DNT Optics TNC225R Thermnight

DNT TNC225R Thermnight Review

 

I have to say I know it has been a while since I done a written scope review but this one is a little bit more special.

On my last review I reviewed the excellent Arken/DNT Zulus range of NV scopes and I am still using them with having both the 312 and 520 and I am finding these scopes top of their game and very under valued within the Nightvision market and industry, DNT really knocked the ball out of the park with those scopes, so when they announced they would be going down the the multispectral route for less than £1000 I was very eager to get my grubby hands on one to try it and after a month or two wait I finally did get my hands on one. I have been testing the TNC now for over a month in many different environments and I can tell you it has been through the mill and back, did it survive? well keep reading and you will find out but lets get the geeky stuff over with first.

DESCRIPTION

SPECS

 

Back to the Review!

So as I said in the intro I have been using this unit for just over a month on many different calibres and in many different scenarios so I have decided to break down this review into various sections to cover all the bases and tyo try slimline the review to facts and not just the story behind the facts.

Entering the Box

As I got the TNC straight from DNT themselves I was expecting just a prototype scope in a non descript box with no finished branding etc so I was surprised when the posty came and it was well parcelled with outer packaging with and nestled snuggly within there was a fully branded and finished packaged product. The TNC box was very good quality to the standard to what is expected by even some of the most highend manufacturers in the scope market, feeling a good quality box gives you confidence that the contents themselves will also be good quality. Opening the lid of the box you are met with the warranty and instruction booklet, very well designed and simple to navigate and understand albeit the usual tiny texts that most people struggle to read but you all know me I never read that staff anyways I just get right into using stuff and work it out as I go, the way it should be done haha!

Under the layer that holds the instruction was the real important stuff in my mind.

TNC225R unit , Rail Mount 20MOA , and all the usual stuff like charging/dta cable and cleaning cloth etc.

All the stuff that we all like a good rummage about with.

First Hands On Impression of the TNC

Lifting the scope without the mount attached from the box I immediately felt that the quality was rugged and good, it was a little heavier than the Zulus that I had tested before but this is understandable as it had more scopes integrated. the layout was clearly different but you could tell it was related to the Zulus clearly as the shape was very similar.

Even with its extra weight and bulkiness it still felt very compact and it was still lighter than many other scopes on the market that I have tested.

I noticed immediately that there were extra function buttons incorporated in the scopes layout as well but all seemed to be in places that were ergonomically viable.

All in all I was impressed it was what I was expecting.

Buttons and Functions

Similar to most digital scopes the button and function layouts are pretty simple.

Firstly unlike most scopes the buttons are not flat on top of the unit they are slightly faced towards the shooter which I think is a ver good design.

Top – power button, long press to turn on or off, quick short press to put on standby. This button is also used to freeze frame when your in the Zeroing menu.

below the power button there is a cluster of 4 buttons in a small diamond shape.

Top – Long press brings up main menu, short taps outside the menu changes the colour of the reticle.

Left – Long press changes Screen type on whatever scope your on, if you are on Digital scope this will change from NV to Day vision. If you are on Digital NV mode short press activates and changes the IR strength, if you are on thermal mode short press changes pallete.

Right – Short Press changes screen brightness and long press works the PIP mode.

Bottom – Long press activates recording and short press stops

There is two additional buttons on the left hand side of the TNC, these are larger buttons

Left Forward – This activates the Laser Rangefinder, long press turns it on quick press after range is desired freezes range and send information to the bullet drop on your main reticle (when using the rangefinder a small cross appears near your main reticle this is your ranging reticle when the data transfers to your main reticle the ranging reticle disappears and a green icon is shown on your main reticle for your bullet drop).

Left Back – This changes your function from Thermal to Digital and vice versa. If you are using PIP mose where the thermal is PIP and your main image is Digital (this is how I tend to have it) when you switch from Digital main to Thermal main the PIP will automatically turn to Digital (whether you are using the day or nightvision setting) .

Full run down of menus etc is in my video review on Youtube HERE

Mounting

The TNC came with a 20MOA mount that attaches to a standard Picatinny rail, most rifles these days come with rails as standard.

Like the Zulus all the torque settings for attaching the TNC to the mount (35inch/lbs) and then to the rail (30 inch/lbs) are marked on the mount itself so that side of things is very easy, it is all down to you and your position preference.

I decided to mount the TNC on my Browning Abolt 2 .243 bolt rifle, with the mount being a cantilever style mount I have had no issue setting these mounts up on any of my bolt rifles finding it very universal providing you have a rail on your action.

