good as the reviews , the foxes on this shoot are lamp shy so this should be interesting.

 

It will be good to here how it compares to the nv method, whether the fox reacts more or less to the nd350 beam or IR illuminator with the nv.

[fireblade_rrw 20]

Sako;

 

I guess you could use it as a light, but it's nowhere as good as a lightforce. Where it comes into it's own is when you use it with the scope. The only adjustment you need to make is the beam diameter to fill the scope.

 

It's just a shame that the range isn't anywhere near what's claimed by the manufacturer.

[sako 23]

Sako;

 

I guess you could use it as a light, but it's nowhere as good as a lightforce. Where it comes into it's own is when you use it with the scope. The only adjustment you need to make is the beam diameter to fill the scope.

 

It's just a shame that the range isn't anywhere near what's claimed by the manufacturer.

 

 

I don't think the manufacturer is on their own there! I can't understand how some claim thousands of metre beams when they use the same bulb as a lightforce blitz which claims 800yrds??? What do they say the range is? Or is that the 5 mile beam thing I've read about?

[fireblade_rrw 20]

Yeah and I guess strictly speaking the beam could travel for 5 miles when it's narrowed down to a fine point, however as it's being sold primarily as an alternative to NV, then the literature should differentiate between potential distance and useable distance when using a scope. ie 150yds for good illumination and possible usage of out to 250yds when used with a scope.

 

Then again when are manufacturers ever honest when marketing a product ?

 

I should also add that the performance is also governed by weather conditions & quality of the scope your using. If it's one of these horrible cheapos from japan or china, then it'll look crap I'd imagine.

[sako 23]

Yeah and I guess strictly speaking the beam could travel for 5 miles when it's narrowed down to a fine point, however as it's being sold primarily as an alternative to NV, then the literature should differentiate between potential distance and useable distance when using a scope. ie 150yds for good illumination and possible usage of out to 250yds when used with a scope.

 

Then again when are manufacturers ever honest when marketing a product ?

 

I should also add that the performance is also governed by weather conditions & quality of the scope your using. If it's one of these horrible cheapos from japan or china, then it'll look crap I'd imagine.

 

Sounds simular to my nv regaurding conditions! If it's a full moon I can see to the other side of the universe but I still don't know if I could see a fox flagging me!

[zx10mike 137]

as promised earlier,i took mine out lamping last night.sure enough when i lit up my first two bunnies they crouched down as opposed to bolting which did not help them much with a .17 at 100 yds.great first two bunnies bagged, however i found my lamping pal who would normally be involved by holding the lamp and controlling the dimmer had to stand there for quite some time whilst i scanned the whole field with a little dot looking for those eyes to give away mr bunnies position.if the rabbit is not looking your going to skip right past.a couple of times i scanned the field and saw nothing then lit up the night force and found one.as for my third shot i managed to hit some dew on a blade of grass at over 100 yds you see when nestled at the bottom of a hedge you find they look the same.with the nightforce i can always identify my target but for the first time ever i found myself pulling the trigger at what i thought was a rabbits eye.bad habit to start,so in future if i see an eye in a hedge i shall not shoot if i cannot identify.(lots of missed opportunities).i'm also aware that the batteries also ran out earlier than claimed .in all i found that for money i was dissapointed and if priced at £150.00 (not £300 ) this torch would come into its own on an air rifle. that said another man might love it.one final thought,it was exeptionaly bright last night,as you walked along you had a strong clear shadow.i think the darker it is the better it will perform.perhaps i will give it anouther try.but for now i'm a dimmer switch on a lamp kind of guy.

 

hope this helps someone it was very honest considering i might want to sell it soon

[sako 23]

as promised earlier,i took mine out lamping last night.sure enough when i lit up my first two bunnies they crouched down as opposed to bolting which did not help them much with a .17 at 100 yds.great first two bunnies bagged, however i found my lamping pal who would normally be involved by holding the lamp and controlling the dimmer had to stand there for quite some time whilst i scanned the whole field with a little dot looking for those eyes to give away mr bunnies position.if the rabbit is not looking your going to skip right past.a couple of times i scanned the field and saw nothing then lit up the night force and found one.as for my third shot i managed to hit some dew on a blade of grass at over 100 yds you see when nestled at the bottom of a hedge you find they look the same.with the nightforce i can always identify my target but for the first time ever i found myself pulling the trigger at what i thought was a rabbits eye.bad habit to start,so in future if i see an eye in a hedge i shall not shoot if i cannot identify.(lots of missed opportunities).i'm also aware that the batteries also ran out earlier than claimed .in all i found that for money i was dissapointed and if priced at £150.00 (not £300 ) this torch would come into its own on an air rifle. that said another man might love it.one final thought,it was exeptionaly bright last night,as you walked along you had a strong clear shadow.i think the darker it is the better it will perform.perhaps i will give it anouther try.but for now i'm a dimmer switch on a lamp kind of guy.

