Sighting in a Pard NV008s LRF on an Evol .30

[Ezana4CE]

First off let me say this process has been a PITA from limited mounting hardware to the actual sighting in process. As for hardware, EagleVision makes good mounts and accessories for Pard night vision scopes, but unfortunately the one I purchased is incompatible with the Evol. The magazines are too tall and there simply isn’t much pic rail to work with behind the breech.

Even with CARM magazines that are thinner and have a lower profile, no dice! It would be too tight to remove and insert the mag and may affect the mag’s rotation if I try to force it to fit.

I was left with few alternatives other than to use the manufacturer’s mounting hardware. I knew in advanced from reviews that I’d have to shim it. The Pard 008s came with 2 shims and I made 12 more from an aluminum can.

12 shims stacked and mounted between the mount and the bottom of the scope at the rear of the mount (ocular lens end). The shins will bend as you tighten the mounting screws. Torque them too much and the thinner sides of the aluminum shims can break under pressure.

As you can see there isn’t any real estate left at the back of the pic rail. If I move the mount back any further the rear bolt will hang off of the pic rail. This leaves a very tight space to squeeze the expensive Evol magazine into.

It scratches them slightly. Again, the CARM magazines work well in this configuration as they can be inserted and removed with less resistance and little to no scraping of the magazine.

The Pard instruction manual lacks many details necessary to assist users in setting up their scopes. It’s almost useless IMO. Allow me to save you some time if you’re trying to adjust your reticle to sight in your scope.
On the X axis: positive numbers move to the left, negative numbers to the right.
On the Y axis; positive numbers move down, negative numbers move up. This would have been helpful to add to the manual. I hope I’m not being an idiot and over looking this in the manual. Either way I didn’t see it in there and my reticle doesn’t move noticeably with incremental adjustments which made the process frustrating.

It took me three shooting sessions to get this scope sighted in on this gun. I made shims and had to play with placement and the number of shims as well as the coordinates on the digital reticle. What made the process so lengthy is that I did not see the reticle moving as I adjusted the coordinates. No matter how drastic the adjustments were. I tried doing what I saw others do in YouTube videos, but to no avail. BUT…I finally got it. As seen below how I had to walk my shots across the target. Getting on paper was a PITA. Once there, the process became easier.

Sad thing is this is just my 20 yard zero. I have to back it up now.

I’ll be adding details about my process to this thread as time permits.

I made progress today. Found my holds for various distances out to 55 yards.

More to come…

 

[cmatera]

Unfortunately, that is one of the pitfalls of NV. You have to pick your gun as carefully as the scope. I use the Eaglevision fully adjustable mounts They are wonderful, but not an option for you unless you put it on risers, which will make the scope sky high. No problems on my Impact M3, Dream Tact compact, Wildcat MKIII's, or Benjamin Bulldog. On my Crown MKII-problem. The thing I hate most about the shims is losing the ability to move the scope from gun to gun. You have to re- shim again which is about as much fun as a colonoscopy.

 

[Ezana4CE]

@cmatera I’ve been keeping notes. Once I saw that this scope/gun combo would be a challenge I figured, “let’s go on and tackle it.” I don’t anticipate mounting it to be as difficult on a few other guns. Using shims on the bottom isn’t so bad. Shimming the sides of the mount would be a nightmare when moving the scope from gun to gun.

 

[Max115]

@Ezana4CE. Too bad you can't use the Eaglevision mount on this gun. Glad you sorted it out with the shims. Did you try to shave by sanding off some of the metal from the mount so you can use the original magazine as well? The Pard008 is a great unit for night time shooting. Hope you will enjoy it and forget about the PITA process of mounting it.

 

[Ezana4CE]

@Max115 I’m glad I sorted the issue as well. I’d thought about shaving the mount, but I don’t like the idea of altering the mount. I’m still trying to work out some bugs. Like the LRF isn’t ranging targets consistently. Sometimes I press the button and get a zero reading. Maybe I’ll test it at night to see if I can see what the laser is doing. Your videos it appears visible as a flashing light when you range your targets. I’m wondering if I need a software update. I tried reaching out to support last night but the rep left me hanging in mid-conversation (via messaging). It may have been an automated bot or something. I don’t know.

@cmatera What issues did you encounter trying to mount a Pard 008s to your FX Crown mkII?

