Night Vision Replacement Thermion XP50 is Here

[diggler1833]

After 35 days of being without it, my replacement Thermion came in. I've mounted it, and checked the unit over after letting it charge overnight.

So far, the internal battery icon is there (connection issue was why I had to send it back). I'll put a few rounds through it tonight and zero it on my old trusty 6.8.

Of note: This unit says "Made in UK" on the underside...I'm not familiar with when this started. I thought that the Thermion lines were made in Belarus/Latvia.

Also, it might just be me (it probably is just me) but this unit seems clearer than the one I had to send back. I may have just got a lemon all the way around last time.

Fingers crossed...

 

[shoots100]

Good news for you, bad news for everything not wanted on your ranch.
The Thermion has a tall order at trying to compete with your Trail scope.
Good or bad, I'm sure we'll be seeing the results in a few days.
SJC

 

[wigwamitus]

...
This unit says "Made in UK" on the underside...I'm not familiar with when this started. I thought that the Thermion lines were made in Belarus/Latvia.
...

As near as I can tell from piecing together bits and pieces from here and there (aka my best SWAG) is, Pulsar has gone to a "regional" manufacturing concept ... with units being assembled in multiple locations (including the PRC). Parts are separately manufactured in multiple locations, including the PRC, in fact, my best guess is that the cores are made in PRC.

==
Glad you finally got a replacement. Seemed like it took a long time. I guess they didn't have one on the shelf in the USA to send you. I am surprised about that. I thought that was their support model. So that doesn't sound good. Like you I used to recommend Pulsar. I had a good experience with the Thermion XP50 I had, right before you got yours ... but your experience has been the exact opposite. And the guys in Australia are having a consistently miserable time (we think their units are assembled in PRC). So, I have to back away from my Pulsar recommendation. They still might be the cream of the crop for the PRC based units, but they have fallen a notch in my estimation from the earlier years 2015-16 when I had five pulsars and several of them were great. I still own an XD38a circa 2016, which is my loaner and it still soldiers on. The Apex 38s and 50s were pretty dang good.

 

[Burning sensation]

Glad it’s finally worked out! Looking forward to seeing the kill footage.
The factory I work in has been hit hard by the virus. Part shortages, even from domestic suppliers, our own people calling in sick (500 a day sometimes), the extra time required to sanitize everything, limits on in person meetings, travel/quarantine restrictions. We can’t come close keeping up, and we have not seen an increase in demand as companies selling outdoor equipment have.
I’m not saying Pulsar deserves a complete pardon. A customer with a new product that fails just out of the box without any real use should be taken care of first. Optics Planet and all the other big box stores that sell crap they don’t have could’ve been made to wait.

 

[diggler1833]

Got it wet last night. Three remaining hogs from a sounder up...three hogs down.

7 for 7 shots to hits. Unfortunately the last hog soaked up 5 rounds...but that was due to three of those hits being pretty piss poor...two in the gut and one in the hip.

The learning curve coming from a Trail isn't hard, but working the buttons efficiently will take a little practice.

I'll post another shitty video when I get back to the house.

 

[diggler1833]

As near as I can tell from piecing together bits and pieces from here and there (aka my best SWAG) is, Pulsar has gone to a "regional" manufacturing concept ... with units being assembled in multiple locations (including the PRC). Parts are separately manufactured in multiple locations, including the PRC, in fact, my best guess is that the cores are made in PRC.

==
Glad you finally got a replacement. Seemed like it took a long time. I guess they didn't have one on the shelf in the USA to send you. I am surprised about that. I thought that was their support model. So that doesn't sound good. Like you I used to recommend Pulsar. I had a good experience with the Thermion XP50 I had, right before you got yours ... but your experience has been the exact opposite. And the guys in Australia are having a consistently miserable time (we think their units are assembled in PRC). So, I have to back away from my Pulsar recommendation. They still might be the cream of the crop for the PRC based units, but they have fallen a notch in my estimation from the earlier years 2015-16 when I had five pulsars and several of them were great. I still own an XD38a circa 2016, which is my loaner and it still soldiers on. The Apex 38s and 50s were pretty dang good.

I'm not rich, but next time I'm buying American for sure...I'll just have to save a bit longer for it. That's my recommendation from now on.

