AGM Rattler TS 25-384
Hey, peer pressure is a real thing. Impulse buys are too. And those two can get real expensive real quick. I fell victim most recently to a cousin and a thermal scope. Until a couple weeks ago, I never had looked through one, so I didn’t even know I needed one. But trust me, it doesn't take but a glance through a thermal and you just know you’ve got to have one. They might be about the coolest thing I've ever laid my hands on, and they’ll change your perspective on the world, at least when it's dark.
Thermal scopes are just like anything else in the world. You get what you pay for. Cool shit ain’t cheap and cheap shit ain’t cool, but thanks to technological improvements over the last decade (and questionable labor laws throughout Asia.), even the common man can afford to have one of these johnsons.
I had no idea how great the budget versions of these thermal scopes are. I just figured you had to spend 8 grand to get a decent one. Turns out, there are some killer deals out there. Amazon has plenty, but I rolled the dice and bought one used. The used market is at the mercy of what folks are willing to get rid of, but I just so happened to luck out. A friend of a friend of a friend was selling one in my price range so I went ahead and pulled the trigger. I wound up with an AGM Rattler TS 25-384 and not a lick of buyer's remorse. AGM has a couple different scopes right around that price range and to be honest I'm not entirely sure what the difference between them is. I do know that I'm tickled to death with the thing though.
Currently I've got mine mounted on a bolt action .308 but will likely swap it over to the never-ending AR I'm currently piecing together. Most of these thermal scopes mount using a picatinny rail instead of regular scope rings so whatever you're putting it on may require some modification. They’re more like computers than traditional optics so you've just about got to read the manual to figure out how to use it.
It's definitely not like looking through a Swarovski at 3 in the afternoon but you have good recognition at 400 yards and can positively identify what you’re looking at inside of a hundred and fifty. It works great as long as you have fresh batteries. The first time I used mine I didn’t know the batteries were old and about 10 minutes into the hunt I took a shot on a critter with a big “SHUTDOWN IN 3, 2, 1,” covering up the crosshairs.
That'll definitely affect accuracy.
Now when you go to shopping for these things, just don't look through one that cost more than you're willing to spend because then you won't like the budget one quite so much and you'll have to start calculating the cost of your next purchase in what percentages of your salary.
Stress Test Results
This item received a 4/5 stars on the Benjamin Smith stress test.
Minus only 1 star for the battery consumption rate. Other than that, would recommend to family and friends.
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