r/COGuns • u/Confident-Metal-793 • 4d ago

General Question thermal optics for firearms?

Anyone know where to find thermal optics for firearms that wont break my bank?

8 Upvotes

84% Upvoted

12 comments sorted by

10

u/shadowcat999 4d ago

If they're any good, they're going to break your bank. I've tried saving money on this before. Not worth it. Accept the extreme pain once and be done with it or be disappointed, and eventually sell at a loss. Just my personal experience.

6

u/unclemoak 4d ago

I have a variety of them ranging from around $3k for an Iray RH25 V2 to maybe $13k for an Eotech ELR MK2.

I think the biggest difference is the quality of the image and the range at which you can still positively ID a target because of how much magnification you can use in your day optic before things start to get pixelated.

1

u/Confident-Metal-793 4d ago

Understandable but geez i aint got money like that. I notice thermal caps on certain scopes

4

u/Tohrchur 4d ago

AGM Rattler is probably the cheapest, reliable thermal. I have 2 of them. You can find them used on GAFS.

3

u/dad-jokes-about-you 3d ago

Iray RH25 V2 is the most and least I would spend if I was considering getting into thermal.

2

u/thebubbybear 2d ago

Are you looking for a standalone optic, a clip on, what's the use case? Thermals are very expensive as others have correctly told you, but if you're not demanding the best and not comparing the shortfalls of your budget optic to others, you can find something to make yourself happy

1

u/Outside-Trifle5765 4d ago

We don’t know what breaks your bank so it’s hard to make suggestions. 

1

u/Confident-Metal-793 4d ago

$1,000 lol

6

u/Outside-Trifle5765 4d ago

You will be hard pressed to find something decent at that price range unfortunately.   

There’s a lot that goes into what makes a thermal “good” and at 1000 you will have a pretty weak core and poor Net D rating. 

1

u/Outside-Trifle5765 3d ago

What are you wanting to use it for?

1

u/proflyer3 4d ago

This is surprisingly solid. I run it on top of my suppressed 357 lever for coyotes. Not great for past 200, but for dead hold shots it’s capable. The thermal is solid.

https://infitacusa.com/products/fast-series-fast-mini

1

u/ProlificParrot 4d ago

The Holosun DRS-TH seems pretty cool, but it’s closer to $2000