Thermal scope recommendations

[Duh]

Dang that’s a bummer to hear. What are you gonna go to instead?

Probably a Rix DBH12

 

[ZeroFoxGiven]

Probably a Rix DBH12

Lots of horror stories out there about Rix customer service right now...

 

[Duh]

Lots of horror stories out there about Rix customer service right now...

I don’t think IRays customer service is very great either.

I haven’t heard anything about Rix except they pulled some BS on their influencers maybe? Got any links? I have the ST6 and it’s been solid so far.

 

[omicron1792]

I don’t think IRays customer service is very great either.

I haven’t heard anything about Rix except they pulled some BS on their influencers maybe? Got any links? I have the ST6 and it’s been solid so far.

Got any links? He sells thermals….

 

[ZeroFoxGiven]

I don’t think IRays customer service is very great either.

I haven’t heard anything about Rix except they pulled some BS on their influencers maybe? Got any links? I have the ST6 and it’s been solid so far.

ST6 is a great optic! They obsoleted it recently and replaced it with the ST6 Lite.

iRay generally seems to be better and more consistent, but definitely not perfect. They all seem to have fairly cyclical CS, will be good for awhile, then go down hill, then get better.

Main places I see customer service feedback are in all of the Facebook thermal/predator hunting groups.

Rix got rid of ALL their pro/field staff and just recently replaced them. Upset a lot of people.

One thing we tell first time thermal buyers is to look at a thermal like an iPhone instead of a traditional day scope. It's an electronic device and can have issues. It will be outdated in 1-3 years and a new model will be available. A year after you buy it the price will be cheaper than when you bought it.

 

[OrangeMan73]

Where does DNT fit into the equation? Specifically the Hydra and Thermnight.

 

[Duh]

Got any links? He sells thermals….

Yeah I got that. Was asking for links of CS issues on RIX. If they suck, I want to read about it before I put 8k towards another scope.

One thing we tell first time thermal buyers is to look at a thermal like an iPhone instead of a traditional day scope. It's an electronic device and can have issues. It will be outdated in 1-3 years and a new model will be available

I’m not a veteran in the thermal world but I’ve owned Nvision, 2 AGM’s, Rix, and IRay/nocpix at this point. Completely understand the advancement in new models.

So far the Nvision and Rix have been the only ones that haven’t given me trouble with a hell of a lot more use on them than the Nocpix Ace H50R. I understand electronics break but I’m more so put off with the CS of the company. It also sucks that the $5500 scope hasn’t lasted more than 50 outings. And definitely less that 6 outings since they last “fixed” it after making me jump through hoops to finally admit the scope needed repair.

I get no discounts or thermals from any company so I’ve got no brand loyalty. Not saying any of you do either. It’s just hard to find honest experiences good or bad on companies. Seems like guys don’t want to talk bad about purchases they’ve made, even if they regret it.

I don’t particularly like the SIG thermals but that lifetime warranty (if it’s actually legit) seems very attractive.

 

[netexashunter]

Just to comment on Irays customer service: I've had to use their warranty twice and got great service. They sent prepaid labels and got it back to me within a week. The second time they even overnighted it because of it being the second time. The issue was the screen going blank during recoil, so take that info however you want, but the customer service was great and it has worked great since then.

 

[Mentholspliff]

Just my .02 is buy U.S. cored scopes, even if that means an older model that is out of warranty or may even be from 2014. Bae cores are much further ahead of the game than any Chinese made cores

 

[justin davis]

Those wave thermals look good and get good reviews

 

[KurtR]

Where does DNT fit into the equation? Specifically the Hydra and Thermnight.

I have a hydra 335r and used it a bunch this winter and it worked good. It handles -17 way better than i do. Hook up with @ZeroFoxGiven he is a good guy and took car of me

 

[ZeroFoxGiven]

I have a hydra 335r and used it a bunch this winter and it worked good. It handles -17 way better than i do. Hook up with @ZeroFoxGiven he is a good guy and took car of me

Appreciate the shout out and glad to hear its working well for you!

 

[BamaSE]

After day hunting pigs for many years, I got exposed to thermals back in 2017 when a buddy acquired an ATN thermal and turned me onto night hunting. Coincidentally Pulsar was releasing their Trail V1 around that time. I got one and was hooked. All in. And learned real quick to pair it with a handheld as scanning with a rifle scope is neither safe nor fun. Back then our hunting was mainly over feeders and riding farms and fields for hours in a buggy looking for the pigs.

I upgraded to Pulsar to a Trijicon Reap IR. Then Nvision became a thing. And for a period was all in for only US made thermals and ran through several models of the Trijicon and Nvisions. Including the helmet mounted option. Both thermal and NV.

But there are several things about the US made scopes I did not like. One being the learning curve. I can hand a Iray to an inexperienced guest and other than show them how to focus the lens it is pretty much self operated with the Auto Nuc and and the PIP which takes away the need to zoom or fidget with buttons. And the recording and app features are easy and nice, especially for diagnostics of what went wrong/right…..missed shots and who really shot the runners in a group of multiple hunters! I have also found the battery indicator on non US scopes to give a more accurate status of battery life. And I hate keeping up with batteries. Even 18650s. But the image with Nvision is amazing. And the Nox 35 was my favorite scope due to this and the size/weight.

So all that being said. My current setups that I have held onto are both older Iray Rico 640s. These days the hunting is done by an Autel thermal drone, then we stalk in for the kill, usually from 30-60 yards depending on wind, noise, moon phase, etc. I have the 50mm on a 6.8 SBR and a 35mm on a 12 gauge semi. My goto handheld is a Noxpix Lumi 35 LRF. And it does have 18650 batteries. I really like the compactness and weight during stalking, and mainly use the rangefinder to see how close I can get, especially if the shotgun is to be used. The Pulsar Helion rarely gets used unless I have a guest or armchair hunting over a feeder as it will stay on all the time. Otherwise I only turn on my scope or handheld when the stalk is on.

I’d like to acquire something new. But a lot of newer released scopes I have looked into all seem to have trade offs with features, size, and weight. I long for a scope with Iray Rico features and battery compacted into something smaller like the Nvision Nox 35.

I’d recommend paying attention to what Nocpix/Iray/Infiray are releasing. I have not had any experience with Rix. But the aforementioned do seem to be on the cutting edge of both features and technology…..and price.