Thermal rifle scope without bells & whistles

2

22magnum22

Active member
Anybody know of one available by any maker? I think for an old timer like me, all I think I need is a couple options for display color and a couple for reticles, no video, no sound, no playback or recording. I can always capture a picture with my phone.
 
You didn't say at what distances or the types of terrain you will be using it in so I'll just put what I use from 25-300 yds (average being 50-75 yds).


Sightmark Wraith Thermal 2x-16 is as simple of a menu and button operation as you can get. Sightmark has them on their site on sale for 1699.97.

It does have video, but it takes a micro-SD card to record, however, you don't need it if don't plan on recording or using that function. It's compact, lightweight, and you can get mounts for bolt action and/or AR rifles.

Lots of YouTube videos on operation of that scope, etc.

PS: I have and/or have had misc Pulsars and they are not too bad to navigate the menu. The AGM Rattler V2 35-385 (great battery life) and the image quality is equal to the Wraith, but the menu is tricker to navigate. Can ID coyotes to 250 yds with no problems on either unit. The sightmark does have a much wider field of view. The downside of the Wraith is it takes two CR123A batteries for 4.5hrs of run time per set (user replaceable), and I use rechargeables. You can also run an external battery pack to dramatically increase run time.

My current Pulsar Thermion 2 XP 50 Pro scope and Telos XP 50 LRF Monocular are Pulsar's current flagship models and have all the bells and whistles which you indicated that you are not interested in, so I'll skip the brief description on them.

In short, the Sightmark Wraith Thermal is as simple (NO PIP or WIFI) as it gets of all the units I've owned and/or messed with.

Good luck on whatever you decide.
 
Last edited:
I just got an iRay GL35. It’s my 1st thermal, and I’m like you, not tech savvy and don’t need/want all the bells & whistles. I’ve been playing with it the last few nights and it’s pretty basic and not overwhelming.

I do have 2 night vision scopes as well, a RIX t20 and a PARD DS35…the RIX is very basic, the pard has way too many options screens, menus etc.
I do like them both but def easier to use the RIX.
 
22magnum22 said:
Anybody know of one available by any maker? I think for an old timer like me, all I think I need is a couple options for display color and a couple for reticles, no video, no sound, no playback or recording. I can always capture a picture with my phone.
Click to expand...

I can see where you coming from. 'less is more' more that not, and a lot of guys are not chasers of added options.

.
 
popper43 said:
Looking for cheap one I assume. That stuff isn't the cost factor in IR, the detector and germanium lens is.
Click to expand...
While I agree on where the bulk of the cost comes in, I personally would like to see a stripped down version of a quality thermal optic. Feature packed is great if they’re the features you want and use. But… the more options you put into anything mean more things to glitch and cause issues. Simple law of averages.

Picture, videos, clocks, calendars, range finders based on animal/target size, etc aren’t necessary if your goal is to put animals in the truck. If an issue is going to arise, it’s probably going to happen when you have to push a button or turn a knob to activate a feature.
 
All it takes is looking over the manual and spending an afternoon or evening playing with the unit. Heck, even the 1 shot zero sighting process was so easy I got it done first play. Plus the fact there’s a review on YouTube and instructions on just about every Thermal and NV scope ever made. Heck, I’m probably only utilizing 60-70% of the capabilities of the scope and it’s amazing.
I bought a back up scope to use as a scanner and never playing with the controls except the colors. The entire time I’m thinking Inwasted money on this thing. Image sucked and battery life sucks.
Well, I bought a new rifle and decided to put it on. I pulled up the manual online, found some YouTube videos, and got to playing with it.
I now use that scope and rifle as my primary, lol. Turns out there’s nothing wrong with the scope, it was the user!!
Granted, there are a lot features I don’t need, but if you spend a little time with the scope and just learn what you do need it’s well worth all the extras. Heck, I found a “fog feature” on my iRay and it’s a night and day difference in high humidity.
 
DoubleLungRage said:
ATN tried this with their LTV model.

A RIX L6 that just recorded video/sound would be great. Oh yeah. and one shot zero is nice.
Click to expand...
I had an LTV for exactly 2 attempts at hunting with it. I got a lemon for sure so it was sent back.

I’m no tech geek and don’t claim to understand anything that makes thermals work as they do. I just wonder if you could garner better performance from the important stuff if there were less features? Less drain on processors or whatever.
 
Spurchaser said:
All it takes is looking over the manual and spending an afternoon or evening playing with the unit. Heck, even the 1 shot zero sighting process was so easy I got it done first play. Plus the fact there’s a review on YouTube and instructions on just about every Thermal and NV scope ever made. Heck, I’m probably only utilizing 60-70% of the capabilities of the scope and it’s amazing.
I bought a back up scope to use as a scanner and never playing with the controls except the colors. The entire time I’m thinking Inwasted money on this thing. Image sucked and battery life sucks.
Well, I bought a new rifle and decided to put it on. I pulled up the manual online, found some YouTube videos, and got to playing with it.
I now use that scope and rifle as my primary, lol. Turns out there’s nothing wrong with the scope, it was the user!!
Granted, there are a lot features I don’t need, but if you spend a little time with the scope and just learn what you do need it’s well worth all the extras. Heck, I found a “fog feature” on my iRay and it’s a night and day difference in high humidity.
Click to expand...
I haven’t ran into anything that I didn’t understand or wasn’t able to figure out. As I just replied to DoubleLungRage… I wonder if there would be a performance advantage to the important parts without all the extras that aren’t ”critical” to tipping a coyote over?

Kinda like you won’t find a top fuel dragster with air conditioning! Lol. It wouldn’t get used and it drains horsepower from the important part.
 
Wifi and vid take a little extra batt and processor power but don't really add much to mfg cost. I do like the 'shot' recording - actually 'see' where you hit sometimes. Just turn the 'extra' stuff off.
 
I went with Armasight due to it being made in the USA. I like the turret controls much better than push buttons. Its relatively easy to use - typically I just turn it on, focus the objective for the distance im hunting and occasionaly flip through the different color palettes, which is only a turn of the left turret. I was also looking for something bare bones and was hard pressed to find anything other than Trijicon.
 
Some of the "basic" units have less run time, or the 123 battery(s). Run time doesn't increase in below freezing temps. Really need to make a list of your real field needs, find the one that closest fits. Base magnification is also very important, for open areas (as I age) 3.2 is as low as I like. Almost all my shooting 100-200 yards.
 
+1 on the IRay GL35. It’s a basic 384 scope that doesn’t break the bank. Sighting it in takes a minute to figure out but other than that it’s been pretty easy to use.
 
1000001959.jpg
 
Back
Top