Thermals and LRF

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JaceSpace1369

JaceSpace1369

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Aug 8, 2021
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Not sure if this is just my opinion, but after a week of watching countless videos on thermal monoculars, and scopes from different companies like AGM, Pulsar, Mileseey, and ATN. I believe ALL thermal scopes should come with LRF. It doesn't make sense to not have it, I understand a monocular having it as an option as you could be use a monocular for whatever you want, not every that wants to see things clearly at night wants to hunt. But everyone looking for a thermal scope is 100% looking to hunt or perform pest control.
 
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JaceSpace1369 said:
Not sure if this is just my opinion, but after a week of watching countless videos on thermal monoculars, and scopes from different companies like AGM, Pulsar, Mileseey, and ATN. I believe ALL thermal scopes should come with LRF. It doesn't make sense to not have it, I understand a monocular having it as an option as you could be use a monocular for whatever you want, not every that wants to see things clearly at night wants to hunt. But everyone looking for a thermal scope is 100% looking to hunt or perform pest control.
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@JaceSpace1369 I can’t say what everyone who buys a thermal scope is doing with them. I think they have military, paramilitary, and law enforcement applications as well. These guys probably aren’t hunting.

If you’re hunting shooting traditional firearms an LRF feature only makes sense to use a laser rangefinder at longer ranges. With many centerfire cartridges. I don’t know if there are thermal devices made specifically with airgunners in mind. There a several airgunners on AGN that swear that they don’t need the LRF feature because animals show up in their backyards or target areas within point blank range. I think that for many airgun pesters the LRF feature is advantageous. For airgun hunters it’s more of a must in my opinion. On a handheld scanner it’s not absolutely necessary because by the time one puts down the scanner and gets back on the gun, the animal could have moved. In my experience the LRF feature is most useful on the gun-mounted scope (thermal or night vision).
 
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Ezana4CE said:
@JaceSpace1369 I can’t say what everyone who buys a thermal scope is doing with them. I think they have military, paramilitary, and law enforcement applications as well. These guys probably aren’t hunting.

If you’re hunting shooting traditional firearms an LRF feature only makes sense to use a laser rangefinder at longer ranges. With many centerfire cartridges. I don’t know if there are thermal devices made specifically with airgunners in mind. There a several airgunners on AGN that swear that they don’t need the LRF feature because animals show up in their backyards or target areas within point blank range. I think that for many airgun pesters the LRF feature is advantageous. For airgun hunters it’s more of a must in my opinion. On a handheld scanner it’s not absolutely necessary because by the time one puts down the scanner and gets back on the gun, the animal could have moved. In my experience the LRF feature is most useful on the gun-mounted scope (thermal or night vision).
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You and I are pretty much on the same page then, and in the case of military and law enforcement, it would be a must to have an LRF as you would want everything in one unit. But I was mostly speaking for everyone on the civilian side. LE and military would have access to better gear than we would.
 
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I don’t have an NV or thermal that doesn’t have an LRF built in. The shorter range shots - sub 25 yards - I almost use it the most for the correct hold over for pesting. I can get close to guessing distances during the day without a rangefinder but I’m terrible at night unless it’s a familiar site.
 
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OutdoorEDventure said:
Airguns where you need to know your drop, yes. Night shots with standard firearms one rarely shoot beyond a rifles MBR. It is a great feature with modern thermals (handheld or scoped) but price point up until AGM entered the market was not feasible for most folks.
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So AGM has driven the prices up?
 
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JaceSpace1369 said:
Gotcha! I hadn't really heard of AGM, mostly Pulsar and the ATN up until this year. They seem to have some really good stuff though.
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For THERMAL-
Nvision, Iray/InfiRay and Pulsar are top tier.
AGM, Bering Optics and Rix are second.
ATN is bottom of the list.
PARD is primarily an unknown. Very little real world usage with little info and conflicting specs.

Of the above, all are Chinese except Nvision and Pulsar. Nvision is made in the USA. Pulsar is European, Lithuania.
 
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Hal4son said:
For THERMAL-
Nvision, Iray/InfiRay and Pulsar are top tier.
AGM, Bering Optics and Rix are second.
ATN is bottom of the list.
PARD is primarily an unknown. Very little real world usage with little info and conflicting specs.

