First Night Out; iRay Rico MK1 640 50mm & ILR 1000. AKA Rico Trainwreck

P&Y

Member
Thought I'd post my initial impressions of my new thermal rifle scope in the event anyone is interested. Anyone who has read my posts realizes I've had a poor track record with thermal optics. After many Pulsar fails I moved to an NVision LR then XRF which also didn't function as they should. I was set on having an LRF so I moved to iRay, the warranty was too good to pass bye. Finally got a chance to get it out last night. Beautiful conditions for calling (about -8F, very light wind and dark!) so I left work early and went to sight in. Excitement was off the charts for me. The NVision returns, scope change and constant wind we've been having have kept me from doing what I love. For perspective last year at this time I'd shot 68 coyotes. 15 so far this year.

To make a long story short I didn't kill any coyotes. The iRay was an absolute persnickety POS! I've come to the conclusion the thing is either haunted or simply has a mind of it's own. Although I'm not a techy guy I've dealt with more scopes and thermals than most. There was something about pressing the buttons and imputing data that is straight bonkers. Sometimes you had to push the menu to sort of "wake it up" and then it would function. Other times one press seemed to equal three. Numerous times the reticle changed when I was simply trying to zoom. I was bound and determined and kept after it shooting prone on a snow bank. 40 rounds later I got a group 2" high at 100 and called it good enough.

I should have quit there but like I said, I was determined. I've killed a lot of big bucks with my bow over the years on persistence alone, it's just how I roll (my wife would use the word stubborn here lol). My night continued it's downward spiral. Despite all the reviews on this scope being "intuitive" I humbly disagree. Ultimately, I could not get the rangefinder to work. As a matter of fact the [beeep] thing fell off towards the end of the night. I followed mounting directions religiously and used a torque driver when I mounted it. Apparently the 223 recoil was just too punishing for the funky mount.

Besides the rats nest usability I'd say optically the scope has fatal flaws. I had to literally touch my brow to the scope to see the full view. The focus window is minute and no matter what I did I couldn't get the contrast reasonable (way too much). The background was always next to black in white hot no matter my settings. This made range estimation a total guess. Figured out the hidden pip function but then could never get the same cross hairs in the zoom screen as I had in the main field? Among other issues I could never get it into standby mode or take a video. I lost cross hairs periodically, really just frustrating and very glitchy. I suspect this has to do with the ghost keying issue idk.

All in all, I think I jumped from one gutter to the other. Wouldn't recommend the ADM qd mount either (tiny, soft screw heads) it's probably better than the proprietary piece of garbage utilizing a miniature tuning fork that came with it. Pick you poison type of deal there. Sadly I don't see myself being able to kill coyotes with any consistently here. I was optimistic for this company and their products but thought I'd share my epic fail maiden voyage. I plan to keep struggling with it but my quest for a reliable LRF thermal appears to continue.
 
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That sounds like a "nightmare", no pun intended P&Y. Those of you old enough to remember the TV show "The Life of Riley" will remember his famous saying, "What a revolting development that is." Your scope appears to have too many flaws to keep, so what's the next move?
 
P&Y, it broke my heart when I read this after all the crap you have been through with different brands. I had sure hoped you had found the one.
 
Originally Posted By: DoubleUpThat sounds like a "nightmare", no pun intended P&Y. Those of you old enough to remember the TV show "The Life of Riley" will remember his famous saying, "What a revolting development that is." Your scope appears to have too many flaws to keep, so what's the next move?

Well said DU, I honestly don't know my next move will be. Frankly I don't feel like chasing down the rabbit hole any further at this point.
 
Originally Posted By: cmateraSeen a lot of your posts over the years. Have you tried Trijicon?


Good suggestion cmatera. My friend has been telling me to get one since I started into thermals. I think he's right, the LRF option has been my only roadblock.
 
Originally Posted By: KirschP&Y, it broke my heart when I read this after all the crap you have been through with different brands. I had sure hoped you had found the one.

Appreciate that Kirsch. I so wanted to become an iRay fanboy lol. Really didn't have very high expectations but it is what it is I guess.
 
Originally Posted By: P&YWell said DU, I honestly don't know my next move will be. Frankly I don't feel like chasing down the rabbit hole any further at this point.

"cmatera" mentioned Trijicon and I was going to ask the same.

