Rick from United States, WY Public Profile

I always like to preface reviews by saying I own NF, Vortex, and Trijicon optics. I like quality and know the benefits as I started out years ago with lower quality products. So I speak with experience. Long range shooter here, 300 - 1k+ yards is a typical shoot.
For the guy who doesn't want to read, just buy them! These mounts are rock solid! I've got two Trijicon LPVO's and decided to buy these for each of my AR's. They are American made quality mounts and I haven't had a single issue with them! They're easy to adjust and don't move once you've dropped those levers. Now someone in the reviews complained about the mount not being the right size for their scope and gave the mount a 1 star rating. That's your fault for not researching. Call a company if you don't know. Another review said their mount was rusty. That's too bad. But I'm sure OP will take care of it and that's extremely rare with quality made products.
As far as the two sets I received, the fit and finish were excellent. I always lap a new pair of rings but when I attempted to lap these the material that was removed was almost nil! They were practically perfect. I use Wheeler Eng kits. The rods with the points were touching when I dropped them in these mounts. Perfectly aligned! I build my AR's like the dollar's going to collapse the following week. I don't care to waste my time on something that's going to fail when I need it the most. Also with these being QD you can drop an optic if it gets unusable and

The glass is crystal clear, and the functions are intuitive. Easy to set up and use. Once you have your dope plugged to the app you can turn off your Kestrel or phone app and just laze and shoot. It will still give your your corrections out to 800 yards but mine were still giving me readings just over a grand. I also like that it will give me my corrections in the same window. My Sig BDX 3000's would switch to the correction and then turn back if I remember correctly. These range just as fast as my Sigs did so they're fast. I also like the case much better. They store easily in the case when not in use and are completely shielded from the elements. It took a moment to get them sinc'd with my Kestrel but that wasn't a problem. One thing I'll say about these that could be a con. My Sigs has a low signal bluetooth so as to not run your battery down as fast. I've not noticed any negatives about the battery life on these yet but, just something to pay attention to if you're going to constantly be running them connected.
These were a couple hundred dollars more than my BDX Sigs, and I had to sell my Sigs immediately to recoup most of the cost of these, but I think these will perform better overall. To get anything better I think you'd have to step up the the latest Sigs that cost around $,2500. But that's a lot of coin for binos. These will accomplish just about anything most people will use them for and then some. I've hunted long range for a few years now and after playing aro

First off, Optics Planet is great. They've always been my go to for anything optics! It's the manufacturers of these thermal optics that seem to have a real issue with quality control. I started with Burris BT-50s, and after 3 or 4 thermals later I just threw in the towel. I'd had enough. Convinced I needed to spend more to get ones that work I purchased these. My first sign should have been the manufactures box being caved in on the bottom. Then opening the box, a thin bubble wrap that doesn't even begin to stop the optic from rolling around. There's about 2 1/2" inches on each side for the optic to bounce around. You would think Armasight shipping would put more bubble wrap or use those big air wrap ones...nope!
So I began by reading the instructions, and placing the batteries in the unit. Turned it on... NOTHING. Then doubled checked the orientation of the batteries. Yep they're in correctly. Then I thought, I'll check the battery life since they came across the US and these winter storms. Cold weather can reduce the life of a battery. Battery check was good. So the instructions say to plug the USB cable in and you can power the unit that way also. So I did just to check. Again.... Nothing!
I've waited 2 weeks for this thermal to get here and, it's defective. Glad it's not a Christmas present for someone else! Armasight may have a suspect quality control. I hope they aren't using Burris' QC. This one is going back. I've opted for a replacement. God let this one work

The skinny,
If you need a LVPO for your AR, get one! Very clear glass, great exterior flat black finish, love the thumb screw for fast throw zoom (many brands don't offer that), light weight (18.9oz) so it's barely over a pound, and the BDC reticle is awesome and day light bright. I like the off setting in between each brightness setting. This has become normal with most aluminated reticles and on scopes I already have. They also come with scope covers with the yellow lens over the ocular side. Normally I prefer your typical snap on black, but on an AR if your planning of the end of days scenario, you may not have time to flip the cover open on both ends so clear covers are the way to go imo. The subtensions on the reticle are 19" at the highest setting (an email from a Trijicon rep told me that) though I haven't confirmed that yet, and the same all the way down at their respective ranges.
I liked it so much I bought another just like it. I mounted them both in Warne QD mounts also from OP. These things rock.

These are great scopes for an AR!

First off, Optics Plant has been nothing but stellar in accepting my returns and getting me replacements sent out.
In two months I've had four different units in my hands. Three were BTS-50's and the other a BTC-50.

