Best thermal scope for the money?

I am working on outfitting my 257 Weatherby Magnum with a thermal scope for nighttime varmit hunting. What is the best thermal scope in the under $5k range that won’t have issues with recoil if I decided to move it to a larger rifle down the road?

Pulsar Thermion 2 or Wave Atris 650 v2

HH

I wrote in my book:
“Only those who are afraid of the dark use the therm”

One of the pulsar options would be a good choice. I've had experience with several of their units as well as other brands. There's lots of new chinese brands to the market but I'd stick with a brand who's been in the game a while.

In full disclosure, I am a dealer for both Pulsar and I Ray USA. They are both great. The Pulsar is rated to .375 and the Nocpix Ace, under the I Ray umbrella, is rated to .300 Win Mag. That being said, the Nocpix Ace H 50 R and S 60 R are both on BIG sales. The optics are superior and have built in LRF that can take ballistic input from the app on your phone. It will give you a hold over firing solution, and it works. My two longest shots to date using this function are a headshot pig at 399 and a coyote at 404 yards. Both brands can do this. The pulsar has better battery life, but the Nocpix is on deep discount. Not because there’s anything wrong with them, I’m sure they have something new on the horizon. They don’t tell us such things though. If you’re ready to pull the trigger, I wouldn’t hesitate to jump on this. To be clear, I don’t have any stock, so shop around as the prices may not be consistent across the board. Good luck, and feel free to reach out with any questions you may have.

I have an older ATN thermal… I would not recommend it. Battery life was terrible, even with the external battery pack. It’s now my handheld when looking for deer in archery season when the underbrush is thick, it does work great for that.

Agm Rattler v2 and v3s are nice. We use em hog hunting v3s have a lrf in itnto adjust your reticle

Pulsar thermion 2. Can get 2x or 3x base magnification depending on sensor size, 35 or 50, respectively. 640 thermal resolution is my minimum standard anymore.

The newer Sig line also excels. Best no questions asked, lifetime warranty if you ever need it. I did one time.

For handheld scanners, RiX Iray and Pulsar all work and function well. I like the Pulsars for familiarity, color plates and they make the smallest pocket sized version. I do not care for or really need LRF functionality.

How do the thermal clip-on options compare to stand alone scopes? I honestly do not do enough nighttime hunting to need a full dedicated thermal scope, but I do like the idea of having a clip on where I could use when the opportunity/interest arose. For african rifles I run mostly Swarovski scopes, so had considered the Swaro T35 or whatever it is, however, it sounded like the US version did not allow any zoom when using as a handheld, where the view screen was smaller or somekind of issue with the view screen on the US vs Euro versions.

I have a 388 pulsar and a Halo XRF 640 core. I've been behind the pulsar 640 cores as well. The Halo is far away the better image for my eyes. Being fixed focus optic, anything inside of 30 yards is not in focus though. With the Halo I can tell the difference between a raccoon and possum at about 350+ yards. just my personal experience with those 3 optics. Halo XRF is going for $7,125.00 now too

Wildwillalaska said:

How do the thermal clip-on options compare to stand alone scopes? I honestly do not do enough nighttime hunting to need a full dedicated thermal scope, but I do like the idea of having a clip on where I could use when the opportunity/interest arose. For african rifles I run mostly Swarovski scopes, so had considered the Swaro T35 or whatever it is, however, it sounded like the US version did not allow any zoom when using as a handheld, where the view screen was smaller or somekind of issue with the view screen on the US vs Euro versions.

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For the most part… clip ons are behind the curve of standalone options. But they are adequate for most users. If you really start using one regularly, you’ll be looking at standalone options fast and carry a clip on or hand scanner separately.

Wildwillalaska said:

How do the thermal clip-on options compare to stand alone scopes? I honestly do not do enough nighttime hunting to need a full dedicated thermal scope, but I do like the idea of having a clip on where I could use when the opportunity/interest arose. For african rifles I run mostly Swarovski scopes, so had considered the Swaro T35 or whatever it is, however, it sounded like the US version did not allow any zoom when using as a handheld, where the view screen was smaller or somekind of issue with the view screen on the US vs Euro versions.

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Alot of them can be used as clip ons even if tech a dedicated optic

For heavy-hitting rifles, I would stick with Pulsar Thermion scopes. They have proved in the field that they can handle it.

Wildwillalaska said:

How do the thermal clip-on options compare to stand alone scopes? I honestly do not do enough nighttime hunting to need a full dedicated thermal scope, but I do like the idea of having a clip on where I could use when the opportunity/interest arose. For african rifles I run mostly Swarovski scopes, so had considered the Swaro T35 or whatever it is, however, it sounded like the US version did not allow any zoom when using as a handheld, where the view screen was smaller or somekind of issue with the view screen on the US vs Euro versions.

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In terms of optics and accuracy, the clip-ons are a little bit behind the standalone thermal rifle scopes. But putting that aside, they do have one key advantage. The eye relief on them does not change and is much longer/safer than on thermal scopes. In Europe, they are still very popular for this reason.