I am looking to purchase my first thermal scope. It is going to be used on a .22 ARC AR primarily but may get shifted over to a .22-250 bolt gun once in a while. I am going to use it for varmint hunting here in Maryland and Virginia. Mostly coyotes, foxes, and raccoons on my family farm. I will take it to Florida for hog hunting in February. My budget is around $7,500.00 right now but I can go up a little if I have to. I have been looking at the AGM Adder V2 640 or 1280 and the NocPix Ace H50R or H60R. I keep going back and forth between the 640 resolution vs the 1280 resolution and the base magnification of 2 vs 3. I know I can save a little bit going with the 640 but can't help but think cry once buy once and get the 1280. I like the occular magnification on the Nocpix but have held and looked through the AGM at a gun show and was impressed with it. Is there a practical advantage of the 1280 vs 640? I know my shots are not going to be farther out just because of the increased resolution. I figure with the longest I will take a shot at night will be maybe 300 yards. I have only been hunting once with a thermal and that was using a clip on that my cousin owns. He limited the shots to 150 yards since I was not used to his rifle.
Night Vision Help buying a thermal
- Thread starter Maelstrom
- Start date
I like my Yoter C in front of LVPO. Can be used as hand scanner but frankly I’d recommend a cheaper lower resolution hand scanner in addition to whatever you buy for convenience. 640 is likely fine for your needs but also I haven’t looked through 1280.
Many rail mounted work great on an AR platform, but are hard to get behind on a bolt gun. I have a Hogster I use on both, but to run the bolt gun I have to crank the cheek riser up all the way. Just worth thinking about.
Some clip ons mount to the scope and are more versatile.
Some clip ons mount to the scope and are more versatile.
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I would recommend the DNT TNC635R ThermNight Thermal & Night Vision, which is undder $3,000.00
It has a 640x512 thermal core paired with a Sony Starvis 2 powered digital day or night objective lens.
The picture in picture enables the user to identify via thermal and identify with the digital day/night lens.
The thermal magnification range is 1.5 - 6x, while the digital lens has a 5 - 20x magnification range.
The laser rangefinder and ballistic calculator are a nice feature since it can be difficult to judge distance with thermals.
The on-board audio and video recording lets you share your most important hunts and shots.
This optic offers great thermal resolution for detection and ensures precise shot placement and target identification.
It has a 640x512 thermal core paired with a Sony Starvis 2 powered digital day or night objective lens.
The picture in picture enables the user to identify via thermal and identify with the digital day/night lens.
The thermal magnification range is 1.5 - 6x, while the digital lens has a 5 - 20x magnification range.
The laser rangefinder and ballistic calculator are a nice feature since it can be difficult to judge distance with thermals.
The on-board audio and video recording lets you share your most important hunts and shots.
This optic offers great thermal resolution for detection and ensures precise shot placement and target identification.
As mentioned above, if you’re going to use it on a bolt gun and AR you need to think about form factor. The ones with a traditional scope form like the pulsars are going to be easier to swap back and forth.
For 300yds 640 is plenty so the 1280 is just going to be because you want it. Even a 384 would work fine.
I’d highly recommend splitting your budget across a scope and a scanner. Having to scan with the gun all the time is tiring and you miss stuff. With that budget you could get a helmet mounted scanner and a scope.
Stick with the larger brands and it’s honestly hard to go wrong nowadays. I’ve had thermals from most major brands and they all worked pretty well.
2 vs 3 mag doesn’t matter that much. You’ll like the 3x for coyotes and if shooting hogs the 2x is good for runners.
Everything is a trade off.
For 300yds 640 is plenty so the 1280 is just going to be because you want it. Even a 384 would work fine.
I’d highly recommend splitting your budget across a scope and a scanner. Having to scan with the gun all the time is tiring and you miss stuff. With that budget you could get a helmet mounted scanner and a scope.
Stick with the larger brands and it’s honestly hard to go wrong nowadays. I’ve had thermals from most major brands and they all worked pretty well.
