Night Vision or Thermal Suggestions

[18Fox4VW3]

I have a friend looking for a "night vision" scope for a .22-250. The mission is hog hunting. Range parameters are unclear but I would estimate 200 y/m and under. Budget is not a concern, but quality trumps price. I am looking for suggestions from this community. The conversation is open to thermal as well as true NV. For background on me, I am retired SF and I was a SOTIC instructor in the first half of the 1990s. I am not current on what is out there on the civilian market, but I have reached out to my friends and their mentors in the current SFSC community. Obviously everyone can do an internet search and read reviews. Most helpful would be personal experience with any scopes recommended.

Thank you, all.

 

[jrweston]

To me Thermal is the way to go for hog hunting. I feel handicapped when i decide to take night vision. I have used various Trijicon Thermals and currently use N Vision Halo XRF. The video capability with the N Vision XRF is amazing to watch when you get back home and want to review your hunt.

 

[Gwak2006]

I'm waiting to see reviews on the new holosun offering.

 

[18Fox4VW3]

Thank you! This is the first hand experience I'm looking for.

 

[Gwood88]

I have a good amount of night time hog hunting experience.
I have dual tube night vision, a clip on for the night vision that displays thermal into the nods, a good ir laser/illuminator (MAWL), and a weapon mounted thermal.

If I could I only have one it would be the weapon mounted thermal. The others are very nice to have and help me out a lot getting around, but the thermal is the workhorse.

To get your feet wet I would look at a Bering optics Hogster or AGM thermal. That will get you finding and killing lots of hogs.

 

[charbroiled]

Any love for the Pulsar Thermion XP50 Pro? I've played around with the it and it seems like a solid bit 'o kit. Fitness for intended purpose? I have no idea...

 

[18Fox4VW3]

Thank you all for your replies. I received some great information from the SF sniper community and passed it on.

 

[RMD45]

Since budget is not a concern and he can spend a decent amount of money for a thermal scope. Based on some experience I had, I recommend the ATN X-sight 4k Pro With Ultra HD Optics 3-14x scope.

 

[Justanothergunguyhere]

I find that I prefer night vision on my head when moving and getting around, but prefer thermal for stationary when I’m observing and looking for game, easier to identify and find compared to night vision.

 

[Crews]

If you actually want to kill shit and not just look cool, the #1 priority is a weapon mounted thermal.

Even if I had enough $ to buy two different units, the second would be a thermal too…. A handheld or helmet mounted thermal so I didn’t have to hold my rifle up all night to scan.

Also, if a person had a hypothetical $7k to spend, I’d vote weapon mounted and scanner from someone like IRay or Bering any day of the week, vs. a single weapon mounted from Trijicon, etc.

 

[st1650]

Best bang for the buck would probably be a Bolt TH50v2 weapon mounted with a helmet mounted RH25 for scanning

 

[18Fox4VW3]

I did find out that the current SF night optic is about $40k per unit and the thermal is around $60k.