My decisive review of the benchmark thermal scope, Pulsar’s Thermion 2 XQ50, featuring extensive video footage from my own XQ50, comparison with the XP50, my definitive target solution for zeroing any thermal scope, and some tips on other key settings:
In southern England where I made this video, like much of the USA and Canada within the same latitude band (45N-55N), the amount of daylight ranges from just over 8 hours of useful daylight on the winter solstice up to almost 17 hours of good daylight at the summer solstice. We spend more hours in darkness than in sunlight. A glass scope is only useful between about an hour before sunrise to about an hour after sunset. In the winter, glass scope shooting is finished by 5pm, but night-vision shooting is just getting started. With a thermal scope, you can shoot whenever you want. If you get home from work at 7pm on a December day, even if the sun set 2 hours ago, you can still go out shooting with night vision. But for hunters, thermal vision is much more than just being able to see in the dark — because it vividly highlights the animals the hunter is looking for.
My loadout in this video:
- Scope: Pulsar Thermion 2 XQ50 scope
- Mount: Tier One monomount – long saddle, 30mm high, 0mil
- Rifle: Smith & Wesson M&P 15-22 Sport Magpul (imported by Sportsman)
- Moderator: Wildcat Panther moderator/silencer
- Mag: Magload mag extension (30 rounds +1)
- Shooting stick: Primos “Trigger Stick” Gen 3 tripod (shooting stick)
- Ammo: CCI subsonic hollow-point .22LR bullets (40 grain, 1050 fps)
- Bag/case: BSA Tactical Carbine gun case — the pockets perfectly accommodate M&P 15-22 mags, and CCI ammo sticks, and it has internal pocket perfect for up to 4 Pulsar APS 2 batteries or 3 Pulsar APS 3 batteries, with extra space for a Pulsar APS battery-charger, a Pulsar PB8I power bank, plus other useful accessories
Thermion 2 X!50 ballistics/zeroing chart for M&P 15-22 with the above setup:
| Range (m) | X | Y |
| 50 (Zero) | -00.25 | -03.50 |
| 100 | -00.25 | -18.75 |
| 150 | -00.25 | -44.75 |
| 200 | -00.25 | -154.75 |
| 250 | -00.25 | -451.00 |