I recently procured an InfiRay RH25 (probably the last big purchase I’ll be making for a while!), and it’s a fantastic jack-of-all-trades thermal device for $3500. It can handle the following functionality:

1. Clip-On
2. Weapon Sight
3. Helmet-Mount
4. Handheld

Personally, I bought it for the hand-held and clip-on functionality, albeit the possibility of helmet-mounting it does appeal for the future. Even though you can use the included dedicated weapon mount for getting it on a rifle, this basically makes the RH25 unusable for handheld and helmet-mount use cases. The preference by the user community is to install a dovetail-style adapter (similar to what you’d use with binocular night vision) to the RH25 so it can quickly be detached and used in different functions. While the dovetail adds a touch of size and weight, it’s negligible.

There is also a similar InfiRay device called the RL25 – it’s a 384 resolution thermal imager which has a fixed magnification of 2x (vs the RH25’s 1x), and it uses the same mounts. It’s not quite as versatile as the RH25 due to the fixed magnification (less suitable for clip-on or helmet-mount usage), but it’s also a lot cheaper, and better if you need a thermal sight.

When the RH25 first came out, the preferred solution was the American Defense Manufacturing PICTAIL adapter and MQD mount. The PICTAIL is a dovetail adapter that also provides tripod and accessory device mounting. There’s nothing wrong with either of these items, and, in fact, they are still pretty well regarded by the user community. However, users quickly discovered they could not use the Wilcox flip-to-side (FTS) mount with the PICTAIL due to a lack of relief for the dovetail “locking lever” on that mount – and that’s where the JV Innovations SBR comes into play.

The SBR (“Should’ve Been Rail”) is made in Germany by JV Innovations and sold in the US by Strictly Offense Kit. It is very similar in concept to the PICTAIL, but tightens up the dovetail dimensions and adds the relief for the Wilcox FTS mount locking lever. It isn’t cheap (~$150 shipped), but it has excellent manufacturing quality, and you’re only buying one anyways.

The SBR comes in a plastic bag with well-written instructions – not that it requires them. I installed it with just a bit of blue loctite on the (included) screws since I knew I’d be putting it on a rifle. It still functioned very comfortably as a handheld thermal scanner with the SBR installed.

My first test of the SBR was in a third-party clone of the Wilcox FTS mount. If you’re going to be kicking in doors, shooting tangos, hunting in the wild, etc., I’d encourage you to get a real Wilcox FTS mount. For my purposes, I simply needed something that would work. The FTS mount uses the dovetail for mounting, and I was pleasantly surprised at the tight dovetail lockup and even tighter flip-to-side lockup that the mount provided. You can see in this video that in the mount I bought, the SBR works great:

It aligns nicely with my co-witness height scope (a Burris XTR II 1.5-8x DFP), and had excellent clarity throughout the adjustment range (albeit a bit pixelated at 8x).

The other mount I was interested in testing was the ADM MQD mount. The MQD mount uses the Picatinny portion of the mount. With the PICTAIL, you get some adjustability built-in since there’s two mounting positions (slots); with the SBR, you’ve just the one position. Not a deal-breaker unless you’re truly at the end of your rifle’s handguard rail.

UPDATE (9/18/2023): I’m told the PICTAIL can’t actually use the other slot for the MQD, so no advantage there. I guess it might be useful for certain Picatinny-mounted accessories like lasers.

For this test, I put the MQD on my primary 3gun rifle. It has a Vortex Razor Gen3 1-10x on an Aero mount, which is a pretty good setup. As you can see in the photos and video below, it works really well in this setup, and smoothly goes on and off the gun. Clarity was also very good.

I think the conclusion here is obvious: the JV Innovations SBR is the best option for a dovetail adapter for the InfiRay RH25, and I’d encourage anyone who doesn’t already have a PICTAIL adapter to go grab one. If you already have a PICTAIL adapter, there’s probably no reason to get the SBR unless you desperately need the compatibility with the Wilcox-style FTS mounts.