Core technology is a great value - Armasight Vampire 3x CORE IIT Night Vision Rifle Scope

I have used this scope for about a month. I am prior military and experienced with Gen3 and thermal military hardware. I also have limited exposure to civilian GEN1. I have never used GEN2.
I hope to present mostly fact and add a some opinion to it.

Initial sight in:
All rounds fired were Hornady Zombie max 55gr zmax bullets using a Stag-15. Initial sight in was at 100 yards, late day using cover pin hole. Sun behind trees at rear with 1 mph wind, from rear, and 64°F. First group was 1.25", second was .875" and third was a .25" hole with a called flyer at 1". All rounds hit within 1.5 moa except the called flyer.

Mount test:
Removed scope and remounted. Fired 1" group at 50 yards. Removed and remounted. Fired 1" group again. Removed and remounted. Fired .5" group. All rounds hit within 1.5" or 3 moa. Performed new zero at 100 yards. Keep in mind you will have to adjust your mount to your rifle.

No moon, clear night, starlight only:
All ranges given were previously determined with a Leupold laser range finder.
At this point, the illuminator is a must for shooting but I could make out details of brush and a tripod deer stand at 100 yards without it. With max setting of the IR810, details were clear at 145 yards, which is the limit of that field. I felt confident of making that shot count had any coyote ventured in.

Full moon, completely overcast:
Same field.
The cloud cover gave the field a very nice, even glow. Sight picture was good enough to have made a shot at about 100 yards. Using the IR810 gave full range of this field from a 12' stand. The detail of trees at 145 yards almost made me forget I was using a Gen 1 scope. Again no brave coyotes.

Full moon and clear, zero breeze, 27°F, range 100 yards:
Different field, time to shoot at night since coyotes aren't cooperating. I used a white rifle sight in target, with black cross. The target was shaded from moonlight due to trees, and reflected so nicely using the illuminator that I easily made out details of the black cross. I was able to fire a 1.25", 3 shot group. This group hit in line but 3" low from bull, due to the present temperature difference from sight in of 64°F. Keep this in mind if your temps vary greatly from sight in to hunt. Observation of the field made me confident that this scope has the ability of ID and shooting out to 175 yards, in full moon light, of coyote sized game. Illumination didn't seem to help much due to the abundance of moonlight.

Opinion time:
I am very impressed with this scope. I have observed NO sparkles or imperfections in the tube. Plainly spoken, it just performs well. There is a slight fisheye effect around the edges, as expected, but after using it for 5 minutes I never noticed it again. The sight picture is excellent within the 3x range expectation. The 3x is my personal limitation and may serve a better shooter more abundantly. I think the 3x magnification is the limiting factor of this scope, not the CORE generation technology. If I had this scope in a 4x or 5x, I believe 200 yards (maybe 250) would be a very reasonable range for ID and shooting. I am over 50 and wear corrective lenses so judge my opinion with a grain of salt. Armasight, if you build it in 4x or 5x - I will buy it.

My personal preference on the red reticle is that the notch settings could be improved by making it a smooth, analog type of brightness adjustment. During original sight in, I had to turn it up to 4 for a comfortable sight picture. At night, the setting of 1 is a little too bright for my preference as it seems to cover the target too boldly. I do not believe this would be a problem for 95% of shooters. I also observed a vinyl covered storage building at about 400 yards. The illuminator lit up the yellow vinyl as if it were daylight. The window and vinyl siding detail was crisp at that range. I approached to 200 yards and could make out the detail of the inner wall behind the window. As a final note, this scope has been "trucked" around for 100 miles and in/out of a gun case about 25 times over the last month. It has remained true and seems to be a very durable unit.

In summary, this CORE technology is well worth the price over a "normal" Gen1 scope. I simply cannot believe the quality vs price of this item. If you buy it, you will not be sorry. If you are, you have a money back guarantee. How can you lose?