Cheap Ebay Lasers- Yea or Nay?

[S.R. Crawford]

I bought some of these stupid little Ebay laser sights a while back for another hobby of mine, I put one on a Nerf gun for kicks. The other one is still kicking around in storage somewhere. I took one to a game recently and it's actually kinda cool, I did have to add some loctite to get it to hold a zero though.

But here's the thing: this little laser is really friggin' bright.

I was messing around with some buddies and found that at night I could get it to reflect off a target over 400 yards away, albeit faintly. It was still bright enough to be usable at 200-300 yards. Sure it's no PEQ-15 but that's plenty for a weapon with an effective range of 50 meters.

So here's what I'm thinking. Hypothetically, if I zeroed one of these lasers and absolutely blasted the adjusting screws with JB Weld, what's to prevent me from sticking one on a 12 gauge? So long as it keeps a zero it should be fine right? I'm a little concerned that the recoil will eventually do damage to the laser internally but I'm not sure as I really don't know how these are set up on the inside.

Even so these are cheap so it's not a huge deal if one gets destroyed, but it'll be a minute until I can get out to a range and actually try this out.

 

[Rodburner]

I considered trying one of these also, but in the end, just hiked up my skirt and got the CT laser saddle( one red,one green). At night, they will both reflect a street sign at least a couple hundred yards down my street, so they shouldn’t have a problem blinding an intruder before he loses his head in all the excitement, across my 18’ living room..lol

 

[Ernst]

IMO lasers are fun toys and fine for the range or shooting paper targets or cans.

However, in a defensive scenario activating a laser immediately makes you the target because you simply follow the beam to the source. I'd use a weapons light to briefly scan the area and identify friend or foe. The beam splash makes it more difficult to ID the light source. Plus you're moving as soon as the light goes off.

Regards

 

[nitesite]

A lot of lasers are pretty dim or unseeable (is that a word?) in bright sunlight. Green is better than red in daylight. But still is the suck.

But pilots will tell you that a laser at night is devastating if somebody on the ground lights up their cockpit. Or cops on Riot Duty with somebody in the mob shining even a cheap laser into their eyes. Even cheap lasers can damage retinas.

My middle son brought home from Japan (USMC trip) a laser that I swear would light a book on fire or cook meat, but is not legal to sell/buy here in the USA. Now THAT laser, in bright sunlight, would not disappoint.

 

[S.R. Crawford]

A lot of lasers are pretty dim or unseeable (is that a word?) in bright sunlight. Green is better than red in daylight. But still is the suck.

But pilots will tell you that a laser at night is devastating if somebody on the ground lights up their cockpit. Or cops on Riot Duty with somebody in the mob shining even a cheap laser into their eyes. Even cheap lasers can damage retinas.

My middle son brought home from Japan (USMC trip) a laser that I swear would light a book on fire or cook meat, but is not legal to sell/buy here in the USA. Now THAT laser, in bright sunlight, would not disappoint.

Yeah I agree they suck in daylight, but I can actually see my bead then.

IMO lasers are fun toys and fine for the range or shooting paper targets or cans.

However, in a defensive scenario activating a laser immediately makes you the target because you simply follow the beam to the source. I'd use a weapons light to briefly scan the area and identify friend or foe. The beam splash makes it more difficult to ID the light source. Plus you're moving as soon as the light goes off.

Regards

You've got good points there, if I had to pick between a light and a laser I agree the light is the better option. However it can't hurt to have both. It's not really possible to actually see the beam and track it to its source unless there's a good amount of dust in the air, although the emitter does glow a bit when it's on. But that's a moot point once you turn the light on.

 

[terdog950]

I have a couple of laser/red dot combos from Amazon. They are on my AR PCC pistols (9mm & 10mm). They have been perfect. My 9mm has a binary trigger, so it gets quite a few rnds through it. And at less than $40 are a great value.