High Exposure

I would go with traditional IR NODs. I don't have a lot of experience with thermal. I do know this: Thermal is much more expensive. Thermal can't see through insulators such as glass, so they are useless trying to look in or out through a car or house window. Thermal does make living animals stand out pretty well but you lose some definition. Also, depth perception goes right out the window with NODs. It is very difficult to estimate distance looking through a NOD tube.

Zeke, TNVC explains it a lot better than I can:

Gentlemen, Don't skimp on NODS. You will be disappointed and angry. Avoid Russian and 2nd gen tubes. You will not be pleased and will have wasted money. If it is in Sportsman's guide, or cheaper than dirt don't look twice at it. EGAY and Amazon is buyer beware. If it looks too good to be true, it is. Lots of Chinese knockoffs. Expect to pay north of $2000 for a quality, but basic NOD. I get all my stuff from TNVC. Quality gear, good prices, excellent customer support. Personally, I think a PVS 14 is the most versatile and affordable NOD out there and is the best selection for a casual user. Old School, Most NODS that are quality and affordable are only image enhancers and they have no integral aiming device. You need to either mount them to a weapon behind or in front of an optic of some kind or mount to your head and have an IR laser or modified TTP for deployment. Both have pluses and minuses with head mounted and an IR laser being the better option of the two. I PMd both of you my number if you want to all and chat about it

An ACOG is not really designed to work with NODS. The only device I know of that is ACOG compatible is the Knights UNS SR and you are talking $6000-$8000. I have heard that some people have had success mounting a PVS14 behind an ACOG, but you will deal with terrible image quality, parallax and eye relief issues, and shifting zero. One of the other guys may know something else, but if i were you and planning on dropping coin investong in quality NODS, I would get a more appropriate optic as well, Another concerns is an IR flood that will work at the ranges your magnified optic will let you engage.

Ha! That was cool. Thanks for posting it.

Gotcha!

That's not the point. Don't confuse personal ability with equipment capabilities. Set up 3 targets at 200 yards. Relatively easy shot, one we can all accomplish with an AR. 1 target is a shoot and 2 are no-shoot. Hit only the shoot target 2 times in the A-zone. Try it once with iron sights and again with a 4-10x magnified optic. You are able to hit any target at 200 yards - this is ability You aren't able to hit the correct target without the right equipment - this is capability. Without the capability to accomplish the task in the first place, you will never be able to succeed.

Incorrect. Try this - from standing get into rollover pone and hit an 8" circle at 50 yards 3 times in less than 4 seconds with iron sights and no light in the dark. Then do it with a T1 optic and a 500lumen white light. Then tell me which rifle is more capable. Personal Ability =/= Equipment Capabilities

I hate that negative "Tacticool" vibe. There is nothing wrong with attaching quality kit to a rifle in order to make it more capable for the task you have it for. For me, optic, white light, and sling are minimum mandatory equipment for my intended use for an AR/AK type rifle. My rifles are not tactical or "Tacticool". They are more capable than they were stock.

The AR is a system. Change one thing, something else is affected. For example - NiB/boutique bolts. They allegedly run cooler with less fouling. Great! Except the gun is still producing the same amount of heat and carbon regardless of what the bolt is made of or coated in. That extra fouling and heat has to go somewhere. So now the barrel extension, barrel, upper receiver, barrel nut, gas block, and gas tube get dirtier and/or hotter than designed - instead of the the part designed to sink the heat and bleed it off and is removable to clean better and easier - the BCG. There is no free lunch.

Well done! You will be pleased. I love mine.

Ammo being equal - Barrel length, gas system length, firing schedule all effect the wear and tear to a significant degree. A16" midlength rifle used for precision shooting and an 11.5" commando used as a training gun will have extremely different amounts of wear and tear after 5000 rounds of identical ammo. I see guys in the team with SBRs (11.5")!have to do much more maintenance in their guns than guys with 14.5" guns even though they are shooting the same ammo in the same drills with the same round count.

Ray, I wouldn't trust Spikes anything to be spec. AIM - maybe, but probably not.

Doesn't that bolt require a proprietary carrier? Or is that the Knights bolt?

A standard truly MiL-spec bolt should do fine. Daniel Defense, BCM, COLT. Avoid the boutique finishes and fancy cuts.

Sounds decent. Ask him to throw in some ammo.

Get an Arsenal SAM-7R or SLR-107. You are welcome.

Simple. Ask yourself the following question: Do I want an AK? If the answer is "Yes", get one. If the answer is "No", do not get one. If the answer is "I don't know" wait until you do. I got one used from a fellow forum member for a great price before the election. I always wanted one and figured that may be my only chance - depending on the election outcome. Tricked it out to my wishes and I am very pleased with it.

For the record - S&W does not make a mil spec AR. They use incorrect materials and different manufacturing processes. For what it's worth, S&W still makes a decent product and is the only non spec carbine I would purchase COTS. They are light years ahead of Bushmaster, Rock River, Windham Weaponry, etc.... in quality and reliability.

Lol - Zeke you're a bastard Ok ok. Hold off on the PMs for a bit. I literally just got back from a killer road trip. My little brother retired from the Army out at Ft Leonard Wood in Missouri with 20 years. I drove my parents, wife, and son out to attend the ceremony - Mom can't fly due to health reasons. 19 hour trip in a 30' RV trying to outrun a snowstorm. I am gassed... Zeke posted this new info without talking to me first. I'll look into putting something together. I'm telling you all right now, it will be close to me so figure coastal Monmouth County. I'm leaning towards the Festhalle in Asbury Park. I may book a reasonably priced, moderate round count, NJGF only pistol class, at a relatively close out of state location for late spring as well. I'll keep you all informed.

Jeebus! Everyone is laying off. Obama is out. Clinton lost. Panic buying is over. Gun sales are returning to pre-Obama numbers. That means things are getting back to normal. The last 9 years was not typical of the gun market. Companies are going back to sustainable employment numbers for the future sales they are expected to do in a 2A friendly political environment with no looming threat of bans or other such silliness.... Is it really that hard to understand? It's simple economics and makes perfect business sense.

S&W makes revolvers, semi auto pistols, and ARs Colt makes semi auto pistols, ARs, and revolvers.... Am I missing something?

They have forgotten about the civilian market. Period They make their money on government contracts. Period I quotes it again because apparently you had a stroke and forgot how to read..... Again, why would a company that only caters to Govt contracts make so many products that .mil and .gov organizations won't use - the revolvers, the PDWs, the .308 rifles, the new uppers? These are things the people want - unfortunately only the people in free America are able to purchase them - not any Govt. contracts.

Incorrect. If they were going .mil only, there would be nothing but M4s, M16A4s, and Commandos. You wouldn't be seeing a new midlength rifle, PDWs, SBRs, Monolithic uppers, revolvers, .308 guns, etc.... if they were only filling .mil contracts.