I’m doing Ok with the Wraith Mini, but sooner or later I’ll go to thermal. What’s the best bang for the buck in Thermal scopes these days. I’m not particularly $ limited, but I just hate to spend a bunch of money on toys for me.

IRAY RICO RH50 V2 is on sale for 3900 at most places. Looking through mine.



Good review

IRay Bolt TH50-C V2 640

Add $250 for a better mount

I have the AGM Rattler as it is the right form factor for me. As night huntng is becoming more popular, we have more competition in vendors. Several have new models this year, expect another change in 2 years. Depending on politics, price may come down. Like autos, change models. Improvements? 1024 IR, maybe better glass.

I think 640 is going to be the standard for affordable thermal for quite a while. 1280 is currently expensive by most people’s thinking and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. We will see though.

I’ve been running the Athalon Cronus ATS for about 9 months, and have shot over 70 hogs with it. Clear picture, easy to set up, and user friendly controls. Color change knob is set like an elevation knob, and zoom is where a parallax knob would be. To me, the best feature is being able to change batteries, and the scope stays on.

Get some opinions here but call these guys and talk to them.

https://outdoorlegacygear.com/

Jason is on here and they’re super honest strait shooting guys who have been behind every model out there.

I bought the Wraith from them. Good guys.

Your average target distance and optical power you desire are important factors. I hate cr123 powered thermals so I like a lithium battery pack that comes in the scope and can be switched out for my spare during the hunt. My main use is predators under 200 yards but I want absolute target identification so I don’t pop a fawn thinking it’s a coyote. All that together is why I decided on the 640 RICO.

I would say the Rix Storm S3 384 resolution for 1800 or the S6 640 for 2500.

I’m big on image quality

One is seldom sorry that he went first class IMHO. Having said that you need to give much consideration to the distances at which the most of your shooting will be done, and whether you will require a laser range finder. Another consideration is whether to get a thermal scanner for detection/observation that could be paired with your night vision.




Ditto!

OLG guys dropped their 339th episode today in regards to a 2X base mag, 640 unit under $3K.



Worth the listen if for nothing than the educational value.

ya!

GWB

That Rix Storm S6 looks like good value and a good picture. For more info on my hunting, pretty much all shots will be inside 250 yards, and this is on our place, so I know distances to various objects. The only reason I’d need to shoot at 250 is because that’s the spot I dump the dead hogs, and hope that’ll bring the occasional coyote. So, a range finder would very rarely be needed.

Much thanks to you guys for giving me good useful information on thermal. I do appreciate it. Now I need to work on my justification to convince the wife.

That podcast is great. Covers all the 'choice' issues. I agree, image quality is very important. OK, my comment about 1024. To go from small pixels to large pixels on display requires a lot of video processing. That constrains frame rate. Also, a lot of display 'pixels' are fake - or 'approximate'. So the real limiting factor now is making 5 micron 1024 sensor array that has fast cooling properties at a lower cost. Processing and power consumption go down. As RIX has shown, having designs by hunting needs vs some Asian non-hunting manager will also make a better product.

I suggest looking through some you're interested in first. Many of the videos on YT are the ones that are cherry picked out of hundreds of hours of recording and in ideal conditions.

My first thermal was the Flir PTS 233, a 256 unit.

Next was the Bering Optics Super Hogster, a 384 unit.

Next was the Bering Optics Super Yoter with which I've employed to kill over 200 critters. My longest shot to date was last weekend on a possum. I ranged the next day at 172 yds with my leica lrf 1200 Scan.

Next is a hand held AGM Taipan 15-384. It has a base mag of 1.5X. I got it specifically for the purpose of tracking wounded critters that were not DRT and for detection/observation.

My latest is one that is referenced above, IRAY RICO RH50 V2.

I shoot under 200 yds at known distances so I did not care to pay extra for a rangefinder.

It is the first thermal in my price range ($5K) that ticked all the boxes I believe that are requisite.

Device Technology: Thermal Imaging
Objective Focal Length: 50mm
Sensor Resolution: 640×512
Detection Range: 2400 Yards
Sensor Pixel Size: 12μm
Sensor Frame Rate: 60hz
Optical Magnification: 3X
Digital Magnification: 4X
Objective Diameter: 50mm
Objective F#: 1.0
Onboard Recording: Yes
Less than 20 mK sensitivity.
Audio recording

Having had considerable time behind each scope mentioned above, it is amazing the difference in the image of a scope that is 12 micron/less than 20NETD rating and a 60hz refresh rate makes when it is cold, windy and wet or when its 95 degrees at night and your target is a skosh warmer.