Bare in mind the scopes eye relief is only 45mm not the standard 80-90mm you are used to with a normal day scope so you might find having to mount the scope quite far back on the rail so you can get your eye closer to the scope, but not too close to risk getting injured by the recoil if you are using it on a larger centrefire rifle.

Mounting is very easy and the scope has a built in digital gyroscope to make sure your all level.

Zeroing The TNC

Zeroing the TNC is the same as any other scope in the offset. I bore sight my scope to the rifle at around 20yrds and with the TNC I use the Digital day setting for my main zero (this is recommended as the calculators etc are all calibrated to the Digital scope not the Thermal). Bore sighting can be done almost anywhere as no shots are fired and to bore sight the bolt and magazine have to be removed so it is completely safe. You cannot bore sight with an air rifle so for air rifle users you will have to to take shots at shorter ranges and work your way up to your zero range to make sure your on paper.

Once bore sighted it is time to go to the range.

At the range set your target to your desired range, As a target I would suggest putting a 2 inch ShootnC or similar target on a large board or carboard box this makes for easier acquisition of impacts, for me as I am using the .243 it was set at 100m (in my video review I set my range at 20yrds as for the video purposes I did the zeroing footage in the garden using a sub12 air rifle) zoom into your target at 20x mag and take a shot, it is unlikey you will be hitting your 2 inch main target so go find your impact on your backing board and mark that impact point, I normally mark it with another shootnc or black tape or sticker.

To Zero you have to go into the main menu, long press of the top button in the cluster of four will activate the main menu to the left of the screen, tap the bottom button down to the target icon and that will bring up the zero options on the bottom of the screen most of this is self explanatory but I will run through the process here and I have also went through the the whole process on my video review (HERE)

With the Zero menu at the bottom of the screen, your first option is profile, Usually set to A you can set up more than one profile on this scope, then it gives you the option of what mode you want to zero, keep this on digital for now, now aim the centre of your reticle to the centre of your 2 inch target you were aiming at when your first shot, holding steady now tap the power button this will freeze the frame, if the frame hasnt frozen with your reticle lined up with your target then don’t worry just tap the power button again which will unfreeze the image and then repeat until you have the reticle lined up with the target, once lined up tap right button to your X and use the up and down buttons to move the crosshair left and right and if your tap right again you can go to Y and move your crosshair up and down, Once you have lined your crosshair up with the impact mark hold down left button to save, you will now be asked if you would like to zero another mode, tap left button and highlight OK and it will move to thermal.

Now for the time being you do not need to take any more shots, fine tune later, the Thermal mode is now showing and hopefully you can see your taeget, PIP mode will also be activated so you should see your digital scope view at the top of the screen, Now looking at your PIP Digital view at the top of the screen aim at your target and freeze frame by tapping the power button, this will freeze you thermal screen too, now move your crosshair like before and match it to the target displayed on the digital screen and when done long press right button to save.

Take another shot and you should be on target, you can now repeat the processes to fine tune. Personally at the distances I shoot I would never use the thermal as the main shooting screen so for me it does not need to be as precise a zero as the Digital scope.

Writing this out or seeing it in type looks a lot more complicated than it really is, it is in fact very very easy.

within the zero menu you can also choose your reticle and colour etc.

Setting up the Ballistic Calculator

Setting up the ballistic calculator is one of the main parts of the of the unit to get the best use out of it. The ballistic calculator takes some of the in field thought process out, you still have to work out your wind etc but the scope will calculate range and bullet drop for you if set up correctly. Connecting to the DNT app on your Apple or Android device does this. Like most ballistic calculators you need to know all your data for your rifle and bullet. here is what you need.

Bullet Velocity – you need to know your velocity from your rifle and bullet, the only way you can do this truly is run your rifle and bullet through a chronograph, DO NOT go on what speed it says on the box your rifle most likely wont shoot that speed it could be faster or slower and by some way and this effects the data. So real time chronograph your velocity.

Bullet weight and length – you can get this from your manufacturer

Zero distance – what didtance did you zero your rifle?

Scope Height on Rifle – To measure this you need to measure from centre of your barrel to the centre of the digital scope lens, now on the TNC this is the top scope objective lens NOT the larger bottom scope. This is important.

Once you have all that main data your ready to go.

You can now transfer via wifi to the scope, To do this just turn on your scope wifi via main menu, then go to you android or apple device and connect to that wifi, connect your scope in the app go to your ballistic information on the app and send it to that profile.

I will update this review soon with a link to a video on how this is done.

In The Field 

From the 1st November 2023 the Scottish government changed the law saying that digital and thermal scopes were now allowed to be used on rifles to shoot deer with, when this happened it was a gamechanger for those of us that do deer management for habitat protection.

