Thermal Rifle Setup

[bmicek]

What kind of rifles/cartridges are the thermal guys using? I know 22-250 or 243 is probably the best choices, or something similar fast and flat. I was leaning towards a 22-250 in a chassis with an Arca rail for being tripod mounted.

 

[B23]

I see them more on AR platforms than bolt guns.

 

[jaredg]

I run thermal on:
FN Scar 16 / 556 (2 of these, his & her setups)
Tikka T3 / 243
277 WLV
Sig Rattler / 300 BLK sub
M&P 15-22 / 22LR
OP, you are correct, I'm running 243 and smaller. Only one bolt gun (Tikka)

 

[SuperDUECE22]

My thermal scope is set up on an AR in .224 Valkryie with arca rail & Desmond DLOW 55mm low profile ball head

 

[Skerhunter]

22-250!

 

[Split toe]

22 creed

 

[Geewhiz]

Ive got a thermal on a 22-250 bolt, chopped and suppressed.

 

[ChrisAU]

6mm ARC I built. Thermal and suppressed its like 7.5 lbs.

 

[Mike Islander]

Recommendation for $2K thermal scope budget?

 

[dirtytough]

What kind of rifles/cartridges are the thermal guys using? I know 22-250 or 243 is probably the best choices, or something similar fast and flat. I was leaning towards a 22-250 in a chassis with an Arca rail for being tripod mounted.

That is a solid setup. I am going 22 Creed because the taper on the 22-250 case makes it harder to feed from a magazine sometimes. Most of the time my 5 round mags are fine but occasionally they won’t load the first round. The 10 round mags I can only put 7 rounds in or they absolutely will not feed.

Recommendation for $2K thermal scope budget?

Are you looking for a weapon sight? Scanner? What type of terrain/vegetation? If a weapon sight the distance and animal you are shooting at?

Honestly $2k is entry point for thermal.

 

[mt100gr.]

22-250!
View attachment 405447

Which scope do you have there? And how repeatable is your QD mount?

 

[Mike Islander]

Are you looking for a weapon sight? Scanner? What type of terrain/vegetation? If a weapon sight the distance and animal you are shooting at?

Honestly $2k is entry point for thermal.

Rifle scope for night hunting. Coyote a few times a year, maybe hogs. Out to 300 yards, but could still work if limited to 100.

 

[dirtytough]

Which scope do you have there? And how repeatable is your QD mount?

That looks like a Bering Optic. I can’t tell which one since they use the same housing for most of their weapon sights. When I tested my Bering thermal for zero retention after dismounting/mounting it was touching bullets. So my 1 test was solid.

Rifle scope for night hunting. Coyote a few times a year, maybe hogs. Out to 300 yards, but could still work if limited to 100.

300 yards is a good poke at night. I feel like a 3x base mag is solid for hunting open country coyotes. For hogs it won’t be as good because of the smaller field of view. I haven’t used a thermal around $2k. If you can bump up your budget to $2500-$3000 I think there are some pretty solid units.

My dad used my extra thermals and dropped the only coyote he had a chance at. It was 390 yards. That was with a Super Hogster on base mag of 2.9x. I think 2x is probably the minimum I would want.

If you don’t use a scanner you will definitely want a tripod if you don’t have one. And I personally think it sucks hunting coyotes without a scanner.

Night hunting is a completely different game.
Here is a vid. The last dog was right at 300 yards. The video isn’t great because the file is so compressed. But it’s still better on the computer screen than a $2k thermal will be.

 

[mt100gr.]

That looks like a Bering Optic. I can’t tell which one since they use the same housing for most of their weapon sights. When I tested my Bering thermal for zero retention after dismounting/mounting it was touching bullets. So my 1 test was solid.

300 yards is a good poke at night. I feel like a 3x base mag is solid for hunting open country coyotes. For hogs it won’t be as good because of the smaller field of view. I haven’t used a thermal around $2k. If you can bump up your budget to $2500-$3000 I think there are some pretty solid units.

My dad used my extra thermals and dropped the only coyote he had a chance at. It was 390 yards. That was with a Super Hogster on base mag of 2.9x. I think 2x is probably the minimum I would want.

If you don’t use a scanner you will definitely want a tripod if you don’t have one. And I personally think it sucks hunting coyotes without a scanner.

Night hunting is a completely different game.
Here is a vid. The last dog was right at 300 yards. The video isn’t great because the file is so compressed. But it’s still better on the computer screen than a $2k thermal will be.

At that $2500-3000 range, which weapon sight would you buy?

 

[dirtytough]

At that $2500-3000 range, which weapon sight would you buy?

I haven’t researched them lately so there might be new stuff on the market I’m not familiar with. The Super Hogster is a good coyote weapon sight. It’s about $2900-$2950 depending who you buy from.

 

[bmicek]

I haven’t researched them lately so there might be new stuff on the market I’m not familiar with. The Super Hogster is a good coyote weapon sight. It’s about $2900-$2950 depending who you buy from.

I’d agree, the super Hogster is a solid choice in that price range.

 

[ALF]

Super Hogster owner here. A good scanner is invaluable as well.

I have always been a diehard bolt gun guy, but I've fell hard for a good AR for night time shenanigans.

Fast & flat is where it's at too.

Just finished up a 22 DTI, 53's at 3550 for this coming fall.

Another slow twist 6 mm barrel on order for the other AR.

 

[Skerhunter]

Which scope do you have there? And how repeatable is your QD mount?

Bering optics hogster - the QD mount is repeatable if you plan to take it off a gun and put it back on the same gun. I have tested it on my AR a few different times (five shots, take it off/remount, five shots).

Going between my AR/bolt guns I have to adjust the tension on the QD mount (different rails), so no longer repeatable.

 

[bwuebbels]

22-250!
View attachment 405447

Sweet setup!!!

 

[Tower]

AR platform in 350 Legend with a Pulsar Thermion 2 XQ38. Great hog slayer.