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Proper Thermal Rifle Scope


CliveWard

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Hi All,

 

After much deliberation, soul searching and a bit of an opportunity I've added a 'proper' thermal rifle scope to my gear. The scope in question is the GSCI TWS-3075CGXL-17SRF to give it it's full part number.

 

This is a 640x480 thermal core, 75mm lens, 800x600 OLED display thermal rifle scope with the optional built in stadiametric rangefinder.

 

I've had this on demo for a little while now and the more I've used it, the more I'm impressed with it. Last Saturday night really clinched it, shooting on some more open ground at a friends place when we realised we were identifying rabbits and foxes at 600-700 yards! I expect if you had fields big enough that foxes could be identified at even further ranges. The distance is quite astonishing. We were also comparing it to a very good 6x tubed rifle scope. The difference is yes the tubed scope still has more image resolution, but with a tubed scope you 'look' for targets, with the thermal you 'detect' them. Where we could find 1 or 2 rabbits with the tubed scope we could easily and instantly see 14 with the thermal.

 

Essentially with the thermal, nothing can hide from it and at this resolution and magnification there is no second guessing as to what it is which has always been my concern with lower resolution and lower magnification thermal rifle scopes.

 

Another plus for this particular model is that the thermal core is manufactured in the UK by a company with a great deal of expertise in the fire fighting sector, seeing through smoke, so this scope is enabled with the same feature. I have tested it and I have managed easily to identify a badger at 300 yards through thick fog and still be able to resolve the background and treeline some 200 yards behind it.

 

The scope mounts via a very high quality MAK Milmont and has 8 memories for zero so isn't constrained to just the one rifle or load. At the moment it's on my short barreled Steyr Scout Tactical Elite in .223

 

post-1343-0-50145500-1421677484_thumb.jpg

 

Controls are fairly easy once you get the hang of them and I usually just set the brightness and FPA gain and leave them alone and keep the scope on. The 2 x AA lithium batteries provide 6-7 hours continuous use.

 

post-1343-0-06584900-1421677514_thumb.jpg

 

I like the 75mm lens as it gives a good field of view for fast scanning and detection and gives an optical magnification of 3x which combined with the clarity is fine for accurate shooting of rabbits to 150 yards and foxes to 200+. If it's not enough then the digital zoom can be applied to give 6x and 12x magnifications.

 

When I get time I shall record some of the fun through the scope.

 

 

Cheers

 

 

 

 

 

Clive

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Go on how much?

 

Too bloody much! :blink:

 

But the prices on these are going up and while there are a few other thermal rifle scopes coming onto the market now, there isn't and wont be anything else with this magnification and resolution any time soon.

 

 

Cheers

 

 

 

 

 

Clive

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Hi, I could not agree more with the comments about how good they are! I use the very same unit, pre range detection though. I have one in 25 micron and one in 17 micron. The 25 is cheaper but the 17 is worth the extra money. The 4 X model is just a bit more of a good thing. Just be aware as to what you put them on though, with regards to recoil. I use the 17 on a 22.250, the 25 is on a 6.5 x 55 with a recoil mount. But having said all that the Pulsar thermal is good value.

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Pretty dam close I am still thinking about one 3 models £11600 £13100 & £14900 been looking here need to have a proper look though

http://www.nightvisionstore.co.uk/PBSCCatalog.asp

 

Hi Boo,

 

You're more than welcome to come down and have a look through and have a chat to see what's going to suit you best. One of the justifications of having it is to use as a demonstrator as it's a lot of dough to spend unseen. :)

 

 

Cheers

 

 

 

 

 

Clive

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Hi, I could not agree more with the comments about how good they are! I use the very same unit, pre range detection though. I have one in 25 micron and one in 17 micron. The 25 is cheaper but the 17 is worth the extra money. The 4 X model is just a bit more of a good thing. Just be aware as to what you put them on though, with regards to recoil. I use the 17 on a 22.250, the 25 is on a 6.5 x 55 with a recoil mount. But having said all that the Pulsar thermal is good value.

Hi Shooter what model mount do you use?

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ill take 3 ! :lol::lol::lol::P:ph34r:

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Hi Boo,

 

You're more than welcome to come down and have a look through and have a chat to see what's going to suit you best. One of the justifications of having it is to use as a demonstrator as it's a lot of dough to spend unseen. :)

 

 

Cheers

 

 

 

 

 

Clive

Hi Clive

Thanks Clive will do that

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Hi All,

 

I did some range testing last night, using the preset profiles to store zeros for both the .223 and the .17HMR

 

As I was checking repeatability on the mount, to take one variable out of the equation I used a 5Nm torque T handle driver for the mount bolts to ensure constant torque.