It was always my intention to use this scope for shooting deer, my main job is a deer manager, I spend most of my days and night protecting tree plantations and reducing deer numbers and because of this I use night licenses from the 1st September to 31st March extensively. I shoot more Sika deer than anything else, however, I do shoot a a lot of Reds and Roe also. When receiving the TNC I was fully aware that the Airgun market had already claimed the scope as their own, like what they have done with the Zulus, Don’t get me wrong I am not saying this is a bad thing but much of the reviews and marketing that has been around the DNT scopes have been around rat hunting and squirrel hunting with a larger contingency of airgunners having DNT optics on their rifles than those shooting centrefire or even rimfire. Youtube is awash with Rat and Squirrel action and nothing in regards to anything else, I wanted, NO I needed to make sure this scope, like the Zulus was up to a lot more than just a shed scope.

First night out, I decided to take the .243 with the TNC225R out with me to work, my back up rifle was the Tikka .270 housing the already proven DNT ZULUS 312R just in case. It is not unusual for me to carry a back up rifle. Rifle Specs are follows:

Browning Abolt 2 .243 , 24inch sporter barrel, Atec Moderator adding another 4 inches to the end, 1.5lb trigger, all factory

Scope – TNC225R

Ammo – 80gr Copper bullets

Powder – 42gr of Alliant RE15

Primers – Muron Large Primers

Velocity – (tested using Magneto Speed V3) 3472fps

SD – .3

Ballistic Coefficiency – .393

I had to go sit over a replant on the estate this evening, much of my time is sitting in a box hide looking over this very plantation and as I have shot quite a lot of deer in there this year I did not really have high hopes, but work is work and I decided that it would give me a lot of chance to see what the scope is like in the field and also allow me to get to know the scope in the dark.

Along with getting to know the scope this replant/clear-fell had its own challenges, a long summer growth has made the cover very high with most of the grasses being at least 6ft tall in places, it is set on a long slope that looks down into a village, within the replant area the ground is not flat, hidden ditches and deer paths along with left over remains and debris from the discards from felling operations along with the cover make this ground un-stalkable by foot, hence the use of the box hides. Each hide is around 10ft off the ground and gives you limited protection from the weather, from the box hide you get around 2ooyrds of visibility to the left and in front and about 150yrds to the right and to the right of the front and a forest 10yrds from behind. Even from the elevated position you are in the hide offers limited safe back stop and visibility but it is far better than being on the ground with nothing. This was perfect to test the capabilities of the Thermal of the TNC.

The weather this night was far from perfect, a large storm and yellow warning for wind was coming in from the West and the winds were already upwards of 40mph, luckily for me the replant is on a North West facing slope so much of the storm did not hit me too hard. The rain was horizontal but visibilty in the nightvision on the TNC was still good and the image within my Thermal spotter was still very good also, so I was happy and safe to sit it out and keep watching. The one thing people don’t realise about clear-fells is that it has its own little micro climate at ground level, it creates its own shelter from weather and is rarely exposed especially when the cover is high and the brash has not been cleared, it makes the perfect ground for deer, especially Sika, so weather rarely plays a factor in stopping deer from feeding in these areas.

After around 4 or 5 hours sitting in the box hide, scanning with thermal spotter then putting the scope on to play with setting and what not I spotted to the right of me 5 deer coming through the centre of the replant around 150yrds away, This was a group that made up of 3 mature Sika hinds and 2 large calves, I quickly turned on the scope (well as a quick as you can as the DNT TNC takes a few seconds to boot up) and started tracking the deer with the rifle. I started tracking using the thermal as main image and the NV (with IR on lowest setting) in the “picture in picture” display (PIP), at 150yrds the thermal was quite clear and made for easy tracking but I wanted a clearer image so by pressing the back left button I changed the main image to Digital Night Vision with the Thermal now in the PIP display, I was now able to identify properly what I was shooting at but still being able to track the thermal signatures of these deer through the heavy cover, for me this was phenomenal.

As the deer started to come into the open in front of me I took aim and shot the lead hind, the remaining deer started to run back up the hill then stopped a few yards later, I took aim and shot the calf, again the 3 left over deer ran further up the hill, after a few seconds they now were around 170yrds from I managed to take the second calf. (footage on main video review), A few minutes later the two remaining hinds appeared again and I was able to take them. After over 5 hours in the box hide I now had 5 deer off the replant.

Using the TNC PIP mode in this way was amazing, I did not need to lift my eye from the scope at all going from deer one to deer three, I could easily track using thermal in the PIP display and see clearly what I was shooting at using the digital and IR this to me is a gamechanger.