IIRC, it was $4,500 in July. At $4K it is a bargain.


The vid below was taken during the day, temps were close to 90 degrees, humidity near 50%. Cooler ambient temp and lesser humidity would improve the image quality.



Second Vid is at night, close to 90 degrees, low humidity. 120 yds.




ya!

GWB

I watched the OLG video, and came away with the impression that it’s not that useful at 250 yards, and is best well inside 100 yards. I don’t think that’ll work for me, with the hog dump at 250 yards.

I second Geedudya's opinion on the Iray RH Rico RH50 V2 especially at $4000. I bought the RH 50R because it has the LRF, the side lever to move magnification up and down and the magnetic charging port. Both scopes are pretty much identical as far as picture quality. The RH50R is $5500(I didn't pay that much) but if you don't need LRF that scope IMO has the best image quality in a 640 unit for the money.

Thank you for the kind words fellas, I appreciate it.

Anyone who's looking to pick out a particular optic and doesn't know where to start OR has it narrowed down some but needs help deciding, please give us a call. We're happy to help and would love to have your business. We use and test every single optic in the field that we sell and we choose not to sell a lot of optics that we test.

Thanks again! - Jason

The RICO is a great optic but the mount is barely adequate in my opinion. First thing I did was get a BoBro. Pricy but you get what you pay for. Absolutely necessary for proper eye relief if it’s not going on an adjustable stock rifle.

I have the newer version of the Bering Super Hogster. It's fantastic. I wouldn't take shots at 300+ yards with it. But I'd have no issues with larger animals inside 200 and smaller animals inside 150. We scoped tons of wide open space around Amarillo last month on our work group hunting trip. I paid $2k used. $4k is crazy dollars to me for a scope.

Here is one with the Super Hogster(384) from several years ago.

South Texas (Crystal City). March, cool evening, low humidity, +/- 60 yds.





Dead pig just to left of feeder.

ya!

GWB

Budget and intended use I think are a lot of what drives the answer to the OP question...

Where I hunt in the piney woods, a 256 unit is honestly more than enough... using a AGM TS19-256 I can easily identify heat and tell if what Im looking at is a pig or a deer, etc out to 200.. and easily take shots inside 150... and the longest shot I have anywhere on my lease is 200... most are between 50-125..

the AGM TS19-256 is less than $800 these days...

I also have a pulsar axion 2 640 handheld unit.. my unit (LRF built in) is still $3K most places and was closer to $3500 when it was purchased... it offers significantly better clarity when looking at targets than the AGM 256, I can see heat at a much greater distance, etc.. but when it really comes down to it, where I hunt and what I hunt for using a thermal, it really doesnt offer an advantage worthy of the additional spend..

Looking through them is a good idea, no doubt. Videos are often cherry picked from ideal conditions by some sellers. That is why I don't sell optics and I post information on the environmental conditions, distances, and animal sizes (at least for hogs) so that people can assess the optic accordingly. The only cherry picking of the footage is cutting out the parts that don't add context or understanding to the hunt (like footage of the sky as we stalk, or footage after the kill while waiting on the truck. You can scan a sounder for several minutes, but that makes for crappy YouTube video, you you take the best 30 seconds that shows what the sounder looks like.

I like to look at footage for a given optic from regular hunters and see if the image tends to look better or worse. The big problem here is that regular hunters rarely report hunting conditions.

However, you don't need to just look through a scope, but look through one in field conditions, and not just at close range. Scopes always look better inside environmentally controlled events and stepping outside to look at houses and cars always look pretty sharp as well. You really need to look at critters in the fields and woods yourself. Usually, high humidity combined with a lot of other aerosols (like dust, bugs, etc.) during warm temps will result in the worst typical atmospheric viewing for thermal. Use inside the woods differs from open fields. A lot really comes into play.

A perfect example of above was opening morning on Saturday. I brought my 22 hornet too in case I saw a coyote and it was very muggy outside. My Pulsar spotter image was pretty poor in the humidity but my Rico was unaffected in any way. I was really surprised.