2 vs 3 mag doesn’t matter that much. You’ll like the 3x for coyotes and if shooting hogs the 2x is good for runners.
Everything is a trade off.
THIS! A scanner or Binocs are a must, for me anyways. I have a pair of 388 Pulsar Merger LRF binoculars that are worth the 3K price. The N-vision Halo 640 core at 3.5 base mag is fantastic from about 25 yards out to 400+ easily. Fixed focus too, so I'm not fiddling with the focus all the time. They're $7,100 with the LRF and maybe $800 less without the LRF. More for both than your budget, but I like spending other people's money.
Even 640 isn't always needed to kill coyotes especially if you live in a low humidity area. I actually think quite the opposite as what many forum posts will say. You spend 99% of your time behind the scanner. Why would I want to look at a crappy image for 99% of the time potentially? I know that isn't the typical thought process, but I am not a typical hunter. I shot 552 coyotes on 48 nights of hunting in 2023 and 430 last winter on 38 nights of hunting all hunting solo. On top of this, I hunt in one of the coldest climates in the US, so I am hard on my equipment.
I no longer buy Chinese thermals which does eliminate a lot of options. When the US state department sanctioned iRay in June of 2024 for selling thermals to Russia, I started to see how the American consumer is potentially helping T&E (and fund) tech that could be used against American soldiers and our allies. You now add tariffs to the mix and the uncertainty of Chinese thermal products is very high at this time. Notice I am not saying their products aren't good because many of them are very good. Besides the whole funding and R&Ding the PRC, tariffs and/or sanctions could impact a Chinese product (and other countries as well), and the warranty isn't any good if there is no company to represent it in the US. Look how quickly Rix, NocPix, etc popped up after sanctions. They can just as easily and quickly disappear.
Pulsar is a pretty solid option if you don't want to go US but want to stay away from China. The new Thermion 60 series thermals are very nice, and Night Goggles has some crazy good deals on the 50mm (if we have any left). I don't work in sales, so I don't track what is left in inventory.
Instead of wondering if you need 1280 or 640, the better question is your average shot distance and furthest shot distance you want to take. Then factor in the best FOV for your terrain for your scope and scanner. This is why you work with someone like myself to help you break down your needs because what is a great solution for one person isn't always for the next person. If you want to dig into the topic and find a solution that works for you, send me a PM and I can provide my direct cell number to talk through this stuff. I don't work on commissions, so you will get honest feedback not sales speak.
I no longer buy Chinese thermals which does eliminate a lot of options. When the US state department sanctioned iRay in June of 2024 for selling thermals to Russia, I started to see how the American consumer is potentially helping T&E (and fund) tech that could be used against American soldiers and our allies. You now add tariffs to the mix and the uncertainty of Chinese thermal products is very high at this time. Notice I am not saying their products aren't good because many of them are very good. Besides the whole funding and R&Ding the PRC, tariffs and/or sanctions could impact a Chinese product (and other countries as well), and the warranty isn't any good if there is no company to represent it in the US. Look how quickly Rix, NocPix, etc popped up after sanctions. They can just as easily and quickly disappear.
Pulsar is a pretty solid option if you don't want to go US but want to stay away from China. The new Thermion 60 series thermals are very nice, and Night Goggles has some crazy good deals on the 50mm (if we have any left). I don't work in sales, so I don't track what is left in inventory.
Instead of wondering if you need 1280 or 640, the better question is your average shot distance and furthest shot distance you want to take. Then factor in the best FOV for your terrain for your scope and scanner. This is why you work with someone like myself to help you break down your needs because what is a great solution for one person isn't always for the next person. If you want to dig into the topic and find a solution that works for you, send me a PM and I can provide my direct cell number to talk through this stuff. I don't work on commissions, so you will get honest feedback not sales speak.
I sent you a PM. I have a Nocpix H50R and would recommend it to anyone. I have looked through many scopes and I won’t go away from the Nocpix.
