Night Vision The Official: Steiner C35 Thermal Clip-on Review and User Thread!

[shootingnut]

I just realized my mount is backwards compared to the other units in this thread. The lever is on the wrong side. Back to Steiner she goes.

No need for that I think. My mount with the lever had a little bit of play in it even when latched down the whole way, so I unscrewed the base plate and was able to get to the screws for the mount itself (if that makes sense).

So maybe unscrew the bottom 4 screws and see if you can get to the baseplate and unscrew that, then twist it around and mount it in the correct direction.

 

[wtsnowman]

Can't you just unscrew and refit?

Unfortunately no, the screw heads are inside the unit.

 

[wtsnowman]

No need for that I think. My mount with the lever had a little bit of play in it even when latched down the whole way, so I unscrewed the base plate and was able to get to the screws for the mount itself (if that makes sense).

So maybe unscrew the bottom 4 screws and see if you can get to the baseplate and unscrew that, then twist it around and mount it in the correct direction.

Thank you! I’ll give that a shot.

 

[psmith23]

Definitely different orientation than mine.

 

[shootingnut]

Unfortunately no, the screw heads are inside the unit.View attachment 7941259

Yea I can see the 4 holes there, you have to unlatch the QD lever to get to them I think.

 

[TheHebrewHammer]

It may be the downward slope of the top of the unit that creates the illusion. I'm sure the mount doesn't help.

 

[TheHebrewHammer]

Must be the European spec, God knows everything else over there is backwards.

 

[wtsnowman]

Surgery was a success! There is a noticeable slope to the mount once you get it undone.

 

[aslrookie]

Anyone have pictures from 5x to 10x with a larger optic? I’m itching to buy one of these, but it feels too good to be true for the price point and initial feedback on here.

I keep waiting for the bombshell of QC issues or units failing. Not that I want them to, it’s just the Iray rico micro packed a ton of value for the price, and now you’re telling me I can get a clip on thermal worth a shit and not made by bering optics for less than $5k? Just seems fishy.

 

[spamassassin]

Anyone have pictures from 5x to 10x with a larger optic? I’m itching to buy one of these, but it feels too good to be true for the price point and initial feedback on here.

I keep waiting for the bombshell of QC issues or units failing. Not that I want them to, it’s just the Iray rico micro packed a ton of value for the price, and now you’re telling me I can get a clip on thermal worth a shit and not made by bering optics for less than $5k? Just seems fishy.

5x is quite nice, 10x is pretty noticeably pixelated but still totally usable. If you're looking for a thermal clip-on I doubt you'll find a better value. Ain't no fish smell at all. I put mine right up next to my recently acquired UTM the other night and they were essentially the same other than features and field of view.

 

[shootingnut]

5x is quite nice, 10x is pretty noticeably pixelated but still totally usable. If you're looking for a thermal clip-on I doubt you'll find a better value. Ain't no fish smell at all. I put mine right up next to my recently acquired UTM the other night and they were essentially the same other than features and field of view.

Agreed. I've never used another thermal so don't really have anything to compare to, but it works really well from 6-10x. At 10x it is pixelated but still usable. I also threw it in front of a friend's LPVO and for sure the clearest image and widest FOV was probably in the 3-4x range, so I would say that's probably the ideal low end but my day optic starts at 6 so that's what I'm running with.

 

[aslrookie]

I don’t know if this is a good thing or bad thing, but I’ve been debating between this unit or a PVS24. It’s crazy that I could get multiple C35’s for the price of one PVS24.

Maybe I just need to stop being poor and get both! Lol

 

[spamassassin]

I don’t know if this is a good thing or bad thing, but I’ve been debating between this unit or a PVS24. It’s crazy that I could get multiple C35’s for the price of one PVS24.

Maybe I just need to stop being poor and get both! Lol

Honestly, it's probably a lot better to do both. NV, light amplification, is fantastic for recognition and identification but it's kinda lacking in terms of detection. Thermal rocks out with the cock out as far as detection but beyond hollering distances it's really leaving something to be desired in terms of recognition and identifaction. When the guys and I go out for night time play time we always have someone with NV and someone with thermal. Thermal detects and guides the NV onto target. Once an identification is made about what it is we're exactly looking at then either or both can engage as needed. It's important to be able to tell the difference between the neighbors dog crapping in your back 40 and a coyote crapping in your back 40. JMHO, YMMV.

