Sighting in a thermal scope

Rifle scopes, iron sights and optics. Spotting scopes and target acquisition devices.

Re: Sighting in a thermal scope

Post by SCJ429 » 23 Mar 2019, 3:59 pm

I looked through one and at night you can make out the animal at 100 metres but the image quality was poor. During the day I could not see bullet holes at 100 metres. I was not sure if that was as good as it gets or did the scope need adjusting.
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Re: Sighting in a thermal scope

Post by Die Judicii » 30 Mar 2019, 6:12 pm

SCJ429 wrote:I looked through one and at night you can make out the animal at 100 metres but the image quality was poor. During the day I could not see bullet holes at 100 metres. I was not sure if that was as good as it gets or did the scope need adjusting.


Yep, I hav'nt long had mine, and found that the more you play with it, and adjust the fine tuning of it the better.
The manufacturers are smack on target about the distance of picking up animals etc,,,, but the distance of clarifying exactly WHAT your looking at is much less than the claimed "pick up thermal signal".
At maximum range, at least you know that there is either nothing or "something" out there.
Then it's a matter of getting close enough to positive ID

The background,,,, ie: trees, or rocks, etc that have a heat signature can be dealt with via the three different modes.
I do not fear death itself... Only its inopportune timing!
I've come to realize that,,,,, the two most loving, loyal, and trustworthy females in my entire life were both canines.
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Re: Sighting in a thermal scope

Post by flutch » 30 Mar 2019, 9:33 pm

Blr243 wrote:its A pulsar xp 50. What’s the best heat source to position in the centre of a target. I have heard a cigarette is ok. If I jam a win field in a hole started with a screwdriver in the centre of a target I am hoping it will stay lit. Somebody told me that cigarette s these days tend to not stay lit unless they are being smoked . I’m a non smoker so I have no idea.



use a soldering iron stays hot, no luminescence just thermal energy...
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Re: Sighting in a thermal scope

Post by Ferrisweil » 18 Dec 2019, 4:01 pm

Go to your local chemist and ask for some of those hand/sock warmers. (Cost $1 per pack and a bit smaller than a playing card) Once you take them out of the package, they start reacting with the air. Give it about 5mins and they give off plenty of heat. The sock warmers even come with an adhesive back. I’ve found if you stick them on a piece of ply, you’ll actually see the bullet hole through the scope as well, making it easy to see where the reticle has to go once you freeze the reticle. Very easy to do your one shot zero if you set it up properly to start with.
Alfoil also works but you’ve gotta put it at an angle. Doesn’t work well perpendicular to the ground...
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Re: Sighting in a thermal scope

Post by Blr243 » 18 Dec 2019, 4:10 pm

I have actually started useing handwarmers. I just bought a big bundle from Bunnings. I definitely fined them to be the easiest of anything else I have tried I even stuck some in my boots one cold night when I was staking out / sleeping in a pig paddock about two am when the cold wind was smashing me last winter
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Re: Sighting in a thermal scope

Post by Ferrisweil » 18 Dec 2019, 4:39 pm

Blr243 wrote:I have actually started useing handwarmers. I just bought a big bundle from Bunnings. I definitely fined them to be the easiest of anything else I have tried I even stuck some in my boots one cold night when I was staking out / sleeping in a pig paddock about two am when the cold wind was smashing me last winter


Which model thermal you using mate? I’m using the Trail XP50 LRF. Mate is using the new Thermion.. Bloody awesome bit of kit.
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Re: Sighting in a thermal scope

Post by Blr243 » 18 Dec 2019, 6:41 pm

Trail xp 50 but no LRF. I decided against the extra money for the in built range finder because I figured that the complexity of trying to hold the reticle on the pig and press a button in a hunting situation was goin to be too time consuming and tricky but now that I have done a handful of hunts and have realised that’s it’s quite hard to judge distance with a thermal scope .....I deal with the range uncertainty by three things........getting close as I can / shooting pigs are usually big enough not to miss the vitals/ and useing a flat shooting cal. I could run into trouble though if I don’t have a good rest shooting at a fox or a cat at roughly 150 m. That’s when the error possibilities and range uncertainty could add up to give me a miss ....so how does the range finder work on yours ? If you have the reticle steady on the chest of a broadside boar is the measurement automatically displayed on the screen or is it more complex ? And are you getting out bush over the break or is your trail scope going to be sad sitting in the safe ? ....I’m making a bit of an effort to try to get somewhere ( taking the air con and generator with me )
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Re: Sighting in a thermal scope

Post by Blr243 » 18 Dec 2019, 7:12 pm

So when your holding the little white rangefinder box on your target do u have to press down on a button at the right moment ? Because I remember from having to use a hand held range finder during the day , that sometimes the action of pressing the button sometimes causes wobble and accidentally moving th laser off the target.
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Re: Sighting in a thermal scope

