I am considering getting a Trijicon MK III Thermal rifle scope, either 4.5 X 60MM (IRMK3-60) or the 2.5X35MM (IRMK3-35).  I will mostly use it as a dedicated rifle scope. I would how ever like the versatility of occasionally using it as a clip on, as I have a wide variety of quality day scopes mounted and zeroed.  Looking at hunting coyotes and hogs, given the terrain I will be in 200 yards will be a long shot with 100 yard or less shots more likely.   How do the MKIIIs do as clip ons? Which one would be better? Is there a conundrum with getting it to position correctly in front of your day scope?  Im new to thermal scopes and appreciate your input.

Those are both great scopes but will be miserable as clip ons.  I would consider making one of the current rifles a dedicated rifle, or at the least put QD mounts on the day scope of one and swap between it and the thermal.  If you need a clip on, then get one designed for that.  Otherwise use as a scope and b happy with one of the best units in the market today.

Fixed it. I think there are quite a few people who have purchased these believing the marketing material stating they would work as a clip-on.

This^^^^^^
I have been very displeased that the TWO IR Patrols I bought believing their marketing are miserable/unusable as clip ons.

Yeah, I ditched mine and bought another T-70.

Thanks for clearing that up. Saved me some disappointment for sure.

Why are they on the TNVC web site as clip ons?

You can’t really hold it against TNVC because i’m sure they are given this information from IRD/Trijicon, but here it is.

From the details of the MKIII 60mm:
“And of course, the IR Hunter Mk III offers the ability to be used as a stand-alone thermal weapon sight or Clip-On Thermal Device in front of a host day optic. This extremely versatile scope literally gives users the best of both worlds.”

From the details of the REAP:
“Beyond the stand-alone thermal scope capabilities, the REAP-IR can also be used in a clip-on capacity for short range day optics such as red dot sights.  Like the reticle location save feature, the system allows you to save up to four clip-on screen locations as well.  This means you can immediately recall the clip-on screen locations for different host optics, for quick ‘return to zero.’”

And they technically CAN be used as a clip on, but it suuuuucks

Idk about the MK series but with the Reaps, clip-on mode is gone now.

I still use my Reap in front of my day scope but zero using the Reaps reticle instead.

Sounds like sound advise,  thank you.  This is what I will probably do.

Again I am new to thermal scopes. But was thinking if you put one in front of a day scope on 1X, assuming it will give you a clear image of the display in the thermal at such a short distance  and used the reticle in the thermal, you should get some utility out of the set up.  Im thinking you would have to zero the thermal set up in this configuration. And it might  become a bit of chore reaching out to make adjustments on the thermal.

So may be more of a chore than its worth .

You are correct.

it's not that bad.

I run in this exact configuration on both Scar 17 and mk18 and it works fine for me.  Both in front of Elcan.  YMMV.

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Thanks Broadband8,    cool set ups.

If one has to shoot to verify the zero why not just use it as a dedicated scope.
Also pretty sure that if you need to shoot to zero it’s not really a Clip On. ;)

I do.  Just not on these two guns.  Got a little lightweight 300 blk just for that purpose.

Also, you are right, not a clip-on.  Even the snipe is a lame attempt at that.  Oh well, for now it's utmx or utcx.

Flir T-70 and T-75 work much better as a clip-on, but also have internal reticules for standalone TWS..

Uh, yeah. Cause those are dedicated clip on units.....

Uh, yeah, they are also dedicated TWS too, clip-on function is just an added benefit.

My personal opinion is that neither the T-70 or 75, work very well as a dedicated TWS (kinda like MK3 not being very ideal in Clip on Mode).
The Op was specifically asking about Trijicon products.
Your need to constantly insert Flir product (which I own as well) into every thread possible is amusing/distracting.

Thanks for the info SkyPup

Both the T-70 and the T-75 are standalone thermal weapon scopes and work excellent as standalone thermal weapon scopes.

In their menus you have to specifically select to turn them into clip-ons from standalone thermal weapon scopes.

When selected in clip-on mode, you take 30 seconds to align your day scope reticule with the clip-on mode reticule by cowitnessing the reticule. You do not have to fire any rounds to zero your POI if your day scope is already zeroed.

The T-70 works great up to 6X day scope magnification with no pixelation.

The T-75 works great up to 12X day scope magnification with no pixelation.

I have six of them and swap them around on numerous rifles depending on what I am doing in spite of Mr. Players worries about what it is that I do with my hunting kits.

BTW, I realize it is total blasphemy according to the gospel, but I ditched all my IRD kits for more FLIR military kits due to the ineffective Clip-On functionality of the IRD units, their ergonomics, and their bulkiness.

Works just great for me!

I hope the Op is okay that this thread has turned into discussion of Flir products. (Please pm if you are not, I hope the discussion is relevant)

Skypup, I believe you misunderstand.
The T-50/6570/75 all CAN work as stand alone sights but seem to be designed and better suited to clip on use. I didn’t disagree that they work as a TWS.
It my opinion, a device suited for clip on mode can’t be a great stand alone and vise versa, based on what makes both devices excell.
In all of your pictures you use these devices as a clip on. If they are such great stand alone units why do you not use them in that mode?
I don’t have any shooting experience with the SnipIR but all the other Trij products are NOT good Clip ons. We can agree on that.  But you are not comparing devices that are even remotely in the same price range. Op asked about a $8k product and you say your $16k product is better. The T-70/75 that you are pushing into this thread are twice the price of any of the Trijicon products. I’m really only responding because I feel like this is not a fair comparison.
(I have no dog in this fight, I don’t sell NV/thermal, or work for Trijicon)

If the discussion actually is “what is the best Clip on thermal unit?”, I also have experience here and for the money I think the BAE UTC eats the T-75. But that is more opinion based. But at least that’s a comparison of similar products with similar price points.
That discussion would be a “closer” debate because they are both very capable Clip ons.

“I said Good Day!”

LOL

So misconstrued and confused.

Not yet, but I do have some time behind one.
Why do you ask?

How so?