 

Again as this was an accuracy test I needed a better target than the usual trick of slapping a disposable hand warmer to the front of the target board. After much experimentation we came up with an excellent solution. This was a decent sized 80x80x40cm cardboard box with a 1" hole in the centre of the target face. We then put a hand warmer heat source inside the box and taped it up closed, you could probably use a tea light candle or two for the same result which was the warmer air inside the box was visible through the hole giving a very precise aim point. (This method may not be successful with units that don't have the thermal sensitivity or resolution of the TWS but it's worth a try.)

 

Due to the differing ballistics the .17HMR was zeroed slightly high at 90m and the .223 was zeroed at point of aim so that no bullet strikes were visible on the target (all through the hole).

 

Zeroing was a fairly easy task after the faff of preparing the target. The .223 bullet strikes friction was easily visible as a decaying heat source saving a lot of legwork back and forth in the freezing muddy dark.

 

I dare say an even finer zero could be achieved using a 1/2" hole in the box but the current results are more than adequate for hunting, as attested by the Rabbit that wandered onto the range and ended up as the dogs supper at 95m.

 

The repeatability was excellent and within 1/4 MOA being careful to follow the same procedure, i.e. making sure rail and mount are clean, placing the scope on the rail in the correct slot, applying slight forward pressure to engage the recoil bar and then tightening the front mount to just grab, then the rear, followed by final torque to 5Nm front, then rear.

 

 

Cheers

 

 

 

 

 

Clive

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Still no mention of price..

 

What calibre is the unit tested to reliably function with?

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Still no mention of price..

 

What calibre is the unit tested to reliably function with?

 

Hi Ronin,

 

It's this one here:

 

http://www.nightvisionstore.co.uk/tws-3075-640x480-thermal-imaging-rifle-scope-c2x14702333

 

Prices are on the cusp of an increase.

 

Calibre-wise the manufacturer suggests a moderator or brake up to and including .243 and their preset calibrated recoil mount from thereon up to .50

 

The thermal core itself is rated up to 1000g.

 

 

Cheers

 

 

 

 

 

Clive

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Hi All,

 

I was out on the bunnies with this, with the .17HMR last night and the more I use it, the more I'm impressed with it.

 

The devil really is in the detail. More resolution and more magnification, equals better recognition. I can safely say, that everything I viewed through the scope, even at very extended ranges was easy to 100% identify, rabbits, badgers, no foxes last night but more importantly one cat. I doubt I could have made that call with any other thermal.

 

In use I just left the focus set at 100 yards and the brightness turned down to a comfortable level with the gain also turned down to expose more detail and thermal variation in the targets and left it at that and left the scope on for the duration.

 

The 3x native magnification gives a great field of view for scanning and spotting targets, while the 6x and 12x settings are handy for longer shots.

 

Here's a video of some rabbits, the furthest is around 300 yards. Bearing in mind I had the scope focused at 100 yards and there is a magnitude of clarity increase when looking through the 800x600 OLED display compared to the raw video output. To give you an idea the display resolution is so high that you can't see any pixelation in the reticule. It looks like its glass etched. Looking through the scope there is more than enough clarity and detail to shoot even rabbits at 300 yards! It really is that impressive.

 

http://youtu.be/jEucXph-U8A

 

I've got a load more video from last night that I need to get edited together.

 

On the shooting front, accuracy was excellent and I had already proved the repeatability of the mount system on the range. The scope accounted for 11 bunnies ranging from 50 yards to 140. I did have one miss where I over estimated the range and held too high.

 

 

Cheers

 

 

 

 

 

Clive

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Hi

Do you have to manually focus?

 

Regards

 

Hi there,

 

Yep it's a manual barrel focus on the objective lens but it doesn't really need adjusting once set. I had no problem with the image at any range really. If you wanted it absolutely 'perfect' for every shot then you could fine tune the focus if you wanted to. I didn't find it necessary.

 

 

Cheers

 

 

 

 

 

Clive

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Hi Shooter what model mount do you use?

Sorry about the delay in replying, I have been away for a bit. The model is TWS 3075 (as above) with the F 1.0 lens and 17 micron. To answer someone else's question, they are designed to fit on a .223 with no extra recoil protection. UNOFFICIALLY they will stand more but no warranty!

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