So ......

Outside of frustrations : which certainly wasn’t the point of me posting and starting this thread - and for which I haven’t subsequently voiced any ...

I will say that I have the money in hand at this moment to spend on my next scope and with the current offerings being made available by other manufacturers it is getting dang hard to not pass on the Alpha and just go with another companies unit.

I’m certain that a missed sale due to waiting until the product is ready is a simple choice for the company to make and if all the units sale out my money certainly wouldn’t be missed but I’ll tell you this - each missed customer opportunity is multiplied by the power of word of mouth.

It doesn’t really boil down to superior tech and functionality but rather simple availability .....

I think I can hold out until March - again NOT frustrated - simply ready to get this show started and pop some pigs with new tech !

I have it confirmed with the owner of iRay in writing and I'm allowed to say it now that it's all public. The Alpha is the exact some unit as the MK1 except for physical exterior differences and upgrades. The guts of the scope and specs are 100% identical. There was also some confusion because one of the Night Crew guys mistakenly/accidentally said the Alpha was a 4x base mag, but that is incorrect, it's 3x just like the MK1 because they are the same scope underneath the housing. So for those who've been wondering if the Alpha was a totally different scope, it is not, just one that has improved external features like magnetic USB cables, a different focus knob, modified housing etc. There will be a list of differences posted later but it's all physical.

I hope that info helps clear up at least a little bit of confusion.

Jason

Ok , thanks !

It would be interesting to hear what the owners have to say about the new housings ability to better equip the scope to withstand recoil .

In other words was it an outcome of redesigning the shell to increase recoil handling capability ?

If not that’s cool it would be a bonus outcome

Also it’ll need to be related whether the overseas variants of the InfiniRay Outdoors Mk1 scope use matrix III processing or if that is not the image algorithm used on the Rico RH50s

In other words did InfiniRay Outdoors produce a Matrix III Mk1 for the US. market in anticipation that the Iray USA scopes would add it to the base core and internal workings.

It makes it seem like the Matrix III is unique to the Iray USA import and rebuilt scopes ...

Does that mean all other manufacturers using InfiniRay outdoors Vox cores aren’t getting that software package ?

I just got off the phone with him and read him these questions. His answers are...

There is no increased recoil handing on the Alpha.

The Matrix III is not unique to the American models and it is available to other manufacturers using the InfiRay Vox cores.

Also, for further clarification....

Rico MK1 $5,999 (available now) vs Alpha $6,999 (available in Spring 2021) - They are 100% the same guts, image quality, specs, magnification etc. The differences are the Alpha has a redesigned exterior body, painted coyote tan, it has magnetic USB connections, a different focus knob and the Alpha package includes the American Defense QD mount and (1) extra (2 total) rechargeable battery packs. So you're paying for the mount, extra battery pack and exterior design changes, that's it.

I hope that clears things up a little further.


Jason

Yes sir - I appreciate you working the phone lines and getting that cleared up.

Tyler is good people - he will do well on these units !

He really is and I think he's excited to finally see some scopes shipping after over a year of working on the project!

Jason

If this scope is only rated to 308 I’d consider it useless to me. I’ll stick with Pulsar.

It certainly is a feature that some folks would like to have - I know a number of folks who would like to use thermal on 450 bushmaster ...

Pulsar and N-Vision have thermals that can take the recoil and are warrantied.

Iray / Night Crew / UNV - one of these said they ran it on a SCAR which is probably equivalent to 338 Federal , 450 Bushmaster BUT it isnt warrantied past 300 win mag.

Ive had both an Apex XQ50 and now a Trail XP50 and ive fired hundreds of rounds of 12 gauge slugs through each and have never had an issue. 4 yrs ago when I first started I emailed Pulsar and they said nobody has done it yet so we don’t know what will happen but go for it and let us know. I’m sold.

Things have been pretty quiet from iRay. Anyone seen or heard anything about the Alpha’s eta?

Good looking scope to me. Id buy one.

Alphas have no ETA other than Spring 2021. I would expect to see them in less than 2-3 months minimum. Ricos are selling out as soon as they get them in, so they aren't on the shelf. We'll have the Rico 384's within a few days. The snow storm messed us up and our demo units got hung up with UPS but we should have them tomorrow.