Thermal scope recommendations

[SteveAndTheCrigBoys]

Not exactly sure… bought it from Outdoor Legacy in maybe 2022. I’ll check it when I get home (sitting on stand with my ten year old right now ).

The battery thing is insane. Ended up getting an Anker that fits scope rings on the side of the rifle so I can have it plugged in.

So far as glitchy, the picture freezes often and makes a click sound.

I have the V2 Rattler with the AGM NE-4400 batteries. Between the two I'm able to get a full 8 hour night in.

Tech is moving so fast in the thermal space, only seems to take a year or two and your scope is outdated. But you can get higher quality for cheaper now so.

 

[Nine Banger]

Tech is moving so fast in the thermal space, only seems to take a year or two and your scope is outdated. But you can get higher quality for cheaper now so.

The firmware updates make a big difference on the "old tech" too. Some of the new stuff is nuts but $7K per unit right now.

My personal big move planned is to dump the bullpup with the movie camera style optic in the photo above and get a 16" 22 creed Tikka going with a Pulsar XL60 and OTB suppressor as soon as possible for the weight, form factor and the capability of that device is nuts compared to what I used to think was good.

 

[SteveAndTheCrigBoys]

The firmware updates make a big difference on the "old tech" too. Some of the new stuff is nuts but $7K per unit right now.

My personal big move planned is to dump the bullpup with the movie camera style optic in the photo above and get a 16" 22 creed Tikka going with a Pulsar XL60 and OTB suppressor as soon as possible for the weight, form factor and the capability of that device is nuts compared to what I used to think was good.

Oh yeah, the high end stuff is still expensive but a 384 res scope was 1.5-2x the cost 10 years ago as it is now.

I picked up that V2 Rattler 384 and a Nocpix H35 640 earlier this year. Got a few nights in and realized I really wish I'd bought the Ace L35. Twice the weight, but that 2560x2560 screen and 1x-3x optical zoom on a 3x base would be worth it.

Trying to decide if the juice is worth the squeeze to sell the Rattler and take a loss.

 

[Split toe]

View attachment 951563


I bet you're losing opportunities on targets you aren't detecting.

I got rid of my Nox 18 setup and have never looked back. Just was not for me.

 

[Split toe]

The firmware updates make a big difference on the "old tech" too. Some of the new stuff is nuts but $7K per unit right now.

My personal big move planned is to dump the bullpup with the movie camera style optic in the photo above and get a 16" 22 creed Tikka going with a Pulsar XL60 and OTB suppressor as soon as possible for the weight, form factor and the capability of that device is nuts compared to what I used to think was good.

You'll love the XL60!

 

[ghostrider272]

Just upgraded after 10+ years on Flir and Pulsar Trail thermals. Pretty impressed with the RIX Titan T6 and Storm S6. NOCPIX H50 comes in later. And to think I was scanning with a 320 core for so long. I mean it worked, but the difference is huge.

 

[ZeroFoxGiven]

Oh yeah, the high end stuff is still expensive but a 384 res scope was 1.5-2x the cost 10 years ago as it is now.

I picked up that V2 Rattler 384 and a Nocpix H35 640 earlier this year. Got a few nights in and realized I really wish I'd bought the Ace L35. Twice the weight, but that 2560x2560 screen and 1x-3x optical zoom on a 3x base would be worth it.

Trying to decide if the juice is worth the squeeze to sell the Rattler and take a loss.

We’ve got an L35 on the shelf. If you’re interested in trading in just hit me up!

 

[menhaden_man]

If it takes 123A batteries it’s a V1. Any thermal that runs on 123A is going to go through them quick. External pack definitely helps.

The picture freezing and clicking is normal. That’s the thermal NUC’ing, or Non Uniformity Correction. Basically it’s a calibration that’s needed from time to time in uncooled thermals. You’ll notice it more when the thermal is at a different temp from ambient and less once the thermal reached ambient temp.

The clicking is a shutter inside the scope that closes so the sensor can see the same temp across the entire sensor in order to calibrate then opens back up.

Been a LONG time since I’ve ran a V1 Rattler but you should be able to set it to manually NUC when you tell it to.

Funny seems like these were solid just a couple years ago, you explain it tho. Here’s the unit and the batter bank I rigged up. Those 123A batteries really do cash out in about ten minutes when it’s cold. Really a letdown for that reason alone. I feel like this was around $2k when I picked it up from outdoor legacy.

 

[ZeroFoxGiven]

Funny seems like these were solid just a couple years ago, you explain it tho. Here’s the unit and the batter bank I rigged up. Those 123A batteries really do cash out in about ten minutes when it’s cold. Really a letdown for that reason alone. I feel like this was around $2k when I picked it up from outdoor legacy.

Rattler was definitely a solid scope in its day. The V2 and now V3 just improved on so much.

Ive ran a couple different scopes that took 123s, NEVER again. Like you said, they dont last long at all in the cold. Then you warm them back up in the truck and have nearly a full charge on them again.

 

[menhaden_man]

Rattler was definitely a solid scope in its day. The V2 and now V3 just improved on so much.

Ive ran a couple different scopes that took 123s, NEVER again. Like you said, they dont last long at all in the cold. Then you warm them back up in the truck and have nearly a full charge on them again.

Am I sitting on dead money now? What’d a trade to the V2 cost, if anyone would even do it?

 

[ZeroFoxGiven]

Am I sitting on dead money now? What’d a trade to the V2 cost, if anyone would even do it?

The V1s are still worth something but their value has really gone down with the new models being introduced.

We'd potentially take it in on trade, would depend on how old it is, if you still have the box and accessories, and what you want to trade in on. If you're interested just shoot me a message.

You will almost always get more selling it private party than you will on trade from us or any other dealers and is what we usually recommend guys do so they can keep more money in their pockets.

 

[Duh]

I had the AGM Varmint v2 384 last year. It was good and I killed a lot of coyotes with it. The biggest down fall was the LRF crapped out as soon as you got around 10 degrees and below. Even running nightcore 18650 batteries couldn’t power that thing.

Used the AGM Seeker V2 15-384 for a scanner both helmet mounted and handheld. It’s not the greatest helmet mounted but I agree with @Nine Banger on helmet mounted being the way to go. Takes a little getting used to though. That’s a solid scanner for the money and has a big FOV.

Sold the Varmint V2 and upgraded to the Nocpix H50R. Time will tell on how it holds up but I’ve killed a decent amount of coyotes with it so far. I also just bought a Rix ST6 and that’s a badass unit. Going to turn the AGM seeker to a truck mounted thermal.