Ultimate Night Hunting Rifle Build: Bolt-Action + Thermal Clip-On Power

When it comes to night hunting, you need a rifle setup that’s deadly accurate, adaptable, and built for real-world field conditions. This bolt-action build strikes the perfect balance between precision, lightweight portability, and seamless thermal compatibility — ideal for predator hunters running stand-to-stand in low light.

We designed this with the hardcore coyote and hog hunter in mind. Whether you’re stalking prairie dogs by moonlight or scanning open country for predators with thermal, this is your do-it-all rig.

This build started with an Aero Precision 6.5 Creedmoor barreled action — a proven platform known for consistent long-range accuracy. 6.5 Creedmoor gives you reach without punishing recoil. If you’re targeting both hogs and coyotes, it’s a great middle-ground caliber that delivers energy, speed, and precision.

The Ultradyne chassis system locks everything into place. You get full adjustability for proper eye relief and cheek weld when running thermal or night vision clip-ons. It’s rigid, modular, and compact enough to pack easily. Whether you’re shooting prone or off a tripod, this thing is rock solid.

The Rifle Basix trigger gives it a clean break and tunable pull weight. If you’re lining up a shot on a coyote under thermal, you want confidence in your trigger finger — no mush, no guesswork.

While thermal clip-ons work best with lower magnification (1x to 4x), this Leupold Mark 4 4.5-18x is more versatile. It’s ideal for day use and still plays well with thermal and analog NV clip-ons. It’s a solid choice if you’re running dual setups or need glass that can hold up in all lighting conditions.

Tripods are usually a pain to carry — not this one. The Ultradyne Carbon is light, collapsible, and rugged. It’s not as hefty as Fatboy or Two Vets, but it gets the job done without weighing you down. Adjusting height on the fly is easy, and it tucks under your truck seat or into your daypack with zero hassle.

SilencerCo absolutely blew it out of the park with Sythe-Ti Suppressor. It's lightweight titanium construction, direct thread, and awesome sound suppression made this the perfect pairing. It just makes sense to pair one of the most popular suppressors for hunting with one of the most popular thermal optics in the industry.

Getting your clip-on to line up properly means having the right scope height. We use 1.5” Griffin rings — that sweet spot for thermal and NV alignment. Ideally, your day scope and thermal share a similar optical axis. If you’ve ever struggled to collimate a clip-on, you know how important this is.

This rifle is fully compatible with a wide range of clip-ons. It was tested with the AGM Rattler-C V2 50-640 — a 640x512 thermal with a 50mm lens — and it mounted up perfectly using an ADM Pic rail.

The scope is also compatible with tht AGM Secutor-C LRF and the Comanche-22 & Comanche-40 night vision clip-ons that all pair great with this optic height.

This isn’t some fantasy bench gun — it’s optimized for real-world predator work.

The lightweight chassis, suppressor, and carbon tripod offset the added weight of thermal gear. It's precision long-range capable. Clip-ons can be swapped on or off in seconds based on light conditions or mission needs. 

If you’re serious about night hunting — and want a bolt-action rig that adapts to thermal, NV, and suppressed scenarios — this is a great build. It’s fast, accurate, and built to run under pressure. No fluff. Just functional perfection.