 

[aslrookie]

Honestly, it's probably a lot better to do both. NV, light amplification, is fantastic for recognition and identification but it's kinda lacking in terms of detection. Thermal rocks out with the cock out as far as detection but beyond hollering distances it's really leaving something to be desired in terms of recognition and identifaction. When the guys and I go out for night time play time we always have someone with NV and someone with thermal. Thermal detects and guides the NV onto target. Once an identification is made about what it is we're exactly looking at then either or both can engage as needed. It's important to be able to tell the difference between the neighbors dog crapping in your back 40 and a coyote crapping in your back 40. JMHO, YMMV.

I have dual tube NV goggles. This is 100% true about detection. I was out yote hunting one night and came across a dude who was also hunting yotes in the same area. He had a budget thermal scope and was like "do you see that, do you see that deer, etc." I felt really bad about how I could see the leaves, branches, depth perception and walk around without a light but couldn't see anything he was pointing out.

I have heard yotes real close and never saw them. Only time I've been able to see yotes with NV is either reflection from their eyeballs with IR light or they cross the open field from the tree lines. The smart ones stay inside the tree lines. This is what pushed me towards thermal, and I am not a fan of having a dedicated thermal scope unless it was something like the NVISION HALO XRF.

The C35 is appealing as I could throw it on my 6.5 gasser or my SBR depending upon terrain. The idea of clipping the C35 in front of a 1/4x elcan on a 11.5" gun gives me a chubby.

 

[spamassassin]

I really wish we could abandon chambering designations as recoil tolerance standards. It's incredibly uninformative and misleading. Weapon system weight, the presence of a brake/suppressor and all kinds of things are involved. What we really need is a value expressed as a maximum 'g' tolerance. Then we could quite easily calculate it. A 7lbs .308 unbraked hunting rifle shot from a standing offhand position has a dramatically different recoil velocity and momentum than a 17lbs .300wm with a brake shot from a sandbag on a bench. /me stops complaining and wanders off to shake his fist at some clouds.

 

[spamassassin]

My suspicion is that the ratings are done for relatively light, unbraked hunting rifles. If you see the marketing propaganda it all shows some chud with a pencil barrel, wood stocked hunting rifle with the C35 hanging off the objective bell (which BTW makes my asshole pucker right up given the weight of a C35, the way levers work and the lightness of the rifle being used). Doing some calculations, the recoil force (not speed) betwen an 8lbs .308 running 168's at 2750 without a brake is identical to an 18lbs unbraked 300WbyMag running 220's at 2840. Given that you'll have a hush puppy on the spout of that rifle cutting recoil momentum and thus recoil speed by a significant amount, I'd think that you'd be ok. It's an expensive word to take for it, I get that, and I would really rather that they provide numeric data in useful units of measure so we can get balls deep into some nice juicy mathematics just to be sure.

 

[aslrookie]

it’s already a deal and a half. If it will handle magnum rifles, well shit…. Extra deal x2

I mean…you could try it and let us know. If Steiner doesn’t advertise recoil ratings, can they really turn away from the warranty on the unit if it does fail? It’s not like you did something against what they claim if it’s not listed online or in a manual.

 

[CrazyDoc]

I still want to know how it compares to the SYC.

 

[dirtytough]

Best place to buy a C35?

 

[cake5150]

I don’t know if this is a good thing or bad thing, but I’ve been debating between this unit or a PVS24. It’s crazy that I could get multiple C35’s for the price of one PVS24.

Maybe I just need to stop being poor and get both! Lol

I don't have a PVS-24 of any flavor, but I've owned twenty plus I^2 clip-ons over the years including my current gorgeous PVS-27 that I've had since early 2020. The image quality of a high-end NV clip-on w/ a solid tube is mesmerizing. That said, the image quality of the C35 I received last week is absolutely incredible. They are different tools for different applications, with significant overlap. Now, if I had to pick I one of them to keep (not going to happen, I want both), the PVS-27 would be getting sold. That is saying a lot since, prior to last week, the 27 was my most cherrished optic. I have absolutely no need for a second one, but am considering it simply because of how incredible the value is. YMMV.

