From what I’ve gathered here spending less than $2000 on a new thermal will no end up in a good time.

How significant is the jump from the $2500 class scopes to the $3500 class?

Significant !

Super Hogster A3

Or iray bravo

Call it good

Depends on how far youre shooting too.

The difference is significant.

Stay away from ATN.

We killed 2 pigs last night running Pulsar XP38 Trail scopes. The image quality is awesome. Very clear and clean with good detail. When you get into the $2500+ range, the quality goes way up! Buzz me if you want me to price out any Pulsar or Hogster thermal scopes. I'm a dealer for both.

$2,000-$2,900-ish is entry level. But understand, entry level ain't what it used to be. You can do really well with a $2,000-$2,500 scope as long as most of your shots are going to be 200 yards and in. $3,000-$3,500 is another ball game. That moves you into "mid grade" or mid-range thermal and you're looking at shooting/positive ID ranges of 300-350 yards.

So yes, there can be a big difference in a $2,500 scope and a $3,500 scope. But it really comes down to the nitty gritty details of what magnification you need, the type of rifle you're mounting it on, battery system you prefer etc. When you get ready and need more help, feel free to give us a call. We can absolutely help you narrow it down quickly and send you to some of our reviews on each optic to watch and figure out what will work best for you.

Jason