Thermal scopes zoom POI

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iowayotehunter76

New member
Has anyone ever noticed a different POI with ANY thermal optic when they zoom in 2x the base mag or more vs POI at base mag. I am not talking about misses in the field, but rather a good range session at several different magnifications. I have with 2 different brands, but I really need to move the target closer and put the gun in my lead sled and try to zoom without moving it and see if it's me or not.
 
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I haven't.

One thought is the base mag so low that it is really hard to see a precise aiming point? I currently shoot the PTS536 and my hunting partner the PTS233. His base mag is very low at 1.5x and with only a 320x256 scope, as he zooms the picture continues to get worse. He struggles getting his sighted in. With the PTS536, my base is at 4x base mag, and I typically zoom it into 12x, and shoot great groups for sighting it in and then back it back off, and it is where it should be. It will be interesting to find out if it is the rest, the scope, or the target. Pick a target that doesn't bloom, so you can get an exact aiming point.
 
I have a 100yd range at my house and have done what you are asking...no, I have not had the POI change. I have an XQ38 and have shot on base mag, x2, x3 and back and no POI change. Also done it on PIP with no change. As Kirsch stated, with the real low base mag scopes, it is hard to get an absolute aiming point, but you would be surprised how good of groups can still be shot. The trick is to have your "heat" source as small as possible to eliminate the bloom as Kirsch stated.
My XQ38 has never seemed to have any of the "shifting" issues whatsoever. I would like to upgrade to the XP line for better clarity in somewhat humid conditions, but am hesitant to sell the XQ38 to afford the XP50.
 
I haven't seen POI shift either. Zeroing a thermal can be a pain, but it's not a precision scope. I do a couple things which make life easier. First thing I do is put a good scope on the rifle to check MOA and figure out what bullets are going to be the best. After that, I zero at 50 yards and shoot from 50 yards to 250 yards to learn where my bullet will hit between those distances. Then, I put the thermal scope on. I've tried all kinds of things, heat packs, foil, incense, but the best thing I've found is the thermbright targets. https://www.downrangethermal.com/product/thermbright-target-repair-patches-green/
The targets are crazy expensive, but I just use the repair patches. For $35, you get a lot of them. I don't remember how many, (100-200) but you won't run out any time soon. I'm not sure how they work since they don't give off heat, but they work the best. There's no bloom, just a clear clean target. Depending on the scope, I either use one for a 1x1 target or 4 for a 2x2 target, and then I zero my thermal at 50 yards. Hope this helps.
 
I use thermal reflective targets from Down Range Thermal so no heat or halo effect to deal with. They are the best thermal target money can buy in my opinion. I get the 1 inch squares and use 4 to make a 2 X 2 inch target with a defined edge.
I have an apex xq38 that I know is 1.5 inches higher at 100 yards on double the base mag. That's not a big deal to me. I have a NVISION Halo LR now and I need to do more testing. But for some reason I shoot 4+ inches high at double mag. I am thinking it's my eyes, but I need to do more testing. Maybe using a different reticle will help
 
Iowayotehunter76,

All 3 of my thoughts on my original response didn’t apply. You aren’t using a target that blooms, you have a thermal with a fairly high base mag, and it is a high quality scope with a 640x480 Core.

As you said, maybe try a different reticle and give Nvision a call as maybe they have seen this before.
 
The halo LR has an advertised base mag of 3.5. It doesn't seem like quite that much when compared to other scopes. I would say more like 3x. But that's just me
 
Yes I have. My armasight Apollo only hits on 2 and 4 power. 1 and 8 will not hit a 12 steel plate at 100 yds. I did adjust the margins which helped center the shots on 2x and 4x
You can read my earlier post about my issues. BTW the manufacturer said it was normal and expected to have a poi shift...bs
 
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I just this week got my thermion on my 6.8 and I tried using cd's as targets to site in and they worked really good...not exactly related to your question about poi...
 
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