 

[aslrookie]

I don't have a PVS-24 of any flavor, but I've owned twenty plus I^2 clip-ons over the years including my current gorgeous PVS-27 that I've had since early 2020. The image quality of a high-end NV clip-on w/ a solid tube is mesmerizing. That said, the image quality of the C35 I received last week is absolutely incredible. They are different tools for different applications, with significant overlap. Now, if I had to pick I one of them to keep (not going to happen, I want both), the PVS-27 would be getting sold. That is saying a lot since, prior to last week, the 27 was my most cherrished optic. I have absolutely no need for a second one, but am considering it simply because of how incredible the value is. YMMV.

You broke my heart but also saved me a lot of money lol

 

[aslrookie]

So I just got a rugged obsidian 9 approved that will handle subsonic 300blk.
I’m thinking a Q mini fix rifle in 300blk with a Schmidt 1-8 LPVO and a Steiner C35 will be my go to hunting rig this season

I have an Obsidian 45 that was used on a 8.3” 300blk with subs. It’s not the quietest can for the job, but does alright.

 

[951Hunter]

Any idea what the temp ratings for the S35 are? I don't see anything in the manual for the S35 or C35

 

[srt-4_uk]

Any idea what the temp ratings for the S35 are? I don't see anything in the manual for the S35 or C35

-30⁰c - 50⁰c
Last page of the manual.

 

[TheHebrewHammer]

I have shot mine on my 7.5 lb 300 PRC with no issues.

 

[TheHebrewHammer]

However, if you throw it on a 50 and fuck it up, I would reccomend pleading the 5th when it came to warranty work.

 

[NateSavannah]

I want to try one on this, infront of a NX8 2.5-20. 300 weatherby magnum chambering.View attachment 7941547

See ya got your Pho Csr. Sweet build.

 

[Trapper99]

Pretty sure I saw recoil rating of 800g’s, whatever that equates too!

 

[spamassassin]

800 g's would be a phenomenally abusive recoil impulse. I used the Robinette recoil force calculator to do some tinkering and the results were surprising and a little terrifying. From what I can see you could shoot an unbraked 8lbs 338LM with 300gr pills at 2740 and pull off a tit over half of that 800 g's rating. Such a rifle would be right up at the limits of human endurance. I would say that either there's something wrong with those calculators, unlikely, or there's not really a recoil limitation that any of us are going to care about since we'd all be putting these on rifles that have an NV bridge or a full length top rail and anything likely to have one of those is also almost certain to have either a brake or a suppressor or both on it and it's likely to weigh a hell of a lot more than a pencil barrel walking around hunting rifle. I would surmise though that the more recoil violence you subject the unit to with each trigger pull the fewer trigger pulls it will live through and the greater the odds that your next trigger pull will be the one to roll up the curtain send your C35 off to join the choir invisible. Assuming near-zero but non-zero plastic deformation of either the concrete or the C35 resulting in a stop time of .001 seconds you could drop it a little over 3 feet onto concrete and not exceed that g rating. I think we're ok with these on our bigass heavy chassis'd .338LM's. My .338 doesn't really abuse me as much as my .300wm does. I'm sure my C35's will agree.

Does anyone know the g-rating of a Oasys UTM (not UTM-X) just out of curiosity?

 

[TheHebrewHammer]

Now I want someone to put it on a 50.

 

[shootingnut]

I did not like that there is no cover for the ocular, seems odd for a clip-on I thought. If it helps anyone I purchased a Monstrum Scope Lens Cover Size D (31-36 mm). It fits real tight and is larger than the ocular so it does not obstruct the picture. Works very well.

Edit: Added an "s" to work

Thanks for the recommendation, just got mine in and it fits perfectly!

 

[Trapper99]

800 g's would be a phenomenally abusive recoil impulse. I used the Robinette recoil force calculator to do some tinkering and the results were surprising and a little terrifying. From what I can see you could shoot an unbraked 8lbs 338LM with 300gr pills at 2740 and pull off a tit over half of that 800 g's rating. Such a rifle would be right up at the limits of human endurance. I would say that either there's something wrong with those calculators, unlikely, or there's not really a recoil limitation that any of us are going to care about since we'd all be putting these on rifles that have an NV bridge or a full length top rail and anything likely to have one of those is also almost certain to have either a brake or a suppressor or both on it and it's likely to weigh a hell of a lot more than a pencil barrel walking around hunting rifle. I would surmise though that the more recoil violence you subject the unit to with each trigger pull the fewer trigger pulls it will live through and the greater the odds that your next trigger pull will be the one to roll up the curtain send your C35 off to join the choir invisible. Assuming near-zero but non-zero plastic deformation of either the concrete or the C35 resulting in a stop time of .001 seconds you could drop it a little over 3 feet onto concrete and not exceed that g rating. I think we're ok with these on our bigass heavy chassis'd .338LM's. My .338 doesn't really abuse me as much as my .300wm does. I'm sure my C35's will agree.