Do I think I would have got the same results using the Zulus along with a spotter, most likely yes but it would have been a lot harder. Using the NV along with a thermal spotter is fantastic, but, you do have to move from rifle to spotter then back to rifle and this can be cumbersome at times especially when you are tracking and shooting multiples. With the TNC I tracked, acquired, engaged and recovered for next target then repeated without leaving the rifle and in the video it was flawless, normally I would have tracked with spotter, acquired with rifle and scope, engaged then on to next and track with spotter, acquired with rifle and scope, engaged and so on bouncing between hand held spotter and rifle this sometimes can take too long allowing targets to get away or worse losing track of targets altogether and when working in cover losing sight of where you actually shot your first target.

This  first night had me impressed. All in all in landed up being a very good night with 5 deer taken humanely and comfortably and most of all safely.

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First Deer Now Fox

Over the course of the first week of using the TNC225R Thermnight my deer count now was into double figures counting for around 20 deer to the .243 and with the TNC on top. I now wanted to see how the TNC done out foxing in the long open fields where spotting and tracking would be at longer distances for fox.

As many know foxes have their own challenges. Foxes tend to move faster and cover a lot more ground than deer, they rarely stop for any length of time and are always on the move. This behaviour is to their detriment because in the thermal this behaviour makes them stand out easily in busy sheep fields or against other livestock, however, where the challenge for the thermal and the user is that in a busy sheep field where you could have upwards of 200 sheep in it tracking a fox can be challenging when it does decide to stop. So I wanted to see how the TNC copes.

My worries were clear to me when it came to the TNC’s thermal, the thermal sensor of the the TNC is a 226×192 pixel resolution, this gives you an ID range of around 100m max and a detection range of  400m but arguably further in perfect conditions, but let me be clear beyond around 150yrds on smaller animals like rabbits all you will see is a heat source, sheep, fox and cows etc you can easily see a lot more but still not hugely clear, so I was genuinely concerned on how the thermal would work in longer ranges.

First night out foxing was a classic foxing night, some light winds but very clear and surprisingly mild, it was a good night out and most importunately it was dark and dark is good. I had the TNC still on the .243 but now I was using Sierra Blitzking green tip 55gr bullets shooting and SD of 2 at 3750fps. This is a laser, fast and explosive my favourite round through this rifle. Ideal for foxing.

After around a hour of going round fields scanning with the spotter I spotter a fox at the very back of of two large sheep fields, the fox was wandering the river bank and was easy to tell in the spotter at around 400yrds away. I swapped to the rifle and TNC to identify using the NV and could clearly see it was a fox. The NV and IR are the same as the ZULUS 520 which I have to say is second to none when it comes to nightvion and IR it is just phenomenal, in the PIP I had the thermal and I was seeing a black hot heat source quite easily, on flicking to full thermal screen there is no way I could have ID what I was seeing in just the thermal as a fox but the heat signature was there and combined with the NV and IR it was no hassle telling what it is. again like with the deer I was now tracking only using the rifle, knowing I was pointing it in a safe direction. The job now was to get me closer to it or it closer to me. So I broke out the fox call.

Initially the fox had no interest apart from one time stopping and sitting up and watching my direction. After around 10 minutes of calling it decided it now wanted to come and see what was going on. I ranged the fox at this point at around 260yrds. NV easily seeing what I was looking at and the thermal able to keep track of heat signature when the fox turned away from the IR or went into cover. Remember the NV is not in colour so even with a great NV and IR at 250 yards you will get points where the black and grey of the fox will blend in with the background especially if you are zoomed in. This fox was still in no hurry to get to me which was frustrating.

Still playing Field Mouse Distress on the Foxcall Inferno, I moved from the bonnet of the truck to the back tailgate and roof of the truck now giving me extra elevation for a shot, I turned off the caller and started using the rasp of my lips against the back of my hand and the fox responded kind to my kisses and started moving quicker towards me. It hadn’t moved far though, the fox was still maintaining a safe distance at around 250yrds but very interested and circling the wind slightly, I now was expecting to have to take a long distance shot.

Using the rangefinder and knowing I had set the right profile for the 55gr bullet the TNC was doing all the work for me, I know that it was safe to shoot to the 250yrds it was at but it was still moving and with the rangefinder turned on and in scan mode I was constantly being told what the range was and with a quick tap of the rangefinder button it told me what my drop was, with this set up that drop was not much if anything at all, all I needed now was to make sure I had the right wind call as I now knew that anything closer was no hold over at all, just point and click.

