Feedback on Flir RS64 2-16x60

[Jay Gusler]

Hello all. I have learned a lot on this forum and looking for feedback on this discontinued Flir model. I have a chance to buy a 2 year old unit for $2000 and possibly less. I’ve rented a Pulsar Trail a couple times so that is my benchmark for thermal image quality. Purpose is for calling coyotes at night in south Texas and also checking feeders at night for hogs.

Does anyone have experience with this model? I do not care about taking video or any fancy stuff, just want a thermal that I can use as a weapon mount or as a scanner that will be good enough to tell the difference between a deer and a coyote out to 200 yards.

Thank you for your input.

 

[Brian Shaffer]

I was not a fan of the RS series of scopes from FLIR. With that said, for $2G, that sounds like an excellent way to get into thermal hunting with a fairly capable optic. Looking at the vids online, I would say that you should be able to tell the difference between a deer and a copy out to 200 yards. That is said with the caveat that you have to learn how to identify silhouettes that may not always be in profile, and that you need to learn how to distinguish between how deer and coyotes move. Depending on conditions and vegetation, it can be hard to separate deer from coyotes at 200 yards with more capable scopes, or deer from hogs, or hogs from calves.

These scopes came out originally 5 or 6 years ago and were not great sellers, in part because of the bulk. The model you are looking at weighs 2.4 lbs, IIRC.

I don't know where you are getting the scope, but they have an internal battery. The good news is that it will run for longer than if you used CR123 batteries. The bad news is that it is not user serviceable. You can, I believe, plug in an external battery to recharge in the field. If the internal battery goes dead, FLIR would have to service the unit. assuming they still do. The probably do, but they have cutoff points where they stop servicing their older products.

For $2g, it is more capable than any new scope you can get at close to that price.

 

[Jay Gusler]

Thank you. I bought it today. Pleased with the backyard field test,will try it out this weekend in south Texas. Weight is 1.8 lbs so not too bad.

 

[Brian Shaffer]

Ah! Maybe 2.3 was shipping weight?

Good luck and let us know how it does.

 

[Dry Creek]

Hello all. I have learned a lot on this forum and looking for feedback on this discontinued Flir model. I have a chance to buy a 2 year old unit for $2000 and possibly less. I’ve rented a Pulsar Trail a couple times so that is my benchmark for thermal image quality. Purpose is for calling coyotes at night in south Texas and also checking feeders at night for hogs.

Does anyone have experience with this model? I do not care about taking video or any fancy stuff, just want a thermal that I can use as a weapon mount or as a scanner that will be good enough to tell the difference between a deer and a coyote out to 200 yards.

Thank you for your input.

Have been using this exact model since April 2014 and no problems except the internal battery quit holding a charge 2 years ago. In fact it has been on the same 6.8 SPC rifle for almost 6 years with no point of impact change. I just use an Anker 10,000 mAh battery pack taped to the stock and leave the scope on for hours at a time. I would set the NUC to manual that will give you more control than if a shot comes up during auto NUC setting.

 

[Jay Gusler]

Hello guys. I've been using my FLIR and really enjoying it. Have killed hogs at night and during the day with it and very happy with ability to ID animals. Question about mounts. Mine has the Larue QD mount with one clamp. If I leave it on the gun its money and holds zero no problem. I've been taking it off my AR10 to scan for coyotes (and shoot with 22-250 with a light), then putting it back on the AR10 for hogs. I would say 50% of the time when I remount it the zero is dead on, 50% of the time it is 3-4 inches off. I have other scopes with AMD QD mounts that have 2 clamps and they return to zero 100% of the time. Is there a 2 clamp mount out there that would fit on my FLIR to improve repeatability?

 

[Dry Creek]

Hello guys. I've been using my FLIR and really enjoying it. Have killed hogs at night and during the day with it and very happy with ability to ID animals. Question about mounts. Mine has the Larue QD mount with one clamp. If I leave it on the gun its money and holds zero no problem. I've been taking it off my AR10 to scan for coyotes (and shoot with 22-250 with a light), then putting it back on the AR10 for hogs. I would say 50% of the time when I remount it the zero is dead on, 50% of the time it is 3-4 inches off. I have other scopes with AMD QD mounts that have 2 clamps and they return to zero 100% of the time. Is there a 2 clamp mount out there that would fit on my FLIR to improve repeatability?

Had the exact problem with my RS 64 so I just left it on the gun permanently. Be sure when mounting the scope bump it forward and keep it forward as you tighten the lever. Recoil will naturally move it forward anyway so this will hold your zero as the scope settles in. The internal battery would not hold a charge so I use an external power supply. Don't know of a dual lever mount for this scope. I looked for one also.

 

[Jay Gusler]

Had the exact problem with my RS 64 so I just left it on the gun permanently. Be sure when mounting the scope bump it forward and keep it forward as you tighten the lever. Recoil will naturally move it forward anyway so this will hold your zero as the scope settles in. The internal battery would not hold a charge so I use an external power supply. Don't know of a dual lever mount for this scope. I looked for one also.

Thank you Dry Creek, appreciate the feedback with your direct experience. Killed this 280 lb hog this weekend, he was so old his cutters were worn down to nubs.

 

[Ratdog68]

Good golly, Miss Molly !! That's a beast hangin' right there! Congrats.

 

[Jay Gusler]

Good golly, Miss Molly !! That's a beast hangin' right there! Congrats.

Thx. The strange thing about him was no testicles. Maybe he was trapped young and castrated to get big like this.

 

[Ratdog68]

Yes, I think a number of folks do that, in hopes of finding them once filled out and big. No stink, no cost (to them) to feed 'em to maturity, then harvest a big meat hog. This was your time to cash in on the benefit.

 

[Brian Shaffer]

Thank you Dry Creek, appreciate the feedback with your direct experience. Killed this 280 lb hog this weekend, he was so old his cutters were worn down to nubs.

That is a dandy of a hog. Congrats on the scope working out so well for you!

As for the age and the condition of the cutters, it doesn't work like that. Cutters don't wear down (vertically), but wear laterally. Their placement against the whetters assures that they remain sharp without wearing through the base of the tooth. Additionally, the whetters and cutters are what are called rootless teeth. This means that the root remains open and the tooth continues to grow throughout the animal's life. Your hog may be old and hit cutters may be nubs, but if they are nubs, it is most likely because they have been broken off. It is this ever-growing condition of the whetters and cutters that makes them exceptionally poor teeth to use for aging the animal based on wear.

 

[der Teufel]

Thx. The strange thing about him was no testicles. Maybe he was trapped young and castrated to get big like this.

Quite possible. The largest hog I've gotten was a 295Lb castrated boar that we caught in a trap.

As a side note, he kept hanging around our trap and running everything else off, but wouldn't go into the trap. We finally spread some strawberry Kool-Aid inside the trap and he went in.

 

[Ratdog68]

That sweet toofus gets 'em EVERY time !!! But... "Strawberry?" (Ack)

 

[der Teufel]

That sweet toofus gets 'em EVERY time !!! But... "Strawberry?" (Ack)

Actually, it was strawberry Jell-O, not Kool-Aid.

 

[Ratdog68]

Actually, it was strawberry Jell-O, not Kool-Aid.

Ok, slack cut... not as sickeningly sweet. LOL

 

[J BAR K]

I’ve also heard of guys trapping hogs and cutting a smaller boar to use to train their hog dogs. I was told the hope was they would get bigger quicker, stay closer to home and hopefully not be quite so aggressive. I don’t know whether or not that works, that’s just what the big boys told me.