Sightmark Wraith Night Vision Scope Review

Sightmark Wraith and Snipper Hog Light

The Sightmark Wraith Night Vision Scope is a Winner! Let’s just cut to the chase. If you do not have $3-5000 for a thermal scope, buy yourself a $499 Wraith and start your war on coyotes and hogs.

Sightmark Wraith 2-16X

UPDATE: August, 2020 – Sightmark has announced the Wraith 2-16×28 Night Vision Scope will now be available in a 2-16 X magnification model. This is one of the things we asked for last year and Sightmark has come through to make it available. The change in base magnification will provide a wider 43 ft field of view at 100 yards to make the scope much better for hunters. They have also added a much better, attached plastic front lens cover. The new 28mm objective lens will be less bulky and should save a few ounces of weight. The IR looks to be a little larger, but I have not confirmed that as fact.

The Sightmark Wraith Night Vision Scope is a digital day and night vision rifle scope. The advanced 1920×1080 HD sensor makes it one of the most advanced digital night vision scopes on the market. I wanted it mostly for hunting at night, but it works equally well in daylight hours. The Sightmark Wraith has full-color day mode and green/black or white/black mode at night.

The Wraith is equipped with an 850nm external illuminator for nighttime image and accurate target acquisition up to 200 yards. The Wraith features a built-in camera allowing users to record and share videos using a micro-card or streaming. It has 10 reticle options and 9 color choices to fit your needs for any condition. The colored reticles are great at night for pinpointing your target.

Sightmark Wraith Testing

Sightmark Wraith QD Mount

The Wraith comes with a fixed tactical type mount for mounting to a Picatinny type rail or you can purchase the Sightmark QD mount for about $60. I wanted to use my Wraith on several rifles so I ordered a QD mount and secured it to my 6.5 Grendel AR for my first range test. The Wraith is a little heavy at 36 ounces, but pretty compact so it will balance well between the hands or on a tripod. The standard mount or QD mount brings the scope to just the right height for my AR15.

Zeroing the scope is simple after you get used to the “menu”. Remember this is a digital movie camera with an aiming reticle, not a scope with glass and turrets. All the controls are right at your fingertips and the menus are easy to navigate. The built-in zeroing function lets you fire a shot on target, then hold a crosshair on the aiming point while you move a second reticle to the shot. It works well and only takes a few shots to zero after you are on paper. After you are zeroed, you can mark your setting with a name of the caliber or load for easy reference when you move the scope to another rifle.

The Wraith can store up to five zero settings for different bullet weights or different rifles. I set up a load for the 6.5 Grendel and then moved it to my .223 upper and set it up for my favorite varmint load. It maintained zero pretty well when moving it from one rifle to the other using the QD mount. I think it would hold zero as well if you torqued the bolts to the same tightness on the standard mount.

Battery life is very good. One set of Duracell Alkaline batteries will last 3-4 hours. The scope has a battery life indicator that changes from green to yellow to red. You will still have over an hour of power left after the indicator turns red. On my last hunt from about 8:30-11:00 it never was out of the green. There is a power port on the side of the scope if you want to run an auxiliary power supply. Videos are captured on a 32 gig micro card located on side of the scope.

The Wraith has a 50mm front lens so it takes in a lot of light in daytime or night time. It has a diopter focal adjustment on the rear eyepiece that lets you focus the reticle until sharp for your eyes, and makes the screen info easy to read. The front focus ring lets you focus up close at 25 yards or at long range. The focus holds well and does not shift under recoil.

Hunting With The Wraith In Daytime

The Sightmark Wraith is a daytime as well as night time scope. The High Definition display provides a very bright and clear image. It has a base power of 4X and increases in magnification in increments of 4, ie 4X, 8X, etc up to 32. The info in the bottom of the video says 1X but that is actually 4 power. I was really pleased with the clarity and also the ability to focus at longer ranges to get a sharp image. As you increase the magnification, the reticle size remains constant.

Sightmark Wraith Night Vision Hunting

Best 5 Bedside Handgun Safes awesafe

Awesafe Single Bedside Gun Safe $99 at AMAZON

Of course, the real reason I bought a Wraith is for night hunting.

Sithtmark Wraith Control Buttons

I have used the Wraith on several hunts and it seems to get better the more I use it. My biggest problem is remembering to press the record button. Luckily, I did push the record button on my last coyote hunt shown above. The controls are easy to use, even at night. The layout of four arrows around the power button lets you feel up/down, left/right arrows to control everything you need on the hunt. Power in the center, up and down elevation, left for mode, and right for recording. The Wraith powers up in only 5 seconds, no long wait like some night scopes.

The clarity and battery life of the Wraith is much better than the older Photon. The Sightmark IR illuminator is a good light out to about 200 yards. It is compact, can be zoomed from flood to a pinpoint beam, and has three power settings. After a few hunts, I changed to a more powerful IR light and it helped longer range. For hunting at closer short range, 50-200 yards, the factory IR does a good job.

Where To Get A Sightmark Wraith

Call Jason Robertson at 888-350-1818 or visit Outdoor Legacy website.
Order from AMAZON Sightmark Wraith HD Night Vision Scope

A lot of people will want to upgrade to a stronger IR light to get top performance from the Wraith. I added a Sniper Hog Light 66LRX to my Wraith using a Sightmark QD Ring Mount SM34002. The large diameter light takes a tall, strong mount to hold it steady. This Sightmark QD mount is just the right height to run on top of the Wraith or on your M-Lok handguard. It is the best on the market.

  • Adjustable focus so you can go from a flood beam to spot beam
  • Interchangeable LED modules so you can easily change the color. IR 850nm is the only color included.
  • Will shine 800+ yards with Digital Night vision and 2500+ yards with Gen 3 Night vision
  • 2.5 hour run time on 1 battery
  • Can be used as a normal flashlight with the included normal flashlight tail cap.
BrandSniper Hog Lights
ColorRed
Item Dimensions LxWxH7 x 2.75 x 2.75 inches
SportHunting
Item Weight14 Ounces
MaterialAluminum

More Reviews You May Like

Tripod Setups For Coyote & Hog Hunting Tripod Setups Review
Sightmark 4K Mini Night Vision Scope Review

Pulsar Digex Night Vision Scope Review

Tripod Ball Mount Hunting Setup

Tripod & Ball Mount for AR15

Tripod – Leofoto Tripod
Rail Mount -M-lok -ARCA
Ball Head – Desmond DLOW-55 55mm Low Profile Ball Head
Ball Head Clamp – RRS 60MM LEVER RELEASE CLAMP | B2-LR-II
Shadow Tech Pig Saddle for Rifles without rail mounts (not shown)
SUNWAYFOTO SM-76 Saddle Mount $59

Features of the Wraith Night Vision Scope

Sightmark Wraith
  • Day/Night mode – full color for day use, black & white or classic green for night vision mode
  • High-definition sensor – high-resolution imaging along with video/photo recording in 1080p HD
  • 8x digital zoom – a 4x optical system for up to 32x magnification
  • Customizable tactical & hunting reticles – 10 reticle options & 9 color options for better accuracy
  • 4 AA batteries for up to 4.5 hours of battery life and includes an external Micro USB power input
  • HD photo or video recording
  • External IR Illuminator included