 

[Max115]

@Ezana4CE. I only use it for night time hunt so no issues with the range finder at night as I can see the blinking light. I would not upgrade the software until you have double checked to see if it is necessary.
I will tell you my story with my software upgrade I did back in 2021. Back then I didn't know anything about this unit and the recorded images was compressed when I do the video playback. I didn't know then that the Pard has the aspect ratio of 4:3. So I thought it was a software issue and I searched online from one of the UK websites where I found some software download. Well, I didn't do enough research and I didn't read the warning properly. I ended up downloaded a wrong version and that physically killed my unit. Yup, it was completely dead and I couldn't even power up the unit. I later found that the software I downloaded was for an older Pard unit. Luckily I was able to find the correct version and get my Pard to work again.

Now here is the kicker. One night I was looking thru my old and new video footages thru the file info and found out that the resolutions from the original Pard before the update was 2560x1440!!! The factory setting of all Pard units only record in 1920x1080. I reached out to the Pard-tech.com and they couldn't believe nor understand how or why my unit was able to record in such a higher resolution. I sent them my file meta data of the old files and they were stunned and had no answer.

Have a look at the attachment where in Dec.20, 2020 the recorded image was in a much higher resolution than the one after the reboot of my Pard unit.

Yup, I had somehow got my Pard008LRF to record at this 2560x1440 resolution and I F@cK it all up by downloading a software update.... I was hurt for a few months LOL.

 

[Ezana4CE]

@Max115 Thanks for the tip. I’ll have to look into this. I aim to get it sorted one way or another.

 

[Airgun-hobbyist]

@Ezana4CE Does that scope need to be moved forward for shouldering the rifle? It looks like my 007 Pard sitting way back on the scope, making shouldering the rifle goofy feeling because of the added length.

You can use this picatinny rail extender sold on Amazon to mount on that front rail section. It is one of the only ones made that will lock into three slots, plus extends and raises the rail 1/2".

Amazon.com

(Amazon also has a quick detach unit that will mount there, but it some bad powder burner reviews with it.)

 

[Ezana4CE]

@Airgun-hobbyist Thanks for the suggestion. No it doesn’t lack eye relief. I guess it’s like looking through a prismatic scope. I have enough eye relief when I roll the rubber back or if I leave it extended and put my eye up to the rubber cup. I haven’t had an issue shouldering it. While seated at a table a confortable cheek weld takes some searching for and getting used to. I don’t have the best setup. I don’t have an adjustable shooting seat. I guess it’s time to find one.

I got the Pard mount to add elevation (and windage) if needed. Since it was not compatible, I made shims and found that 5 shims are adequate with the Pard factory mount on the Evol .30.

 

[Max115]

Sounds like you making progress. When are you taking it out to claim its first victim?

 

[RM.510bigbore]

When I started with my sightmark wraith HD on my Texan I had to use the same eagle vision pard base. My scope was way off center. That mount is good,held up to recoil on 50. Its nice being able to adjust windage with base also. I bought the junk LE-032 mini laser range finder. When working it is very visible at night!!! Does your rangefinder on pard008 work out to 500 yards or so in daylight? My LE-032 mini rangefinder doesn't have enough power to work well in the light..My wraith has been ultra reliable..... Just big and heavy

 

[Ezana4CE]

@Max115 I’ll probably take it out when I am comfortable enough with the button configuration that I can operate it in the dark. I also need to figure out why I can’t get the range finder to read ranges each time I hit the button.

@Reedmosser I have not attempted to look that far. I’ll keep you posted on how it performs when I stretch out my range.

 

[ctshooter]

Interest journey you've taken with the Pard on the EVOL. I've had a Pard008 for a while now and one of the things that frustrates me is how high over bore it ends up being mounted. Never really leads to a comfortable cheek rest to shoot.

To the mounting on the EVOL - I've found my AAA guns design lends itself to a two piece mount. A one piece mount, as you've been battling, doesn't sit right due to the split rail and magazine location. Seems like you’ve gotten it decently seated but touching the mag would bug me. Not saying you need to spend the cash, but I would bet the DS35 would mount up better on the EVOL.

 

[Ezana4CE]

@ctshooter Yea. Cheek-weld with digital optics takes some adjusting. For some reason I don’t favor digital scopes that are shaped like traditional scopes. The LRF position on the DS35 looks strange to me. I looked at that one and communicated with another member who uses one. He’s been having a blast with his and tried to convince me to buy one. The most noticeable advantage seems to be improved video quality. I think I can live with the 008s LRF for now because I’m hunting, not making movies. As for airguns topped with NV and thermal optics, if they don’t have a rangefinder they’re pretty useless to me outside of observation and identification. The optic doesn’t have to be mounted to my gun for those purposes.

