With all the talk of nice lasers I thought it might be nice for people with cheap lasers to share any tips they have to get the most out of your gear.

I use a lasermax IR for now and it's been getting the job done.   Some helpful things I've learned.

-don't buy the tape switch.  You won't need it.  At best it gets in the way.  Nothing is more irritating than it starting to flash right before you open up on a group of pigs.  If you turn it on and off 3 times quickly it will strobe.  Nice if you want it to but with the pressure switch you can do it by mistake.  If you are in Dallas you can have mine for a box or two of 9mm but I warned you.

-mount it at 12 o'clock in front of your flip up sight if you can.  One less thing to think about, offset that is.  Not essential but I like it and it's so small you can.
 
----buy a bore sighting laser and use it at,first.   It will save you so much time at sight in.  This is the biggest problem I have had with this laser and you hear it often.  Turn the bore sighter on at whatever distance you want to zero to.  Turn your laser on.  Use the Allen wrench to line them up.  Then check and adjust from there.  Yes a visible laser isn't good for your nods but it didn't burn mine.  I was quick about it though.  

-they are not quick detach so if you go on and off the gun it will mess with your zero somewhat.   Remember the boresight zero and the actual impact zero.  Then just use the same target at the same distance.  You can line the two dots up how they belong without firing a shot if needed.  

-you need to have an IR illuminator attached for finger operation when you are going to fire.  It will take the laser from a dinner plate sized flower to a sharp dot.   I hate illuminators for searching so I resisted this one.  It will greatly increase your accuracy.  I use a 300v at the 11 o'clock.  I can turn the laser and the light on with my thumb without moving my hand.  Try it.  

-have the illuminator configured in such a way that you can turn it off and on fast.  If you just leave it on when you shoot you can smoke up your vision.  It's like driving in fog.  I usually have 5+ targets and after 3 rounds if I leave the illuminator on constantly the reflection off the gun smoke blocks your vision for a couple seconds, and that's with quality ammo.  So illum on, shot, illum off in less than a second.  Rinse and repeat as needed.  The alternative is walk left or right of the smoke cloud every 3 shots or so.  I didn't see a pig running my way a couple months ago till he had run past about 10 feet to my right, that could have ended badly.

-Some people here have said they can be inconsistent at maintaining zero after recoil.  I haven't had this problem but I don't put it on my ar10 and it's good to double check your zero.   Doing the above boresight method can make it pretty quick.  

That's all I've got for now.  If I can think of more i will edit it in.    Add anything you have including the Crimson trace info.

I have one as well on a 300blk upper.

-The elevation and windage don't track correctly. Watch the laser creep on a slope as you adjust either the windage or the elevation. Just be aware of it.
-It turns on really easily in a bag. It does auto-turnoff, but always have extra batteries.
-Life is better with an IR illuminator.
-If you take a tumble and the laser gets knocked, it's going to need to be re-zeroed. Definitely 12-o-clock mount it.

For zeroing(esp with a non-ir optic):
Tape a chemlight to a tree at 50yds (or whatever distance your dot/crosshairs, or chosen stadia line preference)
Vice/sandbag/secure your zeroed upper/rifle optic pointed at said chemlight
Flip on nvg and connect the dots, confirming your sight picture periodically as you adjust.

The bloom on that laser is rough, so where I understand the parallel offset zero method, it doesn't really matter with that particular laser. You won't be taking 200yd+ shots with this $140 laser. If it's important, back the distance out and repeat the process at a chemlight further out.

I used my micro and a 22 conversion kit to kill some rabbits a while back from a jeep, worked great.

i have a couple of the lasermax IR lasers.  they are fine for my 22's.  i have one on a 5.56 SBR, but only until i can get a better one.

zero-ing sucks.  haven't noticed any drift on mine.

