If you need a lightweight rifle setup, it makes sense to mount a compact rifle scope.
While thermal and night vision scopes have had bad raps for heavy weights in the past, more recent offerings from authoritative manufacturers have provided lightweight options that may just set the new standard.
One such compact thermal scope is AGM’s Secutor TS25-384.
In quality and performance, it’s certainly up there with the best thermal imaging scopes currently available and tops out the rankings for a thermal of its size.
Can small really deliver the quality you need? Find out here.
Quick Overview...
What We Like: Standalone scope
What We Don’t Like: Limited digital features
Best Uses: Night Shooting, Day Shooting, Tactical Use, Hunting, Scouting, Varmint Control, Surveillance, Light to Heavy Caliber Rifles, Close to Mid-Range
- Thermal Resolution: 384x288
- Pixels: 17 microns
- Refresh Rate: 50Hz
- Eye Relief: 40mm
- Color Modes: 11
- Battery: 5 hours
- Dimensions: 9.8 x 2.8 x 3.2”/1.43 lbs
Our Verdict: The TS25 model within the Secutor series of thermal rifle scopes is the most compact and lightweight option designed for close-range work. When used within its capabilities, none can outperform it. For professional-grade thermal imaging at a low cost, you can’t go wrong.
Who is the AGM Secutor TS25-384 Best Suited to?
The Secutor with its lightweight and compact size, minimum operating time, and small lens is best suited to hunters who shoot sub-200 yards and those who require close-range surveillance and performance.
It’s also a thermal scope that helps you to afford real thermal imaging quality for less than $3000. While there may be other options cheaper than this, few have the professional-grade quality that AGM provides in their thermal devices. For the money, it’s an excellent buy if you value real performance from a real thermal scope.
How Does the AGM Secutor TS25-384 Perform?
The Secutor doesn’t need to distract a buyer with extra digital features that are considered non-essential by many hunters. It has quality where it needs it, for example, it has extra features that help to improve thermal imaging performance such as manual and auto NUC and defective pixel repair that are invaluable for a thermal device.
Being able to control the quality of the image means more in the hunt or the stakeout than messing around with video recording and figuring out how to stream live when your WiFi is down. Get the point?
The Secutor scope is able to detect man-size targets out to 500 yards. This may seem limited to some but remember that it has a 25mm aperture with 384x288 resolution and is actually well-suited to its detection capabilities. It has a 50Hz refresh rate, so it will keep up with moving targets when you need it for coyote hunting and hog hunting. You can also track wounded game when it leaps half a mile away before it goes down.
AGM has quality behind its products, and this is what lends to its high-end aesthetic appeal, robust build, and accurate performance. For real thermal gear for the real hunter or surveiller, the Secutor provides it all – quality, performance, and affordability.
Features & Benefits
Standalone Scope
The Secutor may be small in size that is comparable to a clip-on, but it’s actually a fully operational standalone thermal scope.
You can use a standalone scope alone without the aid of another optic or device. It has reticle options for aiming points, optical and digital zoom, and a zeroing process with up to five profiles and five zeros for each.
Since you can use a thermal scope during the day, you don’t need to dismount it and remount a daytime scope. Granted, you won’t have a natural image as you would with a daytime scope, but you can track blood trails and wounded prey easier than you would with the naked eye.
For the price, the Secutor is reasonable. It’s still well under Trijicon IR price points but is slightly more expensive than a similar alternative, the ATN Thor 4 384 1.25-5x scope. While the Thor 4 may offer more in terms of features and perks, the AGM Secutor has build quality, accuracy, and performance on its side with less software glitches.
Secutor Thermal Features
The Secutor TS25 is a 384-resolution scope with a 17-micron uncooled microbolometer and a Germanium objective lens with a 25mm aperture. You’ll be seeing a 384x288 resolution image stretched over an 1024x768 HD display. Especially important key features worth noting are its manual and automatic NUC correction and defective pixel repair digitally-controlled features.
Optical magnification of this scope is 1.2x, but it does offer digital magnification of 1x, 2x, 4x, and a PIP mode with 2x zoom. There are 11 image palettes that includes White Hot and Black Hot, five digitally-controlled reticle patterns, and four reticle colors that are Cyan, Red, Black, and White.
The Secutor thermal scope is IP67 rated to be waterproof and is nitrogen-purged for fogproof protection. The scope is made from aluminum, has a manual focus ring and manual eyepiece, and a Picatinny/Weaver rail on each side of the scope body.
With these integrated rails, you can attach a video recorder, WiFi module, or any other accessory which proves necessary for your setup.
Zeroing
Zeroing the Secutor is much like zeroing any other thermal riflescope. You enter the zeroing profile where you can set a distance for anywhere between 99-999 meters. You aim on center of your target and make X and Y coordinate adjustments to sight-in your scope.
The neat thing about the Secutor is that you have five profiles: A, B, C, D, and E. Each profile can hold up to five zeros. AGM actually recommends zeroing in three distances with each having at least three shots to acquire precise ballistic trajectory.
Double-Lever Clamp Mount
AGM has some of the best mounts in the industry as they’re robust and fit both Picatinny and Weaver rails. The Secutor comes with a dual-lever mount with a quick release design. The clamps hold the scope securely to the rail while also allowing for fast mounting and dismounting.
With only 40mm of eye relief, it’s best to mount the scope as far forward as possible, especially if you’re mounting the Secutor to a kicker rifle. The scope axis sits 42mm (1.65”) above the rail.
The scope itself can be attached to the mount in two positions secured via 2x flathead socket cap screws. One position is with the scope body aligning with the entire mount while the other position is with the scope mounted an extra 1.5” rearwards on the mount.
Limitations
Limited Digital Features
While the AGM scope has quite the number of color palettes, zeroing profiles, PIP mode, and even a stadiametric rangefinder, it lacks some digital features that could be seen on a thermal scope. Features like video/photo, streaming, WiFI, ballistic compensation, etc. are not standard nor built-in.
However, while you can add attachments for these features, control the scope with a remote, and it has a universal input/output connector, it’s still bare basics when it comes to bells and whistles.
To be fair, many professional-grade scopes lack the “extras” as performance and quality in what it’s supposed to provide is the primary focus – high-end thermal imaging camera performance. All the perks are non-essentials.
Popular Questions
All thermal scopes within the Secutor series are recoil-rated up to 700G. The consensus is that the Secutor is recoil-rated for use up to .308 calibers.
The AGM Secutor thermal scope requires 2x CR123 batteries to operate up to 5 hours. To extend battery life up to a potential 44 hours, you can use an external 5V battery bank available separately.
The Secutor TS25 comes with an objective lens cap, eyepiece cup, battery, remote control, video cable, carry case, and manual.
The dual-lever QR mount is included as the scope comes fully assembled with the mount in the box.
With the specs and thermal imaging quality of the Secutor TS25, the approximate detection range is 500 yards. The recognition range is 250 yards.
AGM provides a limited 3-year warranty on the Secutor thermal rifle scope. It must be registered with AGM, and standard expectations are required to be carried out by the consumer.
Conclusion
The Secutor TS25 is designed for close-range shooting, compactness, and a light weight. It’s what you need if you’re wielding your rifle all day long. It’s what you need if you require extra sight in the dark or if you’re on a budget. In quality and performance, the Secutor lacks nothing.
If you want the extra, external attachments to add even more capabilities, AGM has ready-to-go options made for recording, adding WiFi, or getting more operating time for longer hunting hours or tactical missions.
Further Reading
