Armasight Contractor 320 3-12x25mm Thermal Weapon Sight

My first exposure to the Armasight Contractor was while sitting in a pitch black blind in Texas hill country at 11:30pm. My hunting guide handed me a rifle with the Contractor mounted and gave me a 2 minute rundown of the controls and that's all it took for me to get locked in. Within 10 minutes I had smoked two hogs at 100yrd. If you had told me I could figure out how to operate a thermal I'd never used before on the spot, in the dark, I'd think you were crazy. The Armasight Contractor literally is that easy to use. Everything on the scope is operated from 3 knobs that have clearly defined clicks and simple 1-button record feature makes it by far the easiest to operate thermal scope on the market. I was excited to see Armasight back in business and even more excited now after using one of the fantastic new products they've launched this year. Looking forward to more new gear from Armasight!

My first experience with the Armasight Contractor was when it was “issued to me” in the swamps of Louisiana on a pig hunt. It was on a borrowed AR in .5.56 with an effective suppressor the guides kept handy as part of a ready arsenal for paying customers. There were a variety of calibers and guns represented, but all were ARs, and all were easy to shoot for hunters of all skill and experience levels. When a group of swampy pig guides keep a Contractor around is pretty good cred in my book. Late afternoon we went out and I got volunteered into sighting in this rig, since it was just mounted on this new gun with the suppressor.It was over 90F and sunny and my pores were leaking. It was just under 200% humidity. We drove out to a field where our road split the acreage until it met the sky. A framed target fixture about 4 foot square stood about 25 yards away and held thick cardboard backing and remnants of weathered and bullet-riddled targets. Many of these targets were reflective, such as Armasight sight in Targets, or strips of metal cans, but there were also strips of metal HVAC tape stuck anywhere and everywhere. Rolls of this tape are affordable targets and they’re darn convenient. Tarnished and bullet-punctured ribbons of the tape, separated from its once sticky backing moved slightly in the light breeze but not enough to cool my soppy wet head under my cap.So they sat me down on a rickety metal bench with an even ricketier metal chair that barely held my weight. Later a big guy squished the chair while testing his rifle, oops! I couldn’t find my bullet hole. I ended up finally finding it by aiming high, low, left, right, until I found a hole. That’s all you need. The rest was simple. Except for the sweat dripping in my eyes. Contractor has a simple design in a compact package that weighs little. The 3-12×25 performance is plenty for what we were doing here. In our hunting area we rarely had targets over 300 yards, so the 320 was just about perfect, especially on a lightweight carbine that wouldn’t often get to see much farther than that.I got to know the Contractor the previous evening when unmounted. I appreciate the simple menu and buttons more than anything. I love keeping things simple, allowing me the comfort to do my job behind trigger rather than getting frustrated with some electronic stuff. Both menu controls are straightforward and I remembered how to get where I needed to after a short time. I followed the prompts to sight in and it was uneventful.I shot a few pigs and other targets of opportunity that night armed with the 320 3-12×25 Contractor and found it to be a solid unit that did what was asked of it. My longest large target that night was about 175 yards away, and my resolution and magnification were excellent. It was compact and not at all clumsy.Later tried the same kind of unit on a S&W M&P 15-22 and it was a riot! That rig was used to introduce new shooters to thermal!

I’ve spent years learning about night time optics and deciding what to buy – night vision vs thermal, so many brands, so many price ranges, so many variations… it’s a maze – and an expensive decision that I didn’t want to get wrong….. I received my Armasight 320 Contractor, spent time getting familiar with it, adjusted the settings to my liking – and am really pleased. I’ve viewed deer and hogs (and lots of small game) out to 200 yards with plenty of clarify and definition to make distinctions between these animals and make accurate shot placement. It turns on quickly and, as others have mentioned, is very intuitive / easy to operate with the turrets – and there are some very cool features built into this product (like Mil type internal compass / inclinometer / level… displayed on the screen). I’ve had the chance to compare a few other manufacturer’s thermal devices of similar cost and am convinced this one is much better….. My only dislikes are that the Operator’s Manual is pretty vague (example – it points out the diopter adjustment, but provides no description of what this feature is used for – and I can’t find any more comprehensive details online or on Armasight’s website)…… and unrelated to the product itself, I had a couple of weeks order delay with Optics Planet processing my ITAR Certification (I assume because this is a true Mil-Spec type optic there are more stringent requirements?) – which took multiple emails and follow up phone call – that was pain…. All in all I’m happy with my purchase and think it was a good decision.