Cheap thermal scope, how good can it be?

[imyomama]

ok , so i was intrigued by a video from texas plinking and ordered one of these ... DNT Hydra 225 ...
It's a thermal scope / clip on with only a 256 sensor and it was only $800! So it's got to be crap... right ? ... well let's just say my other thermal is a trijicon reap-ir and this 1/10th of the cost scope is going to see lots of action from now on ...
Unfortunately , in the heat of the moment , i did not hit the record button ... see full video below ... and my only major gripe about this scope .. it's hard to find the buttons at night..
I did however dispatch a coon at 88 yards and a feral cat at 150 yards ... both on a tikka t3 223 ... not used as a clip on ... just as a scope.

if your goal is to shoot pigs, coons etc .. under 150 yards ... this will do the job NO PROBLEM!
And at this price , i think it will be affordable for most people who want to get into the thermal game .. here is my video on it..

https://youtu.be/ewCAEihp-FY?si=l3ofshH4gEvrbllN

[imyomama]

I was able to spot a coon at 300 yards reaching for the spinner on a feeder ... can't say i could make a shot that far , i didn't want to risk hitting the feeder ..

[imyomama]

feeder is at 100 yards this is zoomed to 9x digital ..

coon at 300 yards this is at base magnification 3x .. no digital zoom ..just optical only

[TX03RUBI]

My brother in law bought an AGM 19-256 over thanksgiving. I’ve ran about 9 different thermals now, and all but 1 were 640 units. His new 256 was as good as my old 640s from 3-5 years ago. My newest 640 kills it, but I never had missed any kills with the old ones due to picture quality. And like yours it was only $800. That thing really impressed me.

[OleTomTalker]

Thanks for this review!

[imyomama]

My brother in law bought an AGM 19-256 over thanksgiving. I’ve ran about 9 different thermals now, and all but 1 were 640 units. His new 256 was as good as my old 640s from 3-5 years ago. My newest 640 kills it, but I never had missed any kills with the old ones due to picture quality. And like yours it was only $800. That thing really impressed me.

I agree, i think this is going to blow the market .. and make it affordable for most people . side by side the reap-ir even though 6+ years old now still blows it away in clarity , not to mention design ... the joystick is so intuitive to use in the dark ... i never have to figure out and feel for it .. and the base is a true QD ... with that said $8k ,6 years ago is allot of coin
To the point that i've babied it ... it's too expensive to just abuse... this one though .. at $800 ... I can get a little rough with it and not really think twice. and again where I hunt , I have to cut shooting lanes with the tractor to get any kind of viewing distance.. so low resolution and narrow field of view of this unit is perfectly useable .

more videos to come on this unit .. learn as I go!

[RascalArms]

Interesting...I keep waiting for technology to catch up with more affordable thermal. IN for more reviews/videos.

[dustoffer]

Looked at several sites about it--does it come with a picatinny mount?

[jdavidson]

In for more reviews

[PondPopper]

Great review. Thanks!!

[imyomama]

thanks , i will definitely do more as I go .. i setup auto record so next time i won't have to remember to hit record .. supposedly it records based on firing the gun .. senses the recoil and records even like 10 seconds prior to the shot .. i'll be testing that .. also my wife got me some stick on little diamonds from Michaels ... works perfect to find the buttons in the dark by feel or even see them from above the scope ... more to come!

[Roy D Mercer]

Thanks for the review. I will definately look forward to your updates..

[Rhdme]

Good writes up, thx!

[imyomama]

thanks y'all , i really appreciate it... this thing is not perfect , but for $800 , i really think it's going to drive the market down ... which is a good thing.. so far i'm really impressed of what you get for the money . As a negative note however, the wifi app sucks on it, so don't expect much from it ... the agm software i use on my taipan is flat out fantastic in comparison. I'm actually in the process of trying to find a way to get it mounted on my truck to drive at night.. I ended up plowing into a batch of hogs at night last year that messed up the bottom if my bumper on my truck , I plan on using the taipan wifi'd to an ipad so i can see them in the ditches further out. I also set it to auto record on recoil so next update , i'll try to get some kill footage into the mix so you get a better idea what it looks like

[imyomama]

Looked at several sites about it--does it come with a picatinny mount?

yes it comes with the pic mount in the video and it's reversible do you can tune it for the type of gun you'll be using ..(bolt gun vs AR....) but it's not QD... i wish it was.