Night Vision Narrowing choices down based on NEED

[ccasanova]

I posted a while back and got good feedback on thermal vs NV. I’m narrowing my options down for a dedicated thermal sight on a suppressed 6.5 Grendel SBR.

I WANT the NVision Halo 25, used would be fine, but budget needs to be closer to $3-4K max. I’d need to sell something (rifle/scope ?) to go higher at this time.

Primary target is hogs, occasional coyote. Likely distances would be 25-150 yards, rarely extending out to 200. Terrain is swamp/river bottoms, food plots/small (5-10acre) fields. Pretty much point and shoot, no holdovers necessary.

Do I NEED the Halo? Or will I regret not having it? Or is there something in my current price range that will meet my needs and keep me satisfied for several years? Thanks

 

[NFAJohn]

I think you’d be better off saving up for the halo than compromising. Purchasing a thermal is kind of like buying a truck, if you own something that can be pulled with a 1/2 ton you buy a 3/4 ton so your operating well within it’s design limitations.

The 3-4 price point is kind of the no mans land of the thermal game, yes options exist, but many seem to be loaded with compromise. The pulsars seem nice except the battery packs and zeros seem to wonder, flir basically fucked everyone and stepped away, you can find older Zeus optics, the Bering Hogster falls into that price range but it’s kind of an unknown that looks promising....the halo 25 can be had for 5k. Just an extra grand. 10 100 dollar bills and your out of the compromise zone in my opinion.

Being in south La your going to need horsepower for when summer time comes around and the humidity and temperature are both around 90 at night. I’ve got a Zeus 640 I just looked through side by side with the halo outside and it’s no contest in these conditions (72° 93% humidity and intermittent rain).

The juice was worth the squeeze to me, I’ll buy another one when the time is right so my wife can stop using the Zeus.

 

[shoots100]

I spot using 384 and shoot using a 640.
I've had issues with pulsar scopes in the 50mm versions, so I went with an XP38 thermion this time around and it's been a real good scope so far.
Battery life with the APS2 is about 3 hours, so I bought three of them and with the ability to put it in standby mode, I have no battery issues to worry about now.
As was mentioned, 640 is the way to go.
Like you, The price tag for a $6k+ scope was a no go, so the Pulsar Thermion was the only real choice in my price range for a new scope with a warranty.
Key being the warranty, as I didn't want to get a used thermal and have it shit the bed and be stuck having to pay to have it fixed or worse, a very expensive paperweight.

 

[shields shtr]

I have the dreaded FLIR PTS 536. I may have gotten the last one ever sold to a civilian, they closed down that division about a week after I got mine directly from FlIR. I sure hope it holds up and I don't have to deal with FLIR customer service, I hear they are horrible. The resolution and picture on it are definitely fine for hogs and even coyotes out to about 200 yards, anything more I would probably want to upgrade. If anything I would actually spend more on something for scanning and spotting, and go "good enough" for a scope. There is a company called AGM that is producing thermals that look almost identical to the old Armasights and FlIRs, looks like they have some "affordable" models. The Late Night Vision guys have reviewed a few of their spotter units, I am waiting to see if they do a scope.

 

[Rlandry]

I would look at Pulsar for the most bang for the buck. Their Trail series looks pretty good. I know a couple of guys with them and they love them. You can find the 38 for a little over $3K.

 

[wigwamitus]

Right now, in my book, its either the pulsars or the BAE cored devices. There are a lot of Chinese units out there (almost everything else), but all the ones I've had have crapped out in the field ... and then there is the recent behavior of the Chinese government, which should not be reward IMHO.

There are four flavors of BAE cores devices:

Trijicon Electro Optic (the original "IRD" units). These have the BAE cores, formerly known as "OASYS".

Trijicon Oasys (these are new manufactured units, so far the Skeet-x and the UTC-xii).

N-VIsion (the Halos, use the same BAE core).

BAE Oasys (discontinued, but still available in very limited numbers).

The TEOs run from about $6k to about $8k for new ones ... and about $1k less for used.

The Trijicon Oasys run about $13k to $20k (skeet, utc), but limited numbers.