Does anyone know the g-rating of a Oasys UTM (not UTM-X) just out of curiosity?

Here’s where I saw it….

 

[spamassassin]

Here’s where I saw it….

Looks like my calculation on drop g loading were right, so yeah, no recoil problem up to boomer.

 

[Trapper99]

Looks like my calculation on drop g loading were right, so yeah, no recoil problem up to boomer.

Interesting….here I was thinking I was limited to 308

 

[cake5150]

Interesting….here I was thinking I was limited to 3

800 g's would be a phenomenally abusive recoil impulse. I used the Robinette recoil force calculator to do some tinkering and the results were surprising and a little terrifying. From what I can see you could shoot an unbraked 8lbs 338LM with 300gr pills at 2740 and pull off a tit over half of that 800 g's rating. Such a rifle would be right up at the limits of human endurance. I would say that either there's something wrong with those calculators, unlikely, or there's not really a recoil limitation that any of us are going to care about since we'd all be putting these on rifles that have an NV bridge or a full length top rail and anything likely to have one of those is also almost certain to have either a brake or a suppressor or both on it and it's likely to weigh a hell of a lot more than a pencil barrel walking around hunting rifle. I would surmise though that the more recoil violence you subject the unit to with each trigger pull the fewer trigger pulls it will live through and the greater the odds that your next trigger pull will be the one to roll up the curtain send your C35 off to join the choir invisible. Assuming near-zero but non-zero plastic deformation of either the concrete or the C35 resulting in a stop time of .001 seconds you could drop it a little over 3 feet onto concrete and not exceed that g rating. I think we're ok with these on our bigass heavy chassis'd .338LM's. My .338 doesn't really abuse me as much as my .300wm does. I'm sure my C35's will agree.

Does anyone know the g-rating of a Oasys UTM (not UTM-X) just out of curiosity?

800 g's would be a phenomenally abusive recoil impulse. I used the Robinette recoil force calculator to do some tinkering and the results were surprising and a little terrifying. From what I can see you could shoot an unbraked 8lbs 338LM with 300gr pills at 2740 and pull off a tit over half of that 800 g's rating. Such a rifle would be right up at the limits of human endurance. I would say that either there's something wrong with those calculators, unlikely, or there's not really a recoil limitation that any of us are going to care about since we'd all be putting these on rifles that have an NV bridge or a full length top rail and anything likely to have one of those is also almost certain to have either a brake or a suppressor or both on it and it's likely to weigh a hell of a lot more than a pencil barrel walking around hunting rifle. I would surmise though that the more recoil violence you subject the unit to with each trigger pull the fewer trigger pulls it will live through and the greater the odds that your next trigger pull will be the one to roll up the curtain send your C35 off to join the choir invisible. Assuming near-zero but non-zero plastic deformation of either the concrete or the C35 resulting in a stop time of .001 seconds you could drop it a little over 3 feet onto concrete and not exceed that g rating. I think we're ok with these on our bigass heavy chassis'd .338LM's. My .338 doesn't really abuse me as much as my .300wm does. I'm sure my C35's will agree.

Does anyone know the g-rating of a Oasys UTM (not UTM-X) just out of curiosity?

I'm now wholly unconcerned about my plans tomorrow that involve the C35 and my lightweight 6.5 Creedmoor gas gun.

 

[AMTGMC]

The Firearm Blog - Firearms not Politics

Firearms not Politics

www.thefirearmblog.com

 

[spamassassin]

I'm now wholly unconcerned about my plans tomorrow that involve the C35 and my lightweight 6.5 Creedmoor gas gun.

I wouldn't throw caution directly to the wind but a common AR-10 in 6.5CM has about the recoil impulse of a light bolt action 7.62x39 so I wouldn't be concerned at all. I would caution the people thinking about putting these on boomers that failure modes to do with recoil tolerance are rarely instant. Everything you can do to slow the recoil impulse (increase effective inertia by adding weight, using a brake/suppressor, aggressive bipod loading, etc...) will likely still be important for maximum device longevity.

