Thread: Thermal Imaging Rifle

GDay.
I’m after the perfect caliber to shoot deer with a quality Thermal Imager.

I am currently shooting the TI off an AR platform. This has smoked countless animals, however isn’t giving me the desired results at 250m.
Looking to change to a bolt

These are my restraints

- light weight
- flat shooting
- quiet
- low recoil
- ammo price
- want to shoot dead as animals can be hard to find in the dark

What caliber suppresses the best?

I have been leaning toward .308 because ammo is cheap and have the option of subsonic rounds.

Thoughts?

Cheers
Rex

.308 gives the option of subsonic but I understand these are not great rounds and have to be within 100m

68 cal

Tippmann TMCÂ*| Tippmann Sports

45/70 subsonic, someone on here posted something about that.

Fails his flat shooting requirement but ticks the kills dead box. Lifes all about compromise.

Take this with a pinch of salt, but is consumer grade thermal just as likely to be a limitation as much as caliber?
What one are you using out of curiosity?
I'm no expert here, but we do get some fairly high end IR gear at work. From what I've seen of the footage you see on the likes YouTube of consumer grade thermal gear in NZ is poor.
A 223 should be plenty out to 250m by day with good shot placement, I'd say using subs at night would be even less forgiving accuracy wise at that distance.
If someone can suggest a single round that ticks all those boxes I'll seriously look at getting one.

I would be wary of this one. Something feels very off with these questions.

Asking the wrong questions and with just two post. What sort of animals is he hunting in the dark that requires 250m effective range? With subs? and a suppressor? Sounds way too dodgy to me. If he had a legitimate use for such items such as working in pest control, then I would suspect he would have a greater knowledge of the subject matter and not be so uninformed. Best case scenario, he is looking for a poaching rig, worst case, he means people harm....

Hey. Is this H.D.P.A. trying a come back story??????

it looks like nonsense to me. Hence the paintball answer.

Media? Nutter? Poacher?

Going by the title it's a bit backwards considering the rifle doesn't do the imaging... And he already has the thermal. As has been pointed out the calibre already used is effective to those distances during he day, why does it change come nightfall?

If you have the money to justify thermal imaging gear then you should really have a bit, ore knowledge regarding calibre choice....

Hey I could be completely wrong, if so nothing wrong with the 308, as has been said subsonic would limit your distance considerably but would extend further than 250m using factory or hand loads

Thanks for the replies.
Yes new to this forum. We have been shooting goats and possums around our place for the last 6 months or so.
It has been a lot of fun with the AR.
I was more after a better suited cal for deer without the recoil of big cannons as I still want to shoot possums etc with it.
I know subsonic ammo is hopeless but thought it could be a bit like bow hunting as you got to be very close to shoot.
Have had great fun bow the bow on goats over the years but wouldn’t back myself on a deer!

I have seen all the threads on caliber choice but not much on recoil...

A 308 is cheap to run. suppressed AR10 will work for your needs but they are heavy or a bushpig 308 can handle 250m.

Originally Posted by Rex

Thanks for the replies.
Yes new to this forum. We have been shooting goats and possums around our place for the last 6 months or so.
It has been a lot of fun with the AR.
I was more after a better suited cal for deer without the recoil of big cannons as I still want to shoot possums etc with it.
I know subsonic ammo is hopeless but thought it could be a bit like bow hunting as you got to be very close to shoot.
Have had great fun bow the bow on goats over the years but wouldn’t back myself on a deer!

I have seen all the threads on caliber choice but not much on recoil...

Fair enough. 308 would be fine for deer. As the calibre gets bigger so does the recoil. However, I would suggest a 22LR for the possums for several reasons. Shooting at possums in trees with a 308 at night is far less safe than using a 22. Your 308 will have the power to travel several miles or more pointed up in that direction and checking the firing zone is not possible that far at night. 2nd, 22 is much cheaper for shooting possums at about a 10th of the cost.

Good point timsttalon. Guess one caliber can’t do it all!

Just out of interest, can you put factory subsonic 308 rounds in a standard off the shelf rifle, say Tikka to be boring and get good results? Accepting that the range will be limited and scope would need re-zeroing.

Originally Posted by MightyBoosh

Just out of interest, can you put factory subsonic 308 rounds in a standard off the shelf rifle, say Tikka to be boring and get good results? Accepting that the range will be limited and scope would need re-zeroing.

Don’t know about factory 308 subs but can reload any weight subs you like for coons and bunny’s.

As for shooting into or through trees I see no problem as long as you know the backdrop of the property like shooting onto a hillside or gully with no livestock, buildings etc and not shooting trees on the skyline.
Use the NZ Arms Code Rules 2 and 5 it’s easy, unless your a cowboy and want your license taken off you.
I shoot coons all the time on a mates property with my 300 blackout with both subs and supers no problems.