 

[Ezana4CE]

@Max115 I’m glad I sorted the issue as well. I’d thought about shaving the mount, but I don’t like the idea of altering the mount. I’m still trying to work out some bugs. Like the LRF isn’t ranging targets consistently. Sometimes I press the button and get a zero reading. Maybe I’ll test it at night to see if I can see what the laser is doing. Your videos it appears visible as a flashing light when you range your targets. I’m wondering if I need a software update…

@Max115 So I went out tonite on a beaver set and I figured out why my Pard hasn’t been ranging consistently. I’m happy to say that it appears to have been the result of user error. I think my hand was blocking the laser. I had to figure out to adjust the focus wheel with my pinky to keep the ridge of my palm from blocking the laser. At night I see the flashing light like yours does when ranging targets.

This thing drinks up batteries. I started with two batteries charged to about 60% they lasted about 3.5-4.5 hours. Looks like I’ll be investing in an external IR torch and more batteries shortly. So far I like the unit. The NV image quality is nice!!

 

[Max115]

@Ezana4CE. Yes, it takes a while to get used to all the buttons and where they are located. But you will figure it out eventually. You should definitely get an external IR light to save the Pard battery. I like the unit you have as well. Maybe I can upgrade someday. Good luck with your hunt!

 

[Ezana4CE]

I thought about starting another thread for this, but I concluded that it wasn’t a bad idea to post details on making shims for this camera and mount in this thread.

Shim making tutorial for the Pard NV008s:

Safety first- I advise that you wear gloves to prevent cutting your fingers on the edges of the aluminum. It’s also a great idea to wear eye protection when operating the drill and cutting the aluminum.

I started with a silver beer can, a pair of straight tin snips, a small block of wood, a drill, one of the shims that comes with the scope, a mounting screw, and it looks like a 7/32” bit (I don’t recall the size).

I began by pinching and collapsing the beer can towards the top and cutting the aluminum close to the top of the crease that I created by pinching it. I then cut the open cylinder vertically to the bottom on two sides (opposite from one another). Next, I folded one side down at a perpendicular angle and cut horizontally close to the bottom of the can. This produced a rectangular piece of aluminum. Do the same to the other side.

Then place the bit into the drill and put the aluminum over the wood block. I found it best to drill holes in the sheet of aluminum before cutting the shims. After drilling the first hole, insert the mounting screw to be sure that it doesn’t fit too loosely or too tight. Ideally if it fits securely around the first or second thread and you can screw it through the hole without tearing or terribly rolling the aluminum you should be good to go. You’ll know by looking at if you roll the aluminum.

Drill holes in a couple of lines across the aluminum sheet. It helps to find a moderate speed so that the aluminum doesn’t tear or leave a lot of jagged edges.

The smooth cut holes make for good shims. The crappy holes go to the recycling heap. Now it’s time to cut these into strips and sections.

Once the poorly drilled holes are culled, cut the strips into smaller strips with two holes per strip. Next, take a factory shim and place it on top of your strip. Align the holes and turn the shim so that the sides are as close to parallel as possible (to the aluminum strip’s sides). Now slowly cut the aluminum strip around the factory shim. Be careful not to cut into the factory shim. Try to cut in straight lines. Also make it a point to make long and straight cuts without stopping. You have a better chance of creating straight and smooth sides when cutting this way.

Now that they’re cut pretty close to the size of the factory shims, you can cut the corners to round them off to get rid of sharp corners that can bend, poke, or cut you.

I made a dozen or so like this. It’s good to make extras. Some will get torn up as you remove and replace the scope on the mount as different rifles may require a different number of shims in order to zero your scope.

They don’t have to be perfect. When you stack them they will elevate the desired end of the camera to ensure that you have ample room for elevation adjustment. No need to max out the elevation on your scope and risk an off center reticle. When you max it out (at -300 or 300) and your shots are still off, employ these shims. If anyone has or knows of a simpler method, please add to the thread and share. Shoot ‘em good folks.

 

[Max115]

Nicely done. I used the factory shims and wrapped painter's tape around them to get the thickness I needed. Works for me.

 

[orangeokie]

It was threads like this one that pointed me to the PARD DS35 with a 30mm round scope tube.

 

[B_y_r_o_n]

If you want the ultimate adjustability for your Pard NV008S LRF then you need to look at this Eagle Vision mount.