...back in August of 2021,

I know you're looking to replace your Trijicon. So pretty sure you been looking ATN over.

Thermal is a lot like vehicles when it comes to brand and model loyalty. Sure enough, people loved their Pintos. People loved the original Mini Coopers. People loved Edsels. People loved their Corvairs. Most people did not burn alive in their Pintos or Corvairs. Some Edsel owners actually had reliable vehicles. Not everyone who was in a crash in a Mini Cooper died.

ATN can make good scopes. That isn't the issue. The issue comes with the scopes go Tango Uniform, which does seem to happen with a higher frequency than other brands. That alone isn't the crux of the issue. The issue is how ATN handles customer service when their is a problem. A large number of people have been ignored by ATN when needing customer service or end up with exceptionally long service times when they have to get their scopes serviced. Maybe ATN is "getting better." I always love to hear how folks sing the praise of ATN and proclaim how it is 'getting better' when it comes to customer service. Maybe it is "getting better" but then again, I am a member of two ATN groups and the complaints and frustrations seem to abound. These are offset by praise for good service. However, when taken as a whole, the picture seems to be one of random chance on how things will turn out for the customer. Compare that with brands like Pulsar, Trijicon, Bering Optics, or even AGN and you will find a disproportionate number of positive customer service reports when customers had problems. Ever wonder why folks like Outdoor Legacy don't sell ATN?

All electro-optic devices are going to have issues, sooner or later. Most of the models and all of the brands I have owned over the years have. The only company that gave me trouble was ATN. FLIR was a nightmare to deal with in terms of navigating their customer service bureaucracy, but once accomplished, things were handled properly. Armasight was great. Pulsar was outstanding. Trijicon handled things very professionally.

I haven’t had to have service, come that time and I do and service is poor as reported, my thoughts would probably change……..customer service can make or break you. I understand, if I had bad luck with something it does ruin it for me. I’ve been lucky so far with my ATN’s, no issues and they perform well every time out and I use them frequently ....I do like my Pulsar Thermion 2 as well and only had it a few months and it works flawlessly so far and I do like the PiP function, I just feel the Thor 4 is a bit superior for my liking, it’s just a bit better on clarity for my eyes. If the Thor 4’s have issues and I get sh*tty customer service, I’ll move away from them at that time. I have called ATN up for pointers on firmware updating in the past and had no issues with that, very prompt and helpful but I haven’t sent anything in to them either……haven’t had to.

"Tango Uniform" an old military term for being flat on your back as in dead.

Yep; in the submarine service we were not so politically correct; we called that condition Tits Up. You chopper guys were a bit more couth. :-)

Glad to read you've had a trouble free experience. It could be that ATN has seen the light. Surely they have been monitoring these blogs and gotten an earful of negative posts. If that doesn't spark a change then they're not doing their job.

Their website states that the scope is rated for that round, but I think that’s pushing it of the internal build quality isn’t up to par.

So you got a little of both types of ATN customer service. They offered a repair they didn't have to do and then didn't do it. Then after you pursued them, they finally got around to it. The lack of response to them not actually making the repair is something I have heard before.



This isn't about ATN, but electro-optics in general. Sort of like off road trucks made for off road, they are going to wear out and break down more than the same trucks driven on the hard top given comparable distances of driving.

Yep; in the submarine service we were not so politically correct; we called that condition Tits Up. You chopper guys were a bit more couth. :-)

Doesn't matter.

Do not buy anything ATN, ever!

ATN discussion over.

I’m well versed in electro optics. Specifically high end video cameras. When my $16K Fujinon HD lens had a problem, it was handled quickly and correctly. The ATN digital night vision is just a video camera employed as a weapon sight with hardware and software added to accomplish that task.

I’ve had nothing but great luck with ATN, have two Thor 4 4.5-18, one on an ar 10 6.5 creedmoor and another on an AR15 22 Nosler. Have killed hundreds of hogs on my ranch with zero issues. I recently purchased a Thermion 2 XQ38 2.5-10 to put on an AR 6.5 Grendel and although happy with it and like the PIP feature, it is not on par with my Thor 4’s and it was several hundred $ more expensive. My most recent purchase has been an LT320 5-10 I have on a Remington 30RAR and it’s equivalent clarity wise to the XQ38. Knock on wood I haven’t had to deal with customer service, my oldest Thor 4 is 4 years old or so, can’t remember buy got it not long after that version came out. Never an issue, easier to sight in to me than the pulsar. I hunt on black or white hit but playing around the other colors on the pulsar do work better but I never hunt in any other mode anyways. The atn’s are much more sensitive to dialing in focus, doesn’t take much of a tweak to change it up where my pulsar has a broader range when focusing the objective focus and programming can be tricky but is super easy once you get use to it. The obsidian 4 app is much better than streamvision 2 as well.

Scopes seems to be a lot like trucks, I don’t like Fords but have friends that won’t drive anything but and bad mouth every other brand.