Crazy how many people want lasers on their pistols.

[bordersoldier]

I have a laser that the dumb coyotes chase around after I call them in at night.

Yup you found a fun use fo that expensive toy. I do the same with my cat !!, bin on this rock 73 clicks. Don't git out in the prairie much these days but sounds like fun.

 

[bordersoldier]

Mostly on weekends and my lunch hours.

I like the way you think young soldier. Be prepared be efficient be accurate and hope to God you never have to use it. Semper Fi.

 

[Barefootdog]

For the railed 1911s added a weapon light with IR laser in addition to high/low/strobe.
Just starting to futz with it.
Have been considering the practicality of residential security with overlapping IR sources.

 

[Brander]

Lasers have their place, so do lights with focused beams. I have both on my bedside M&P. If it's dark and you need it, you will hit near the center of beam--fast and easy in the dark. However, I became very proficient with iron sights before I ever used a light.

 

[PhantomWorks]

There is only one scenario when a weapon mounted laser is useful, almost a must actually. It's when you're running night vision, especially monocular, since you loose depth perception and it's also physically very hard to get iron sights lined up with all that stuff on your head and in front of your face.

 

[Swiss_Cheeze]

I want a laser as a pistol that I can just plug into the wall to reload.

 

[Tony617]

I had a laser on my first shotgun that was a Maverick 88. It worked fine but everytime I would clean it I would have recenter the laser so I took it off. I now use my AR as my primary HD and have a light, two point sling and iron sights.

 

[No_Regerts]

Everyone who poopoos lasers must not shoot cats. You don't even have to try!

 

[bordersoldier]

Everyone who poopoos lasers must not shoot cats. You don't even have to try!

I dunno man. That's a dangerous sport. One of these days your pussy might shoot back. I hear they already gave 'em the vote and are letting 'em drive cars.

 

[Kruel J]

How about 5000 rounds per weekend, 20 weekends a year for 6 years? That's 600,000 rounds, 90% of it in 5 man squad type combat situations in the woods. I found a red dot on my tournament grade paintball marker helpful in those situations for the occasional 30-40 yard shot. My preferred role was stealth flanker sniper. There's nothing like sniper versus sniper in the woods for generating a shot of adrenaline.

My HD AR-15 handles pretty much exactly like my paintball markers.
View attachment 788596

Completely unrealistic and unfair comparison. Paintball is NOT like real firearms. 5000 rounds a weekend is 4900 rounds of spray and pray. Yes, I've played plenty. No, I would never compare it or the gear used to real firearms.

 

[No_Regerts]

 

[The Heretic]

Alert!

I just bought another WML with a green laser!

What can I say? I am a heretic.

 

[The Heretic]

One thing I noticed, and I need to check into it further - the laser seems to fade out after the light itself is on. I am thinking that the laser has a minimum voltage/amperage requirement to stay lit, whereas the LED in the light must have a lower power requirement, but the light consumes more power than the laser.

That and I assume that the light has logic to reduce its power consumption after a certain amount of time and/or batter power is consumed.

 

[CRBMoA]

An LED with have a Min Forward Voltage, below which it will not emit light at all.

 

[The Heretic]

An LED with have a Min Forward Voltage, below which it will not emit light at all.

Yes, and most lasers are a form of LED - since most WMLs are LED along with the laser, I am assuming the min forward voltage for the laser is higher than for the white illumination LED. I also assume that some of them lower the power consumed over time - especially those that are high power (600-1K+ lumens), at least in part due to heat.

 

[Dinglenutz]

at least in part due to heat.

This is a thing in a lot of cases. I have an LED dive light that will very quickly start to dim if the heat sink isn't in water.

 

[The Heretic]

That is one thing I like about OLights; many of theirs have the external magnetic recharging port and it is easy to keep the batteries charged.

 

[Kruel J]

That is one thing I like about OLights; many of theirs have the external magnetic recharging port and it is easy to keep the batteries charged.

I have at least 6 of their offerings, and as big a fan as I am I don't find their proprietary batteries and chargers all that helpful. If you're out in the field and the battery dies, you're SOL unless you have one of their chargers and a power source. Off-the-shelf batteries in a pinch? Forget about it.

 

[Dinglenutz]

That is one thing I like about OLights; many of theirs have the external magnetic recharging port and it is easy to keep the batteries charged.

For HD use, where the use is by definition "H", I like it fine. I can't like proprietary solutions for anything that's going past the fenceline.

 

[The Heretic]

I have at least 6 of their offerings, and as big a fan as I am I don't find their proprietary batteries and chargers all that helpful. If you're out in the field and the battery dies, you're SOL unless you have one of their chargers and a power source. Off-the-shelf batteries in a pinch? Forget about it.

Agreed. But unless you are "in the field" for an extended period of time and using the light/laser for longer than the life of the battery, I don't think you would need spare batteries.

My intended use of a WML/laser would be around recharging sources and for very short periods of time. Where I require long life of batteries would be for non-mounted light sources, such as the O-Light Baton S2R light I carry in my pocket for general illumination. I would only use the WML for a few seconds, certainly no longer than a minute or two if mounted to a handgun. For a long gun then having replaceable batteries is good, but even then, I would be using them for a short time and then, if applicable, plug them back into a charger.

If SHTF, I am not going to be using a WML/laser for longer periods either. If I need a light for a longer period of time than a minute, I would be using a handheld or helmet/hat mounted light light my Baton and set to a really low level.