Of the above, all are Chinese except Nvision and Pulsar. Nvision is made in the USA. Pulsar is European, Lithuania.
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Where would you place Sightmark? They make really nice day/night optics and noticed they have a 4k Mini thermal that came out last year.

I've watched a lot of Pulsar equipment since this year started. Youtuber Edge of the Outback makes amazing content with them while using PB and Airguns. I didn't start trying to compare and contrast the specs of these against the AGM until this last week and it was pretty to make a decision.
 
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JaceSpace1369 said:
Where would you place Sightmark? They make really nice day/night optics and noticed they have a 4k Mini thermal that came out last year.

I've watched a lot of Pulsar equipment since this year started. Youtuber Edge of the Outback makes amazing content with them while using PB and Airguns. I didn't start trying to compare and contrast the specs of these against the AGM until this last week and it was pretty to make a decision.
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I'd put Sightmark in the AGM, Bering Optics and Rix line.
I put dependability above all else. Rix would rate higher if there weren't so many reported issues.
 
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The technology is moving fast. There are a couple of 1280x1024 sensor thermals on the market that are priced at the 1024x768 level!

What is also becoming more available in thermals is the dual FOV. Great for acquisition and quick switching for final alignment!

Unfortunately all those are real expensive! I have the PARD SA32/19 with LRF that you could buy from their site for $1100 but it seems to be gone. The next on it has a 35mm lens for $1800. The 19mm lens has been great for < 50 yard posting.

As @Hal4son said the bulk are made in China and if you look closely at many, they are the same with only a few slight differences. For example, the HIKMICRO and AGM lines are the same.

Personally I really like the multi-spectral devices as you get the best of both worlds.
 
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Hal4son said:
I'd put Sightmark in the AGM, Bering Optics and Rix line.
I put dependability above all else. Rix would rate higher if there weren't so many reported issues.
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Good to know, that puts me more at ease with my current decision and future decisions. I bought a pulsar Axiom 2 35-384 LRF at a great price from @Scott.t I'm excited to get it. Hopefully in another 3-4 months I'll be looking into getting something like a rattler v2 ts 35-640, hopefully the prices drop during the holidays.

I have seen a lot of bad reviews on thermals like AGM and Pulsar on Amazon so I implore anyone to not buy them from there. The customers are pretty much getting returned thermals and the refund process is a hassle. So I suggest getting them from the retailer.
 
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Hal4son said:
For THERMAL-
Nvision, Iray/InfiRay and Pulsar are top tier.
AGM, Bering Optics and Rix are second.
ATN is bottom of the list.
PARD is primarily an unknown. Very little real world usage with little info and conflicting specs.

Of the above, all are Chinese except Nvision and Pulsar. Nvision is made in the USA. Pulsar is European, Lithuania.
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Spot on. I’ve spent hundred of hours behind thermals, with my preferred being iray and Agm. Lrf is a complete waste of money on my 22-250 😆
 
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For an airgun you’ll never shoot at high end thermal distance. You’ll be fine with an entry level. I’d honestly stick to NV for varmint size critters. At least with NV you can clearly ID target during the day. Yes you can use a thermal during the day but small varmints will blend into environment pretty quickly And can be hard to ID during hot days.
 
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OutdoorEDventure said:
For an airgun you’ll never shoot at high end thermal distance. You’ll be fine with an entry level. I’d honestly stick to NV for varmint size critters. At least with NV you can clearly ID target during the day. Yes you can use a thermal during the day but small varmints will blend into environment pretty quickly And can be hard to ID during hot days.
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@OutdoorEDventure
Who is using night vision during the day? Why would one do this?
 
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JaceSpace1369 said:
Not sure if this is just my opinion, but after a week of watching countless videos on thermal monoculars, and scopes from different companies like AGM, Pulsar, Mileseey, and ATN. I believe ALL thermal scopes should come with LRF. It doesn't make sense to not have it, I understand a monocular having it as an option as you could be use a monocular for whatever you want, not every that wants to see things clearly at night wants to hunt. But everyone looking for a thermal scope is 100% looking to hunt or perform pest control.
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This is right on. The tech is so cheap to add range finding and mark the BDC for you that it is bizarre not to have it.
I have 2 over bore heights with my Thermnight, it would be so asinine to ask me to hold under on the DAY/Night and hold over on the thermal.
 
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