Thread: SYTONG Thermal scope

Does anyone have any experience with a Thermal scope.

I am thinking of getting this on a good deal here in NZ - Sytong LM02-25 Thermal Rifle Scope. I would appreciate any feedback. Thanks

https://nightvision.co.nz/product/sy...l-rifle-scope/

Ive got a Sytong spotter and a thermal scope (SYTONG XM03-50LRF).

You get what you pay for - my 'scope is $4K - but I cant imagine the one you are looking at being any less than how it is advertised.
Note though that there does seem to be a direct co-relation between the price of thermals and sensor/image quality.

I would expect the one you are looking at would be ideal for bunnies and 'possums and a good starter proposition for the odd deer.

Im wrapped in their products and the service is exceptional.

Note that it would have been only 6 or so years ago that if you had bought that one you are looking at for $5000.00 odd for all round hunting including serious deer culling you would have thought you had died and gone to heaven.

I’ve got a Sytong spotter xs something 35 LRF. It’s superb.

Thanks guys. Much appreciated.

I bit the bullet and paid up today.

Can you please post a photo of the rail mount i need for it. My rifle is a Tikka T3x Superlight in 223 Rem.

Originally Posted by Nakihunter

Thanks guys. Much appreciated.

I bit the bullet and paid up today.

Can you please post a photo of the rail mount i need for it. My rifle is a Tikka T3x Superlight in 223 Rem.

hey man let me know how it goes,
i am considering getting one aswell, local shop owner says they are best value for money,
obviously the 8-10k scopes are better but for the 4-5k range he says they are pretty good. unfortunately you cannot go hunting to test one out before you buy.

let m eknow how the clarity is when spotting animals

Sample vids from the Sytong LM02-25 here: https://www.nzhuntingandshooting.co....-scope-109926/

I bought the 0MOA rails GWA from Reloaders.

I hope the scope and rail arrive tomorrow.

Originally Posted by Moose.

hey man let me know how it goes,
i am considering getting one aswell, local shop owner says they are best value for money,
obviously the 8-10k scopes are better but for the 4-5k range he says they are pretty good. unfortunately you cannot go hunting to test one out before you buy.

let m eknow how the clarity is when spotting animals

Two to 3 years later,the 10k scopes will only be 5 to 6k scopes.

this is what i have and it is awesome ,the best rifle thermal i have used ( ive cycled thru a few ) https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/marketpl...9?bof=WGzNxgvf

Originally Posted by Moose

hey man let me know how it goes,
i am considering getting one aswell, local shop owner says they are best value for money,
obviously the 8-10k scopes are better but for the 4-5k range he says they are pretty good. unfortunately you cannot go hunting to test one out before you buy.

let m eknow how the clarity is when spotting animals

Me like some feedback too, be much appreciated

I've got the picatinny rail. I will mount the scope this weekend and hope to shoot the rifle. I am also awaiting a new set of rings so I can swap the Burris & Thermal any time I want.

The manual is not very good for operating instructions.

* There is no explanation of how to zero the scope.
* There are submenus that have features for the various zero profiles that can be saved for different loads / calibers / distances but no explanation (figured this by comparing with other brands on YouTube)
* There are submenus for freezing the picture and moving the reticle (single shot zero) but no explanation

I spent about an hour plodding through the unit and figuring out by trial and error. Not difficult but annoying.

I saw a video that clearly shows how to zero another brand of thermal scope. He suggests that we will need 2 hours for the setup of zeroing the scope to the rifle.

I now realise that if I put a Picatinny rail on the other rifles, I can move the scope around and use the 20 or so zero profiles saved in the scope. Not sure if I can edit the title so I can have caliber and bullet weight in the profile

The entry level LM02-25 Thermal scope has no laser or ballistic program.

The manual is very limited. No instructions on how to zero it. Description of submenu is terrible.
Default language was Chinese!!! I plodded through the menue and some how managed to find English!!

I then found 2 different features that moved the reticle or a cross on the screen.
I could not find any menu for freezing the picture.

I took it to a mates farm and at 30 meters first shot was 18 inches low. I tried adjusting the cross in the advanced menu and no luck. Wasted many shots. No clue what that screen is for.

I then tried the other option and got on paper. I had to adjust 88 clicks at 30 meters for zero.

At 100 meters, it was 5 inches high. I was able to zero it finally.

The 5 Thermal modes are a lottery. I found Red hot worked best.

8x zoom was blurry on target. Sheep and cow were showing up but very pixilated.

At 2x the Thermal signal was good even at 500+ meters on a mob of sheep.

After 2 hours we managed to sight the rifle.

The scope should be adequate for hunting at 200 meters.

Yeah, the digital zoom will quickly kill any decent sight picture on a low spec scope. 200 yard hunting sounds about right for the price.

Sytong menus all seem to be very similar across their range of scopes as does the sighting in process. Go to the Sytong site and have a look at the manuals for their main lines of scopes.

I did that yesterday. I read the AM series manual, and it explained how to freeze the picture! I wish I had seen it before my range session.

Just back from a road trip to the South Island with my wife.


I took out my Tikka 223 Rem. I went for a walk behind the hut to look into a steep gully but saw nothing. I glassed all the hills and gullies and saw a mot of fallow but no wallaby. At around 6.30 the farmer came and picked me up on his quad. We went around the paddocks and started to climb towards the 4500 feet ridge top. About 3000 feet elevation onwards we started spotting wallabies. All of them them were down hill shots and quite easy. The first one was 290 meters (230 meters adjusted for slope) and I was shooting off my knees. Missed to the right! No excuses. Second shot nailed him . I got two more at ranges from 160 to 235 meters. The second hand Leupold Freedom 4-12X was really good (far better than the Burris 3-9 that I got as a package with the rifle).

As we headed to the higher tussock country it started to fog up. It was real big weather front as we could see for miles around us and all the ridges were getting covered with thick fog or clouds. A real disappointment as we could not hunt the tussock with my new Sytong Thermal scope. This was the high volume area - bugger.

We decided to hunt the flats and gullies where the numbers are a lot less. We still got another 7 hopping giant rats at ranges from 30 meters to 130 meters. Most of the shots were off hand and I was very happy with my shooting. We finished at 10.30 pm.

The Thermal scope worked well and I found it worth the cheap $1500 for this entry model. We picked up all the wallabies and hares. A few sheep were easy to spot and even a small group of fallow at 50 meters. I did not take any photos or videos as I got a fright with one of the batteries right at the beginning. Operator error. I should have checked everything during the day. First time using thermal - stupid laziness I guess. The Thermal reticle was really fine and the tiny red cross was perfect. I am not sure I was on 1X or 2X! Again I had not checked the set up.

Overall I was happy I got 10 critters and shot well with the Leupold as well as the Thermal.