Pulsar XP38 Trail review.

[TEXASLAWMAN]

Here is my review of the XP38 and xp50 trails after using them for the last month and a half.

 

[RattlesnakeDan]

Very good, very professional!

 

[Chopperdrvr]

Nice review. Makes me wish I had the budget for a back-up.

 

[Terry]

I second the above motion very nice review ! I need a back up for my back up is that wrong ?

 

[Jsfeni]

Great video. Answered some questions I had.

You say that a 3x suits your hunting style better. Have you used the XQ50? If so, did it work any better with 2.7x native magnification?

Thanks

 

[Randy]

Excellent review. Thank you for taking the time to do it.

 

[Terry]

One thing I never understood is how pulsar rates their magnification. Having owned a couple of pulsar thermal monoculars and a Apex scope in the past all seemed to have more magnification than listed. Or it could be that my other brands of thermal scopes over rate their magnification.

Looking at pulsars FOV specs seems to give me personally a better true comparison of like brand products. Has any one else noticed this from there use?

You guys all have way too much wide open county to hunt my main areas are 90% solid timber/brush with a few small meadows mixed in. I have to get close and personal so I'm excited about the XP38 trail

 

[TEXASLAWMAN]

Great video. Answered some questions I had.

You say that a 3x suits your hunting style better. Have you used the XQ50? If so, did it work any better with 2.7x native magnification?

Thanks

Yes I have used it, I prefer the 50mm for the magnification.

 

[TEXASLAWMAN]

One thing I never understood is how pulsar rates their magnification. Having owned a couple of pulsar thermal monoculars and a Apex scope in the past all seemed to have more magnification than listed. Or it could be that my other brands of thermal scopes over rate their magnification.

Looking at pulsars FOV specs seems to give me personally a better true comparison of like brand products. Has any one else noticed this from there use?

You guys all have way too much wide open county to hunt my main areas are 90% solid timber/brush with a few small meadows mixed in. I have to get close and personal so I'm excited about the XP38 trail

I think pulsar and Arma sight both list less magnification than is really there.

 

[rich20730]

One thing I never understood is how pulsar rates their magnification. Having owned a couple of pulsar thermal monoculars and a Apex scope in the past all seemed to have more magnification than listed. Or it could be that my other brands of thermal scopes over rate their magnification.

Looking at pulsars FOV specs seems to give me personally a better true comparison of like brand products. Has any one else noticed this from there use?

Yes, Pulsar uses a different method than most other manufacturers to determine magnification. I agree that the FOV specs will give you a better idea of the magnification when comparing with other brands of scopes. For example, the Trail XP50 is listed as 1.6X, but the FOV is almost the same as the REAP-IR, which is listed at 2.5X. (XP50 - 12.4 degrees vs. REAP-IR 12 degrees). Of course, this only applies to scopes with the same sensor resolution (640 vs. 640, 336 vs. 336 etc)

 

[Jsfeni]

Sensor size also affects FOV. The REAP-IR is 12 micron while the Pulsar is 17. Given the same number of pixels, the larger sensor should have a larger FOV.

 

[waverider]

Great, candid review. Pulsar is fortunate to have someone with your expertise providing such detailed feedback.

 

[theblakester]

I agree with others on Pulsar's listed magnification.. seems to be lower than what u see through the lens compared to other brands, IMO based on the other thermals I've looked through.

Great review! My brother in law and I have both tested the return to zero ability of the mount it comes with, and it seems to return to zero well.

 

[jglass]

I have been in the market for a thermo imaging rifle scope since last March. My mind has been pretty well set on the
ATN Thor 384 5X. This is the one that sells for $1999. It has many features most of which I'll never use like the GPS,
elevation, range, weather. What I like in particular about the ATN is picture and video taking ability held in internal memory and downloaded to a computer through a cable. It runs on 4 AA batteries which I find attractive. I'm not real fond of rechargeable batteries when I can carry around new ones for spares.

