All the Trijicon thermals (expect the SNIPE) have PVS-14 housings on the rear. PVS-14 housings are designed for 1x period. They do not work as clipons at > 1x
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Here is prior post I made regarding use of trijicons as clipons ...
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I get a fair number of questions about whether the IR-Patrol works as a clipon. And my answer usually resembles something like, "it is a crappy or "sub-marginal" clipon.
That said, myself (and a partner) are attempting to address some barriers with using the patrol as a clipon. Here is the current version of the "contraption".
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That is an xtr2 3-15x scr-mil on the 5.56(18), with the radius on top, currently the "standard" setup for that rifle. Both the UTC-x and PVS-30 fit on the front and currently the ELIR-3 (tuned) is on the 3 o'clock of this rifle, for use with the PVS-30.
The unusual part is the IR-PATROL mounted as a clipon. Screwed on to the rear of the ir-patrol is a USGI PVS-14 3x magnifier. This device happens to (almost) thread on to the back of the PATROL, because the Patrol has a PVS-14 rear end. The threads are a "little bit different" ... but it actually threads on tight and has not moved after 50rds of 77gr smk BH. But there is room for improving the threads there and that is an action item.
On the front we have a 3x germanium magnifier which is a modification of the one shown on the Night Optics website. This is NOT the Torrey Pines version or the IRD/Trijicon version offered for sales for ~$2,500 on most websites. This is a 100% different widget. The current modification has the goal of improving the mount so that the 3x G magnifier will not move when being shot off the rifle. The TP/IRD/Trijicon version moves and hence cannot be used as a magnifier when shooting the patrol, either as a standalone sight or as a clipon.
And results from testing last week are that the current mod is insufficient. After 20 rds of 50 fired, the 3xG started moving. This causes "crazy" POI offsets. So mod 2 has now been planned and the parts are heading back into the hardware lab for rework. I am 80% sure this issue can be resolved.
The 3x on the rear does 2 things, it is increases the focal length to allow greater than 1x magnification to be used behind the patrol in clipon mode. This limitation is a show stopper for most people and it is not a well known limitation. But any device with a PVS-14 rear end will have this limitation. The USGI 3x screwed on the back fixes that issue. The 3x on the back also demagnifies the image and provides a sort of "poor man's tiny screen". I mentioned this idea of the "Thermal Clip-on" thread.
The good news is that the image thru this contraption is AMAZING. I've run it for several nights in the rain and in clear conditions and compared it side by side to Trijicon Mk3 60mm dedicated scope.
In the rain, after some image optimization both devices could see cow ear at 400yds. This cow happened to be working on a bale at night in the rain on the other side if my alfalfa patch. The thermal conditions were awful, but both devices were equivalent and could clearly see the ear of the cow and the head moving around grabbing grass off the bale. I had the day scope on 8x behind the Contraption and the 60mm on 2x digital (9x net) for purposes of the comparison and again, the images were equivalent after optimizing.
In clear conditions, the Contraption won. On 7x, the image was totally clear, no fuzz, no pixellation. I was focusing (using patrol front focus) on trees between 100yds and 500yds and the resolution rivaled NV and beat the 60mm on 2x digital. I was surprised. I expected equality not superiority. But this means the Contraotion beats the SNIPE and rivals the UTC-x at that magnification at those distances in those conditions.
I cranked the magnification up to 15x on the xtr2 behind the Contraption. The image was fuzzy. But, I could not detect pixellation!
I need more time with the Contraption to test various combinations of settings. But preliminary results are that the Contraption is worth pursuing. We might even offer this as some sort of "Patrol Clipon Enhancement Kit" ... so stay tuned.
Issues on the list to be worked on
01 - Adjust thread on 3xG to direct thread to front of Patrol, and give up on the pressure clip mount.
02 - Adjust threads on the 3x USGI to provide a more secure lock on.
Then it will be time for another round of testing, both image and shooting.
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Since I made the above post ( a few months ago), the update is that we decided to also add a risley prism module between the PVS-14 housing and the USGI magnifier. I should be testing that version this week.
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But the bottomline is, if you want a thermal clipon ... you need to get a thermal clipon ... the Trijicon monoculars/dedicated scopes, are very sub-marginal as thermal clipons.
