Night Vision Flir C Series Boson Clip On Thermal Imager

[Willie Miller V]

Im trying to find out pricing and availability of the new Flir C Series Boson Clip On Thermal imagers. They have the C, CM and CL. The CM and CL are for long range. The CM has a 50mm lense , res 320x240 and 640x480. The CL has a 75mm lense with 640x480 res. I’m just trying to find out if these are available and what are the price points. Since they are Clip On and use the day optic you don’t have to remove your day scope and you can move to other weapons that have a rail. These were released at shot show in January.

 

[deersniper]

The CL looks nice. Wonder how it compares to the bar UTC Might be why prices have been dropping on the T series


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[wigwamitus]

Nothing on Night Vision Guys
Nothing on Ultimate Night Vision

And those are two of the big distributors.

We know the FLIR boson program has been delayed ... I haven't seen anything definitive about future availability ... and that is normal.

The only release I'm aware of is the one 19mm Scope which a few people have tried, but the majority of night hunters seem to be waiting for a release that has a manual focus ring and more lens. And they've showed us "Boson Zeuses" ... (and above is a "Boson Apollo") but no dealers have them, and as far as I know none of been released ... and I would bet there would be a lot of noise when something is released ... it won't be a secret for long !!!

 

[Victor-TNVC]

Only the 320 Boson 12um has been released. With my visit to FLIR earlier in year, it was stated from their Div. President that the 640 Boson will not be delivered until 1st Qtr 2018 and they actually sent an official letter out talking to that point. They are still trying to get out the Q14B (now called the Breach) they said would be out by now, but still not in the wild. FLIR cannot keep the PTS233 on the shelves and they cannot keep up with that demand so far with limited numbers we get. Our first batch only consisted of 7 units with Purchase orders totaling 40-50 units at the onset.

The adjustable objective focus will probably be at Shot Show yet again, but it could be awhile before these come out as I am very interested what the final Boson 640 image will look like.

 

[Willie Miller V]

I talked with someone at FLIR this morning and the C Series Long Range CM/CL haven’t been released and there’s no known date when they are coming out. I’m just wondering what is offered if anything that is a thermal clip on that is good for 400 yards or so.

 

[wigwamitus]

Well, that gets into magnification ... how much magnification do you need for "400 yards or so" ?? How large/small are your targets?

Most of the "low cost" (under $10k) thermal clipons get you to 4x maybe you can squeeze a little more. A few of the military thermal clipons that we can buy, will get you higher but those are all over $10k.

==
For hunting, a thermal scope puts the magnification on the front of the optic and you get your full resolution. WIth thermal clipons the magnification is on the back, on the TV screen and you loose resolution when you crank more magnification. But most night hunting shots are under 100yds, most of the rest under 200yds and most of the rest under 300yds. A night hunting shot over 300yds is rare. Why? You can use the night to get in close.

So for hunting, most people prefer a thermal scope, with the magnification on the front and 100% of the resolution for the clearest image.

 

[Willie Miller V]

Coyotes and bobcats out to 400 in open cut hay and corn fields. I’m using a NF ATACR 4-16x42 right now on my AR and then I’ve got a NF ATACR 5-25 on a 6.5 Creedmoor bolt action. The 6.5 is in a Manners Elite stock but when I use the NV Clip on I have a XLR chassis that has the NV mount over the top front end of the forearm. I haven’t gotten to the point of bedding the stock with one of the NV mounts like Badger Ordinance. If anyone has a suggestion for a Clip on mount that can be used with a rifle stock, please let me know

 

[wigwamitus]

Well, one option is "over the top" ... to have a rail that connects to the top of the scope rings and hangs out over the front of the scope and you hook the clpon to the rail upside down. I think Larue has one of those.

But that is not really much different from getting a custom scope base that is 20 inches long. But if you want it to not be floppy, then it needs to have some "sides" so the top rail has structural support out towards the front. Ken Farrell Manufacturing of Warsaw, MO would build you something like that for maybe $300. There are off the shelf solutions that work with some rifle/chassis combinations, but custom is an option. I done several custom rails/scope bases with Ken Farrell.
One thing in your favor is the NF 4-16x is pretty short, 12.6 inches IIRC !!

For an under $10k budget, the PVS-30 option with a good illuminator will get the 400yd or so job done. Thermal clipon option is over $10k if you want 10x or more magnification on the day scope ... If I was going to do thermal clipon for under $10k I would go with SNIPE, with street price of $7k to $8k. I can squeeze 8x out of a SNIPE and hit 12x24 inch steel at 500yds off tripod consistently. Beyond that, the pulsar thermal clipons will give you 5x for $4k-$5k. In a pinch, the Pulsar clipons can be mounted directly to the scope objective bell, though I don't know anyone who recommends that method, including myself and I used to do it with an old ATN PS-22.