I'm sure there are Trijicon units out there that may have issues but I have a Mark III 35mm and a 20mm REAP-IR and I have no complaints. I think I have owned 4 or 5 Trijicon units and never had any real issues other than one had some core spots that were irritating but I sent it in for repair. I can say I have NEVER had any POI shift problems and I consider that the kiss of death for any scope IMO. They don't have all the bells and whistles with onboard recording and wifi etc, but they have a great image, very good reticles, and they work as designed.

I will also mention that I kept seeing good things about the AGM Rattler scopes and I decided to give one a try. I have my REAP-IR mounted on an SBR for close range stalking and needed a scanner so I went with the Rattler TS25-384. I can honestly say after owning maybe 10 thermals over the years that this is the best bang for the buck unit I know of. It is small, light, and has a great image for the core specs of the unit. It works great as a scanner and I also sighted it in on one of my rifles. It's a great little unit. That being said I cannot vouch for for performance in the field as a scope because I only sighted it in and have not hunted with it.

According to my source the AGM Rattler line is GTG but there are major issues with the AGM Varmint LRF units.


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Man I really hate this for you, you've had more than your share of troubles. I hate hearing about this also because I was seriously going to go to that exact scope next year. I to want a range finder and on paper the RH50 checks all my blocks. I was hoping to hear more first hand owners results on it but after reading yours I'll probably end up with a couple Trijicons.
 
I think Trijicon would be a logical step if I keep moving forward. That AGM sounds good too! I also believe the Super Hogsters are solid. Maybe a scanner with lrf, idk just tired of it all at this point.

Feeling stuck the same I did when I had Pulsars. They're like having a car with a bad transmission. I'm not going to dump it on someone else!
 
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For Sale:
iRay Rico RH50 & ILR 1000
Used once
Menu doesn't work
LRF inoperable
Mount sucks
Crappy image
$7,000 + shipping

Just Kidding!
 

That sucks donkey balls......

I'd get on the horn and start rattling some cages.

Hammer the dealer and iray that your not putting up with that BS and you want your GD money back.

Season's about over, I wouldn't sit on that anchor any longer than necessary.
 
Good info Alf;
"Pull the factory mount out next. We were warned, but whoever designed the mount needs to be taken out back and beaten."

Truth!
 
P&Y. But a Radius. They work. With mine set vertically on the LH side of the stock and a pressure switch under my middle finger, it's is absolutely flawless. I don't have to break my cheek weld to get a range I trust on anything within 1 mile. I will never own another integrated LRF scope.

I'm sorry you got stuck with store credit on your pile of N-[beeep]. When a dealer sells something that doesn't work and the manufacturer says we don't know how to fix it after it's been sent in once already, the option for an instant, no questions, no fight, cash refund should be a no brainer.
 
KS, I had a radius and sold it to fund the XRF! Agree on the refund. I think I'd be out of thermals altogether if I could have cashed out.

At this point I'm feeling the thermal quality available isn't good enough for me and my budget. In the last five years I've been frustrated by equipment more than I've enjoyed hunting.
 
Out of Curiosity, how long ago did you have the XRF? I am assuming you were having issues with the LRF function not operating properly? I run the LR and Buddy has LRF. His went out in middle of night on us few weeks ago. Contacted Nvision, sent back, and had a week later. My limited understanding of the situation, is that they are aware of the issue, and it’s a software update. Buddy has not had issues with his since. IMO, again limited, for high end thermal it is very hard to beat the Nvision products. I personally don’t feel the need to have LRF for my general form of hunting. On top of that, my hunting partners have always seemed to have some form of it when we go. Radius, or XRF, and they have never been something I would rely on. Constant issues with radius with 2 of my buddies. I hunted so long by myself with a simrad and a 22-250, that I never cared about range. On top of that most of my shots are under 250.

In regards to the trijicon comment, they are stout units. Ive handled a handful of them and been very impressed. I recently picked up an IR Patrol for scanning, and couldn’t be happier with it. As someone else said, not much for bells and whistles. I think at some point the bells and whistles can keep me from doing what I am there to do.
 
I'm where P&Y would be if he could have cashed out. I'm out of the thermal game. Too expensive, too unreliable. I said a long time ago, that I felt the technology was just not quite there yet (at least in the commercial market), and my feelings haven't changed. I'm not going to go out and freeze my 66 y/o stones off in the middle of the night to have a scope I can't hit my target with.
 
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