What this is and why am I writing it: I have a TATM long arm mount for my PVS-14 and I was flirting with the idea of getting a L4 G24 (mostly because it looks cooler and stows away in a lower profile). I looked on the web for a clear comparison between the two in regards to a PVS-14, which one works better, pro’s and con’s etc, but I couldn’t find any. So I borrowed a friend’s L4 G24, and started to fiddle with the mounts, j-arm and DDA. The result was a bit surprising to me, and that’s why I thought that there may be others interested in it. This is by no means an in-depth review of the two mounts, with bells and whistles, there are plenty of those around.
First thing I noticed when mounting the L4 G24 with the Wilcox J-arm was that the range of depth adjustment (closer or farther away from the eye) is considerably smaller than the TATM with the same J-arm:
The TATM is able to bring the ocular closer with about 2cm than the L4G24 can.
With the L4G24 at the closest point to the eye, you cannot in fact see the full picture, it is cropped by my estimations with about 25% (which is enhanced peripheral vision effectively lost). With the TATM you can bring the ocular close enough that you can see the full picture (edges of the tube), and then some more (but not needed).
Enter the Norotos Dual Dovetail Adapter.
With the DDA, the L4G24 can now bring the ocular closer, to an optimal range, so a full picture is available (and still some range left on the depth adjustment). The TATM of course handles the DDA as well, with even more room for adjustment
Bonus: stowed away position with the L4 G24 vs the TATM
My conclusion: The L4G24 + Wilcox J-arm does not seem to be optimized at all for PVS-14. It’s eye relief is too big for viewing the full image produced by the intensifier tube. This can be corrected however by using a DDA instead of the J-arm. Comparatively, the TATM has much more freedom of adjustment, and overall seems better optimized for the PVS-14.However, the L4G24 does manage to stow in a lower profile (not really news here), and… yeah, looks sexier.
So, in my opinion, strictly for PVS-14, Norotos wins on functionality, and Wilcox on the tacticool factor.
Hope this helps.