I also run two Lasermax uni IR's.  The bloom is WAY too bright for making precise shots at any normal handgun or archery distance.  Since lasermax didn't offer a neutral density filter, I purchased this one from steiner: https://tnvc.com/shop/laser-neutral-density-filter/  and ground down the tabs to make a perfect circle.  Then I carefully super-glued it over the lasermax output nipple thingy.  Worked like a charm, bloom tamed.  

I've also had some quality control issues.  In very cold weather, the laser would sometimes cut out intermittently.  It was random and I don't know why it happened.  Seems to have cleared up though since its warmed up a bit, fingers crossed for next winter. KEEP IT OUT OF THE RAIN, its not a sealed unit, I ruined one that way.

Good intel. Thank you.

Just FYSA:

I managed to bust my LaserMax UNI-IR a couple months ago.  

Now when I first cut it on, it will turn on at full power for a couple of seconds, and then the power will drop to almost nothing, until it gradually starts fading until you can't see the dot at all.  Changing batteries and tinkering have been no help.  

I will probably try to contact LaserMax about repairing it sometime in the near future, but I'm not terribly concerned about it.

I am notoriously hard on equipment and break everything I get my hands on.  Consider that I purchased the UNI-IR used and paid around $100 or for it, it has served me well for several years, and while I will try to get it repaired, I am very confident that I got my $100 out of it.  

While not a full service-LAM, I never expected it to be, and it was a nice little unit that did what I asked it to.  Buying new will obviously cost a little bit more, but also comes with warranty and a much less variable provenance than buying new.  

Needless to say, I don't think anyone expects a $150 laser to be anywhere as durable or functional as a $1,300 LAM, and they won't last forever if you abuse them , but I would still buy another if LM can't fix this one.  

Long story short, the UNI-IR is, IMHO, a great, serviceable laser for the price, but make sure you're managing your expectations.  Mine was a beater/loaner that mostly came out when I was shooting with someone without their own stuff, but it saw rain, swamps, SC summers and humidity and WV winters before giving up.  

~Augee

Thanks for the info guys. I've been thinking about getting a lasermax.

I'll throw my hat into the UNI IR ring too had one until I got my dbal d2.

Worth every penny imo. I just wish it was at least water resistant. I never tried to fix that issue myself. Truth be told I wish I kept it.

I'll probably snag another in the future.

in IR LASER MAX = not water proof it uses an impssibly tiny allen wrench to zero you cannot do it in the dark without great difficulty.

next the CT railmaster it uses a tap on/tap off button  switch in ir with no nods it is impossible to tell if it is on or off


the ir Cherokee laser is not a perfect circle making it impossible to mount the only mounts I found that worked were WARNE QD low rings but even then I could not change the batts without taking it off. & since this was pre class 1 lasers run time was about 20 min.

I am using the stream light  tlr2 eye safe like the laser max it is very hard to zero using small allen wrenches. you cannot mount it at 6:00without skill & patience. but it offers good ir illum better than the surefire Vseries.
& a laser I can see to 700 yards with my gen 2 + mono

Some online reviewers say the LaserMax UNIR is not useable at close pistol distances due to bloom.   Can anyone comment?  I'd like to shoot rabbits in the face at 7 yards or so.  Also rats.

Yea, see my comment above.  Short answer:  The stock uni IR is too bright to make accurate shots at 7 yards on that size target.  But you can easily modify the uni IR with a $17 steiner neutral density filter as described above.  After you do that mod, there will be no bloom at 7 yards and you'll be shootin rats eyes out ;)

Fuck yeah.  Thanks.

I'm even more stingy. I cracked open a 3.5 floppy, cut off a piece of the disk and trimmed to a little square and glued it with scotch tape and a dab of elmers glue. I can peel it off anytime if I want the full bloom.

I have two and the only issue I've had is they don't do well in extreme cold weather. They work good down to about 20 degrees Fahrenheit, but lose intensity if it's any colder. Below 10 degrees the dot is barely visible at 50 yards.

Do you think the neutral density filter would get the beam fine enough to shoot rats using any laser or just the brand you are talking about?  does it matter if the laser is red or green?  Which is better?