 

[cake5150]

Zeroed the C35 on another couple guns today and I did need to break out the foil squares for the targets due to conditions. That said, everything went well. Today I added zeroes for a 16" lightweight 6.5 Creedmoor AR as well as a Ruger Precision Rimfire in 22 LR.

For the Creedmoor AR, despite the somewhat jarring vibration of that gun, there was absolutely no image cutout or any other issue. It doesn't have a ton of recoil, but that huge BCG and mid-length gas on a high pressure cartridge certainly cause it to move around.

For the RPRR 22 LR, I got it dialed in no problem and noticed a pretty interesting thing. With the 3-18×50 in 1.26" rings on a 30 MOA base (C35 is on zero MOA rail section on handguard), I could actually see "around" the clip-on if I got my eye in just the right (wrong) position. On the C35 there are some gaps to each side of the thermal/mount junction which let just enough image get through so I could switch from thermal image to substantially dimmed visible spectrum view just by moving my head placement. I've owned a lot of clip-on devices but have never experienced this phenomenon before. Based on the fact that I won't be using the C35 much during the day, this added "capability" is mostly useless and tells me that I am at the ragged edge of how low in the image I can look through with the day optic and still get a usable view.

An additional note is that, across the three platforms I've used it on, the difference in image location once zeroed barely changes at all. It wound up being 2 increments (~2 MOA) max spread. I have yet to move more than 2 MOA from dead center factory position (0,0 on X,Y axis) to obtain a good zero. This tells me that the image must be fairly close to true unity. I also measured an 8 mil height telephone pole with just the day optic and then again with the C35 to estimate how well my dope will translate to use with the C35. Within the pixel resolution of the C35, it appeared the 8 mil pole remained 8 mils. This, again, tells me that the image must be pretty close to unity. After all, if it wasn't approximately unity, drop and wind dope would be rendered largely useless. I will have to devise a better, more precise, experiment to get a solid verdict here but it looks good so far.

TL/DR: It still works and I still love it

 

[DustBun]

Thanks for the recommendation, just got mine in and it fits perfectly!

Glad it helps.

I also cut a rounded notch in mine so that would fit around that round protrusion on the top allowing it to seat all the way against the ocular.

 

[PlinkIt]

A few of your numbers aren’t quite right there, but the 12.5 is a degrees value. Steiner marketing materials are a bit confused on that.

View attachment 7870733

Where can a guy go to see that excel sheet in its entirety?...

Like like you might have so about 30 entries of comparison there?

Thanks either way

 

[Doogie]

Anyone able to get theirs to stream to an iPhone?

Just got mine Friday and can’t get it to display on the phone.

I can connect and adjust the settings but no image comes across.

Wondering if it’s a setting on my phone I’m missing or a defective unit.

 

[DustBun]

Anyone able to get theirs to stream to an iPhone?

Just got mine Friday and can’t get it to display on the phone.

I can connect and adjust the settings but no image comes across.

Wondering if it’s a setting on my phone I’m missing or a defective unit.

I have not had any problem using my iPhone. I if course had to enable the Bluetooth.

 

[Doogie]

Bluetooth or just the wifi connection? My Bluetooth is enabled either way but there’s only a wifi connection for the C35.

Keep getting this:

 

[DustBun]

Bluetooth or just the wifi connection? My Bluetooth is enabled either way but there’s only a wifi connection for the C35.

Keep getting this:

I used Bluetooth, using the App, to aid in focusing because once I am behind the rifle I can't reach the focus, so I was back and forth too much. I have not used the WiFi side of the App for streaming. Sorry I haven't had mine very long either nor had time to try everything.

 

[Doogie]

That interesting, I’m not seeing a way to connect through Bluetooth only. Nor do I see how I could adjust the focus through the app.

It’s just the Steiner connect app right?

 

[Doogie]

Well got it to work on an Android phone so must be a setting on my iPhone.

 

[DustBun]

That interesting, I’m not seeing a way to connect through Bluetooth only. Nor do I see how I could adjust the focus through the app.

It’s just the Steiner connect app right?

Sorry, I should have clarified. I do not adjust the focus in the App. I am able to get out from behind the rifle and to he side so I can adjust the focus and see the focus in the App.

 

[Doogie]

Ah yeah that makes sense.

 

[TheHebrewHammer]

In the final stages.

 

[TheHebrewHammer]

Like the above message if you would be interested in one so I can get an idea of quantity for the first order.