Looking for suggestions on a laser "designator."

I'm pretty sure I just want a very small, pistol type laser, mounted at the end of the hand guard on either the under or the left side rail. I have no use for a tail line switch as my fore hand grip is right there.

Price is a factor.

To me the whole spirit of a 15-22 is that it's an inexpensive hobby -- but also, I've seen the prices of the exact same laser differ by more than $100 dollars so I can't even put much faith in the old "you get what you pay for" logic.

Thanks in advance for any advice.

I have literally just put a battery in my 'xmas-gift' laser pointer.

A Chrimson Trace....yes i spelled that correctly, not the Crimson Trace which would set you back about $150
Universal Laser Sight | Rail Master | Official Crimson Trace Lasergrips

I like you certainly don't want to break the bank and after the outlay i have just done on my trigger, the wife certainly wouldn't allow that, she knows that i would hardly ever use it.

However, i wanted one...so i got this instead.
Crimson Trace Style Laser Sight CMR-201 Rail Universal Micro Red Laser Sight | eBay

Takes a weird battery a 1/3N which i had never heard of, neither had my local camera shop, but got one off ebay, put it on just now and once again the Chinese have supplied a seemingly quality piece of kit for a fraction of the cost.

It looks great, the laser is well defined and doesn't spread out at 25 yards anyways, which is all i will ever use it at. So overall i am very happy with it....cheap and cheerful. It is adjustable for windage and elevation and has quite a wide range of movement for both. Whether it holds zero or not i shall have to wait for a field test. But build quality and appearance and laser quality are all A+ so far.

It sits nicely at the front of the rail as you can see, it looks as though it has always belonged there.
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Viridian Green C5L .. Laser and light combination .. pretty small several different modes including strobe light with flashing laser ..

Can be used on multiple weapons !

Have mine mounted on my Beretta PX4 Sub Compact house defense pistol .. but have also used it on my 40c .. and plan to use it on the 22lr I plan on acquiring this Spring ..

Ghost> thanks for that info. You have me better focused now. I see that Crimson Trace knockoff from China on Aliexpress for $19.99 with free shipping.-- it's not available on ebay here in the States as far as I can tell.

It looks amazing on your rifle!

I only wish you had more time with it, I'm worried that it won't hold sight-in adjustments -- I read some horror stories about it in the Amazon reviews where it presently sells for $45 bucks but some reviewers mention paying $90 for it.

The power is 2.5Mw vs the real one which is 5Mw -- that's a concern for me.

I should mention also that there are many happy owners as well.

Thanks again for your info -- hopefully, I can narrow it down soon.

Thanks W.

That is one really nice combo -- I would LOVE to own it. Right now, I just think that that is too much to spend, -- it's about half of what I paid for the rifle brand new.

But I appreciate you opening my eyes to the fact that I could potentially be spending more than I originally anticipated if I want something of quality.

The price of lasers in general has dropped dramatically over the past 20 years -- but it seems that that market phenomenon has not migrated over to the forearms sector.

I wonder why?

I'll most likely be blasting the proverbial out of my rifle as soon as our club range re-opens on Monday, so i can post updates as to whether it holds zero or not. Like i said the laser is very good and does not appear to lose focus at least at 25 yards. If you want i can post pics of it all lit up.

I doubt i will ever use it competitively, i have a nice scope for my rapid fire comps, but just for giggles and tin cans/reactive targets, i can imagine the fun, if it turns out to be cheap junk, so be it....i'll pass the message on to Santa. It looks cool and i'm a sucker for a good looker, just ask the wife.

If it does turn out to be useless, my son has already expressed an interest in it....he points it at the ground and his little sister chases it around like a cat does. hahaha

I had two green lasers and one red one.
Being honest if your shooting indoors or at night, green is awesome.
If your shooting during the day. Save your money and buy a rds.
Green lasers are better than red but still dont work in sunlight!!!!!

Do uour reading. You need a 20mw laser or more to see in sunlight.
Every demo youll see is at dusk or serious cloud cover.
Sure there are green lasers youll see in the sun but at a $500+ cost.
Im sorry but it seems you want to be tacticool.
If your honest and say price is a factor. Drop the green laser idea and spend your money on a good scope, rds or ammo!!!!!!!!

Thanks little airwolf.

Trying to stay on-topic and the topic is laser.

But we appreciate your input.

Seriously Little Airwolf, what is wrong with being tacticool?
The only reason i bought the laser on the front of mine was because i wanted a cheap laser and it looks tacticool.
I only bought it to fill a slot on my rail and if it is minute of tin can at 25yrds then i'll be happy, if it doesn't then so what, it is no ones concern other than mine.

Arthur, asked a specific question, to which he is trying to elicit a response from people who can point him in the direction of cheap lasers.
We are not all professional shooters like yourself, who take the game very seriously or have oodles of cash to spend on our 15-22's if we did we would all be sporting, top quality doo dads and what nots. Some of us want a hobby that is a bit of fun and is not going to require a bank loan.
You need to chill out a little bit on the troll like comments i know your (oh no wait that is actually 'you're') not going to like what i have written here but you have not 'liked' anything in all your time on the forum.
Lighten up brother.

Fact is Im try to save him money. The low power lasers are junk. Trust me I went through 2 of them. Wanting to be tacticool.
Just sharing my experience. If you cant handle my comments, you should just skip my posts. Its a free country, just cause my views are different than yours doesnt mean there wrong.
Someone should lighten up but its not me.