Now, thanks to you guys, I'm looking at the Pulsar XP38. Features I find attractive are the larger lens, it is water proof, better control buttons and according to some, better service. I'm a little unclear what the XP38 has for picture and video ability. Does it do both and does it have a memory and can it download. Just checking.

These are my hunting parameters. I hunt for 3 months while in Florida but I'll do 60-70 hunts, but not year around like some of you.
An expensive thermo is hard for me to justify. I hunt in dense jungle where visibility is 125' most of the time but would still like to see over 100 yards.

The only thermo scope I ever had in my hands was the ATN 384 and I liked it. This was at Brownels in Iowa.

Comments please. Thanks, Jim

 

[Chopperdrvr]

I have been in the market for a thermo imaging rifle scope since last March. My mind has been pretty well set on the
ATN Thor 384 5X. This is the one that sells for $1999. It has many features most of which I'll never use like the GPS,
elevation, range, weather. What I like in particular about the ATN is picture and video taking ability held in internal memory and downloaded to a computer through a cable. It runs on 4 AA batteries which I find attractive. I'm not real fond of rechargeable batteries when I can carry around new ones for spares.

Now, thanks to you guys, I'm looking at the Pulsar XP38. Features I find attractive are the larger lens, it is water proof, better control buttons and according to some, better service. I'm a little unclear what the XP38 has for picture and video ability. Does it do both and does it have a memory and can it download. Just checking.

These are my hunting perameters. I hunt for 3 months while in Florida but I'll do 60-70 hunts, but not year around like some of you.
An expensive thermo is hard for me to justify. I hunt in dense jungle where visibility is 125' most of the time but would still like to see over 100 yards.

The only thermo scope I ever had in my hands was the ATN 384 and I liked it. This was at Brownels in Iowa.

Comments please. Thanks, Jim

I have followed most of your posts for a while now and one common thread is your inability to commit to an "expensive " thermal. Let me ask you one question, how much is your enjoyment and fulfillment worth to you during your years left in the outdoors? I struggled with this decision myself for a long time and thanks to a very generous wife ended up buying a thermal worth more than my fishing boat rig. It turns out that I use my thermal far more than I ever use my boat. (And I like fishing) you say that you hunt 60 or 70 times a year "when you are in FL". Well, I would guess that that is far more than the majority of us hard core night hunters on this forum. Quit beating yourself up about trying to find the cheapest system that will barely get you by and spend a little more money and enjoy the hell out of the hunting you will get to do for as long as you can. After all, I would guess that you didn't buy the cheapest lowest end camper you could find to spend 1/3 of your life in. The difference between a 2 and 4K $ thermal can be amazing, but the extra $2k can be absorbed pretty easily by just giving up something like sodas or cigarettes for a reasonable time. Buy what you want and have fun.

 

[jglass]

Chopper, what you say is true. It isn't that I don't have the money. When we were at Brownell's my wife told me to buy the
ATN scope. I'm just not accustomed to treating myself. I hunt wild hogs with AR-15's I built from kits. My wife and I are just not fancy people.

Worst part of it is the Bankers almost faint when they see my 1992 Taurus parked in front of the bank.

 

[RattlesnakeDan]

Oh...and buy a new car too! LOL

 

[Chopperdrvr]

Chopper, what you say is true. It isn't that I don't have the money. When we were at Brownell's my wife told me to buy the
ATN scope. I'm just not accustomed to treating myself. I hunt wild hogs with AR-15's I built from kits. My wife and I are just not fancy people.

Worst part of it is the Bankers almost faint when they see my 1992 Taurus parked in front of the bank.

I can appreciate that. I'm very much the same way. But as my wife told me, I worked all my life to take care of other people and deserve to spend some money on myself for a change. Your wife sounds like she feels the same way.

 

[TEXASLAWMAN]

I could never spend the money on night vision wanted it forever one Christmas my wife bought me my first pvs-14 I should have never waited so long!

 

[Terry]

I lucked out back in the mid to late 90's I was a broke college student and traded a few guns for a used 3rd gen NVPS-10 mono and a used gen 2 PVS-4. I owned the night back in those days I would just walk around miles on my Grampas diary farm just watching critters so very cool.