Thread: Thermal Bino options

Also make sure your scope has a rangefinder, makes life so much easier

Just shoot under 200yds,dont need range finder.Shooting past 200yds at night not good practice.

Originally Posted by Fat ninja

I hunt for a living and use a pard thermal, they are bringing out a handheld in a couple of months I think. I have a spare scope I use as my spotter. What I recommend is get a thermal spotter and a scope don’t worry about the Binos this way you get more bang for buck

Which model PARD scope are you using @Fat ninja
Have you or anyone you know had the InfiRay here in NZ yet

https://www.infirayoutdoor.com/outdoor_c1


I approached and talk in length with the Chinese about getting the distribution rights for NZ - but they wanted to stay with the Aussie guys - for NZ too
Very strange - and as far as I know there are none here because of it
The InfiRay also has the French sensor like PARD and Pulsar

Getting some great reviews in Britain

Originally Posted by Trout

Just shoot under 200yds,dont need range finder.Shooting past 200yds at night not good practice.

I have been in country that I know like the back of my hand and its bloody difficult judging distance out past 80m with Thermal scopes
Only negative - adds to the weight and cost :-)
But I would be happy with the Hand Held with Range and not the scope

Originally Posted by Trout

Just shoot under 200yds,dont need range finder.Shooting past 200yds at night not good practice.

I agree about not shooting over 200, but disagree with not needing the RF, it makes life easier for knowing the distance to target and whether to aim high or low and how much closer you need to get to the animal before taking the shot

@Sarvo I’m using the sa45lrf, never heard of the infiray. Given the size of the pard the rf adds sweet f all weight and size wise. Your right judging distance at night is hard. I ran a thermal without a rf for ages will never go with out one now

Originally Posted by planenutz

They sound like the ducks guts... might have to call in for a look one day. How long does the battery last @Padox ?

6-8 hrs normally yea call I if u wanna have a looky

Originally Posted by Mintie

Hi Guys,

I'll be getting into Thermal fairly soon, want to get both a spotter and a scope and looking for opinions on both. These will be for pest control work on everything from possums and pooks at 5m to deer at 400m or more, in open country, tight bush, long vineyards and messy orchards. The spotter needs to have a fairly wide POV as I will be walking/driving/riding and using them to scan a lot.

Scope - I have looked at both the Thermion and the Pard and liked them both, not such such fan of the bigger bulkier models as most of my rifles are short and lightweight and I don't want to stick a big heavy box on top of them.

Spotter - I have my eyes on (pun intended) the Accolade LRF, something about using both eyes really appeals to me. I would like the spotter to be able to record clear images and like the idea of wifi streaming to an iPad etc.

Are there other models I should look at? I see the ATN range has a pair of binos as well and they have a ballistic calculator that talks with the scope which also appeals as that would really speed shots up which is important to me as the trajectory of some of my rifles is a bit of a rainbow at times.

Battery life needs to be decent (or easily swapable/ability to use powerbank) and a good warranty is preferred as I will be using them pretty much daily.

Budget is around $10k, depending on how long I can hold out and save more.

Cheers!

My thoughts:
- thermal spotter then using night vision scope/clip on. Best of both worlds. Only snag I find is thermal will see rabbits in long grass where the night vision cant. Grass blocks the view. Ah well, rabbit lives another day.
- monocular spotter paired with scope, I use my right eye for both. While its a bit odd being night blind in one eye only there's a definite advantage being able to see unaided. Saves me walking into strainer posts...
- range finder as @Fat ninja said. It's tricky guessing the range under a thermal. Rabbits are small targets at 80-100m and easy to miss with a rimfire.

I've been out with @Padox using his accolade LRFs. Fantastic bit of kit! They are a reasonable size unit to walk about with on your own combined with all the other gear.

Have had a look through the Pard SA45 briefly. I can see myself getting one eventually as they tick a lot of boxes:
- Range finder
- Being able to swap between rifles once the rails are standarised
- Using 18650 batteries, easy to carry spares in a case. Use them in the spotlight or headlamp if needed.
- Cost friendly (as far as thermal gear goes....)

Definitely go with a rangefinder model . Boss has handheld and scope and headshoots at up to 400m .
I've seen the videos....

It's difficult enough to judge range in the dark anyway...thru thermal nigh on impossible...no depth perception , you are essentially watching a tv screen .

Yes range finder is a must, already learnt that from using my Pard Nv008!

What I really would like is a ballistics calculator like the Burris Eliminator or Sig BDX combo. If it's got a digital ret, a built in range finder, the technology has already existed on other platforms for at least 10 years and I'm paying over $5k for it then I'd be disappointed if it couldn't do it.

[QUOTE=Mintie;1162798]Yes range finder is a must, already learnt that from using my Pard Nv008!

What I really would like is a ballistics calculator like the Burris Eliminator or Sig BDX combo. If it's got a digital ret, a built in range finder, the technology has already existed on other platforms for at least 10 years and I'm paying over $5k for it then I'd be disappointed if it couldn't do it.[/QUOTE @Mintie that would be excellent. I'm sure it's just a matter of time.

Sent from my SM-G975F using Tapatalk

Originally Posted by Mintie

Yes range finder is a must, already learnt that from using my Pard Nv008!

What I really would like is a ballistics calculator like the Burris Eliminator or Sig BDX combo. If it's got a digital ret, a built in range finder, the technology has already existed on other platforms for at least 10 years and I'm paying over $5k for it then I'd be disappointed if it couldn't do it.

That's going a bit far mate
Not many Gong shooters using Thermal scopes :-)

You can sort of cobble together a dialling system in the pulsars, if memory serves. Each zeroing profile allows you to program it for multiple distances, and you can change between them pretty close to on-the-fly.

Zero at 100
Then run the ballistics for how high above the bull you need to be for 2,3,400 zero, and go through setting those up as new distance/zero combos accordingly.

Test them out, then put them into action..

I set up a thermion XQ50 scope for a friend's father in law after the store cocked it up, you have to be creative in your target, (ice blocks worked well in front of black painted cardboard).
The freeze frame function also is a great help.
A mil dot reticle from the wide range you have to pick from not only allows you to approximate range but also gives holdovers.
Picture in picture is also useful once you get used to it and acts like a FFP scope.
Terrible for scanning, a hand held is streets ahead.

Coach Screw through old Real Estate sign
Spin the drill on top speed for 10 secs and you got about 4 mins heat

Yes the later Pulsar in NV and Thermal have 5 range setting per each one of 4 or 5 different rifles setups
You can have them set on the RHS to turn to ver y quick
Be good in open terrain farm land etc