Feedback requested on LaserMax

[4V50 Gary]

Has anybody out there in CyberWorld tried these things and if so, please share your observations.

Specifically, is the gun's reliability compromised?

Does the lens ever get sooted up such that the laser becomes inoperable? If so, what calibre, type of ammo and how many rounds before it's back to the iron sights?

Any mechanical failures of the laser requiring return to the factory and if so, was it resolved to your satisfaction?

 

[Kodiac]

My former partner had one in his Glock .40.
It was pretty slick, the take down control was the on off switch... It put out a nice bright PULSING lazer that was very easy to pick up - making it faster to aquire your target and get your shot off first. It was also pretty accuarate. His never sooted up too bad on the firing line... at least not inside the 50 rounds he shot at a time.

Slick unit - but very expensive... and the batteries run out fast, and are expensive as well.

 

[Rob Pincus]

okay, I almost had to register an alias before I admitted to having one of these little gadgets.. but in the spirit of open minded research I have one. One of the newer ones with a day laser. I have fired about 500-700 rounds total through it in both a G34 and a 35. It is kind of a pain to install, but once its there it works. The model I have was meant for a 17 or 34, but I've used it without any trouble in a G35.
I wondered about the lens getted gunked up too, but no problem yet. It might help that the extended slide of the T/P Glocks have that little shroud that extends out in front of the recoil guide rod.
It points a couple of inches high at 5-7 yards.
One thing that has been pretty cool is movement drills, keeping the laser on target while walking, running, dropping, ducking, etc. I played around with that a lot yesterday, no shooting, just keeping the dot on target while moving. I have a Beamhit indoor training system, too. It has about a 4 inch circle that senses the laser hits. You ar supposed to use a special laser that only pulses when you pull the trigger of your gun (pretty cool little deal itself..) But I've been using the lasermax on it. By putting the laser on the target it beeps and goes to "01" then as I move around the room, anytime that the laser goes off target and comes back on I hear a mocking beep and the counter goes up. I can can now don a figure 8 around two large pieces of furniture in a 20x40 room and keep my score well under 10. at first, I was giving up when I would reach the mid-20s...

 

[Rich Lucibella]

I have the Lasertrace model that pulses on the click of the hammer against a snap cap or empty chamber. I set it up on a Commander for dry fire practice and have never used it except for the movement drills in continuous "on". The problem has been the lack of appropriate leather or Kydex from which to present.

Time do get off my butt and post this to the Gear Forum for suggestions.
Rich

 

[David]

Gary, I was just trying one out 2 days ago,
and it was o.k. until it hiccupped.
It wasn't my gun, and we couldn't figure out
what went wrong.
We were night shooting, and just at the moment of truth, NO LIGHT!
Everything breaks from time to time, but I
am surpirsed on how "visually dependent" one
can become in a very short time with a laser on any firearm.
It was a low light tactical scenario, and,
even with experience, it took a lot longer
that I liked to transition back to sights.
Small comfort in a real gunfight if it breaks
and you're used to seeing that dot...
To each his own.....

 

[Rob Pincus]

I agree with that 100% David. In fact, it is hard to shoot WITH a laser at first, if you are used to seeing that front sight or point shooting, you almost have to look "over" the gun to use a laser. I played around with the clamp on stylke lasers about 5-6 years ago and decided I hated them. I have too many guns to put lasers on all of them and like you said, who knows when they are going to break AFTER Ive become dependant on them. I thnk that have some great training uses, but that is about it.

That said, so far, the LAserMax is the best of these items I have played around with.

(now, an IR laser and a night vision set up on an AR is something entirely different...)

 

[Mr Black]

I use a LaserMax on my Glock 30. Since your question seemed to be technical in nature I will spare you my thoughts on using lasers and give you my experience with the LaserMax product.


The Good:
---------
1) The unit is very easy to install and I love the fact that it doesn't change the shape of the gun

2) The laser is extremely bright and I like that it pulses

3) It's very easy to activate while you are drawing the gun

4) LaserMax, in my experience, has very good customer service. The person I spoke to about sighting in my laser was very friendly and eager to help.

The Bad:
--------
1) If you don't install it right, you may have problems with with it turning on/off while firing.

2) Mine was not as accurate as I would have hoped it would be. I'm really into accuracy and I found that it shot about 2 inches to the right and 2 inches high from 25 feet. Using my regular sights, I can put 10 rounds into a circle the size of a silver dollar at that distance so I doubt if it was me. I have sent it back to LaserMax and they are going to sight it in for me. The guy I spoke to assures me that he can get it to point 'dead on'.

3) After shooting about 1000 rounds, my G30 failed to go completely into battary a couple of times. I 'think' that the spring on the unit was weak but I don't know that for sure. They say that they use Wolff Springs which are supposed to be very good. Again, the guy at LaserMax is going to take a look at it and get back to me. This is the one that kind of scares me because it actually made my gun fail to fire. I need to have 100% confidence that my gun will shoot when I need it to. I'm hoping that I just got a bad recoil spring.


Once I get my Glock/laser back from them, and I run a few thousand more rounds through it without problems, I'll regain my confidence in it. Until then, I'm withholding justment.