Laser recomendation?

[wahoowad]

Hi guys. I'm interested in getting a good value laser. Anybody see any good deals lately or want to recommend a specific model? I searched and most the posts were a over a year old. Maybe there is something new that people like. I think I need a scope mount model. I'd like the ability to move it between the 3 guns I have - all have a 1" tube. Kinda worried it might be a tight fit for my Trail XL given the space available near that front mount. Here's a pic of the scope mounts.

Red? Green? One use will be for videos I like to shoot so the viewer can see which target is about to be shot at. Combo light unit like the BSA Laser Sight / Flashlight Combo at Sportsman Guide looks interesting. But a low profile small laser setup also has value to me.

[Orin]

I can tell you what not to get.  Pretty much any $15-$40 off the shelf jobbie.  I've tried at least 4 different products in that range for my budget pistols, hoping for something that at least held a zero, and haven't found one yet.

If I was going to spend the money on something that I at least expected to perform, I would probably look at something like this one:
http://www.pyramydair.com/s/a/UTG_Deluxe_Tactical_Green_Laser_Sight/2292

Red lasers are all but invisible in bright daylight past 25 feet, unless you really concentrate to find the dot.

- Orin

[WhittTX]

Bump for the green laser.  The reds at that power setting (and there is a maximum for the class) are just too weak.  Son and I played with one this weekend and neither one of us were impressed past 15 yards in full sunlight.  We bought three in the $30 range and returned two of them.  Kept  the best built unit for a 10 meter pistol just cause.

[wahoowad]

Yikes, why are the green ones so expensive? Also, I can't seem to find one with double scope rings so I can mount it above my scope.

[djmyers]

I would NOT recommend the BSA laser light combo. I have one on my 350 and everytime I pull the trigger the laser dot moves up about 3/4 mil. I am replacing the laser with a 2nd flashlight. I figure glowing eyes will be easy to hit. The flash light and mount part of the combo are good. The flash light will light up golf balls at 45 yards on a moonless night.

[wahoowad]

Darn, your report on the BSA combo is discouraging as that is about the only decent combo unit I have seen for sale anywhere. Plus it was a reasonable price. I didn't think I would use the flashlight part but actually wanted to put a few rounds downrange yesterday evening to test a new target and could have used some extra light.

Hmmmm..... It just occurred to me I will have clearance issues putting my gun back in the storage case I use if I mount a laser on my scope. My case  holds the guns in an upright position. The lid will surely hit anything higher than my scope knob. I may need to consider an under-the-barrel install and do it in a way that won't interfere with cocking. Anybody do this?

[djmyers]

I was just looking through my Leapers catalog, you can download it from the site, they have alot of lasers adn laser light combo with aboput every different kind of mounting soultion you can think of. Didnt see any prices in the catalog I downloaded but im sure if you contacted them they would get you a price list.

Yeah I was not impressed with the BSA one. Figured it would be cool to see the red dont on a grackles back. I have had it sitting on the shelf for a while after I too it off the big cat. The 350 knocks it all over. The big cat moved it but not nearly as bad. Its just a pain in the but.

[bodiej]

you coudn't mount it to the side of the scope since they're held upright?  Or do you have too many knobs?

[djmyers]

I had it mounted to the side of my big cat scope and there were 2 problems. 1 it added alot of pressure to the scope because I keep mine in their hard sided gun cases. If you have a gun safe and they are standing it would be ok. 2 As the distance changes the laser will be on a different point on you parralel crosshair.  If you are zero at 20 yards then at 30 it will be shining to the right of your zero and at 10 it will be to the left. Then you have to figure out all the compensations for each yard line for windage, then take into account the wind itself. Too much of a pain in the pooper to mount it on the side of the scope. IMHO.

[wahoowad]

bodiej, yes I guess that side mounting could be an option for me although dj's comments about POI (or PITA) is something to consider.

[Orin]

Lasers aren't nearly as popular for airguns as they are in paintball and airsoft guns.  The latter are much less accurate, so a half an inch here or there doesn't really matter.  Plus, they are often used in CQB situations, where you are shooting for a target 2 feet wide from only a few feet away, instead of trying to nail something the size of a golf ball at 35 yards.

I've always wanted to mount a high quality green laser to give me a handy 2nd zero, but for that frivilous purpose, I can't really justify spending the money.  I think your barrel mount idea would be best, maintaining a low angle and keeping it centered (as opposed to a side mount).

- Orin

[Orin]

Green lasers are designed differently than the red ones and they have far more components.  From Wikipedia:

"[Green lasers] are much more complicated than standard red laser pointers, because laser diodes are not commonly available in this wavelength range. The green light is generated in an indirect process, beginning with a high-power (typically 100-300 mW) infrared AlGaAs laser diode operating at 808 nm. The 808 nm light pumps a crystal of neodymium-doped yttrium aluminum vanadate (Nd:YVO4) (or Nd:YAG or less common Nd:YLF), which lases deeper in the infrared at 1064 nm. The vanadate crystal is coated on the diode side with a dielectric mirror that reflects at 808 nm and transmits at 1064 nm. The crystal is mounted on a copper block, acting as a heat sink; its 1064 nm output is fed into a crystal of potassium titanyl phosphate (KTP), mounted on a heat sink in the laser cavity resonator. The orientation of the crystals must be matched, as they are both anisotropic and the Nd:YVO4 outputs polarized light. This unit acts as a frequency doubler, and halves the wavelength to the desired 532 nm. The resonant cavity is terminated by a dielectric mirror that reflects at 1064 nm and transmits at 532 nm. An infrared filter behind the mirror removes IR radiation from the output beam, and the assembly ends in a collimator lens."

- Orin