Please reach out to me with any questions on AGM. I’ll be happy to help and you won’t beat my prices. The suggestion above to try and price out your thermal and a thermal scanner is a very good one especially if you will be hunting with a rifle clamped in a tripod. This combo will improve your success rate especially on coyote. Let me know if I can help just shoot me a dm with any question. We can chat on the phone as well if you like.
Later, Zac
Later, Zac
Sorry for not responding but work has been crazy this week. I have put in 70 hours already this week andam doing another16 hour day today. I do plan on getting a handheld scanner. My budget for that is around $1,500 - $1,800. I figure 320 would be more than enough to be able to scan open fields, then use a higher resolution scope for final ID. Maryland is pretty humid especially in the summer. We are 71% humidity at 70° today at 0437. I figure the farthest shot I will take at the family farm is 250-300 yards at night. I can take shots out to just over 1100 yards depending on what's planted in the fields. I have shot foxes and groundhogs out to around 450 yards during the day mostly with my bolt action .22-250. My longest shot was just under 600 yards on a fox last summer. It was honestly more of a let see what happens shot. He stopped out at about 580 and sat down. He wouldn't budge. I was playing with my balistic calculator and rangefinder after getting my Garmin. It worked thankfully. Where we hunt in Florida, we go between large open pastures to thick woods and flag ponds. We hunt 3 ranches with about 17,000 acres combined. We have free range between them. 2 of them are adjoining properties. The 3rd is about 2 miles away. We ride around on either side by side, 4 wheeler, swamp buggy, or walk. 10-12 miles a day is not uncommon to spend walking. Only rules are don't shoot the cows, deer, or turkeys. This year we sat on top of a knoll and watched a group of hogs at over 1,600 yards for over an hour the first evening we got there.
I have a dnt thermnight tnc335, it's 384. I have no problems see coyotes out to 500yd, I'm sure the image at that distance is nowhere as good as a pulsar, or those price range thermals. At 200-300yds, it is plenty good enough for me, maybe later on down the road, i might step up and buy a nicer one, but it got me a thermal setup, so I could start hunting at night, without being 4-5k.
I also do not like the Chinese product lines.
I agree they look good, but it doesn’t seeem like they hold value like a pulsar or a nvision. I had an XRF , it was cool but I like the pulsar more. If nvision updated and had a ballistic calculator that would sway my opinion quite a bit.
If I were in your position and had 7500+1500 to spend I would get a pair of 1080 or 1280 pulsar mergers, and spend the rest on the scope of choice. I spend 99.99 percent of my time walking to, and while sitting at a stand behind the Binos.
I’ve found this also allows myself personally to hunt with a heavier rifle since I’m not having to hold the damn thing up all the time while walking, and when it’s not on the tripod, to scan. I hunt with a 24lb rifle. Now, if I was hiking a mountain to get to a spot, I would think otherwise. I’m typically walking between 100-500 yards.
There is NO best scope combo. It’s like asking what gun cleaner to use. Or what caliber can kill a coyote..
I agree they look good, but it doesn’t seeem like they hold value like a pulsar or a nvision. I had an XRF , it was cool but I like the pulsar more. If nvision updated and had a ballistic calculator that would sway my opinion quite a bit.
If I were in your position and had 7500+1500 to spend I would get a pair of 1080 or 1280 pulsar mergers, and spend the rest on the scope of choice. I spend 99.99 percent of my time walking to, and while sitting at a stand behind the Binos.
I’ve found this also allows myself personally to hunt with a heavier rifle since I’m not having to hold the damn thing up all the time while walking, and when it’s not on the tripod, to scan. I hunt with a 24lb rifle. Now, if I was hiking a mountain to get to a spot, I would think otherwise. I’m typically walking between 100-500 yards.
There is NO best scope combo. It’s like asking what gun cleaner to use. Or what caliber can kill a coyote..
