Down here in North Texas, thermal optics stopped being exotic a while ago. Hogs and coyotes don’t keep business hours, and the shooters who chase them figured out that a good thermal scope earns its keep faster than almost any other piece of gear. I’m Lance Rankin, the gunsmith and owner behind Western Sport in Roanoke, and the Pulsar Thermion 2 XG50 is one of the thermals customers ask me about most.
What the Thermion 2 XG50 is
It’s a dedicated thermal riflescope from Pulsar, built in the shape of a conventional scope. That form factor matters more than people think. It mounts in standard rings on the rifle you already have, and it balances like glass instead of like a brick bolted to your rail. If you’ve zeroed a regular scope, nothing about setting this one up will surprise you.
Inside, you get Pulsar’s thermal sensor driving a sharp AMOLED display, with a menu of reticle options you can tune to taste. Pulsar rates the detection range at up to 2,300 meters. Take that number for what it is: detection means you can tell something warm is out there, not that you can identify it or shoot it at that distance. In practice, what the XG50 gives you is the ability to pick up a coyote crossing a big pasture long before he’s in range, and enough image quality to be sure of what you’re looking at when he gets there.
Where it earns its money
Night hunting is the obvious use, and it’s where this scope shines. Hog control, calling coyotes, checking a fence line at 2 a.m. because the dogs won’t quit barking. The housing is weather-resistant and the whole unit is built for outdoor abuse, which matters when you’re bouncing across a field in a side-by-side in January.
One point the spec sheets bury: thermal works in full daylight too. Heat is heat. On a grown-up pasture where a coyote’s coat matches the grass, a thermal will pull him out of the background when your eyes and a 10x scope can’t.
If you’re still weighing thermal against traditional night vision, I wrote up the whole comparison in my guide to coyote hunting with night vision. Short version: night vision shows you the scene, thermal shows you the animal. For detection, thermal wins. For identification in cluttered terrain, it’s closer than the marketing admits.
Honest trade-offs
Serious thermal costs serious money, and the XG50 is no exception. It will likely be the most expensive thing on the rifle. Batteries and cold weather are also a real consideration with any electronic optic, so carry spares if the plan runs past midnight. And a thermal image, even a good one, is not glass. You’re reading heat signatures, not counting tines, so know your local regulations and your target before you press anything.
If you want a laser rangefinder built into the package, Pulsar makes the Thermion 2 LRF XL50, which answers the one question the XG50 can’t: exactly how far away is that dot of heat. For shots past a couple hundred yards at night, that’s worth thinking hard about.
Who should buy it
If you shoot hogs or predators more than a few nights a year, the XG50 is the kind of optic you buy once and stop thinking about. If you’re thermal-curious and hunt twice a season, borrow one first or start further down the line. That’s not me talking you out of a sale; it’s me telling you what I’d tell my neighbor.
Check our shop for current stock and pricing, since both move around. We’re an online store first, with local pickup by appointment here in Roanoke, just north of Fort Worth. If you want help getting a thermal mounted and zeroed, that’s bench work I do all the time. Reach me at [email protected] or 817-393-4000.
Lance Rankin is the owner and Chief Gunsmith of Western Sport, a family-run Type 07 FFL and Class 3/SOT dealer in Roanoke, Texas, serving shooters since 2007. Born and raised in Texas with over 50 years of experience handling firearms, Lance purchased Western Sport in 2017 and turned his lifelong passion into his profession. He specializes in AR-15 and AR-10 platform rifles, manufactures Western Sport’s own AR-15 line under the Rankin Industries brand, and runs the shop’s in-house Cerakote coating operation. When he’s not behind the counter or the workbench, you’ll find him on his ranch deep into the night, hunting coyotes with an AR-15 and thermal optics. Lance holds an MBA and personally shoots and tests the products Western Sport sells.
