Post
by LAairhunter » Mon Jun 11, 2018 8:22 pm
Jorge,
I've had the FLIR RS series in the past, and now have lower-tier (but newer) thermals - I currently have a FLIR PTS-233 and a Pulsar XQ-38 (combined, these two newer scopes cost less than one of my prior FLIR RS series scopes).
I concur with the opinions expressed by others - the best "bang for the buck" right now on the thermal market are the Pulsar Trail Thermal scopes. I've been using Pulsar's line of night-vision scopes (I'm speaking of infra-red rather than thermal scopes) for several years, and I've watched Pulsar gradually morph in to a technologic leader. I prefer Pulsar's software in their Trail series thermal scopes to any other thermal scopes on the market right now. I like the 12 micron "coblator" in the newer FLIR units (even though they're not 640 units yet) primarily because I like "red hot" targets. However, the Pulsar products trump the FLIR products in terms of software. Also, as pointed out, European mount makers (like Innomount) make mounts that will attach a Pulsar to a Blaser R8 and other German rifles.
Now, if you simply want the best consumer-available thermal scope on the market, I believe it to be the IR Defense / Trijicon units. However, these are considerably more expensive than the Pulsar units, and their software is unremarkable compared to the Pulsar stuff (and the IR Defense / Trijicon stuff doesn't innately record video like the Pulsar Trail and FLIR PTS units).
Mark