MtnMike

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.

Now that stamps are $0.00 and supposedly wait times are minimal, I am contemplating getting a threaded suppressor, which I can use on various .308s I have. Both AR, and bolt actions. I've only previously bought one other suppressor, which was for a .22. That was a few years ago through Silencer Central. I gather they have been on the wrong side of the political fights around NFA stamps. And, I wasn't all that impressed with their silencer for the price. The main attributes I want are good sound suppression, low weight and something I can just disassemble and through in an ultrasonic cleaner for maintenance. Wondering if you guys had any recommendations.

Crazy cost per minute. It seems someone would come up with a small scale EMP to deal with drone mobs.

Toys have arrived. Quick function test of the thermal scope checks out. The mount will fit the scope fine; Looks reasonably made, but it's also made in China ... If the weather isn't horrid and I can avoid my wife's flu bug, I hope to mount them on my old Wyndham Weaponry R16SFSB soon. Sort of hate to remove the Leupold VX6 2x12x42 that's on there. That gun has been <1MOA with relatively cheap 150g soft point hunting rounds from the get go. Picked up that scope for a song as "blemished". May move it to the "wife's" hunting rifle. Of course, then I'll have to come up with a use for the VX3 that's on it. Heck, before it's all said and done, I may have to buy another rife due to excess scopes 😁

Gen 2 3x Primary Arms Cyclops perhaps?

Still waiting on scope and mount from different suppliers (Midway & Optics planet). But my thinking is that ATN's one-piece, should hopefully fit the product lines for which it's advertised. Scope is a ThOR LT 320 x 240 resolution, 5 x 10 50mm. So I'm guess the mount will need to be both tall and wide enough to span the electronic "brick" in the middle. Scope is coming from Midway and will be here today (they always ship fast). Mount is being delivered via USPS so who the F knows when it will arrive. I'm stoked to start playing with it. Almost went with a Burris BTS35 (which actually comes with it's own QD mount). But the Burris scope weighs a half pound more and has 4 hours less battery life on a charge. Also, had a negative experience with a traditional Burris scope, some 30 years ago. I have some deer stands in SC, which are a good hike in and I go in well before daylight. There are times when the coyotes are thick and circling too close for comfort. It'd be nice to be able to see the bastards. Thinking I might do some dedicated coyote hunts now that deer season is over. So, if nothing else, this will give me an excuse to visit my buddy who owns the land outside of deer season.