Hikmicro thunder 3.0 clip on

[RD88]

Hi all

Just come home from a hikmicro demo evening and was very very impressed with the thunder 3.0 front clip on I was just wondering are there any disadvantages of using a front clip on as apposed to a dedicated scope have to say I was very impressed with the stellar 3.0 sq50l also.

Does glass quality come into a thermal front add on or does it make no difference.

Also if anyone has already a hikmicro thunder front clip on I'd love to hear your experiences with it

 

[Dari]

If you need thermal for dedicated night time rifle then buy Stellar. If you already have glass scope and want to use it during day time, than buy thermal front add on. Quality of glass is not important, since it is only loking at the add on screen. As long as it holds zero it should be OK.
There will always be people claiming that front add ons are PITA.
Supposedly they don't hold zero, they limit amount of zoom you can use on your scope...
Well, I had a chance to test Pulsar Proton, Pulsar Krypton 2 XG50/XQ35, HIKMICRO Thunder TH35 2.0, ThermTec Hunt 650, HIKMICRO Thunder TQ50C/TQ35C 3.0 and Guide TB630.
Not single one of them had ever shifted zero after initial zeroing. And I am removing adapter after each hunt.
I am using Smartclip and Rusan modular adapters and in case of Pulsar Krypton 2.0 its original Pulsar adapter.
What I like the most with thermal add ons is versatility of use. It allovs you to keep your glass scope and when you need it, just clip on thermal adapter. With separate monocular you can even use thermal add on as a spotter.

Regarding Thunder 3.0.
Picture on TQ50 is great.
I had a chance to test it in thick fog alongside with two other thermals and the diference was well noticed. Using 12x magnification was still ok, but I never really use more than 6x at night.
During 4 weeks of testing I newer experienced any fault.
You get 2 batteries, each lasting around 4hrs.
Would I prefer 18650? Yes. But nothing is perfect.

Cheers

 

[RD88]

Thanks Dari

You seem to have tested most of them and got on well with all of them by the sound of it.

This was my first time looking through any sort of a high end thermal scope or add on I liked the idea of the add on more so. The only thing is I liked the black hot setting and with the reticle being black and a fox being black hot would you be inclined to loose the reticle on an animals body if you get me How do they work with an illuminated reticle.

Maybe a dedicated night scope would suit me better as I have a 243 for deer/foxes with a permanently attached day scope and a 223 that's not really being used for much I could leave a dedicated scope on.
Have you looked through a hikmicro thunder 2.0 dedicated scope by any chance if so how would you compare the image to the new stellar 3.0 I only ask as the 223 I have is already heavy enough and would like to keep the weight down as much as possible and I see the thunder 2.0 is only 660 grams
I very nearly bought a thunder 2.0 when they come out first but the lack of close by demo days where I live and never having the chance to get a proper look through one sort of put me off spending the £2500 but after looking through them last night and seeing what I saw I have now been bitten by the thermal bug

Forgot to mention most of my shooting would be 100 to 150 yards 180 at a push 200 very rarely from what i seen last night you could easily identify a fox at 120 to 150 with the stellar 3.0 I'd like to hear more experienced thermal shooters opinion on that

 

[Dari]

The only thing is I liked the black hot setting and with the reticle being black and a fox being black hot would you be inclined to loose the reticle on an animals body

I am always using white hot when shooting through thermal add on.

Have you looked through a hikmicro thunder 2.0 dedicated scope by any chance if so how would you compare the image to the new stellar 3..

I have never used Thunder 2.0 as riflescope. But I did use TH35 clip on with eyepiece attached, which is basically riflescope without crosshairs.
I have never looked through Stellar so can not compare. But for distances up to 200m, Thunder 2.0 will be more than sufficient.
If you can stretch your budget to TQ50 model, you will have great device for years of hunting.

Cheers

 

[RD88]

Thanks for the reply

It was the TQ50 model i was going to buy so you and what I seen last night have sort of made up my mind now thanks again for the advice.

Off now to write a letter to Santa and hope its not too late.

 

[Matt.]

Thanks Dari

You seem to have tested most of them and got on well with all of them by the sound of it.

This was my first time looking through any sort of a high end thermal scope or add on I liked the idea of the add on more so. The only thing is I liked the black hot setting and with the reticle being black and a fox being black hot would you be inclined to loose the reticle on an animals body if you get me How do they work with an illuminated reticle.

Maybe a dedicated night scope would suit me better as I have a 243 for deer/foxes with a permanently attached day scope and a 223 that's not really being used for much I could leave a dedicated scope on.
Have you looked through a hikmicro thunder 2.0 dedicated scope by any chance if so how would you compare the image to the new stellar 3.0 I only ask as the 223 I have is already heavy enough and would like to keep the weight down as much as possible and I see the thunder 2.0 is only 660 grams
I very nearly bought a thunder 2.0 when they come out first but the lack of close by demo days where I live and never having the chance to get a proper look through one sort of put me off spending the £2500 but after looking through them last night and seeing what I saw I have now been bitten by the thermal bug

Forgot to mention most of my shooting would be 100 to 150 yards 180 at a push 200 very rarely from what i seen last night you could easily identify a fox at 120 to 150 with the stellar 3.0 I'd like to hear more experienced thermal shooters opinion on that

The thermal scope is an impressive thing for sure, and those new HIK Stellar's are clever, especially having the rangefinder and ballistic calculator combined within.