Ben (if you know him) who used to to be somewhat of a pro-staffer for Pulsar, returned his troublesome Thermion recently and made the jump to Trijicon. Speaks volumes to me.

 

[shoots100]

Got it wet last night. Three remaining hogs from a sounder up...three hogs down.

7 for 7 shots to hits. Unfortunately the last hog soaked up 5 rounds...but that was due to three of those hits being pretty piss poor...two in the gut and one in the hip.

The learning curve coming from a Trail isn't hard, but working the buttons efficiently will take a little practice.

I'll post another shitty video when I get back to the house.

What took you so long ?
I'm a southpaw and I found that the Thermion is definitely easier to operate right handed, but I got used to it pretty quickly.

 

[shoots100]

I'm not rich, but next time I'm buying American for sure...I'll just have to save a bit longer for it. That's my recommendation from now on.

Ben (if you know him) who used to to be somewhat of a pro-staffer for Pulsar, returned his troublesome Thermion recently and made the jump to Trijicon. Speaks volumes to me.

I know what your saying, but it's really a crap shoot and every scope manufacturer has their issues.
I bought a Trijicon thermal after wanting something with more magnification than my Elcan specter and had nothing but issues with it.
You've had some success with your trail, but my trail sucked balls.
The Apex I had was great, but it ran on 123's, so I sold it to buy the freaking trail with the longer battery life !
I rolled the dice.
I like my 640 Thermion, but I've only shot a couple of coyotes with it and I haven't been able to really test it in cold weather, but it's performed great so far.
I really liked the Trij IR MK2 35 , but I don't have issues with hogs and for $7K, It wasn't going to happen, so I was going to settle for the cheaper MK2 19, as it has a lower base magnification, but the $6K price tag was still to high and I don't have pockets full of $$ to feed it with 123 batteries.
Hopefully you'll have better luck with your newest Thermion.

 

[diggler1833]

I know what your saying, but it's really a crap shoot and every scope manufacturer has their issues.
I bought a Trijicon thermal after wanting something with more magnification than my Elcan specter and had nothing but issues with it.
You've had some success with your trail, but my trail sucked balls.
The Apex I had was great, but it ran on 123's, so I sold it to buy the freaking trail with the longer battery life !
I rolled the dice.
I like my 640 Thermion, but I've only shot a couple of coyotes with it and I haven't been able to really test it in cold weather, but it's performed great so far.
I really liked the Trij IR MK2 35 , but I don't have issues with hogs and for $7K, It wasn't going to happen, so I was going to settle for the cheaper MK2 19, as it has a lower base magnification, but the $6K price tag was still to high and I don't have pockets full of $$ to feed it with 123 batteries.
Hopefully you'll have better luck with your newest Thermion.

Thanks. I definitely get where you are coming from in regards to the crap shoot. My buddy Brian has an IR Hunter Mk3 and his took a dump on him after two years. The biggest thing that I loved about Trijicon was that they had his unit back to him in about 10 days flat including the initial contact.

I probably shouldn't, but I'm selling my Trail to a buddy unless he backs out. Having a very useable backup would be a nice thing, but I really intended on using the sale money to offset the cost of Thermion.

 

[shoots100]

Thanks. I definitely get where you are coming from in regards to the crap shoot. My buddy Brian has an IR Hunter Mk3 and his took a dump on him after two years. The biggest thing that I loved about Trijicon was that they had his unit back to him in about 10 days flat including the initial contact.

I probably shouldn't, but I'm selling my Trail to a buddy unless he backs out. Having a very useable backup would be a nice thing, but I really intended on using the sale money to offset the cost of Thermion.

Was his Trij malfunction before Covid hit the fan ?
Unfortunately, Delays in S/H are the norm now.
If the Thrermion is proven to be operational ( The three hogs you took down last night is proof of that), I don't see why you would need the trail, but I would wait a few days to make sure, unless your friend needs it right away.
I would use a few bucks from the trail sale and buy an extra battery or two for the thermion.

 

[diggler1833]

Was his Trij malfunction before Covid hit the fan ?
Unfortunately, Delays in S/H are the norm now.
If the Thrermion is proven to be operational ( The three hogs you took down last night is proof of that), I don't see why you would need the trail, but I would wait a few days to make sure, unless your friend needs it right away.
I would use a few bucks from the trail sale and buy an extra battery or two for the thermion.