The Halos from mid $5k to mid $6k (25mm, 50mm). I've seen a used 25mm for $4.5k

BAE Oasys are all over the place on price ... from as low as $8k to up around $20k, depending on the model.

 

[TDFT1]

I posted a while back and got good feedback on thermal vs NV. I’m narrowing my options down for a dedicated thermal sight on a suppressed 6.5 Grendel SBR.

I WANT the NVision Halo 25, used would be fine, but budget needs to be closer to $3-4K max. I’d need to sell something (rifle/scope ?) to go higher at this time.

Primary target is hogs, occasional coyote. Likely distances would be 25-150 yards, rarely extending out to 200. Terrain is swamp/river bottoms, food plots/small (5-10acre) fields. Pretty much point and shoot, no holdovers necessary.

Do I NEED the Halo? Or will I regret not having it? Or is there something in my current price range that will meet my needs and keep me satisfied for several years? Thanks

I’ve been though this, let me SAVE you some time, Money, and headache. Save up or sell something you don’t use much or have much attachment to and buy either the Halo or Trijicon BAE Oaysis core units. The Mil Oasis units in 640 are going to be double or more of your price point, but this is just my .02 in a sea of opinions.. Good Luck.

 

[MarinePMI]

Pretty sure the Trijicon Oasys cores are still BAE, just only sold through Trijicon now.

 

[TDFT1]

Yes, maybe I wasn’t clear, they are.

 

[MarinePMI]

Yes, maybe I wasn’t clear, they are.

No worries, just wanted to be clear. (Besides, I work for BAE, so it's a pride thing of sorts.)

 

[ccasanova]

Thanks for the insight guys. Taking inventory on what I can live without now

 

[TDFT1]

No worries, just wanted to be clear. (Besides, I work for BAE, so it's a pride thing of sorts.)

Yeah, I hear ya!! They make great stuff..

 

[jstokes1]

I posted a while back and got good feedback on thermal vs NV. I’m narrowing my options down for a dedicated thermal sight on a suppressed 6.5 Grendel SBR.

I WANT the NVision Halo 25, used would be fine, but budget needs to be closer to $3-4K max. I’d need to sell something (rifle/scope ?) to go higher at this time.

Primary target is hogs, occasional coyote. Likely distances would be 25-150 yards, rarely extending out to 200. Terrain is swamp/river bottoms, food plots/small (5-10acre) fields. Pretty much point and shoot, no holdovers necessary.

Do I NEED the Halo? Or will I regret not having it? Or is there something in my current price range that will meet my needs and keep me satisfied for several years? Thanks

You could look at the Pulasr Thermoin XP 50. You might able able to find them for around 4k if you look around. The image clarity is really good for the price from what I've seen.

 

[lr123]

I think you could easily get away with something in the 3-4K range for hogs. Hogs show up in a thermal easily and with expected shots under 150 yards I don’t think you NEED a super high end thermal. If you WANT to spend more money you won’t be disappointed but I don’t think it’s necessary.

 

[NFAJohn]

I think you could easily get away with something in the 3-4K range for hogs. Hogs show up in a thermal easily and with expected shots under 150 yards I don’t think you NEED a super high end thermal. If you WANT to spend more money you won’t be disappointed but I don’t think it’s necessary.

The problem down here is the humidity in the summer. When it’s 85 at night and 90% humidity the better units are still useable when the lesser units are starting to grey out. When conditions are absolute shit you can often still get pretty useable image with a nicer unit.

I’m putting a halo 25 through its paces right now and I’m impressed. This summer will be the real test, but with how it’s preforming so far in less than ideal conditions I’m not too worried about it.

 

[NFAJohn]

Cows are at around 950. 71° 93% humidity and light rain.

Zeus 640 2-16x50 30hz

Halo 25

Juice is worth the squeeze. Seeing the cows to the right that are partially blocked by bushes is a good example of the difference in the two.

 

[WhereNow&How]

I hunt hogs in Mississippi and Louisiana. These are very high humidity states. The single biggest factor (not all) with any thermal in high humidity is the size of the Germanium Lens. Bigger lens will gather more data and information under adverse conditions.

