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Pulsar Core RXQ30V Thermal Rifle Scope was introduced by Pulsar during the SHOT SHOW in January 2017. It quickly became one of the most popular entry-level thermal scopes in the market. It costs well below US$2,000.
What’s New in 2019?
The manufacturer has updated the model in 2019. They have now incorporated the black-and-white display instead of the class emerald green display. If you are looking for a thermal riflescope on a budget, Pulsar Core RXQ30V Thermal Rifle Scope is the one you can buy.
Pulsar Core RXQ30V Thermal Scope: Highlights
- Pulsar Core RXQ30V Thermal Rifle Scope is an extremely resourceful riflescope that is compact in size and can range up to 985 yards.
- With the help of this thermal scope, hunters can view vivid images of the wildlife as well as the surrounding at 1.6-6.4x magnification, thanks to the 384×288 resolution sensor and 17μm pixel pitch.
- The popular PIP (Picture-in-Picture) function of Pulsar is available at this model. This function helps a night hunter place shots precisely while maintaining a wide field of view.
- Pulsar has incorporated 640×480 AMOLED screen that helps hunters view high-contrast heat signatures of animals without any eye fatigue. The updated 2019 version of Pulsar Core RXQ30V Thermal Scope now comes with a Black-&-White display and not with the earlier class emerald green display.
- Core RXQ30V comes with QD Mount that helps in easy removal of sight, followed by a quick return to zero.
Pulsar Core RXQ30V Thermal Rifle Scope: Review
If you want to track or stalk a moving hog or any other animal in the night and bring it down convincingly before it gets out of your sight, Pulsar Core RXQ30V is a device for you. It can track the animal down at the dead of the night faster than ever before. This device detects heat signatures for you without breaking the bank.
You can effectively protect pasture at any time of the day or night because the Pulsar Core RXQ30V Riflescope detects the heat signature. Whether you want to shoot one animal at a time or shoot fast in a multiple hog situation, Core RXQ30V answers all your issues. The picture in picture (PIP) function comes especially handy in the fast multiple-hog-shooting situation. Whether you want to shoot at close range (say, 75-85 yards or essentially within 100 yards) or at long-range (200-250 yards, 400 yards or more; up to 985 yards), this thermal scope will not let you down.
Magnification
Pulsar Core RXQ30V Riflescope comes with the base magnification of 1.6x. However, you can go on increasing it up to 6.4x. Interestingly, Pulsar has incorporated it with 3 digital zoom settings: 2x, 3x, and 4x. When the highest 4x setting is used with the base magnification, you get the maximum 6.4x magnification in this thermal scope.
Fixed Focus
It is important to note that this thermal imaging device doesn’t come with a focus ring for manual adjustment. However, considering the below-US$2,000-price, lack of focus adjustment at Core RXQ30V is perfectly justified. The focus to infinity will work fine at all ranges. None of the users will ever find any issue with the fixed focus. Even when the target is as close as 10 yards, the image looked absolutely in focus.
Dynamic
One of the best things about this Pulsar Core RXQ30V Riflescope is that it comes with a 50Hz refresh rate, which gives hunters the practical benefit of viewing dynamic/moving objects as well as static/slow-moving objects easily.
Another great aspect about Core RXQ30V is that you can easily and quickly mount it on a firearm or tripod, thanks to the easy on/off application. It’ll hardly take 5 minutes to mount the device. There are 3 rifle profiles that you can set in this device. This feature helps you to use the thermal scope with three different rifle systems.
Overall Performance
Now, let’s check the overall performance and use of the RXQ30V. We have been using the Pulsar Trail XP50 1.6-12.8×42 Thermal Riflescope for quite some time now. So, it was a bit tricky for us to judge the overall performance of Pulsar Core RXQ30V 1.6-6.4×22 Thermal Riflescope PL76483Q with Black/White Display because we have been used to the high-end performance of the US$5,000 thermal scope. You can buy almost three RXQ30V scopes at the price of just one Trail XP50. When we started out to judge RXQ30V’s overall performance, we had unconsciously set the standard pretty high.
Pulsar Core RXQ30V Scope is a really nice thermal scope on its own merit. Under 150 yards, the optical clarity is excellent. Even at 200-250 yards, the scope had nice optical clarity. However, it is from this range (or for longer distances), we started to feel that RXQ30V came with more pixels. The 1.6x magnification is really commendable. In fact, at 3.2x magnification too, the optical clarity is decent. When looking at around 400 yards, spotting a deer in a field having tall grass was easy. However, it took a few seconds to identify whether the spotted animal (or heat signature) was that of a hog or deer. When the head or neck profile of the deer was visible, it was easy to identify the animal. However, when the animal was grazing having its head down, it was not possible to know whether it was a hog or deer.
It needs special mention that this problem of identifying an animal through a thermal scope in tall grass at around 400 yards or longer is not the problem of an affordable (below-US$2,000) thermal scope (having 384×288 resolution) only. The same problems have also been reported for more expensive thermal scopes having the same specifications.
At the highest magnification (6.4x digital zoom), the device was almost unusable because much of the resolution is lost at that point for the image. However, spotting hogs or other animals in open fields at longer ranges is not that a problem with the updated 2019 version of Pulsar Core RXQ30V Scope.
Picture In Picture (PIP) Function is a Winner
If you love stalking games, you will love this Pulsar Core RXQ30V Scope because it hardly weighs anything on the firearm. In fact, the picture in picture (PIP) function comes handy in the fast multiple-hog-shooting situation. Suppose, you are looking at a hog or an animal in a herd at 3.2x magnification. In that case, you can use the PIP feature of the Pulsar thermal scope to have a look at the other hogs or animals in the herd through the full field of view at 1.6x magnification. That’s why you can take quick, multiple shots at multiple animals in the herd with Pulsar Core RXQ30V 1.6-6.4×22 Thermal Riflescope.
Conclusion
The Pulsar engineers have included the freeze function in this Core RXQ30V thermal scope despite its below-US$2,000 price. This feature (which can be found in other costlier thermals such as Pulsar Trail XQ30) helps the shooter in one-shot zeroing. The availability of the IRIS technology as well as impressive 985-yard detection range makes it one of the best thermals at affordable price. If you are looking for a thermal on a budget, you can definitely try Pulsar Core RXQ30V 1.6-6.4×22 Thermal Riflescope PL76483Q (with Black/White Display).
If you are already using Sightmark Photon/ATN X-Sight/Gen 1 Night Vision, you can definitely sell it off and give the affordable Pulsar Core RXQ30V a try. You’ll not regret.
