MtnMike

strangely enjoyable watch

We have a little Westinghouse inverted iGen 2800 generator that was an absolute godsend after Hurricane Helene hit here in 2024. Lost grid power for 11 days. The little Westinghouse runs like a champ and kept the freezer and the refrigerator going with a bit to spare. I think I picked that generator up for under $400 on sale at Sam's on an impulse buy. I typically have $1000s of game meat and fish in the freezer. I give Westinghouse 2 thumbs up on their generators.

Since I moved my office 2 years out of the hell hole that the City of Asheville has become (3 fatal shootings in the last 2 weeks - 1 outside a gay dive bar - and one a gang related retaliatory drive-by), I rarely carry anymore. My pistol for fun is a Ruger Mark IV 22/45 with a Vortex Viper co-witness red dot and a Banish22 silencer. Damn accurate even with my 60-year old eyes and Hollywood quiet. No one even knows or cares if I plink a bit in my suburban backyard. I'd take a picture, but I don't ant to wake the wife getting into the downstairs safe. I prefer my mornings peaceful!

Kind of different process for me this time. Bought online from Silencershop.com. All forms filled out online and fingerprints done at an automated electronic kiosk at a local gun store which is affiliated. Bought yesterday, fingerprints and documents submitted today.

Finally pulled the trigger on a suppressor for my .308s. Went with a Resilient Jolene S. Since I plan to hunt with it, I wanted light and short as possible, with enough suppression to be hearing safe. This is 8.3 oz, 6.75" and about 26 db reduction at barrel from what I can deduce through interweb research. $650. More heat tolerant than some other grades of titanium. But definitely not a high round at one time device. We'll see how it does after I get done with the Federal redtape waiting/tracking game.

I've been a fan of Fenix lights for several years now. I don't have that particular model. I do have 5-6 variants of their smallish (5-6") powerful handheld torches - a couple of which I've had for over 5 years now. I also now have a couple of their headlamps. These folks make high quality stuff.

bingo

I've got a Banish 22 I've had for a bit. Primary use it on a heavy barrelled 10/22, which is notably more accurate than my other .22s. Great for groundhog control in a "civilized" neighborhood that frowns on firearm discharges. Never had a complaint. Significantly quieter than a high powered air rifle I have when using standard subsonic CCI minimags. Also good for hearing-protection-free target plinking both with the 10/22 and a Mark IV 22/45 pistol. The light weight of the unit is one of its best features. I just clean it periodically by disassembling and throwing it in an ultrasonic parts cleaner. My experience with Silencer Central was o.k. A few years back, the wait time on the ATF permit for a trust permit was forever. It may have even been over a year as I recall. Can't really blame SC for that. But, I am also recalling that SC lobbied hard to keep the ATF permit requirement, even as the tax was being eliminated to protect their business model of "assisting with the permit process". So, I doubt I reward them with any future business. The legal history of the legality of ATF permit process was that it wasn't a violation of the 2A, because the permit was a tax (per SCOTUS many years ago). Without there being any tax aspect remaining, the entire permitting process is unconstitutional by the reasoning of that case. Not sure when or if the current permit process will be challenged in the courts going forward. Would have been far simpler for congress to simply eliminate it. SC helped keep that from happening is my recollection. SO F them.

I appreciate the report!

Appreciate the reports. Hope you get a chance to try it out on a .308. My question is does it work well enough to be safe to shoot without hearing protection in a hunting environment.

In my experience, it's those daggum "extra parts" that always lead to a new project! Welcome back, kick off your shoes and stay for awhile!

Agreed. But only way to get close for workable eye relief. Regular rings definitely won't work because there is not enough distance between the pre-drilled mounting holes to span the THOR electronics brick. Reaching out to ATN makes sense. I'll do that during the upcoming week and see how their customer support responds. My current thoughts are leaning towards swapping it with a Leupold VX5 4-20x52 that I have on a Daniel Defense DD5V4 that is a "safe queen". But that scope seems a bit much for a very basic $800 Tikka Lite Compact in .308. No rush; neither of these guns are counted on at present to be meat gatherers. I am hoping to one day use the THOR for a night hog hunt. High rent problems for sure.

While the rings may be true, this mount on top of a picatinny rail is ridiculously high. Also, to get the scope back into the usable 3” eye relief, the QD levers interfere with the operation of the bolt handle; works - but makes contact. Given that this was ATN mount specifically designed for this series of thermal scopes, I am not happy. At present, I’m regretting the entire thermal scope purchase and experience. Could’ve got a nice Weber wood pellet smoker/grill and had a couple hundred dollars left over. Putting the whole project aside for now.

I can now confirm that the ATN QD one piece mount is true and doesn’t need lapping

Those distance are beyond my comprehension. Crazy.

Good deal! Still a heckuva lot quicker process than it was a couple of years ago. right now, I'm up at the lake cabin in Va. taking advantage of excellent weather. Supposed to be near 80 today. Plan to put the thermal on a Tikka .308 and sight it in today. Then, maybe sneak out into the woods before light tomorrow to see if I can see anything. Won't be shooting anything but targets unless I happen to see a coyote.

I appreciate the info but I've got some coming in for pick-up to my local Grainger Monday 3/2. I've had the ATM thermal scope and QD mount for awhile now. DNZ picatinny rail and Limbsaver recoil pad coming from Optics Planet on 3/2 and gun should be delivered to my FFL on 3/3. So everything should be put together and bore-sighted by next weekend. I've never shot a rifle with a thermal sight before. Theoretically, it's a 2 shot process. Reality remains to be experienced.

It does seem like this is a couple of weeks late. The population's uprising has apparently already been largely quashed by the current rulers. Of course, I am also dubious of the veracity of news reports. Everyone has an agenda and an angle. Hope something good comes of this.

Had a chance to play with it yet? Still curious how it performs, especially on a .308.

Took the easy way out. Just ordered a relatively cheap new Tikka 3X Lite Compact on which to put the new thermal scope, rather than risk stripping the screws removing scopes from other guns (where they belong anyway) ... I will install the new rail with some Vibra-tite VC3 - if I can find some. So, I have learned something.

I appreciate I appreciate that and will keep it in mind. Typically, that's the type I knowledge I acquire, after I've broken something.

Learned something new. Never knew loctite was size rated. Always just used blue. But I also generally buy a gun, buy the optics I want for the gun and leave it that way. Hopefully that won't bite me in the ass in the near future when I plan to remove a nice Leupold from one of two rifles (haven't decided which yet) to replace it with a recently acquire thermal. Of course I could just buy another rifle for the thermal to go on ... more than one way to skin a cat.

Specs look good! Let me know your thoughts once you get the chance to play around with it a bit. Are you direct threading or using a QD mount?

I'd love to be able to get a .308 to hearing safe without having to wear hearing protection. Primarily for hunting reasons. I've also been told at the local rifle range that my AR with a muzzle break is a "f@#$ing cannon". I'd rather no be "that guy". Then again, most of the lighter weight titanium models I've perused are around $800-$1500. Hard to justify that kind of expense, when my ProEars pretty much already address the hunting issue and 90% of my shooting is on private land. Especially, if they are not that effective.