Old Russian? Nightvision Scope.....

[Dmay]

Anybody know anything about this thing? Years ago I put batteries in it and it "worked" as I recall...but don't know much about it.
Mount fits a pic rail....is it of any value or interest to anybody?

 

[Deathrawt]

Never seen one of those before but it looks cool!
Did you try it out at night can you see everything in the dark? What kind of batteries does it use?
I have some rodents I need to dispatch but they only show up at night so if you can see in the dark with it I would be interested in it

 

[mockba77]

This scope was made in Belarus in 1995. The model name is PONIK 3x78 or PON 3x78. Was designed for hunting and observation under the low light conditions (under the light of moon and stars).

The following is a brief quick translation from the original manual:

Zoom: 3x
Field of view: 6 degrees
Minimum observing distance: 10 meters
Dimensions: 368x140x120 мм
Full weight: 2 kg

I've seen more specs but I don't know what they mean and how to translate them into English. The average asking price of the ads that I found was around 200 euro (~300CAD) for a brand new unit.

Hope it helps!

 

[ianfroese]

It's a Gen 1 night vision scope. The housings are apparently rugged as all get out; however the actual image intensifier apparently leaves a fair bit to be desired. Something about only using a small part of the actual photocathode. If it hasn't been used much, it will likely be ok under starlight conditions. If it has been used quite a bit, it will likely only be useful under a good moon. IR illumination is very much recommandatory.

Definitely a cool piece to own, and maybe mount on CZ or Valmet for those ComBloc vibes. Thanks for sharing.

 

[marshall]

Years ago I had one, but not the same model, big and heavy, Rancher made a coter killer , worked good for that, any star, moon out you could see them out quite a ways

 

[Dmay]

Thanks everybody (and the kind fellow who PM'd) for all the info.