 

hope this helps someone it was very honest considering i might want to sell it soon

 

Well Im gutted you didn't find it up to scratch mike but I do think you will find the darker nights much better with it. My nv is simular, I can see a long way with a moon lit night but as the picture is so bright I don't think the laser picks out the rabbits eyes as easy as on a dark night. I too am going back to the lamp to spot then Im going to switch to nv add on to shoot but Im only after foxes. I want to make sure Im not scanning past and not spotting but if Im waiting and calling it'll all be nv.

Edited April 17, 2011 by sako

[zx10mike 137]

to be honest i did not see any foxes last night.there is a bit of a size difference so for foxes yep out to 200 yds probably much better.

[sako 23]

to be honest i did not see any foxes last night.there is a bit of a size difference so for foxes yep out to 200 yds probably much better.

 

 

The ground is my problem, clean open fields no problem but most of my shooting is is the rough where it's hard enough to spot with a lamp! Don't give up on it yet keep us informed!

[fireblade_rrw 20]

Shame you didn't get on with it. Funnily enough my mate picked up eyes last night way out with the lamp, but it was unsettling it,switched to laser and whilst wasn't so clear, the fox just sat looking and wasn't bothered with it. Wouldn't come closer with the call mind.

Edited April 17, 2011 by fireblade_rrw

[sako 23]

Shame you didn't get on with it. Funnily enough my mate picked up eyes last night way out with the lamp, but it was unsettling it,switched to laser and whilst wasn't so clear, the fox just sat looking and wasn't bothered with it. Wouldn't come closer with the call mind.

 

All is ok! I went out last night spotted a fox with the blitz but didn't stop the lamp on it. Nv on and she lit up like a christmas tree. She wasn't bothered by the nv laser just kept mooching about. I gave a little squeak for her to look up and let her have it. The shot was at least 170yrds as I zero not far from it and it was about double the distance.

Even though I was looking for foxes I was scanning and having a look for the rabbits but even with the lamp they just weren't about so I don't think I've not been spottting them with the nv. Although it was a bright moon it was well covered with cloud so still pretty dark so no reason not to be about, I think I've thinned them out a little to much!

I think it pays me to scan the mountains with the lamp at distance and when checking fields just scan with the nv, but at least Im happy now! Lets hope you feel the same after some more outings!

 

Oh the vixen was barren too, I guess there was no dog foxes about because that's all I seemed to be shooting mating time!

Edited April 18, 2011 by sako

[pestcontrol121 11]

A shooter close to me has offered to come on one of my shoots and give me a 1st hand look at the ND3X50.

Now i can go out on my shoot and see Mr fox 5 out of 7 days a week so will see if the ND3X50 is as good as the reviews , the foxes on this shoot are lamp shy so this should be interesting.

Went out last night at 22.15pm with a lad called Micheal, he bought the ND3X50 two weeks ago and said he didn't like it so that was a good start he had a sako 223 with a Zeiss Conquest 6.5-20x50, i had my spotting scope on the roof which is remote controlled and you watch it on the screen inside the truck,this unit will spot a fox at around 300 to 500 yards away.

After about 35 minutes i noticed a fox about 170 yards out so he got up into the shooting hatch, i started the fox call and the fox started to come in, he turned the ND3X50 on and shot the fox at around 120 yards,it was a young fox from last year, great no problem there.

Went down to my favourite spot and within five minutes i saw three foxes out at around 290 yards so i parked up and got up into the shooting hatch, rifle was not loaded but i wanted to see what this ND3X50 would do, i put the caller on and one fox run off the other two were looking interested, turned the unit on and started to adjust the unit so i could pick them up, guess what yep could not see them at all so i got my range finder out and put a gen3 night vision add-on on it and pinged them, both foxes were 248 yards away, kept calling and got them in to 191 yards tried the ND3X50 and had to focus the beam right down and yep the fox i was looking at run off with the other one close on his heals we carried on and saw another 4 foxes and loads of rabbit hare and deer.

At the end of the night which was 02.30am a 4 hour hunting session we saw a total of 8 foxes and Micheal shot two which he was over the moon with.

The 6 other foxes to which one was spooked by the caller and the other by the ND3X50 i did play with the unit on these 5 foxes and when i mean play i was trying to see what this unit would do, my findings are at around 100 yards on a wideish beam the fox isn't that bothered but close the beam down and they run like hell, the furthest fox we saw with the unit focused right down was 174 yards away and this did run when the ND3X50 was put on it.

So as a long range unit these are no good as you need to have a very tight beam and the fox doesn't like it, we had the same problem with the rabbits & hares but the deer weren't that bothered and thats because we don't shoot these at night and they didn't feel threatened.

The ND3X50 is a well built unit but in my honest opinion its not worth the asking price, it should be around the £100 mark.

[sako 23]

That's a good indepth report of the nd3x50, but with all those foxes about I think you need me to come and sort them out for you

I don't think I'll rush out and buy one but it seems like they do have a place for the closer shots. Im now more interested in the range finder and how it works with the nv, is it like a scope with an add on? I don't know whether to go for bino rangefinders or a mono rangefinder any advice?