Hey guys looking for a small IR laser for my 300BO....any recommendations?

CQBL-1

Not sure what price range you are looking at, but I run a LaserMax UNI-Max Class (~ $150 on Amazon).  Depending on your needs, this little guy performs very well.  I certainly haven't put it through its paces, but battery life is great and it is very bright, easy to see even through gen 2 at 100 yards with minimal dispersion.  It is a bit bright for indoor use but can do in a pinch.

This is what I use also. Mine has worked great.

Crimson Trace

There are basically two IR lasers in the under $200 category, the LaserMax UNI-IR and the Crimson Trace Rail Master IR.  I have both and have no real complaints with either, except that at .7mW, they're both a little too bright and don't have a low power feature.   For a non-AR pistol (I assume yours is an AR pistol), I prefer the CT Rail Master.  I like the switch a lot better.  On an AR, I prefer the UNI IR and use it with a remote switch.  I do not like the slider switch on the UNI, the Rail Master's switch is its strong point.  

With Gen 3, at less than 100 yards, both bloom to about an 8" dot if you're not using supplemental IR.  If you are using strong IR, the dots are about 3 or 4 inches.  Ident offers a service that puts a non-removable neutral density filter in both of these units for about $35 IIRC.  On the UNI-IRs I use on AR platforms, I did this a little differently- see this thread.    It worked great after I got the kydex down.  Been using the little covers I made for the last 8 months with zero problems other than losing one hoggin at night, but hell, I've got about $1.50 in each one, so no biggie.

so with the CT rail master and the lasermax the bloom is a lot under 100 yards?  I will be running Gen 3 and this gun is going to be a 150 yard gun max....mostly 100 and under....sounds like I need to see some other options.

If not using IR illumination or a Neutral Density filter over the IR laser, and using Gen 3 with gain that is not bottomed out,a .7mW IR laser's dot at 100 yards blooms to about 8" in my experience.  For under $200, getting either of these lasers and adding a ND8 neutral density filter (yourself or having Ident do it) is really the only way I've found to cut the bloom out to give you a tight spot.  The modification I did used an ND8 filter and I've found that it lets me use the laser with or without extra IR at ranges out to 300 easily.  You can still see the entire beam if not using IR, but once you add extra IR, the beam is hard to see but the dot is still clear.  I'd describe it like using a strong green laser- in daylight, you can see the dot, but at night, you can see the beam and the dot.   If you go up in price, there are several that have high/ low setting or come with a ND filter cap, but you're basically talking a minimum of $500 at that level.  

Another option I use is to add a 30mm 720nm IR pass filter to the objective lens of hte PVS14 and using a regular visible 5mW red laser.  On my hunting rigs, I have the UNI-IR with the ND8 filter and a 5mW red laser (either CT Rail Master or UNI).  With the 720nm IR filter on my PVS14s, the red laser is a lot less bright through the tube than the neutered IR laser is.  I can see the red laser's dot out to about 50 or 75 yards when I am not using extra IR.  When it's dark enough to use extra IR or I am aiming out to 150 or 200 yards, I use the neutered IR laser and am GTG.  When looking through the helmet-mounted PVS14, I can easily tell the two dots apart, even though they are both zeroed at 100 yards on my 300BLKs.

Virtually all .7mw laser will have quite a bit of bloom (in my experience) unless used with IR supplemental light. I use my little lasers (I have both Crimson Trace CMR-201 and Lasermax UNI-IR) with either Inforce WML (white/IR version ) or the Surefire M300V light depending on rifle configuration. Either of those lights does a lot to reduce laser bloom at most ranges in most lighting conditions. That light/laser combo still costs quite a bit less than many options out there!

I wouldnt recommend the  micro. I am on my 3rd one in about 6 months. Lasermax has some bad ass customer service but 3 lasers later im wondering if i made the right choice. might have to just see if i can get a unimax

What issues have you had?  I have one on my xdm.  Lightly used but seems to be working well.  I did have the filter mod done by I-2 Technology.

How did you like the I-2 modification?  ANy chance of through the tube pics?

first one worked for a couple of months then wouldnt turn on so i changed the battery, no dice so it got sent back on my dime to be tested. New laser came in the mail about a week later. Second laser worked when i initially received it, fast forward 2 months and i go to test it out and can barely see the dot maybe 7 yards away, fresh battery same results. They were both mounted on my ar-15 and never even had a chance to sight either one in other than just looking through the NOD and lining up the laser with my PA micro red dot. I emailed Lasermax the first time and got a response like 3 weeks later stating that the laser was IR and could only be seen with night vision LMAO.

Here is a 50 yard cell phone pic of my filtered crimson trace.  4 o'clock on the cedar tree

when it worked it worked great here a pic in my office. Wall is white sheetmetal and was about 3 feet away in the pic.

The Crimson Trace IR Railmaster is pretty nice. I wish CTC would offer it with a high/low slider switch...

I was thinking it would be easy for them to offer a neutral density filter that could snap onto the front of it.

TO clarify- the ones you had altered by I^2 kept crapping out on you?

Mine arent modified at all just mounted on my rifles and when i go to sight them in they have been dead.

What he is saying is Pete at I^2 had nothing to do with the issues he has had with his Lasermax IR-Micro lasers.

It's odd that two quit on you in as many months.  I haven't heard much about the Micro-IR at all.  You don't see them in stock very often.  I just checked mine and it is still working fine.

Just got my replacement out of the mailbox about 20 mins ago ill report back on how long this one lasts

any updates?

took it out last night without a rifle to see what kind of distance i could get worked great, now to put some rounds through my rifle with it mounted. A theory of mine after noticing the same thing on the previous two is that the board is exposed on the part that slides onto the rail. On both of the previous lasers the sticker had peeled when i slid it on the rail. Im wondering if that is causing some kind of short that kills the laser. I put some tape on it for now but might end up finding a better solution. In the pic below you can see how exposed the board is.

did you call the company to ask them about it?  How is it working?

shot about 15 rounds or so this past saturday still kicking, going to try and get it sighted in friday afternoon at the local range. i never called lasermax back to see what the problem was and they never contacted me to send the new laser back so im guessing it died somehow. ?

Somebody (TNVC maybe?  ) needs to start making a snap-on filter for the CT laser.  It's a great little laser, just too bright.

Does not get much smaller then UNIMAX-IR.

Which "this laser"?  The Crimson Trace or the Lasermax?

Thanks for chiming in TNVC if this one craps out i guess ill try the unimax or just try and get my money back 2 lasers since March seems pretty ridiculous but their C.S. is pretty good i guess lol