1st thermal...

[Bama21]

Been doing a bit of research lately and I'm considering a thermal scope for an AR (night time yotes and hogs). The few I have looked at are as follows:

AGM V2 Rattler 256 & 320

Bering Optics Hogster 256

A buddy mentioned Rix. Looked them up, seemed solid, but then suckers are high!

Any hands on experience or practical info would be appreciated. Not looking for bargain basement junk, but then again I don't have access to endless funds either. Thanks in advance yall.

 

[medium187mph]

Ran a friends AGM V2 Rattler 19-256 a few weeks back to get it sighted in. Used a few hand warmers stapled to the Target board at a little over 100 yards.

It lags a little bit if you pan quickly but I thought it was a nice set up if you are patient larping.

I could definitely ID cows/horses out to 300 yards easy with no moon. As far as taking distance shots, I would stay under 200 yards personally on that set up for yotes. Mainly for size reasons as them dogs dart and skoooot quick

 

[Bama21]

Ran a friends AGM V2 Rattler 19-256 a few weeks back to get it sighted in. Used a few hand warmers stapled to the Target board at a little over 100 yards.

It lags a little bit if you pan quickly but I thought it was a nice set up if you are patient larping.

I could definitely ID cows/horses out to 300 yards easy with no moon. As far as taking distance shots, I would stay under 200 yards personally on that set up for yotes. Mainly for size reasons as them dogs dart and skoooot quick

From the videos I've watched and what I have read, 256 seems decent. The higher resolution models appear to provide a clearer picture, but with that comes a much higher price. Never hunted at night too much except with a green light, and i have never used a thermal. Trying to gain as much info as i can to make the best decision on equipment. I do appreciate you sharing your experience.

 

[Critter4528]

I wish I could get use to mine,
I have the newest AGM Rattler V2 50-640
Just trying to site it in
No set directions

 

[medium187mph]

I can say, thermal for the common man has come a LONG WAY and light years ahead of the NV stuff for the price.

I don’t think you can go wrong with the one I mentioned using to get your bearings and scratch the itch. It just flat out works but it’s definitely not top tier 15k equipment lol

 

[Mythical Beast Forge]

The Agm rattlers are solid for the money and the customer support is awesome. I went from a ts25-384 v1 to the ts25-256 & ts19-256 v2s. The best setup in my opinion is a thermal to scan with and nv for pid. I hunt around livestock and farm dogs so pid is a must. My current setup is an Agm rattler to scan and the Agm neith on my rifle. Both are zeroed so I can swap them out if I need to.

 

[WinstonSmith]

I like the krypton fxg50. It can mount on a picatinny rail ahead of your 30mm optic or attach to the front of any scope directly. This avoids having to have a dedicated thermal rifle set up or having to switch optics back and forth and having to rezero. I like mine and it works well. Also allows me to have any caliber I hunt with be thermal so I can use what I need to for conditions, range, what I'm hunting, etc. Long shots to bush hunting.

 

[ReservoirDawg10]

Burdy have any insight here?

My experience, thermal has come a long way, but it is still pay to play.

 

[davis211]

I just got my first -AGM Adder TS35-384 and love it. I could see hand prints on the target for a few seconds at 100 yds. I cut a 1/2" square hole in a piece of cardboard - put another piece of cardboard about 3" behind the hole with a hand warmer taped to it - any closer and the front cardboard would have a hot spot about 4" in diameter. Last 3 shots at 100 yds were tight. It took 3 shots to zero in. Rifle is a 16" Rock River 5.56.

 

[Bama21]

Burdy have any insight here?

My experience, thermal has come a long way, but it is still pay to play.

Same sense I have been getting since i started doing research, 256 is way cheaper than 384. 384 is good amount less than 640 and so on. Trying to find the happy medium in the group when it comes to monetary output and performance. AGM makes a 320, but havent seen that offering from another other company that I have found thus far. Still researching. Preciate it RD.