Advice on thermal clip on

[Itsokay]

Good day.

I read through many of the topics on here regarding the topic but I’m not sure if I could find and answer to my questions.

I am former infantry and got to use more than a few thermal and night vision devises. I try to keep up with some standard of tactics and shooting in the civ div. Things have certainly changed since the GWOT days. Unfortunately my budget is not the same as the military. I do some coyote hunting on my property and plenty of LARPing with the boys.

I live in the west mountain area and frequently run and gun and shoot some longer ranges usually out to 1000m

My 6.5 Grendel in a 12.5” barrel has really been good to me and I would like to get a clip on thermal scope for that rifle. It’s topped with a Burris xtr 2 2x10. What clip on should I consider with a budget of around 3-5k. What models should I keep an eye out for on the new and used market to put on this rifle considering the limited rail space. Ideally I would like to shoot out to 500 yards using the thermal device.

 

[CTM1]

Might be worth a watch.

Clip On Thermal Long Range- Steiner C35 In Action - YouTube

 

[Gasgun]

A little above your stated budget, but worth the stretch:

Night Vision - BAE Oasys UTM-X Thermal

For sale is a BAE Oasys UTM-X thermal, with full kit from the factory. This was used by a private security company and then sold back. It is NOT stolen government property. No dead pixels, no issues. 2014 DOM with 5.2 software, including the Trace-IR feature. Has built-in full power IR and Vis...

www.snipershide.com

 

[Birddog6424]

My BTS35 V3 from Burris is fantastic value. Loaded with features.

 

[the_assman]

sig has a new clip on coming out , cv25 , that looks interesting

iray just released a v2 rh25 , good all around unit and the v2 should be better in the clip on roll

i have a bering optics super yoter clip on and it's pretty nice for the under 5k units

if you could stretch your budget some the nox thermals are awesome and usa made

 

[Dogtown]

Give the guys at Strictly Offensive Kit a call and they can sort you out.

 

[Itsokay]

Give the guys at Strictly Offensive Kit a call and they can sort you out.

Thank you, I’ll check em out.

 

[Itsokay]

sig has a new clip on coming out , cv25 , that looks interesting

iray just released a v2 rh25 , good all around unit and the v2 should be better in the clip on roll

i have a bering optics super yoter clip on and it's pretty nice for the under 5k units

if you could stretch your budget some the nox thermals are awesome and usa made

I’ll take a look at it.

 

[Itsokay]

My BTS35 V3 from Burris is fantastic value. Loaded with features.

I was curious about Burris, I always thought they had a good value on their scopes and other glass. Plus it’s a Colorado company.

 

[Itsokay]

sig has a new clip on coming out , cv25 , that looks interesting

iray just released a v2 rh25 , good all around unit and the v2 should be better in the clip on roll

i have a bering optics super yoter clip on and it's pretty nice for the under 5k units

if you could stretch your budget some the nox thermals are awesome and usa made

Thanks, I will check out those units. I wish I could look through them.

 

[Itsokay]

A little above your stated budget, but worth the stretch:

Night Vision - BAE Oasys UTM-X Thermal

For sale is a BAE Oasys UTM-X thermal, with full kit from the factory. This was used by a private security company and then sold back. It is NOT stolen government property. No dead pixels, no issues. 2014 DOM with 5.2 software, including the Trace-IR feature. Has built-in full power IR and Vis...

www.snipershide.com

I’ll have to think about it. That is a nice thermal device.

 

[SkyScrapin]

Give the guys at Strictly Offensive Kit a call and they can sort you out.

Appreciate that.

Happy to help OP. Ring me anytime to chat through options.

Some solid product references listed by hide members.

 

[Rodney65]

The Infiray MAH50 is available where I am but I didn't see anyone reccomend it. Amy reason it's not on people's lists? Also I was looking for something that would work with 10x magnification minimum.

 

[tekmann2377]

You lost us with "Iray" and "work with 10x magnification minimum..." How much demag does the unit have? It will have to be a premium unit with lots of demag to support more than 10-12x mag... The imaging quality provided in many reviews of units like this are deceptive

 

[Itsokay]

I ended up getting an I-ray mk 2 lrf.

 

[st1650]

I ended up getting an I-ray mk 2 lrf.

