Thermal add-ons

holwellcourtfarm

Member
Livestock Farmer
there is no need to vary your FAC ticket...
Thanks. I thoughty so as it is removeable. It might be different for a thermal scope though..
You need to shoot a lot of rabbits to pay off thermal scope
Agreed. It's partly for personal interest and partly because I can use one with an eyepiece as a spotter for general use including looking for hot spots on buildings and livestock. That alone justifies it.
 

Lincoln75

Member
Does the difference justify the extra cost?

My go to rabbiting setup is a Sako Quad .17hmr with a Vortex Hoghunter 2 scope. We use it after dark lamping but it would be good to go thermal. Would I then be disadvantaged in daytime?

It's bad enough for my occasional use justifying a thermal add on at £2.5k-£3k bit to have a whole new rifle as well it's even harder.

Do I have to vary my FAC if I get a thermal add on?
Yes it does because no scope or NV manufacturer will guarantee their product will work well with the other , you dont need to spend £2.5k to get set up , the best combination in a NV scope and a hand held Ti spotter.

You dont need a firearms license for any type of scope ....because they are not firearms.
 

Lincoln75

Member
there is no need to vary your FAC ticket...
My personal view is to get add-on (i have one) and use it on any rifle rather then have a thermal scope and day and night look through the digital screen
you need to shoot a lot of rabbits to pay off thermal scope
The guys who buy decent kit are usually keepers or brock cullers , for knocking off rabbits I`d just use a £50.00 lamp and a 4x4.
 

Nick.

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Kenilworth
Personally I prefer/use a thermal spotter and NV scope.
I just like the ‘true’ picture of NV before taking the shot.
I feel thermal is solely dependant on shape and behaviour to be absolutely 100% on quarry.
 

Man_in_black

Member
Livestock Farmer
Personally I prefer/use a thermal spotter and NV scope.
I just like the ‘true’ picture of NV before taking the shot.
I feel thermal is solely dependant on shape and behaviour to be absolutely 100% on quarry.
Not with the likes of thermion2 range. XP50 you can identify the hairs on Charlie's back! Not chasing white blobs these days. Good mate just got the xq38 from blackwood - wow 👌
 
Location
Cheshire
439BB587-68DF-4551-A2E3-672CCAE54F69.jpeg

This is a photo of the view from an Thermion XM50. 4 Rabbits between 80 and 200 yards away. Spotting foxes well over 1km away is no problem. I only shoot rabbits but I feel there would be no need for extra gear to spot them if you had a top scope.
 
You can pickup a camera/IR-source/screen bolt on for about £60. Easy to add on another IR light source to increase range and to avoid the red glow.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/193463195222

They're clumsy compared to something like a yukon, but an cheap way to decide whether you want to go NV or Thermal, they're also a lot quicker as they don't "boot up" they just turn-on.

I replaced an old yukon photon with one for ratting on an air-rifle that I normally use for plinking targets. I'll probably get another yukon in the future though.
 

holwellcourtfarm

Member
Livestock Farmer
You can pickup a camera/IR-source/screen bolt on for about £60. Easy to add on another IR light source to increase range and to avoid the red glow.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/193463195222

They're clumsy compared to something like a yukon, but an cheap way to decide whether you want to go NV or Thermal, they're also a lot quicker as they don't "boot up" they just turn-on.

I replaced an old yukon photon with one for ratting on an air-rifle that I normally use for plinking targets. I'll probably get another yukon in the future though.
I have one for ratting. It's great for that. For hunting though full thermal makes it much easier to see what's out there from a distance.
 

Disco_rich

Member
Location
West Berks
Any half-decent thermal spotter will mean you see and can therefore shoot a huge amount more than spotting with NV or a lamp.

A lot of people aren't keen on thermal scopes but things have come along a fair way, positive ID and image of backstop isn't an issue with the most decent 17micron or smaller pitch sensored units. Thermal scopes allow much quicker target acquisition compared to NV.

As far as thermal addons go, the Pulsar Krypton worked faultlessly switching between rifles for me. The earlier Core models I've heard bad things about however. The Krypton can be used as a spotter using a 100-odd quid 5x lens you can buy, but its pretty fussy eye relief-wise. Personally I'd plump for a thermal spotter and dedicated thermal scope - if you need to regularly swap between rifles, fit them with picatinny rails and decent quick release mounts, job done.
 
Any half-decent thermal spotter will mean you see and can therefore shoot a huge amount more than spotting with NV or a lamp.

A lot of people aren't keen on thermal scopes but things have come along a fair way, positive ID and image of backstop isn't an issue with the most decent 17micron or smaller pitch sensored units. Thermal scopes allow much quicker target acquisition compared to NV.

