Without a doubt, they have become more affordable while also increasing the quality of the image.
The Gunspot team tests this scope in this review and discovers it delivers incredible value.
Thermal optics keep improving year after year, and that is a trend that wont be going away.
Armasight Contractor thermal scope line offers five models with a choice in ArmaCOREs and magnifications up to 24x.
Thermal sights are used by not only the military and law enforcement but also hunters worldwide.
Because its easy to spot a target due to its heat signatures.
During his time in this role, the police department didnt have a thermal optic of its own.
The Armasight scope includes a Picatinny-type rail for the addition of a red dot sight, laser sight or range finder. The author mounted a Holosun 1X optic on his.
Although Grant shot with night vision regularly, thermal was out of reach due to its cost.
While Grant may not have as much experience with thermal rifle scopes as some reviewers.
Naturally, we were both excited when GunSpot was asked to review the Armasight Contractor 320.
You can select a range of sight picture options including the color palette, reticle type and reticle color.
Armasight Contractor: Affordable Excellence?
What is the Contractor 320 from Armasight, you might ask?
The 3-12X digital zoom range lets you cover a variety of ranges well.
The controls on this thermal scope were large and easy to manipulate. If you are wearing gloves in the woods or on patrol, the controls are perfect. Note the Holosun that the author attached.
Armasight put a great deal of effort into making this optic lighter, smaller and smarter.
The turret knobs adjust with 0.5 MOA increments.
It has an inclinometer, a level meter and a graphic compass.
The “black hot” palette offers excellent clarity as shown in this photo. You can also see the information provided by the HUD.
And you get all this functionality and more for an MSRP of $3,299.
A note about thermal imaging: it is different from traditional night vision.
Night vision amplifies ambient light.
The “white hot” setting makes heat sources really pop out on the screen.
Thermal works on detecting heat.
Both have their place for hunting, law enforcement and military uses.
The first thing that Grant pointed out is that the optic comes off as incredibly robust.
While the scope is non-traditional, it still allows for tight groups with theSpringfield Armory SAINT rifle.
I will say that the housing feels practically bomb-proof.
Something Grant often uses to gauge the quality of optics is the performance of the adjustment knobs.
In this case, he was very, very pleased.
The soft eyecup helps the shooter to more clearly see the display for finding the target and precise shooting.
As Ive heard him repeatedly say about other optics, he loves to have large oversized knobs on optics.
His reasoning comes from times having gloved or extremely cold hands and trying to adjust the optic.
The optic housing is also sealed extremely well around the USB and battery compartments.
The color palette options are also fantastic, providing users with a palette for every scenario.
He believes those two configs would be most valuable for law enforcement.
The most interesting pallet option for Grant was the Target palette.
So, for example, the warmest part of a hog would be red framed in by dark black.
It is quite an interesting mode and I feel itd be very popular with hunters.
Another thing Grant pointed out that was fantastic about the Contractor thermal scopes is its reticle options.
Multiple reticle options and six colors let you customize it however you want.
The reticle options are dots and crosshairs, then a crosshair with holds and a chevron with holds.
This would again provide you with something to fit a wide range of options.
Another fantastic feature of the optic is the built-in Picatinny rail.
Rolling your rifle over to use a side-mounted red dot on the Armasight works flawlessly.
This assures your rifle doesnt have to be only equipped with a thermal rifle scope.
Either of those options of course would work well for law enforcement use.
To zero the optic, we actually used some daylight thermal Armasight targets.
These targets have a reflective surface, except for the black diamond in the center.
When zeroing the optic, we ended up doing it with no zoom and at 25 yards.
At 25 yards, we were getting good groups, with our best ones being what would be sub-MOA.
The price point is for sure something that Grant thinks will attract police agencies.
Go to forum thread
ArmasightContractor 320 3-12x25 Thermal Weapon Sight
ArmasightThermal Zeroing Target
SAINT