There, Their, They're.

I'm leaning toward this one:





The price of this particular unit varies wildly. I've seen is sold for as high as $170 dollars and for as low as $18.00 dollars. Either way, these are mass produced in China and is probably the most sold/used laser unit on the face of the earth.

It is sold/available worldwide and generally scores 4.5 out of 5 stars on the 10's of thousands of reviews I've scanned. That is about the same score (or a little higher) rating of the $300 to $500 dollar lasers available online.

Again, this is an accessory for fun-time, .22 cal tin-can plinking -- it will not be employed for any life-or-death ESU jobs or Marine Corps Force Recon operations.

With that in consideration, your comments are welcomed.

Redfield CounterStrike. I like mine.

Now, that's a red dot scope combined with a laser "pointer?"

Correct?

What's a good price for that one?

Its a red/green dot with a laser that is mounted in line with the barrel.
I think I paid $129 for mine on Amazon.

If your looking at a scope laser combo. Please take a look at weight. Some are alot heavier than others.

Almost all the lasers you can buy on ebay/amazon are chinese knockoff junk!!!!!
You get what you pay for, guess youll learn that the hard way as I did.

Arthur, i would say for that price give it a go, 22lr is not going to have the effect on the laser, like a full bore would. If the product is not fit for purpose you are covered via the Distant selling regulations and the maufacturers warranty, the reviews and pics from people who have purchased it seem very positive.

I would 'bite the bullet' so to speak and go ahead and buy it. Satisfy your curiosity and if it works...bonus, you got what you wanted, if not then simply return in packaging as not fit for purpose. Either way you win and all you may lose is a few dollars in postage.

Someone once told me that i wouldn't like coffee, before i had even tasted it...they experienced it for me...i was not content with that and lo and behold coffee is now my favourite drink.

these guys were at the gun show this weekend, very bright green lasers. especially the one that focuses from a pin point to a broad designator

LASERS

From a quick look, these guys appear to be running a scam.

Several of those lasers are of the $20 dollar variety but they're asking much more.

For example, their ITEM NO. IJK GREEN is the exact unit I posted above. They're selling it for $137 -- it's available for around $20 bucks all over the internet.

It's mighty nice of them to supply a "replacement" under warranty for a $20 dollars because that's exactly what it costs to replace.

More to the point, the current laser market presents a "buyer beware" situation. Lasers have become cheap to produce and the old "you get what you pay for" rule does NOT apply.

Thanks for the insight.

Correct do your reading first!
Look up green lasers in sunlight.
If your shooting only indoors, then you could get away with a 5mw junk laser!
Have fun with it and know it was only $20.
There is two ways to look at it.
Either buy once cry once, said all the time about scopes!
Or buy cheap and if you dont like it, it didnt cist much.
However once you start adding up the cost of junk, you might kick yourself for not spending more in the first place.
Just like our rifles!
Sure you can buy a mossy or rem semi auto for cheaper than a 15-22. But how do you feel about our rifles compared to the lower costing rifles?
Some people can be hypocritical ghost!

I've got one of these (paid $36) and I can see it out to 55 yards in the daytime (semi direct sunlight)

Norm

Thanks Norm.

What's your experience with it "holding zero" or keeping the adjustments you make?

For the price, I'd expect to make periodic readjustments but a laser that will only hold zero for 3 or 4 shots is (to me) kinda worthless.

What have you found?

that is a good point , I have a small laser for my 9mm pistol that just doesn't hold zero so I just use that to tell me what I'm doing wrong for dry fire (works great for that). The bigger one goes on and off my 12ga with slugs and I haven't kept it on there long enough to give any useful data there.

I have the Crimson CMR-203 and CMR-206 both green, quite happy with them both. No issues with holding zero and can see well in daylight. And in total darkness, no need for a light, green light gives off plenty to ID surrounding area.

Here's mine.

Got the laser on Wednesday and shot 50-75 rounds on 3 separate occasions since then.

It works well.

I have no complaints. It holds zero, is bright and does what it's supposed to do.

I believe that the complaints I read about this laser not keeping zero are attributed to loose parts. This thing screws together like a flashlight so if any of the screwed sections rattle loose, it will become "unrigid" and change the lasers position. Once I tightened everything up, it held just fine.

I'll probably end using lock-tite on the threads, save the battery access.

I used it outside in the sunlight and could see the green dot at 125 yards just fine.

Again, I'm not going on raids with ESU with this thing -- but for $19.99, this laser perfectly compliments any .22 plinkster rifle where the most feared threat is a old tin can...or a pesky rodent.

Thanks to @Ghostmutt and everyone else that contributed to my gaining some knowledge on this purchase. It is much appreciated.

If anything changes, I'll come back to this thread and report my findings.

It was my pleasure to be of what little assistance i was in your decision. I am even more pleased that it works for you and that all your worries about buying cheap were not confirmed.

Now go and enjoy perforate some tin cans... and tell em GhostMutt sent ya.

Can you tell me where you found it for $20? It's $50 via the earlier Amazon link. Thanks!

Sorry for the late response, I just saw this now.

Purchased on ebay at:

Tactical Hunting Rifle Green Laser Sight Dot Scope Adjustable w Mounts | eBay

Lemme know if you need any more info and how you make out.

Yes please tell us if Im wrong. I bet $10 you wont see your laser in sunlight @ 50yds.
Maybe just maybe @ 20yds. 25 possible with the right color target.