Does ANYONE own a Pard Thermal Scope of ANY kind ?

[TexasCommander]

I apologize in advance for the ALL caps in the title, but I'm losing my mind trying to get any substantive information about Pard thermals.

I am trying to find any North American human that owns/owned one and hopefully has owned other brands like Agm to give me any kind of insight.

The only thing I've been able to find is big name retailers, like Bass Pro Shops carrying them.. but... with no customer reviews so they're obviously not selling... and I have seen a few videos from European Youtubers who are probably being sponsored and they do not compare them to any other brand.

If I do an apples to apples comparison on the main and important specs, they are about 20% +/- less expensive than their competition but not so cheap like an Amazon knock offs. They obviously must be a (decent) company to get picked up by companies like bass pro and sportsman's warehouse etc.

There has been many instances in the past when a newer company to the US has trouble capturing market share due to ineffective advertising campaigns, but that later on turn out to be very successful and popular products, which is why I'm curious, hesitant but also not wanting to completely rule them out.

( ANY ) input from anyone that owns or owned one would be greatly appreciated.

Side note: I know they are made in china and that's ok as the components to every other company is also made there. China can manufacture some good quality stuff sometimes. Other than that, I don't know how they fit the same specs into a thermal and remain 20% or more, less expensive than others.

 

[ChrisAU]

I’ve been curious about them for a long time. Currently building a 16.5” 22CM bolt action for dedicated night hunting and want it to eventually wear a 640 or 1024 but wanted something cheap to get me by until the new Spring 2025 releases. Was messing around on Pards website Friday and got an absolute killer deal on the TS34-35 with LRF. It was on sale for $1379 and then I found a substantial promo code that worked as well. Figure I’d give it a shot for that $. Hope to have my hands on it by the end of the week.

 

[dirtybores]

A gun store local to me started to carry Pard after Shot. They didn't sell super well, but I know a few are out there. Mostly on pig guns like 6.5 grendel ARs and such. I can ask next week for a review.

 

[TexasCommander]

I’ve been curious about them for a long time. Currently building a 16.5” 22CM bolt action for dedicated night hunting and want it to eventually wear a 640 or 1024 but wanted something cheap to get me by until the new Spring 2025 releases. Was messing around on Pards website Friday and got an absolute killer deal on the TS34-35 with LRF. It was on sale for $1379 and then I found a substantial promo code that worked as well. Figure I’d give it a shot for that $. Hope to have my hands on it by the end of the week.

I actually got a crazy deal on a Pard SS32-45 LRF, a couple weeks ago on Optics Planet.
It's a 384 scope but tons of features and great specs. After coupons etc, I bought it for $1,154.

I spent a couple nights looking through it but unfortunately that was here at my house and not at the ranch. Either way, the base mag seemed way too high for me at 4.7. I returned it fairly quickly but It worked great for the couple days I had it in my hands. The picture was very good for a 384 and the refresh was perfect even when scanning much faster than you should. From the limited exposure I had with it, id say it's fair to put it up against an AMG Rattler 384, even though this one has more features like LRF.

After doing a little more digging around, I now understood that the SA and TS models are discontinued and the newer models are now the "Ocelot" and the "Pantera". They have upgraded specs AND they have a (lower) msrp than the older models. I found the new 640 Pantera at FamilyFirearms for $2,100 !!! Im not sure how their return policy Is so I am hesitant to purchase and try it out (without mounting it).


Nevertheless, just like you, I want a 640 but with a 2.5-3.5 base mag. I dont get it. Maybe there's nothing wrong at all. Would love to hear your feedback whenever you receive it. Thank you!

 

[TexasCommander]

A gun store local to me started to carry Pard after Shot. They didn't sell super well, but I know a few are out there. Mostly on pig guns like 6.5 grendel ARs and such. I can ask next week for a review.

Thank you...
Thats the problem is the lack of info out there. Even though it doesnt mean they are gold, if Bass Pro Shops decided to carry the brand with their limited shelf space, Id venture to say that they tested the brand and the customer service prior to doing business with them. Like I said it doesnt mean Pard is perfect or awesome but them starting to carry Pard is enough for to at least consider them. Especially when I can buy a new 640 for $2,100 with the same, if not better, specs than many other 640s. If it wasn't almost HALF the price of its competition, I would have moved on already but a couple grand in savings is a lot to me personally.

 

[Heavyopp]

Some info on pard and lower end thermal over on airgun nation. Might be able to get some more informed answers there. Guys use them for pesting.

