Anyone know where to get one for $1,ooo or less ? Any brand to look for or avoid ?
There is no real good way to say this, but any thermal scope you find less than 1k is something you should avoid like the plague. Thermal is more expensive than NV, and decent NV is more than 1k. Usable (not good but usable) hand held non mountable thermal's are more than 1k.
A very basic entry level thermal rifle scope is going to start at 3k-3500. Keep in mind, that is not for top of the line, its for entry level. Top of the line can easily get north of 20k which is crazy, but thats what it costs.
Sportsmans Guide has reconditioned PVS-4 , gen 2 4x (NV) for $1,400 that that I'm looking at but I'd prefer thermal if I could get one for around the same price . So is the lower end ATN stuff junk ?There is no real good way to say this, but any thermal scope you find less than 1k is something you should avoid like the plague. Thermal is more expensive than NV, and decent NV is more than 1k. Usable (not good but usable) hand held non mountable thermal's are more than 1k. A very basic entry level thermal rifle scope is going to start at 3k-3500. Keep in mind, that is not for top of the line, its for entry level. Top of the line can easily get north of 20k which is crazy, but thats what it costs.
Sportsmans Guide has reconditioned PVS-4 , gen 2 4x (NV) for $1,400 that that I'm looking at but I'd prefer thermal if I could get one for around the same price . So is the lower end ATN stuff junk ?
I'm glad you said something about the atn. Everyone seems to rave about them and I was just looking at them. I need a coyote setup and was looking at thermal and I figure 5k would be sufficient to shoot no more then 200 yards. But pricing varies so drastically from company to company. Wanted to stay away from night vision due to issues in fog or new moon scenario. But I don't know enough about them to know if that really affects it or not.
Man why does it have to cost so much.. I appreciate the info. And I can see why the mkiii is tempting with the rangefinder addition. Currently I'm just using a ar in 5.56 with it sighted in about a 50-200 zero so I can just point and shoot and not really worry about compensation.
5K was my limit I really wanted to spend. But that seems impossible if you want more clarity. The ir hunter seems to be a great price point but still bit out of my range at the moment. Maybe at the start of the new year. (Getting married next month so that has tapped us out)
And no apologies needed for grammer. I mainly post from my phone so I know it gets atrocious.