The first and 3rd BTS-50s units I received had very poor glass. The issues were spots, fish eyes, etc. Like dried water on the inside of the glass that you can't clean off and it was almost the entire glass, not just a speck here or there. The one BTC-50 (the clip on model) had the same issues. The second of the the three BTS-50's actually had really clear glass. But after sighting it in, the main reticle was not centered in the screen and roughly 1/3 off to the left of center! There is no way the user can correct that. I contacted Burris and they said I'd have to send it to them and it would be a few weeks before I got it back. So I just sent back to OP. I'd had enough..

I really wanted these thermal scopes to work, and I liked the user friendly menu adjustments! Working your way through the menu is very easy and fast. They got that right! But that's where the good ends. It's a shame Burris went so cheap on the glass, otherwise this would be a great product!

My experience in shooting is extensive in mid to long range 300-1200 yards. So glass clarity is paramount. Going in I expected these to get me out to at least 300 for shooting and that the glass would be at least clear of any visible imperfections. But that just wasn't the case in 3 out of 4 units.

If my memory serves me correctly, the manual says Burris has factory sighted the scope at 100 meters. I started at 50 yards and immediately noticed I wasn't even on my 2ft x 2 ft cardboard backer. My shots were hitting a foot right, and almost 2ft below my aiming point. I saw the snow splash below the target board. So something wasn't correct. Did I get someone else's return? Who knows.. I stapled a hand warmer on a 2ft by 2ft pc of cardboard 50 yards away after shaking it. Aside from the scope being way off initially, the actual sight in process was easy and I had the scope on target within 4 shots. Then I moved to 100 yards and was hitting the hand warmer in 3 shots. The adjustments are in MRAD along with the subtensions on the reticals that have them. Although I didn't do a tracking test on the accuracy of the adjustments like a normal scope, the adjustments seemed accurate to point of aim, point of impact during sight in. I would suggest people start at 25 yards though and you'll probably save a couple rounds. I typically bore sight a new rifle/scope on a bolt gun and start at 100 yds. But this was on an AR and I wasn't going to separate upper/lower just to save a round or two. The 1 star is because OP won't allow you to revise a review, and I can't give another 4 stars for something I've already reviewed.

Easy menu allows for fast friendly adjustments. The scope is nice for the money. I'll say that I can distinguish animals from one another out to about 250 yards. But after that edges of animals are blurry and the deer ears start to look quite round and edges are more smooth and not crisp. I bought this scope and a clip on. Both scopes had a lot of imperfections within the glass itself. I noticed it when I had it on black hot, and was looking at our wood burning stove 15ft away. I also noticed it when I was looking at deer just below the top of a ridge line. The sky behind them looked a bit blurry within certain areas of the glass and that's when I realized I could see the imperfections. I've sent both units back and waiting for the replacements. Hopefully the glass will be clear! If not, they'll be sent back and I'll just get a full refund.

I sought to revise my previous review however Optics Planet doesn't seem to allow that. So this review is a update for winter use! For summer use, you can read my review titled "Great glass and the BDX is awesome!"
Simply, if you're going to try and use these in the winter or what many people might consider extreme cold, you will be disappointed. I'll attempt to attach pictures of my hunt last week (10-22-20) where It was about 9 degrees that morning. One is on my 4 wheeler and another is where I had just got into my truck for 10 seconds and took a pic. These were so fogged up from the cold they were completely useless for the entire morning hunt! My vortex rifle scope (which have lens covers PROVIDED BY VORTEX THANK YOU VERY MUCH) was crystal clear all morning. Imagine that.. But I digress.. These lenses in the bdx are NOT coated with any kind of anti fog coating. This greatly reduces the use of them in winter weather.

Had these about a week (9-23-20). I already have the Leica B2000 range finder ($700ish at the time) which is a great LRF! But I needed a pair of binos to replace my 20 year old pair. So I decided two in one might be better.

The pros & cons

The pros:
The glass is extremely crisp and clear! So clear I almost had a slight headache the first hr I was looking through them. The ability to independently adjust both left and right oculars is very nice! They are a bit stiff but they stay put after you adjust them an that's important! The fast focus on top is not as stiff but enough it wont move and holds its position well. The LRF is fast! I've already ranged out to 3,376 yrds (the farthest I've hit so far). I do not know what the beam divergernce is, unfortunately it's not listed. The Leica has a .4 beam divergence if I remember which makes for extremely great accuracy. The outer shell has a armor like rubberized feel makin it great for summer days if your sweating, or if it gets wet. This aids in keeping a solid grip on them. Also it's water proof up to a meter I think, which is nice if you're going to be out hunting in wet or snowy conditions. The case is nice. It's a 3 pt contact sling so it stays secure and close but out of the way. The top of the case flips down so you can get to them fairly quickly. The BDX system is awesome paired up to my kestrel Elete! It's fast and easy. And the app is easy to use too. Not much different than the Kestrel app. Having the ability to custo