Thermal, best bang for buck

Hi guys.

Looking for some recommendations for AR-15 thermal options that gives best bang for the buck.? It would start on a .223 rifle used max to 2 or 300 yds.

Hoping for a clip on version, but might be too picky.

Have you tried to go cheap but eventually upgraded to xxxx?

Also: can thermal be used magnifiers and red dots like NV?

Disclaimer: I've never used thermal before. I own a cheap gen 1 NV scope

Welcome, you might look at the vendor section for some help in deciding

SuppressHer said:

Hi guys.

Looking for some recommendations for AR-15 thermal options that gives best bang for the buck.? It would start on a .223 rifle used max to 2 or 300 yds.

Hoping for a clip on version, but might be too picky.

Have you tried to go cheap but eventually upgraded to xxxx?

Also: can thermal be used magnifiers and red dots like NV?

Disclaimer: I've never used thermal before. I own a cheap gen 1 NV scope

Click to expand...

There are plenty of options, but expect to spend over 3K to get in the game. I would contact a few vendors to discuss what would fit your needs.

As far as magnifiers, thermal cannot see through glass. Meaning the objective lens needs to have uninterrupted view to operate properly. With magnifiers behind the thermal you are really just zooming in on a screen the same sort of process is true with variable power thermal scopes and generally with more magnification you lose resolution. I suggest if going with a thermal scope get at a power you like the most, in my case I use 3x the most and would generally shoot under 3x.

Thanks for ya'lls input. I know you can hardly use the words like "budget" when looking for thermal. I usually think buy once, cry once.

Although we typically recommend a dedicated weapon scope over a thermal clip-on, the Armasight Apollo 640 42mm is probably the best bang for the buck thermal clip-on available right now. Armasight is currently offering a $500 mail-in rebate on the Apollo 640 and several other scopes.

If you are considering a dedicated scope, the Pulsar Apex scopes offer excellent performance for the money in the $2800-$3500 range. The Armasight Zeus 640 42mm and 75mm are great options at their respective price points, especially with the $500 rebate. On the higher end, the IR Defense REAP-IR and IR Hunter MKIII 60mm offer the best overall image quality, performance, and ease of use under $10k.

This is all just my opinion, of course, but the scopes listed above are the ones that stand out to me in terms of performance and features for the money at the various price points between $2800 and $10k.

oh thats a decent rebate. I thought I'd start looking now as Black Friday will be here before ya know it. Those look like solid contenders. and scope vs clip-on, this that, I'll probably change my mind 10x before its all said and done.

I would go with the IRDefense MIII 35. I like the 60 but the magnification is too much for all around use.

says the vender it does look nice. 2.5-20x an optical zoom?

SuppressHer said:

says the vender ;)it does look nice. 2.5-20x an optical zoom?

Click to expand...

Digital zoom. I find with my normal hunting out to 200 yards I can get by with the 2.5. Others who hunt coyotes out west would be better off with the 60. In hog hunting with ranges being from point blank out to however far you want to shoot I prefer the wider field of view.

I have the MK II 35mm, which has the same performance as the MK III but less versatile software. For hog hunting the native 2.5x is perfect, imo, and it works great for eastern predator hunting. I would not want a thermal with more than 3x native magnification for hog hunting or the predator hunting we do here in the Mid Atlantic region.

Fwiw, with a 640 thermal up to 4x digital zoom is usable - 10x for the 2.5x IR Defense 35 mm MK II, MK III and REAP-IR. For the Pulsars and 320 units, 2x digital zoom is usable. More than that and you loose too much resolution IMO.

I have a bud who uses military grade clip owns. Most give similar performance to the IR Defense dedicated thermal scopes ( but there are versions which would allow 1,000yd shots if the shooter is up to it. Probably have to sell your house to get one though.) he always bitches about how heavy his rifle ends up with day scope and thermal clip on.

If the Pulsars interest you, I have a little used Apex XD50S I am looking to sell. pM me if you are interested.

JPK

I don't shoot to far now, and the farthest I've ever shot was like 500 yds at the range in Navasota, TX. 4x just sounds so handy, but my pocketbook will probably have the final say.

Since you mentioned weight, have you handled the Armasight Apollo mini's? 0.5lb

I have not handled an Appolo mini. The Pulsars are relatively light and would weigh less that the mini plus a day scope. My 50S mounted on a 10.5" 5.56 makes a light, handy package. The MK II on an 11.5" 6.8 is heavier, but not too much, and handy too. 10.5-11.5" plus ~7" suppressor ends up about the same length as a 16" carbine.

With a 2-3x native magnification 320 or Pulsar thermal, 2x digital zoom for a total magnification of 4x to 6x is usable. Since what you see at night is only what you see through the thermal or NV, field of view is critical IMO. I had great success with an IR Patrol used as a scope, and it't native magnification is around 1.2x. Btw, the pulsars have continuous zoom and zoom can be added as needed via an easy to use dial. Most or all other thermal's have pre set zooms, like 2x, 4x...

JPK

sounds nice. We have to have loud and long guns in Illinois or we go to prison. and if I want to use it for deer, I'll have to put it on my shotgun, but I don't hunt deer in the dark. Did I just rant?

Anyways, different internal and external accessories ... I'm noticing some have range finders. They accurate and easy to use, practical? just icing on the cake?

You may not be able to shoot deer after legal hours but I don't go deer hunting without a thermal scanner. You would be surprised how many deer you won't see in low light, even with good binos, that you pick up with a thermal.

I think range finders are kind of gimmicky on a civilian thermal. How useful is a set of stadia metric (sp? ) lines set for a 6' tall man on a thermal used for fox, coyote, hogs? A laser range finder, like some of the military units have, would be great, but expensive. Range is hard to judge looking through a thermal though, especially in unfamiliar territory.