 

[omicron1792]

I have the pard td62-lrf. I also have the pulsar dxp50 and xp50 binos. I have had 5 thermals total.

I think pard is on to something. Their interface is not near as slick as pulsar. But the thermal image is beautiful. The daytime picture is also much better than the pulsar. I wish it didn’t have night vision…I never use it. But it work great with built in IR. Has a range finder also with built in ballistics calculator

For 3k it is a steal. I highly recommend.

 

[Longshot231]

I was thinking about getting their multi-spectral scope, the TD32, to put on a bolt action 17HMR rifle. I don't need the extra sensor resolution of the TD62 due to the limited range of the round.

This is a stupid question but I have to ask it. Are their products made in China?

PARD | Official Site

Discover top-quality thermal scopes and night vision scopes for target detection. Shop a range of reliable, high-performance scopes designed for hunting, security, and outdoor exploration at PARD official site.

us.pard.com

 

[omicron1792]

For sure. Yea they are

 

[Longshot231]

Pard had a black Friday sale and I took the opportunity to purchase the Pantera Zoom. So far, I am happy with it. The device was easy to zero and the laser range finder with the ballistic computer is a great feature.

However, the ballistic parameters need to be updated whenever there's a change in temperature or elevation. Along with that, the muzzle velocity needs to be updated in accordance with your temp/MV table that you have created.

Obviously, the ballistic computer will not account for windage, spin drift or aerodynamic jump but considering what I had before with other thermals, the ballistic computer is a major leap.

I suck at range estimation at night. So the range finder feature is something that I will gladly pay extra for.

The menu is accessed with, what would be the elevation turret of a daylight scope. It's not an elevation turret but a switch and digital zoom control. Pard calls it the "Key 1" in their manual. By pressing the Key 1, you can access the menu.

Until I got use to it, I kept accidentally pressing the Key 1 knob. Then the menu appears. You can easily return to the regular display by pressing the Key 4 which is the LRF button. So nothing is really lost.

It didn't take long for an idiot like myself to learn the functions of the scope.

I really think that the future belongs to thermals or night vision devices that will fit in regular scope rings. That way, if you get tired of using it on one rifle, it can easily be switched to another without any problems.

For example, I have all Burris 1st and 2nd generation thermal scopes. They can only be used on flat top type AR-15 style rifles. I could not mount any of them on my Bergara BMR.

So I started looking for an option that would fit in the 30 mm scope rings. Speaking of rings; the supplied rings were too high for my rifle. So I used a pair of spare Burris signature rings to mount the scope.

If I decide to put the scope on an AR platform, it will easily fit a cantilever scope mount.

The other feature that I like is that it uses the ubiquitous 18650 battery. I get these from the 18650 battery store and have a couple of rechargers that will accommodate four batteries at a time.

The devices with internal batteries suck because when the charge gets low, you have to mount an external battery to the rifle which just gets in the way. It's easier to carry spare batteries in the pocket and swap them out.

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I have not used the PARD app for the smart phone. I don't need it. But if you were helping a new shooter or hunter it would be a nice feature to see what they are doing.

If I want video or photos, the micro SD card must be purchased separately. The maximum capacity, according to the manual is 128 MB.

Back to the app. The device is made in China so don't judge me. With that said, I don't want any data transferred to the Chinese that might be able to track it. So I didn't download the app.

I would buy US made thermals if it didn't take a signature loan to purchase one and they weren't left in the dirt by their foreign competitors.

I was also in the market for a Pulsar with the same features but would have been locked into using their APS batteries.

I haven't shot anything with it yet but the first night that I used it, the temperature dropped to 26F with a nasty wind. The humidity was well above 90%.

Due to the high humidity it was like looking at a wall with the Burris thermal scanner, even though I could still detect animals out to several hundred yards.

When I looked through the PARD scope, I could detect terrain features and buildings a lot easier.

There were a few times when the menu would "lock up" and I could not return to normal function. It's a computer. So I turned the device off then back on and the problem was solved.

I didn't measure it but would estimate the spool up time after activating the power switch to be about 5 seconds. All that's needed to put the device in the standby mode is a momentary press of the power switch. Holding it down, will shut it off.

There is a peculiar warning in the manual about firmware updates. It says;

Upgrading firmware may cause damage to the equipment, please operate with
caution!

So I probably won't be doing any firmware updates. If there are any computer geeks that could enlighten me on that please tell us.

I'm giving the device a 4.9 out of 5 stars because of the momentary menu lockup.

Pantera Zoom - PARD

Dual field of view with optical zoom

us.pard.com

The device does what they say it will do and the resolution is amazing!