The hard part about pulling the trigger on a high-end night vision scope is, more often than not, the measly warranty.
It’s hard to justify spending thousands of dollars when it’s only covered for a year or maybe two at the most.
Texas Precision Optics eliminates this dilemma by offering a night vision scope with a lifetime warranty.
The Sniper HD 4.5x50 is a digital scope that offers the basics of its digital archetype but goes beyond when it comes to warranty coverage.
As an ideal night vision scope for the AR-15, rimfire rifle, or even an air rifle, the Sniper HD is attractive in its own right.
Update: Unfortunately, the Sniper HD 4.5x50 Digital Night Vision Scope appears to have been discontinued. For other great options, check out our lineup of the best night vision scopes here.
Quick Overview...
What We Like: Digital night vision
What We Don’t Like: Heavy
Best Uses: Night Shooting, Day Shooting, Hunting, Varmint Control, Digital NV, Close-Range Detection, Light to Medium Caliber Rifles
- Sensor: CMOS
- Magnification: 4.5x (3x zoom)
- FOV: 4.6x3.7 degrees
- Display Resolution: 750x560
- Eye Relief: 2”
- Color Modes: 3
- Battery: 3-8 hours
- Dimensions: 10.39 x 2.55”/2.4 lbs
Our Verdict: The major benefit of the Sniper HD 4.5x50 over other comparable digital scopes is its warranty. It comes with a lifetime warranty that makes it worth the buy. As far as performance, it’s excellent for the AR-15, close-range hunting, and predator and varmint control.
Who is the Sniper HD 4.5X50 Best Suited to?
The Sniper HD digital scope by Texas Precision Optics is an entry-level digital scope. While it’s a little cheaper than the newest, feature-packed digital scopes offered by ATN and Sightmark, it has an outdated body style.
Scopes like the ATN X-Sight LTV 3-9x and Sightmark Wraith HD may prove to be better options for the money with similar features.
However, if you’d rather have the lifetime warranty, three color modes, and a battery-operated system, the Sniper HD offers these advantages.
How Does the Sniper HD 4.5X50 Perform?
The Sniper HD performs a lot like comparable scopes at its price point. It’s not a high-end digital scope that is feature-packed with convenient, smart features, but it works for its intended use.
Appropriate uses for this scope include coyote hunting and varmint control activities like ratting and rabbit sniping on low and zero-recoil rifles like the AR-15 in .223 Rem. While it can handle recoil up to a .308 Win, it only has 2” of eye relief, and the eyebox may be rather unforgiving with a restrictive FOV and mid-range magnification.
Regardless, the scope has a better warranty than what most other manufacturers can provide as it is lifetime coverage. It also requires batteries to operate versus many digital scopes that now have built-in lithium-ion batteries. The downside to internal batteries is that you’re screwed once they have reached their lifetime, or you have to go through the hassle of having the manufacturer replace the internal battery.
As far as nighttime performance, it provides good clarity and detail between 100-200 yards with the included IR illuminator. This works extremely well for its given specs.
Features & Benefits
Digital Night Vision
The Sniper HD is not a traditional night vision scope with an image intensifier tube. Instead, it has the more affordable, digital night vision system with a CMOS sensor.
The scope records video in 1080p HD quality, has a .38” LCD screen, and 4.5x optical magnification with 3x digital zoom.
Although it has a digital interface with buttons to zero, control zoom, and switch between modes, it lacks the additional digital features that you would see on ATN X-Sight scopes like smart rangefinders, multiple zeroing profiles, and more.
This is a simplified, scaled-down digital scope that is somewhat more affordable than current digital scopes in the market.
Multiple Color Modes
Unlike some digital scopes that may only offer one or two display modes, the Sniper HD has three color modes for day and night shooting. You have a color display for daytime target plinking and hunting. In night mode, you can switch into either the Black White or Green displays.
Right off the bat, the Black White is the best display on this digital scope. It’s the one that offers the most contrast and clarity versus the Green mode. It’s easier to detect between 150-200 yards with. The Green mode, while still usable, is not as sharp as the Black White.
The Black White color display is the digital scope’s version of the White Phosphorus image intensifier tube in a WPT generation vision scope.
Close-Range Night Vision
Even though the scope brags of long-range detection, it’s really not. It’s a close-range night vision scope that has the capability of reaching 350-yard detection with use of an IR illuminator at maximum range.
The most clear and effective range will be about half that at night with use of the included illuminator, so it will be best suited to close-range varmint control like ratting, hunting coyotes, etc.
Keep in mind that its lowest magnification is 4.5x, and with an angular field of view of 4.6-degrees and 2” of eye relief, you will need a low recoil caliber that is effective for close-range use like the .22, 17 HMR, and 5.56mm/.223 Rem at max.
Lifetime Warranty
The Sniper HD digital night vision scopes comes backed with a lifetime warranty fulfilled by Texas Precision Optics.
They will repair or replace the scope due to materials and workmanship defects at no charge to you. What is also nice is that if the scope is no longer in production or is out of stock, Texas Precision Optics will replace it with one of equal value or the newest upgrade.
However, there are shipping and processing fees to be aware of. It also seems that the warranty is not transferable as you must provide information on where you purchased the scope from.
Limitations
Heavy
The Sniper scope has the body and weight of what is quickly becoming the style of yester-year. Weights over 2 lbs and the bulky body with a button interface is what used to be the norm for digital night vision. But all that is changing thanks to the likes of the ultra-lightweight X-Sight 4K Pro and LTV models with their traditional 30mm ring tubes and streamlined aesthetic appeal.
However, even though it’s a beast of a thing, it’s not unlike Pulsar’s Digisight Ultra or Yukon’s Sightline scopes that have plus-size bodies.
Popular Questions
Texas Precision Optics manufactures and imports Sniper brand rifle scopes including the night vision line of products.
Without Bluetooth or WiFi connectivity, the scope is unable to stream live to a device wirelessly. However, you can use a USB cable to connect the scope to an external device to simultaneously view across the monitor/display.
The Texas Precision Optics Sniper HD scope is IPX6 rated. It is waterproof with its rubber seals around the electronic components.
The Sniper HD digital night vision scope is recoil rated up to a .308 Win. While it can handle large caliber rounds, it only has 2” of eye relief. It is best suited to rimfire calibers and .223 Rem calibers. It is also safe to use with air rifles.
The Sniper HD NV-350YL scope is made in China. You may see similar scopes rebranded in various places online, and the only difference will be the warranty that comes with the scope since it is manufacturer provided.
Price points, scope quality, scope specs, and performance remain consistent across all the rebranded versions of this scope.
Conclusion
The Sniper HD may not have the works of the latest digital scopes in the market, but it does have proven performance and a lifetime warranty behind it.
For many target plinkers, ratters, and ‘yote hunters, it gets the job done. Though entry-level in nature, it’s exactly what many want for their low-recoil rifle or AR platform.
Update: Unfortunately, the Sniper HD 4.5x50 Digital Night Vision Scope appears to have been discontinued. For other great options, check out our lineup of the best night vision scopes here.
Further Reading