That was the right decision

 

[Rodney65]

You lost us with "Iray" and "work with 10x magnification minimum..." How much demag does the unit have? It will have to be a premium unit with lots of demag to support more than 10-12x mag... The imaging quality provided in many reviews of units like this are deceptive

I know nothing about them or thermals in general except a few people had reccomended them on here a while ago. One person hog hunting with it said it worked well at higher magnification settings and most of my scopes reticles are difficult to use at much less than 10x.

Sorry I shouldn't have said minimum, just 8-10x would work best for me and I wasn't sure if that was realistic.

 

[Aftermath]

I ended up getting an I-ray mk 2 lrf.

I have been looking around at thermals myself. I'm still waffling between clip-on and dedicated.
What sort of reticle do you get with this one?

 

[st1650]

I have been looking around at thermals myself. I'm still waffling between clip-on and dedicated.
What sort of reticle do you get with this one?

You can make your own reticle through the Iray app.

 

[Itsokay]

I ended up going a different route and got an iray mk25 for a dedicated thermal scope.

 

[Herd Thinner]

If you have the clip on a dedicated rifle but take it on and off, do you need to re zero each time as long as you are using the same ammo. I am torn between clip on and a dedicated scope.

 

[wigwamitus]

... If you have the clip on a dedicated rifle but take it on and off, do you need to re zero each time as long as you are using the same ammo. I am torn between clip on and a dedicated scope ...

I've had a bunch of thermal clipons ... probably 1 to 1.5 dozen commercial grade ... and about a dozen military grade.

For the military grade the answer is NO. The military grade collimation is at least one level up from the commercial grade collimation. The military grade are literally "mount and shoot" as long as your day scope mount/rings are within the collimation tolerance of the thermal clipon. Ideally you want the day scope at 1.5 ish center, but I've used 1.3 ish to 1.55 ish with no issue.

For the commercial grade, those clipons aren't "highly collimated" ... and somehow, in my experience, they seem to slip a little. I.E. even if they were perfect when manually collimated 6 months ago, they might not be perfect now. That's also been true for commercial grade TWS to some extent.

So, if I am doing anything semi-serious, like going out with someone else, and using a commercial grade clipon, I check it the night before to make sure its solid and adjust if needed. Its possible that the collimation on the commercial clipons is just a lot less tolerant and even slight mounting differences matter. For a full check. Shoot the day scope during the day before to make sure the day scope zero is solid, then at night shoot with the clipon on to make sure its solid.

==
My first thermal clipon was an (olde) Armasight Apollo ... i.e. commercial grade ... I sold it long ago. And from 2017 through 2021 I was all in on military grade (a couple of UTCs) ... currently I have another olde armasight on my 22LR and have gotten several "doubles" on mice inside 40yds this year, so its not shabby. But for my "serious" clipon, I have a pixels on target ML and its a true "mount and shoot" solution.

Unfortunately, many people shy away from the "real" ... military grade thermal clipons and hence might need to worry about whether they are still solid on their collimation. I don't want to be in that group when doing serious stuff, hence I have the ML. But for barnyard defense, the commercial grade clipon is perfect. Its got a much wider FOV which is excellent for inside 100yds. One day, I'll get a VoodooS and have the short distance, tiny clipon space covered with a "serious" unit also.

==

.. If you have the clip on a dedicated rifle ..

If its a dedicated (night) rifle and you are shooting at 300yds and less, definitely no need for a clipon. Serious clipons are for longer distances, so you can use your day scope reticle. At 300yds or less you should be able to "use the critter as your reticle". And TWS are generally cheaper than clipons, since they don't have to have the collimation on the back end.
If shooting under 500yds then a higher end TWS like the N-Vision Halo XRF will get it done.

 

[The Knuckle]

I’ve handle a few of the above mentioned thermals and I’m currently looking at buying the new Sig thermal. Under $4k with a LIFETIME warranty! All reviews look pretty good.

Sig Sauer ECHO CV25 1-8x25mm LWIR 640x512 VGA 12um 50Hz Multi-Purpose Thermal Clip-On Device SOEC22100

FREE SHIPPING on Sig Sauer ECHO CV25 1-8x25mm LWIR 640x512 VGA 12um 50Hz Multi-Purpose Thermal Clip-On Device SOEC22100

www.eurooptic.com

 

[Bkultra]

1.65” mount & 1.31" UTC Xii