I am however at the other end of the scale - I've shot using a Pulsar trail XP thermal scope for the last 7 years, always had an itch for NV setup, as the ID'ing side of it is just so good.

So after looking through both the Stellar 3.0 and the HIK Alpex, I was so impressed with the Alpex I went down the night vision route

With my thermal scope for the last 7 years I used an Innomount QD mount that holds zero swapping between that and the dayscope (somthing to consider, as if setup correctly they really do hold zero perfectly) So this is somthing for you to consider, being that you still get the use of a good dayscope and then just swap the thermal dedicated unit back on.

I have to admit though I don't have experience of using a clip on thermal attachment myself.

Matt

 

[RD88]

Freind of mine has an alpex 4k lrf it is unbelievably clear I will admit the best I've looked through as regards of nv definitely the cheaper option but several times I have been calling and spotted the fox coming in through the spotter and put up the nv and by the time I have found them they have figured out something isn't right and ran away most of my permission is small fields in an open stubble or silage field I don't have this problem that's where I thought the thermal would be handy

 

[Benbound]

Haven’t used the thunder 3.0 but I do have the thunder 2.0 and 3 of my rifles are permanently set up with Rusan adapters for it. I can’t praise it highly enough, slips in my jacket pocket and I can go out in the daylight, once the light fades clip it on knowing it will always keep its zero and just gives so much flexibility. I did look at a dedicated thermal scope on my .223 but to be honest the thunder does it all without turning a rifle into a one trick pony.

 

[RD88]

Haven’t used the thunder 3.0 but I do have the thunder 2.0 and 3 of my rifles are permanently set up with Rusan adapters for it. I can’t praise it highly enough, slips in my jacket pocket and I can go out in the daylight, once the light fades clip it on knowing it will always keep its zero and just gives so much flexibility. I did look at a dedicated thermal scope on my .223 but to be honest the thunder does it all without turning a rifle into a one trick pony.

That's definitely a plus for the clip on having 3 rifles with adapters.
How does the clip on work with scopes with parallax adjustment is it better to have parallax or not or is there little to no difference

 

[Dari]

That's definitely a plus for the clip on having 3 rifles with adapters.
How does the clip on work with scopes with parallax adjustment is it better to have parallax or not or is there little to no difference

Front add on doesn't need parallax adjustment.
In fact, having scope with AO parallax adjustment, will probably make it difficult to properly mount adapter to the objective.

I am using scopes with SF parallax adjustment.
That way I can use rear add ons, front add ons and clear glass when needed.

 

[Tim1989]

just got my thunder 3.0 tq50 yesterday, looks a good bit of kit , when on clip on mode it has no digital zoom is that correct?

 

[Dari]

just got my thunder 3.0 tq50 yesterday, looks a good bit of kit , when on clip on mode it has no digital zoom is that correct?

That is correct.
And when on monocular mode, zeroing from clip on mode is not in function. So make sure you are using clip on mode when shooting.
If you can switch between both modes by double clicking menu button, you don't have latest firmware.
Latest firmware allows swithing between both modes only in main menu, just to makensure, that users will not accidentally switch to monocular mode and take a shot.
TQ50C 3.0 is the best thermal clip-on I have used so far.

Cheers

 

[Longstrider]

At three grand and change I'd need to be able to drive it to work the following day as well !

Does it make tea ?

 

[Dari]

Does it make tea ?

No it doesn't!
But you can record your wife making tea and then use playback function as instruction video next time you are home alone.

 

[Tim1989]

At three grand and change I'd need to be able to drive it to work the following day as well !

Does it make tea ?

got mine off Ebay £2400 mm sporting

non lrf version

 

[RD88]

Front add on doesn't need parallax adjustment.
In fact, having scope with AO parallax adjustment, will probably make it difficult to properly mount adapter to the objective.

I am using scopes with SF parallax adjustment.
That way I can use rear add ons, front add ons and clear glass when needed.

All my scopes have side parralx except 1 that has none so I'd have no problems that way.

1 more question how would the thermal add on work with an illuminated reticle as I like the black hot palette on the one I looked through at the demo night but as I said before earlier the black crosshairs and black fox might not work but I have a schmidt and bender zenith with the illuminated dot in the centre

 

[Dari]

Illuminated reticle will make it easier to see centre on black hot target.

But I would still prefer shooting with white hot palette.

With Thunder 3.0 you can select which palettes you want to keep activated.
If you choose only white and black hot as active colours, you will not need to circle all the palettes when changing from black to white hot.
One press and you are on white hot to take a shot and whit one more press, you are back at black hot.

 

[RD88]

Illuminated reticle will make it easier to see centre on black hot target.

But I would still prefer shooting with white hot palette.

With Thunder 3.0 you can select which palettes you want to keep activated.
If you choose only white and black hot as active colours, you will not need to circle all the palettes when changing from black to white hot.
One press and you are on white hot to take a shot and whit one more press, you are back at black hot.

Thanks again
Your making the thunder 3.0 more appealing by the second

 

[RD88]

How much clearance is needed for the rusan adapter to fit on the scope I have 8mm from the bottom of the scope to the top of my picatinny rail would that be enough or would I need higher mounts

 

[sauer]

I have tq50 ...considering checking of it's capable of going from dedicated tofront add on as would get more use of rifle to be honest... need to check if it can as I believe some versions couldn't...& if it can source a clip on adapter for it

Paul.