The Trijicon crapped out right st the beginning of Feb as I remember him borrowing a Hogster to come up and hunt with me...whether shipping was beginning to be affected by that point I don't know. What I do know is that I had to check USPS delivery confirmation and then call Sellmark to find out if they ever received my unit after I shipped it to them. I'm not on here to bash anybody, but that didn't exactly sit well with me.

I got the Thermion from Travis at Fox Optic, and he was kind enough to throw in two free APS3 batteries as well as a Sightmark QD mount. I had a better ADM mount already, so the Sightmark is collecting dust. However the batteries are a must in my opinion.

I just noticed from the video taken the other night that I essentially had a dead pixel jump up twice after recoil in two different spots. Apparently they corrected themselves because I didn't notice it on the walk back to the truck. My Trail has one dead pixel that I couldn't repair and never went away. It's the only issue I've had with it in probably 450-500 hours of run time.

 

[shoots100]

For a scope that's rated to handle repeated 375 H&H recoil, the 6.8 shouldn't even be a concern, yet you did have a dead pixel after recoil.
I never noticed a dead pixel in your trail videos.(Just looked at your videos with the trail and noticed the dead pixel @ 10 o clock from the center dot)
Travis is good people and is happy to chat with you, even if you didn't buy anything from him.
I had the same correspondence issues with pulsar.
My trail was delivered on the same day I called to get an update on it's repair.
This was late last year, so no Covid BS delay excuse.
I have no issue bad mouthing a manufacturer when they screw up, but I'll also give them credit, when credit is due.
Out of the dozen Pulsar NV and thermal scopes I've had, the trail was the only dud, So that's why I've stuck with pulsar and I've put those scopes through some hard use, like you've done with your trail.
Now that I'm really thinking about it, maybe you should keep that trail.

 

[diggler1833]

For a scope that's rated to handle repeated 375 H&H recoil, the 6.8 shouldn't even be a concern, yet you did have a dead pixel after recoil.
I never noticed a dead pixel in your trail videos.(Just looked at your videos with the trail and noticed the dead pixel @ 10 o clock from the center dot)
Travis is good people and is happy to chat with you, even if you didn't buy anything from him.
I had the same correspondence issues with pulsar.
My trail was delivered on the same day I called to get an update on it's repair.
This was late last year, so no Covid BS delay excuse.
I have no issue bad mouthing a manufacturer when they screw up, but I'll also give them credit, when credit is due.
Out of the dozen Pulsar NV and thermal scopes I've had, the trail was the only dud, So that's why I've stuck with pulsar and I've put those scopes through some hard use, like you've done with your trail.
Now that I'm really thinking about it, maybe you should keep that trail.

Hahahaha you're right in maybe I should keep the Trail!

If you're ever out in the SE Oklahoma area with one of your thermals, hit me up and we'll see if we can get you broken in on hogs.

 

[shoots100]

Hahahaha you're right in maybe I should keep the Trail!

If you're ever out in the SE Oklahoma area with one of your thermals, hit me up and we'll see if we can get you broken in on hogs.

Thanks for the invite, but I don't think my heart could take more than a couple of hours of living as a free man, plus I've been knee deep in Covid NY city since the beginning and need to stay local.
One day this is going to end and then I might take you up on the offer.
Hopefully you'll get your Thermion squared away by then, or have a Trijicon ?

 

[diggler1833]

Thanks for the invite, but I don't think my heart could take more than a couple of hours of living as a free man, plus I've been knee deep in Covid NY city since the beginning and need to stay local.
One day this is going to end and then I might take you up on the offer.
Hopefully you'll get your Thermion squared away by then, or have a Trijicon ?

I just killed 4 more a few minutes ago...although my shooting was a bit worse as I'm new to the .308's ballistics (that's my excuse anyway).

I think dead pixels bring me luck...I may keep this thing...LOL.

 

[shoots100]

I just killed 4 more a few minutes ago...although my shooting was a bit worse as I'm new to the .308's ballistics (that's my excuse anyway).
I think dead pixels bring me luck...I may keep this thing...LOL.

Luck has a peculiar habit of favoring those who don't depend on it.
While it's good to have a backup rifle, I think the Thermion and the 6.8 make a nice pair.