Sightmark Wraith is a very popular riflescope among hunters. The ability to hunt during the day and night without any modification is a really good feature for night crawlers. The scope doesn’t cost that much either.
This is why a lot of people are looking into buying the Wraith as their first-night vision riflescope. While the optic is really good and is equipped with a lot of features, it’s not perfect. It’s far from it.
Sightmark Wraith Problems
Won’t Turn On
When it comes to night vision scopes, if it doesn’t power on, it’s as good as dead. There is no point in having a digital scope if it doesn’t even turn on. While the complaint of a dead scope wasn’t much, it’s still a complaint.
If you are facing this issue, I recommend trying out new batteries and seeing if the batteries are installed correctly and the lid closes with good contact. If the scope still doesn’t turn on after doing all of that, then you have a broken scope. You will need to seek a warranty when that happens.
Red Screen of Death
You probably heard of BSOD, a term IT folks use for “blue screen of death”. When it appears, everyone is scared for their life and starts chanting the holy book. As for this scope, it has something similar.
After powering it on, the scope starts showing you a red digital display. This malfunction is not overwhelming but I have found people complaining about this recently.
The way of fixing this issue is resetting the optic. Take out the batteries and hold the power for 3-4 seconds and it will reset the scope hopefully. If it doesn’t fix it on the first try, do a battery swap and try it out multiple times. This should make the scope reset it’s function and show an accurate display again. If it doesn’t, the issue lies somewhere else. Might need to seek a warranty if that happens.
The Scope Refuses to Sleep
Just like me in real life, there have been complaints about the scope of suffering from insomnia. What I mean is, that the auto-sleep function of the scope just doesn’t work. As it’s a digital scope and it runs on battery, if the screen doesn’t sleep, then it will keep consuming battery.
While it’s not a common issue, it happened a few times on the same scope. Before concluding it’s a defective unit, you should try activating the sleep mode. You can do that by holding the down arrow for 4-5 seconds. Before you do that, make sure the optic isn’t in the menu function.
It should go back to sleep. After that, turn it on and then see if the sleep function works again or not. It should fix the sleep cycle issue, unlike real life where your sleep cycle is messed up no matter what. Jokes aside, hopefully, this fixes the scope issue. Otherwise, you know what to do.
Water Damage
While Sightmark claims it’s “water-resistant”, they never said it’s submergible. That makes it a “not-waterproof” scope if that makes sense. The bottom line is, the scope can be damaged from continuous water. Heavy rain for example.
If you are facing water damage, then the scope will refuse to turn on no matter what you do. You can try putting it in rice and let it soak there a bit and see if it turns on, but if it doesn’t, then either a warranty or a dead scope on your hand. Remember, no matter what the manufacturer says, never submerge or use a digital scope under heavy rain.
Poor Battery Life
Whether you run in real life or not, the battery of the Sightmark Wraith runs out quite often. This monster of a scope takes 4 AA batteries to power up. If your scope is suffering from sleep issues, then chances are, it’s also suffering from poor battery life.
You can try swapping out batteries and make sure they have proper contact. If this doesn’t fix the power consumption issue, there is something wrong with the digital processor of the scope. So, seek a warranty if swapping batteries doesn’t fix it.
Refuses To Work In Cold
Just like me on a snowy day, the scope refuses to go to work. While the durability of this scope is really good, it sometimes doesn’t turn on in cold weather. If you are someone who lives in a negative temperature and sees snow almost every other day, then this scope might not be a good option for you.
Unfortunately, there is no way of fixing this either. If you are buying this, you will need to be wary of the temperature you are working with.
Sightmark Wraith 4k Problems
What about the 4k variant? Surely, that doesn’t suffer from all these issues? Well, you are half right. While the 4k doesn’t suffer from all the mentioned issues here, the 4k does suffer from upscaling issues.
Unlike a real-life display where you have native 4k and upscaled 4k resolution, scopes don’t have those. Nearly all of the time a 4k scope will have upscaled 4k and not a native 4k sensor/display.
If you are suffering from blurry vision or lack of field of view on the regular one, then the 4k is a good option for you. It offers a wider field of view at better resolution. Otherwise, the 4k has some of the mentioned issues here like freezing in cold weather. No pun intended.
Conclusion
And there you have it. Those are some of the major problems with Sightmark Wraith. I’m not trying to undermine what Sightmark pulled off with this scope, but I feel like more people should know what they are getting into. If you don’t know what you are dealing with, you might have a hard time managing everything.
Hopefully, it answered all of your questions regarding the Sightmark Wraith. I know it’s a good scope and a good start to a nighttime hunting journey. A lot of the problems here might not bother you. If they don’t, you might want to give this a go.
That’s all for now, as always thanks for reading. Hope to see you on the next one. Take care and have fun.
Hi, I’m Brent Hansford. A writer turned hunter & now sharing my love for the sport through writing. As I practically breathe weapons, I firmly believe I’m capable of providing you with new knowledge about firearms and hunting. My mission is to help more people get better at hunting & master the weapons. Let me help with unleashing the beast within you!
