Thermal zeroing

izzyizzy

Well-Known Member
looking for good target ideas to zero my xq50 in cold conditions,have tried heat pads but find them quite blurry
 
I'm sure I read somewhere that all you need is a piece of kitchen tinfoil to use as a target for zeroing a thermal scope. No idea whether that's fact or fiction, but might be worth a try?
 
all i use some tinfoil or reflective adhesive metal tape tilting the target back and i set scope to Black hot works perfect.
 
Tinfoil works fine on some days but on others it will be hardly visible.

I use hand warmers stuck on a Birchwood casey target just like the the chap above but I fold mine up so all the hot powder is jammed together and then stick it on the front and use the top edge to aim at, gives a nice crisp line to aim at and you can clearly see your bullet holes as well
 
I use the small sticky pads that bush wear sell, I know some people don't get on with them but I found they worked perfectly at 100m. You do need to angle them slightly at the sky. They showed up very clearly
 
I'm sure I read somewhere that all you need is a piece of kitchen tinfoil to use as a target for zeroing a thermal scope. No idea whether that's fact or fiction, but might be worth a try?
On a sunny day if you can slightly incline the foil to catch the sun it does work but only at relatively short range. Similarly, the small stick on patches from Bushwear I’ve found to not be too effective either. The Hot Hands pads work best IMHO and candidly, are good enough accuracy wise for zeroing the device for what it is - it’s not for target shooting:stir:
 
I’ve always used the aluminium foil sticky tape builders tape on a piece of cardboard box throughout the year including down to 4 degrees at night. Usually several layers of a 30mm x 30mm piece for the aiming point and then 1cm square pieces over the poi.

When the temperature gets down, the tape temperature inverts….so on white hot it would be appear as black but then I cycle through the palettes to find the best definition of the target square.

I’ve been using the same bit of cardboard for several years now and just patch the central square with more foil and any other holes in the cardboard with masking tape. I zeroed my .17Rem in 3 shots the other day…. bore-sight at 50/60m, first shot to confirm I’m on the target, adjust and out to 100m for fine tuning. I start getting grumpy if I get to 5 shots when zeroing.

cheers

fizz
 
It depends what you mean by "blurry".
A thermal scope can never produce as sharp an image as a glass scope and you don't get point sources of heat so, compared to a target for a glass scope every thermal target is "blurry"
Hot hands bags which are approx 2x2 inches have worked well for me for a long time.
Heat rises, so aim at the bottom of the bag where there is a strong line between black and white


Cheers

Bruce
 
Very crude but I use a piece of chewing gum, give it a good chomp then stick it on the board! My XQ50 picked this up easily, cheap and easy, no need to heat washers up with a blow torch etc etc...........
 
Stick some cooking foil to a cardboard box. Cut a black circle from a small target and stick it in the centre of the foil. Set the scope to black hot and it will look just like a normal target, especially with the sun in your back.
I use this at 125 yards, no problem.
 
A method I’ve used that works well is to get a wooden board and put a screw or nail in the middle. Heat a metal nut up with a blow torch, the little cigarette type lighter ones work well, and hang it on the tip of the nail or screw. If you wet the board with water it helps with heat not traveling down onto the board. Aim, fire and adjust from bullet marks on board. If you knock the nut flying you’re spot on.
 
I’ve tried a few different methods but the best one I’ve found is this.

Drill a 30mm hole in a piece of ply wood.

Gaffer tape a disposable hand warmers to the back of the ply wood.

Attach a piece of white pape to the front with the 30mm hole cut out.

Set this up at 100m or yards what ever you fancy and zero according

By having the hand warmer on the back of the wood, you don’t get heat bleeding through to the front and messing you your sight picture. The 30mm hole is the important bit, I think I read somewhere that 30mm was the size of one pixel that an xq50 at 100m/yards. The white paper is so you can see your bullet strike if you need to adjust,

I’ve got a trail 2 xq50 and this is what I do, hope this helps
 
I’ve tried a few different methods but the best one I’ve found is this.

Drill a 30mm hole in a piece of ply wood.

Gaffer tape a disposable hand warmers to the back of the ply wood.

Attach a piece of white pape to the front with the 30mm hole cut out.

Set this up at 100m or yards what ever you fancy and zero according

By having the hand warmer on the back of the wood, you don’t get heat bleeding through to the front and messing you your sight picture. The 30mm hole is the important bit, I think I read somewhere that 30mm was the size of one pixel that an xq50 at 100m/yards. The white paper is so you can see your bullet strike if you need to adjust,

I’ve got a trail 2 xq50 and this is what I do, hope this helps
Brilliant thanks everyone 👍
 
10mm square of aluminium tap in the centre of an A4 sheet of paper, I bore sight first which will get me on the paper at 60 yards, Then take 2 shots then adjust take another 2 shots to confirm, then a final shot at a Iron fox cub target at 250 yards to confirm, Job done. Normally if it's bang on at 60 yard it'll be just over 1inch high at 100 yards and back on zero at 250, thats with my 22.250 with a 50 grain vmax
 
I find the hot pads a bit faint at 200 if it’s mild. Flask of hot water, fill a tin can and a quick run back to get a shot before it cools.
 
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