I finally broke down and bought a Steiner S35 and a Burris handheld thermal BTH50. After playing with a few of them I decided I needed a dedicated handheld for scanning and a mounted sight. I know clip-ons are made to do both, but it still seemed like pulling your scope off using it like binoculars and then mounting it back up before your shot. The pricing on these two models dropped significantly and i was able to buy both for quite a bit less than what the Steiner sold for just a few months ago. Steiner is also doing a $500.00 rebate through the end of the month.
I mounted it on my 25 Wildcat II which I got from member MadeintheUK-Andy is a fantastic guy btw. This gun was "massaged" and tweaked by BigRagu and is a very accurate shooter with just about any pellet and slug and has JSB heavy's hitting at about 62ft lbs. This must have been an early MK II that had the dovetail rail so a new picattiny rail from Utah Airguns was swapped out to fit the Steiner's mount.
For sight in I used an 8x11 target with a strip tin foil as a "cross hair" and black electrical tape in the center. Just letting it sit in the sun, the 60 degree weather heated it up for a good thermal signature. I sat it up at 50 yards. My friend had a palm tree removed years ago and had it sliced into slabs nearly a foot thick They make great backstops and after thousands of rounds when the middle gets shot out he just rolls another on it it's place. Thumbtacks hold the targets, it's genius and cheap! The black and white inch targets at 35 yards in the sun made a thermal signature that worked as well, or better than, the tin foil and electrical tape at 50. I slapped a 3" splash target that is black in the center and viola you could see it clearly through the Steiner.
At 35 yards the first shot hit 2 feet to the right and a foot low, in the dirt next to the target so it deflated me a little bit. I was thinking it would be like all the you tube videos where you moved the cross hair for the one shot zero 4 or 5 "clicks" over and target acquired, sight in complete.
Anyway back to the 15 yard line with a big sheet of paper on a pallet and 61 Centimeters of movement on one axis and 30 on the other, "save and exit" and the 3rd shot hit the target. So a 2 shot zero instead of 1, I won't complain.
50 yards I was about 2 inches high and a little left so one adjustment down and one right got where I was grouping the JSB 33.95 in a big hole.
After dark I headed out to the desert edge of suburbia glassing with the Burris.
The buttons and functions are similar enough between the two that I don't think i'll get confused, and their capabilities and detection are amazing.
The third area I went to I spotted this guy sitting under a brush about 25 yards away-I haven't played with the range finding capabilities yet so it was just a guess. The first is the Burris in "black hot" mode and the second is the Steiner on the Wildcat with "red hot"
The rabbit crawled off and into a rock pile so it wasn't a perfect hit, but all in all a success trial!
I'm looking forward to a sight in of the Steiner on a few of my predator hunting powder burners and coyote season.
If anyone is on the fence, this is the thread I found for the lowest priced Steiner from Strictly Offensive Kit for the Sight and Clip on with discount codes in the thread
Steiner thread Snipers Hide
I mounted it on my 25 Wildcat II which I got from member MadeintheUK-Andy is a fantastic guy btw. This gun was "massaged" and tweaked by BigRagu and is a very accurate shooter with just about any pellet and slug and has JSB heavy's hitting at about 62ft lbs. This must have been an early MK II that had the dovetail rail so a new picattiny rail from Utah Airguns was swapped out to fit the Steiner's mount.
For sight in I used an 8x11 target with a strip tin foil as a "cross hair" and black electrical tape in the center. Just letting it sit in the sun, the 60 degree weather heated it up for a good thermal signature. I sat it up at 50 yards. My friend had a palm tree removed years ago and had it sliced into slabs nearly a foot thick They make great backstops and after thousands of rounds when the middle gets shot out he just rolls another on it it's place. Thumbtacks hold the targets, it's genius and cheap! The black and white inch targets at 35 yards in the sun made a thermal signature that worked as well, or better than, the tin foil and electrical tape at 50. I slapped a 3" splash target that is black in the center and viola you could see it clearly through the Steiner.
At 35 yards the first shot hit 2 feet to the right and a foot low, in the dirt next to the target so it deflated me a little bit. I was thinking it would be like all the you tube videos where you moved the cross hair for the one shot zero 4 or 5 "clicks" over and target acquired, sight in complete.
Anyway back to the 15 yard line with a big sheet of paper on a pallet and 61 Centimeters of movement on one axis and 30 on the other, "save and exit" and the 3rd shot hit the target. So a 2 shot zero instead of 1, I won't complain.
50 yards I was about 2 inches high and a little left so one adjustment down and one right got where I was grouping the JSB 33.95 in a big hole.
After dark I headed out to the desert edge of suburbia glassing with the Burris.
The buttons and functions are similar enough between the two that I don't think i'll get confused, and their capabilities and detection are amazing.
The third area I went to I spotted this guy sitting under a brush about 25 yards away-I haven't played with the range finding capabilities yet so it was just a guess. The first is the Burris in "black hot" mode and the second is the Steiner on the Wildcat with "red hot"
The rabbit crawled off and into a rock pile so it wasn't a perfect hit, but all in all a success trial!
I'm looking forward to a sight in of the Steiner on a few of my predator hunting powder burners and coyote season.
If anyone is on the fence, this is the thread I found for the lowest priced Steiner from Strictly Offensive Kit for the Sight and Clip on with discount codes in the thread
Steiner thread Snipers Hide
