It’s surprising that I’ve never had much interest in laser sights. Growing up I saw them in countless movies. And who doesn’t like laser beams? Especially in the 80’s! Laser beams gave everything a sci-fi, futuristic, cutting edge effect. Sylvester Stallone in Cobra, the triple triangle of death of the Predator, and even Arnold, as the original Terminator, sported a .45 with a laser sight! It’s kind of surprising then that lasers don’t seem to be a major talking point in the modern firearm industry as a whole. We talk about triggers, sights, and lights, but very infrequently lasers. Check out any of the industries biggest commentators or content creators and you will find very little if any talk about using lasers. Lots of talk about red dot sights, but nothing about red lasers.

Perhaps it’s because lasers have always been presented largely as a gimmick in the movies. Often more visible than they should be, or used to create a sense of drama and danger.  Maybe that’s why lasers never really appealed to me when I actually started shooting guns. They’ve always seemed like a gimmick, and perhaps they largely are.  The military certainly uses lasers, but not in the way most civilians may think. The use of infrared (IR) lasers in conjunction with night vision for engaging targets at night can be great strategic advantage. This tactical advantage is largely due to the fact that IR lasers are not visible to the naked eye and can be used for range finding and surveillance, as well as target tracking and acquisition. That’s not to say that IR lasers aren’t available to civilians. They are, and used much the same way while hunting at night. Even in the tactical sense they have their use I suppose in civilian hands, and along with night vision are getting more affordable.

We’re talking about your typical visible laser here though. Not much different really than a souped up laser pointer. The Pinty Green Laser Sight is a class IIIa laser in the 5mw range. What’s that mean to me? Nothing. But it’s typical of most quality laser sights from what I can tell. The real appeal of the Pinty Green Laser Sight though is it’s price. For around $25 bucks I was happy to try it out. Especially when it came with a wide variety of accessories for getting it mounted and even a pressure switch.

So far I am entirely satisfied and greatly intrigued by the revelation that visible lasers are absolutely one more way to improve the function and potential tactical characteristics of you firearm. I liked the Pinty Green Laser Sight so much that I bought a second. I have one mounted on an AR Pistol and the other on my PSA AK-V in 9mm. So far they have held up well. Battery life has been solid, they have been relatively easy to zero and up to this point have stayed zeroed under the recoil of both 9mm and .223/5.56. I haven’t used the pressure switch but do like the easy to depress and tactile button on the back of the laser itself.

I am still digesting information about the most common tactical application of visible lasers but my intention is to use them completely in isolation from the iron sights or red dot.  For example, zeroing the red dot on my home defense AR-15 pistol at 50yds and the laser at 15yds.  No co-witnessing of any kind. This is known as the “spot-on” method.  Lasers do an excellent job of demonstrating the reality that bullets don’t travel in a straight line even though your laser may. One of the most interesting revelations that came with trying out lasers is the variety of ways in which they can be effectively zeroed. I never anticipated zeroing a laser on a firearm would be as complicated as it’s proved to be. Without going into the details I will simply link an good article on 3 methods of zeroing your handgun laser.

I can’t say for sure how much I’ll ultimately embrace lasers but I will say that they have some clear tactical advantages and some less obvious disadvantages that can significantly effect their potential effectiveness. Neither of my Pinty Green lasers are set up on home defense firearms, but I have been experimenting recently with lasers on a few of my handguns with great success, and can say for sure that lasers are here to stay for me.