Post by Ferrisweil » 18 Dec 2019, 7:29 pm

Hey mate. I was kinda the opposite. I didn’t want/need the range finder but the deal I got included it. Now I love it because as u said, you tend to lose a bit of perspective with thermal on distance.
My thermal gets a proper workout. I’ve been on it nearly every weekend for the last 6-7 weeks. I’m lucky that I’ve got a little honey hole full of monster pigs only 90mins from the city.
While the drought is nothing short of horrendous out west, I’ve got family and friends on property 50-100k acres. We sleep in the air con then spend the nights sitting on a dam, so the old thermal has been spending more time out of the safe than in. I use it a LOT!
As for the range finder, it’s better than i expected. Easy to use (1 push on front button and hold down to have active range finder which changes as you move the scope/reticle. You don’t have to keep pressing the button to re-range a target. I only found out recently you can also have your rangy in the PiP (small box - 2nd window) and then your reticle can be the main screen, so u can range and fire at the same time. It’s smack in accurate as well as I’ve tested it against a few other day time ones. Giddy-up....
You in Brissy?
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Re: Sighting in a thermal scope

Post by Blr243 » 19 Dec 2019, 2:40 pm

Yes Ferris , brissy is my home. I’m still a little unclear on the use of the LRF on your pulsar. I saw a vid of it on u tube. It seems there is a button to press to get from reticle to rangeing window, that’s fine , But once the rangeing window is on your target do you hit a button again to send the laser beam on its way ? And then the distance is displayed ? And are you choosing to range now and then , often or nearly all the time prior to taking the shot ? .. in the interests of getting video sometimes I find myself juggling the buttons a bit. But I think it’s great to take the time to get some vid first instead of just shooting Have you found yourself so close to pigs before the shot that you can hear them munching on tucker? That’s when I’m super certain there’s definitely no range estimation to worry about ....... tomorrow I just have to fit some doors so possibly my last day for the year. Then it’s time off and planning for a hunt. God knows where I’ll end up but whatever I do I must be super careful with my water planning so I don’t end up in trouble .....I have broken down before in the middle of no where midday in the peak of summer but as long as you keep a cool head u can always get back on track ......I’ve even got little booties for my dogs feet if the sand is too hot
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Re: Sighting in a thermal scope

Post by Ferrisweil » 19 Dec 2019, 4:38 pm

Message sent mate.
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Re: Sighting in a thermal scope

Post by Blr243 » 25 Dec 2019, 4:15 pm

Ferris. I’ll give u a call In about ten days when I get back from my hunt
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Re: Sighting in a thermal scope

Post by Ferrisweil » 25 Dec 2019, 5:07 pm

Sounds good mate. Might be away myself but get reception where we go. Few deer that need some lead poisoning at one spot where the owner is sick of her saplings being eaten, and another block where the pigs are thick around the water with the drought and all...The owner has a live feed trailcam on his place that ive got the feed for....
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Re: Sighting in a thermal scope

Post by Blr243 » 25 Dec 2019, 6:11 pm

Glad u mentioned the live trail cam thing. My bank account is healthy atm so I’ll try to find one before I go bush and hope like hell the reception is good enough out there
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Re: Sighting in a thermal scope

Post by mchughcb » 25 Dec 2019, 6:39 pm

I used the sun. Scope is good enough to pick it up.

https://youtu.be/nmgG0bNY7HM?list=PLVIn ... jx8N6uL6pS
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Re: Sighting in a thermal scope

Post by Blr243 » 19 Jan 2020, 9:25 pm

Sometimes I struggle a bit with the pulsar oneshot zero system. There’s nothing wrong with the system it’s just my intelligence struggling with too many buttons. ( the following info would really only be of use to people with one shot sighting of thermal scopes )..... It’s no problem if I have to move the little ccross a certain reasonable distance to correct poi, but sometimes if I only have to make a minor adjustment the screen can be a little too complex for me to juggle it all. So today I dropped the bolt out and set it up on a target 100 m away ( in zero mode ) and I counted a total of 37 clicks to move the digital reticle about 225 mm below the original poi. Then out with my calculator and when I divide 225 mm by 37 answer is 6 mm. So now I know that for every button push I’m moving my poi 6 mm and that should make zero process easier for me now. I’m not surprised that pulsar have set up the adjustment like that because it’s the sort of one click is quarter inch system that many manufacturers use. So I have just posted this in the hope that it may help someone if they were ever struggling....... it’s common for young people to be able to cope with technology better than older people. I have heard of a few older people struggling with the system but I found if I were to be patient and READ THE BLOODY INSTRUCTIONS it made it all, so much easier
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Re: Sighting in a thermal scope

Post by Ferrisweil » 19 Jan 2020, 9:41 pm

I’ve found that while the notion of a “one shot zero” is do-able, I still put 2-3 shots on a target so I can gauge the rough area of grouping. I find it a very simple process these days but great to know the 6mm click adjustment....
I’ve also found thermal scopes a bit harder to get tight groups because you’re not shooting at a bullet hole, rather a heat patch. Only has to be “point of pig” though
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Re: Sighting in a thermal scope

Post by Blr243 » 19 Jan 2020, 10:39 pm

Yes I agree, I do two or three group and then fiddle with the buttons. And your right about the fine tuning and sighting in on the big lump of hand warmer. There’s no way we can shoot as fine as those blokes with big twenty four power target scopes on the the range but...........I reckon there’s a chance sneaking around in the dark on a moonless night on the black soil plains we’re having a stack more fun than they do In between shots they run patches thru their bores and wait for the rifle to cool down ......in between shots we take photos and scan for more boars .
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Re: Sighting in a thermal scope

Post by Ferrisweil » 19 Jan 2020, 10:43 pm

You pickin a fight with the range boys BLR?? Haha
Do it at night if ya do lol
We’ll back each other up :drinks:
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