As far as thermal addons go, the Pulsar Krypton worked faultlessly switching between rifles for me. The earlier Core models I've heard bad things about however. The Krypton can be used as a spotter using a 100-odd quid 5x lens you can buy, but its pretty fussy eye relief-wise. Personally I'd plump for a thermal spotter and dedicated thermal scope - if you need to regularly swap between rifles, fit them with picatinny rails and decent quick release mounts, job done.

I'll have to find one to try, just been really impressed with the new IR scopes, but I can see that they wouldn't be a patch on a thermal scope for quickly spotting at distance.
 

Disco_rich

Member
Location
West Berks
I have nothing against NV scopes - I still have 3 PARDs, and flogging my Drone Pro was a hard decision - but thermal offers a lot quicker acquisition and the most compact solution (no external IR hanging off the side of the scope, getting caught up on hedges, gates, clothing etc) which sells it to me.

If you're anywhere near Newbury give me a shout, I have a completely unjustifiable amount of thermal stuff :rolleyes:
 
I have nothing against NV scopes - I still have 3 PARDs, and flogging my Drone Pro was a hard decision - but thermal offers a lot quicker acquisition and the most compact solution (no external IR hanging off the side of the scope, getting caught up on hedges, gates, clothing etc) which sells it to me.

If you're anywhere near Newbury give me a shout, I have a completely unjustifiable amount of thermal stuff :rolleyes:

Cheers, I'll take you up on that, I'm just up the road in Pangbourne.

It's not something that I need as I've only got airguns, but the technology fascinates me - I spent a long time looking into an engine through an intensifier.
 

Disco_rich

Member
Location
West Berks
I buy and sell a fair amount of thermal stuff just trying new kit as it comes out if it looks interesting. Things have come along way since I started using thermal 7 or 8 years ago, set to be some new stuff due along shortly which should be interesting.
 

Scholsey

Member
Location
Herefordshire
Got a ATN ODS TI spotter and a ATN X sight 4k with a nightmaster nm1 IR, nice set up and i prefer the target ID with a mix of TI and IR, downside to IR is shooting through undergrowth, just over a hedge etc, find the scope focuses on whats in the foreground and cant see past it but is rare its a issue that can be sorted by moving a few meters for a clearer shot.
 

holwellcourtfarm

Member
Livestock Farmer
I buy and sell a fair amount of thermal stuff just trying new kit as it comes out if it looks interesting. Things have come along way since I started using thermal 7 or 8 years ago, set to be some new stuff due along shortly which should be interesting.
Care to post a few short mini-reviews to help guide us folk who would love to go TI but can only afford to do it once..... (y)
 

Disco_rich

Member
Location
West Berks
Care to post a few short mini-reviews to help guide us folk who would love to go TI but can only afford to do it once..... (y)
Honestly, the best advice I can give you is to ignore most of what you read on the internet (the majority have probably only used the unit they've invested in and think its the dogs), set your budget and try anything of interest (so many are using thermal now that it shouldn't be too hard to find a shop or someone with one reasonably close) - people have very different opinions on what's good and what's not based on personal preference and/or what they've spent money on. People new to thermal often like the punchier high contrast images of some units, but I find they often lack back ground detail.

For spotters I would personally still buy a Pulsar even though there are cheaper possibly as good units available now for two reasons 1) the units are just of a different quality to all the generic butt-plug shaped jobs from Infiray, HIK etc - and 2) residual values and ease of selling on to upgrade or whatever is much better for anything Pulsar. The latter might not be of much consequence to many however.

If you're in the market I'd recommend joining https://nightvisionforumuk.com - its about as impartial as you will find for advise.
 

ukhornet

New Member
Location
oxfordshire
Honestly, the best advice I can give you is to ignore most of what you read on the internet (the majority have probably only used the unit they've invested in and think its the dogs), set your budget and try anything of interest (so many are using thermal now that it shouldn't be too hard to find a shop or someone with one reasonably close) - people have very different opinions on what's good and what's not based on personal preference and/or what they've spent money on. People new to thermal often like the punchier high contrast images of some units, but I find they often lack back ground detail.

For spotters I would personally still buy a Pulsar even though there are cheaper possibly as good units available now for two reasons 1) the units are just of a different quality to all the generic butt-plug shaped jobs from Infiray, HIK etc - and 2) residual values and ease of selling on to upgrade or whatever is much better for anything Pulsar. The latter might not be of much consequence to many however.

If you're in the market I'd recommend joining https://nightvisionforumuk.com - its about as impartial as you will find for advise.

Hi rich how's going bud

ant...;)
 

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