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Posted: 1/25/2026 10:58:31 PM EDT
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Hey all, I’m not one to have a single bad experience and call it quits but u have to see if anyone else has owned one and is having problems. I ordered a V3 50-640 thinking ‘buy once cry once’ for my fist thermal. I decided it would go fantastic on my BRN-4 M-27 clone and the fist time I took it to the range I got it pretty zeroed in but decided to not use the provided thermal paste-on target until I got hunting 5.56 rounds. It was great how easy it was to zero but I had some issues. 1) Ballistic Calculator was substantially off. Putting in the correct temperature, altitude, bullet weight, (estimated from posts here) velocity, and (estimated from post here) BC, it was showing FEET of drop out to 500yds but I would only experience less than half of its estimate. Even trying to re-laze a target as close as 500 the calculator wouldn’t change the estimated DOPE and would still show the first DOPE. As in ‘you’re supposed to hit a few inches below your 100 yard zero at 50 yards.’ 2) laser range finder. Wouldn’t work while the Ballistic Calculator was on, as it told me- but even turning the calculator off, I would laze a target and it would display “—-/—-Yd” after a screen refresh. 3) After firing 100 rounds it wouldn’t turn off. So I removed the battery. Then it wouldn’t turn on. I had to play with the second battery AND plug the optic in several times for it to turn on and off normally but the original battery wouldn’t allow it to function at all 4) that original battery gives green/red flashes from the charger Again, I’m not one to have a single bad experience and call an entire unit bad, but- is it too much to ask for a $5,000 unit to not have these issues after 100 rounds? Has anyone else had any issues of the sort? I’ll try to grab my unit and confirm numbers a bit later, I’ll edit my post when I get my unit out of my vehicle. |
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Yes I could contact customer service and send the unit back to be fixed or swapped out, the problem battery replaced. I’m going to return it because I am not a fan of spending that much on an optic that has this many problems out of the box and only a 3 year warranty. If this was 1 out of a million that might change my perspective- I’m just trying to see if anyone else has had similar issues. |
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No help with your particular problem, but my experience with AGM customer service was fantastic. Had an issue with a Rattler I bought used. Sent it in, they had it for a day before I got a phone call. “Hey this is so and so at AGM. We can’t replicate the issue, but don’t want you to be without a scope while we figure it out so we areivernighting you a new one.” |
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Just some random thoughts... M193 should drop about four feet at 500 yards with your setup if you have a 50 or a 100 yard zero. Probably a bit over four feet. If you experience half that, your zero is not 50 or 100 yards, it is more like 25 yards. Your 50 yard POI should be less than two inches below your 100 yard POI with a 50 yard zero. You should hit less than an inch low at 50 yards with a 100 yard zero. If you are experiencing something like hitting four inches lower at 50 yards than 100 yards, you have a 25 yard zero. You have made two statements that make me believe your zero is 25 yards. "...you’re supposed to hit a few inches below your 100 yard zero at 50 yards." No, you should NOT hit a FEW inches low at 50 yards with a 100 yard zero with ANY caliber or ANY barrel length unless you have your thermal mounted on top of a carry handle. "Ballistic Calculator was substantially off. Putting in the correct temperature, altitude, bullet weight, (estimated from posts here) velocity, and (estimated from post here) BC, it was showing FEET of drop out to 500yds but I would only experience less than half of its estimate..." Should be four to five feet of drop with a 50 yard or 100 yard zero depending on your barrel length. If it is half that... your zero is WAY off. Finally, it sounds like you have ONE defective battery. This is why I am hesitant to buy any thermal that does not take simple 18650 batteries that are easily available and cost $10 each. What happens if there is war with China and you can't get a replacement? And this must just be a typo because it reads hilarious... "..it was showing FEET of drop out to 500yds but I would only experience less than half of its estimate. Even trying to re-laze a target as close as 500 the calculator wouldn’t change the estimated DOPE and would still show the first DOPE..." Yes... if you laze 500 and then laze 500 again... it won't change the dope, LOL! Finally, with low reflectivity targets that are small, 500 yards can be tricky. A larger paper target, like 24" x 36" should range easily, but a 6" steel swinger will not. You should always expect to reliably range lower reflectivity targets at half of whatever range they advertise a LRF is good for... and it is at its worst in noon daylight or with high humidity/fog/rain. This makes the 900-1000 yard LRF in most thermals just fine because you can't see well enough to shoot over 300-400y or so. I would use the good battery and make sure of your zero before calling customer service... because some of this certainly could be and probably is user error. |
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Originally Posted By DevL: You have made two statements that make me believe your zero is 25 yards. Finally, it sounds like you have ONE defective battery. This is why I am hesitant to buy any thermal that does not take simple 18650 batteries And this must just be a typo because it reads hilarious... Yes... if you laze 500 and then laze 500 again... it won't change the dope, LOL! Finally, with low reflectivity targets that are small, 500 yards can be tricky. A larger paper target, like 24" x 36" should range easily, . It’s not. I’m a Rifleman by trade, I only zero at 100, this range has steel 50-500. The zero was at 100 yards. 18650s- yeah that’s fair and maybe something for me to keep in mind but the fact it can operate from a any battery with a USB-C cable was enough for me. Yes that was a typeo, I meant to say I lazed at 500 then when trying to relaze(450 down to-) as close as 50 yards, it wouldn’t adjust the calculated drop. Meaning I couldn’t gauge how far off the calculation was. There are various sizes of steel from 6” to 6’x19” targets out to 500 and the were plenty warm compared to the surrounding area so impacts should have been easy. If it’s a better estimate- the man-sized steel at 500 had the estimated drop well below the target when holding center-mass. So well beyond the 4’ you say it is. I’m not sure if I can post a link to another forum but it was actually sniper’s hide. Mean velocity of 3075fps, I rounded to 3100 due to having a 16.5” barrel. BC of .233 for M193 using “ATS X-Force M193 5.56.”. Surely I should have bought and used a chronograph and calculated my own BC but even with those numbers being off, the calculator should not have been feet below a 6’ tall(above the ground) steel target while aiming right at center mass. Also while trying to turn it on to take a photo of the screen, neither battery will turn it on and leaving it plugged into the wall with either battery will just flash green and red. |
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See that’s terrific customer service. Problem being I am more of a prepper. I hoped I could spend this much on something that (within reason) just works and is fairly rugged. Is it? Can’t say because it didn’t last long. Even now while trying to turn it on to grab the ballistic data I put into the calculator’s profile it won’t turn on with either battery. I’d rather get a refund through the company I got it from and shop for something else than risk it again. |
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