Even though Flir has pretty much tossed civi's to the side, the Flir PTS 536 performs very well in adverse thermal conditions. The 50 mm lens combined with the ability to manual focus does a pretty good job in very bad thermal conditions. Additionally, I have found the Flir Thermosights to be very tough and reliable and pretty feature rich when you consider them all in totality.

The ability to reliably run RCR 123 batteries in a correctly designed mil spec type battery housing that is 90 degrees in relation to the bore and recoil, the ability to also set up a solid external battery on the scope pic rail with almost zero cable to get snagged, a scope that holds its POA/POI (unlike Pulsar Trails), a solid aluminum housing with an excellent mount and the ability to internally record all work together to make a very solid scope that performs very well.

A few are still out there to be purchased new (usually $3,400 to $3,800). For the money vs performance and reliability they are pretty hard to beat IMHO.

So OP, I would not be hesitant at all to purchase one.

 

[NFAJohn]

A few are still out there to be purchased new (usually $3,400 to $3,800). For the money vs performance and reliability they are pretty hard to beat IMHO.

Agreed, the 536 is a silly good optic, but alot of base magnification. Only thing that would concern me about getting into a flir at this point is support from the manufacturer. I feel like if it bricks, it's bricks and your kinda screwed.

 

[CBDR]

I think you’d be better off saving up for the halo than compromising. Purchasing a thermal is kind of like buying a truck, if you own something that can be pulled with a 1/2 ton you buy a 3/4 ton so your operating well within it’s design limitations.

The 3-4 price point is kind of the no mans land of the thermal game, yes options exist, but many seem to be loaded with compromise. The pulsars seem nice except the battery packs and zeros seem to wonder, flir basically fucked everyone and stepped away, you can find older Zeus optics, the Bering Hogster falls into that price range but it’s kind of an unknown that looks promising....the halo 25 can be had for 5k. Just an extra grand. 10 100 dollar bills and your out of the compromise zone in my opinion.

Being in south La your going to need horsepower for when summer time comes around and the humidity and temperature are both around 90 at night. I’ve got a Zeus 640 I just looked through side by side with the halo outside and it’s no contest in these conditions (72° 93% humidity and intermittent rain).

The juice was worth the squeeze to me, I’ll buy another one when the time is right so my wife can stop using the Zeus.

5 Years in and the ZEUS is still hanging strong.

 

[ccasanova]

I’m skimming through the Halo owners manual and reading threads now.

Does it come with the quick detach mount?

Do y’all remove it and run it like a scanner, then reattach to shoot?

 

[NFAJohn]

I’m skimming through the Halo owners manual and reading threads now.

Does it come with the quick detach mount?

Do y’all remove it and run it like a scanner, then reattach to shoot?

Yes

Nah, but I store it off the rifle and it hasn't had any return to zero issues.

 

[BamaSE]

I’m skimming through the Halo owners manual and reading threads now.

Does it come with the quick detach mount?

Do y’all remove it and run it like a scanner, then reattach to shoot?

Mine is new and I am still learning it but I did use it as a scanner last night with plans to reattach and shoot....but no critters showed up. Works excellent as a scanner. I have a paracord neckband with a short picatinney rail attached so I can lock the ADM QD mount to it and let it hang from my neck. I also put a set of Magpul rail covers right in front of the the attachment spot on the rifle to help me get it attached in the same spot on my rifle in the dark. Same location attachment to the rail is required to get the best return to zero results. Since initial site in I have not checked the zero yet to see if I have any creep.

 

[ccasanova]

Agreed, the 536 is a silly good optic, but alot of base magnification. Only thing that would concern me about getting into a flir at this point is support from the manufacturer. I feel like if it bricks, it's bricks and your kinda screwed.

Found a used 536 for $2900. That’s better on my pocketbook, but I’m leery.

 

[NFAJohn]

Found a used 536 for $2900. That’s better on my pocketbook, but I’m leery.

Shit man the way credit cards aprs are right now get you a card, put 3k on it and make payments. After this crash it’s pretty silly how long you can get a 0% card for.

Maybe email flir and see what they say about support.