You know a manufacturer is truly serious about their new products when they bring a bevy of gun writers to Gunsite Academy, and FLIR jumped into the deep end of the commercial night vision pool in 2018.
Upon arrival at Gunsite, a group of notable gun writers gathered in the conference room for a safety briefing. After an hour-long safety briefing, we adjourned to a nearby spot in the Arizona desert scrub armed with a Breach PTQ136 thermal monocular. FLIR’s 12-micron Boson sensor, common to their ThermoSight Pro Series optics, powers the Breach PTQ136.
Prior to our arrival to patch of scrub near Gunsite’s Scrambler course, FLIR staff hid numerous stuffed animals with either ice packs or hand warmers in their innards. We used the new technology to locate the tiny fake vermin and get an introduction to the various capabilities and menu options packed into the optic.
Up Close and Personal
Ove the next couple of days we divided our time between various ranges at Gunsite to get the feel for several night vision products. Of note was Armasight’s, a new-at-the-time division of FLIR, BNVD-51 infrared monoculars mounted on our supplied Team Wendy helmets. We got a chance to run simunitions in a shoot house and get the feel for their limitations for the uninitiated. The old barb describing someone who “can’t chew bubble gum and walk at the same time” has some real bearing when learning to navigate with NV equipment and shoot at the same time. Suffice it to say, it takes some training and getting used to before proficiency rises.
Swapping over to a nearby daylight walk-through range gave us a chance to try on FLIR’s Thermosight Pro PTS233 optic mounted on a Ruger PC Carbine. The targets were paper coyotes and hogs, actually ThermBright passive targets, which outline the subject.
Long-Range NV Live Fire
The highlight of the event was firing Ruger Precision Rifles with Armasight’s CO-XLR-LRF night vision optics mounted behind day scopes. We each took our turn going prone and hammering steel out to 300 yards with the precision NV-capable weapons.
All in all, this two-day taste of night vision gear raises my appreciation for those who go into harm’s way carrying this kit.
If you want get further down in the weeds on some of the technology offered by these products, check out fellow Athlon Outdoors contributor Alex Landeen’s account. For more information on FLIR Thermal Optics, visit FLIR.com.
You Might Also Like:
Working Man’s Sport Utility Rifle
.17 HMR VERMINATOR
AAC’s 16-Inch 300 Blackout Hammers Coyotes from the Air
Christensen Arms CA-15 Rifle Review
More About Jay Langston