As a monocular its ok (I admit I haven't seen others in the market) but I honestly don't see how I am supposed to look through this with it on my ar15...

I guess its not "eye relief" since on a thermal you have to press your eye against it, but I cant see myself using it

Try it first. It’s pretty cool. No scope face.

Would you think this is user error related to your setup/inexperience or are the thousands of successful users killing shit with these on their AR's just wrong?

So what's the problem? (not a very descriptive post)

Did you get an AR specific mount, or is it the standard for bolt gun type stocks?

Is it the rubber eyepiece? Pretty sure you can remove it if you want.

The two most common reasons when I hear comments like this about any thermal are some people want to shoot “heads up” . If that’s the case, put a riser on your AR. The second reason it’s because of the eyecup (snorkel). It’s already been mentioned, but you can remove it and shoot without it to get more eye relief. However, you’re going to get a lot of light backsplash on your face. If you remove it, don’t snug in too tight and get scoped.

I've been shooting and hunting for 35 years I think I'm fine. And lets not pretend like we're working on rockets over here, its a scope, I could go out and use it for 100 hours straight if I were being paid to do it, but since 99.99999% of us on here are out having fun shooting or hunting I plan on using things that are comfortable in 2021

Thinking about it hah



I dont think you can remove the eye piece on a thermal unless it were pitch black outside, not have I heard of an AR specific mount



Ya I cant see the eyecup being removed in my conditions (a little bit of light. It definitely sits low, I'm going to try a riser. They were nice enough to make me a custom mount (the locking mount on the 25) so I think I may just keep it and try out some different options with a riser, "heads up" is definitely 70% of the issue

I’m not sure what the complaint is and I have read the thread.  If the eye cup is annoying remove it.  I had one on my m845 that was bothersome.  An alternative is to remove the flaps from inside the eye cup if it has them.   Halfway between removal of cup and not.

Closed off mindset doesn't fix your problem. You should return it though. I don't think you'd benefit from anything anybody had to say here to help you.

Boomers come in all shapes and sizes.

I’ve shot my hogster 35 without the rubber eye cup in full Texas sun with sunglass/eyepro and it’s been perfectly usable.

I sincerely want to help you figure this out but I am having trouble figuring out what exactly the problem you’re having with it is. Is it you can’t get a good sight picture, the image isn’t clear, or what?

Most of the photos you see of Hogsters on ARs have the stocks collapsed all the way. Seems like the preference is for guys to run them on a regular mount all the way to the rear and then choke way up on the gun to see. I’d probably look up a cantilever picatinny riser to slide it back behind the charging handle a bit further (run the riser backwards basically). Just want enough clearance around the latches to still be able to charge the gun without issues.

Also, if you don’t like the rubber eye piece, see if there is a Butler creek cover that will fit the rear. That’s how I use my Flir Zeus.

^ this.

If you've been master guns for 3 decades and can't figure out the options to optimize mounting an optic for you on the same application that literally thousands of other people are successfully using for the same purpose, you're probably not as shit hot in the game as you think you are.

The user is obviously the issue in this equation. It's a bitter pill, but if you swallow it it can help you get past your issues.

You don't need to listen to everyone but you should consider listening to someone other than yourself.

I agree that offered mounts for most thermals are behind the curve for our use.
I've been adding a YHM or other riser for quite a while so my thermals sit higher, for all the same reasons we've use 1.73" or higher mounts on LPVO for the past decade +. The ocular lens on my thermal guns sit at roughly the same distance aft of the CH as it does on most of my LPVO equipped guns.

I just had a buddy run through the same "this sucks" thing back in March.

Takes a known well zeroed gun: Bang miss, bang miss then comes at me with the "these setups suck. I can't see out of this"
I reply: dude, you're not anatomically special, mount the gun in a proper shooting position.
I take the gun & rattle off a decent 3 shot 100yd group & hand it back.
He goes Bang miss, bang miss again and comes up off the gun in frustration to take a minute.
I take a pic of him mounting the gun "naturally" with his 50years of shooting and hunting experience and then he see's what I see. It looks like he's cupping his ear onto his clavicle & trying to shoot. Finally the light bulb came on for him that he may actually have been the issue.
He struggled against his "natural" feel, got into a decent position and was able to bring the rounds in on target.

Well, the 15 year olds have officially taken over ar15.com -- Other than that the guy that is a rep for them is super helpful, I'm convinced the rest of you dont even have your drivers license yet so I cant even reply

Oh, I don’t know.

I’ve read your initial post several times and I still don’t know precisely what issues you are having.

Other than your smarmy dismissal of what seems like very sound advice, that is.

If you don’t like it, box it up and send it to me & I'll put it to good use.

Stop being an ass in the tech forums, this isn't the place to be combative and arrogant. From your smug attitude it's pretty clear you don't want help, so stop bitching when you don't get the answer you want

Pretty sure we’re being trolled. He’s not actually saying anything.
Taymag just sell it if you’re for. Real.

Doesnt sound like he is sure either. Some people aren’t good with explanations when writing, maybe he is one of those folks.
Honestly the thread doesn’t seem to have much of a point to it.
I’m looking forward to getting mine in.

The only reason that I understood what was meant by the OP is that I have a Super Hogster and experienced the problem (at least what I THINK is his problem) when I initially mounted it to my rifle.  Now in my instance, I surmised that it was mounted too far forward.  Moving rearward more than I would a normal day scope greatly helped the issue.  It's still "different" feeling than a day scope, but I don't believe it would hinder too bad taking the shot.  I have yet to zero it.

I agree with OP that some of the replies have been a bit juvenile, but in their defense OP, you have done a terrible job of telling us what specifically is the issue.  I think what prompted the juvenile replies is you having such a negative tone to a company/product that is highly revered by many (myself included) without giving an adequate and justifiable reason for it.  The responses you are reading equate to a "just who are you mr know it all?" attitude from them.

Agreed on the placement. Once I moved it back it got better, and adding a riser made it better as well. I’d gotten used to a heads up shooting position with all the high optic mounts that are available, felt weird to be hugging the stock to get a good sight picture. Doesn’t help that my cheeks are a bit chubby

Why is daylight an issue with thermals?

Super hogster?

Yep

Daylight isn’t a concern for Thermals except for three variables.

Number one, never point the objective of a thermal at any intense light source, including the sun. Secondly, it can be hard to see the screen of any digital device, when the conditions are really bright. Having an eyecup on these types of devices can help block out the external light making the screen easier to see. Number three, with sunlight objects will become warmer making the heat differential with animals harder to distinguish with thermals.