After a few more minutes of me kissing the back of my hand I managed to get the fox into 175yrds and now was having a think of what actually was going on so I decided to take the shot, frustrating though as the battery came up with a warning that it was below 20% and the warning covered the whole screen, however it was see through and I was still able to take the shot, nice, 175yrd shot and in inspection it was a lovely vixen.

Even though the battery warning came on I was still able to take the shot and see what I was aiming at, I also had been using this now two days using the same 18650 battery so I am not surprised.

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The Rabbit Challenge

As we all know rabbits have their own challenges, they often lie close to the ground and in long grass with NV all you can see is a twinkle of an eye, often the problem with rabbits is what you see in the thermal you cant see in the scope or NV even the best NV IR set up can struggle so in many ways thermal is the way forward, however, for airgunners and those much needed head shots thermal can be a little problematic but for us that use rimmies well it is less of a problem.

The TNC on the .22lr is unstoppable, close range ID of around 75yrds and detection to about 200yrds on rabbits is perfect and yes this is probably the only time I would advocate shooting with the thermal as main image but I would still keep the NV in PIP with IR on just in case it is a woodcock or pheasant etc hiding in the grass.

This unit really works well in this environment too for those close range stuff , the thermal is more suited though than the NV as the thermal is 3-12 mag where the NV is 5-20x making closer range sub 100yrds harder using the NV. but in the end this is what makes this such a versatile scope.

Conclusion

Let me start by saying it has been a pleasure using the TNC225R from DNT Optics over this last month, it is a phenomenal game changing piece of technology but you have to understand its limitations you have to curb your expectations and you have respect your environments.

The NV and thermal scope market has come a long way, many manufacturers are now moving away from NV and concentrating on high end thermal and in doing so they are leaving a gap in the market which is proof they don’t understand what night hunters need and they care more about producing a high cost product. I believe that DNT is trying to listen to us in the field with the production of Multispectral scopes like the TNC225R.

The TNC is not just one scope it is a muti tool, the Swiss Army knife of the scope world and it is at budget that most hunters can afford. The units capabilities are far beyond many of its competitors but you have to understand the scope and how to use it.

In this review I have not even scratched the surface on what the capabilities of this scope are, in the two hunting scenarios I have only talked about the night capabilities of the TNC and did not mention the 20 or so deer I took in daytime mode mainly because I did not take footage of it. over the course of this month I have shot 60 deer, from Red Stags to Roe Does, 11 foxes in different terrains and over 100 rabbits. The versatility of the scope is amazing but like anything it has its limitations, but let me say this what the Digital lacks when it comes to close range the Thermal makes up for and what the Thermal lacks in ID range the Digital Day and NV makes up in ten fold. What you get with the TNC Thermnight is a complete package, Digital Day vision that is clear, Digital NV that is clear, Built in IR that is capable far beyond your shooting distance, built in range finder that also calculates your bullet drop all in one unit and for less that £1000 if you cannot use this for all your hunting needs then you should not be hunting with a digital scope.

There is some issues though I have to point out and these must be addressed, boot up time is long I feel and you will find yourself holing in the power button for around ten seconds to get it to turn on, I get the reason for it as you want to make sure you don’t accidently turn it on when you put the rifle away but for me it feels a lifetime. The rubber lens cover over the thermal lens I lost in the first night the hard caps on the Zulus was better. I don’t like the rubber cover over the USB port and on start up the image is a bit laggy but I understand that it is the sensors syncing with each other . Putting those issues aside none of them would stop me for buying one. Let me go through the main Pros and Cons

Pros

Lightweight and Compact and well made,

Price, what you get for the price is second to none,

IR range is amazing for a built in IR

Combining thermal with Digital makes this a  real game changer

Built in storage

Easy to zero and calibrate

Cons

Power up time is slow

Images laggy at first boot up

Rubber objective covers fall off

 

Finally

I am not a big fan of Thermal rifle scopes, Even the top end ones have their issues for identification albeit some are amazing but still lacks ability in heavy cover or when it comes to hard horn antlers etc especially at range. I think the TNC bridges this, the ideal way of using the TNC would be use the thermal for tracking in PIP or for scanning in full image then move to Digital for ID and to take the shot, the only time I would say there was a cavate to that is when your working very close range or rabbiting where you can use the thermal very effectively.

I know that DNT has addressed this already they are bringing out and working on the Thermnight range with the better thermal sensors so I am excited to see what they are going to bring to the market.

All in all this is an amazing unit with many different usable features , work with its capabilities to suit your needs and it will serve you well.

I am definitely looking forward to what the next step of the journey is for DNT.