Armory Sponsor
SMSLaser HFXC (Page 2 of 6)
|
Got mine yesterday and it feels very well built. Played with it a little after dark and I really like the focus on the ir light. A trick for those trying to get it in to high power mode, you dont actually have to re attach the battery cap. Just push it on enough to make contact, I struggled for a few mins trying to get it in to high power. Just touching the cap to the body would put it in high power then the short breaks in contact trying to screw it on would take it back to low power. So I just held the buttons and pushed the cap on until it made contact and the light flashed then released the buttons. |
"I am gonna laugh my ass off looking out the air vent of the box car watching some of you shot in the head in a ditch when you finally realize it's time to resist." stolen from RR_broccoli
|
Oh wow, this has my interest, big time. The white light actually looks like a viable replacement for a stand-alone white light with its 1K lumens and 80K candela rating. Videos look good as well with the white light. How is the IR laser with the IR illuminator on high? Does the IR laser at that dual setting bloom too much or is it fine enough of an aiming point? |
|
Originally Posted By KaerMorhenResident: Oh wow, this has my interest, big time. The white light actually looks like a viable replacement for a stand-alone white light with its 1K lumens and 80K candela rating. Videos look good as well with the white light. How is the IR laser with the IR illuminator on high? Does the IR laser at that dual setting bloom too much or is it fine enough of an aiming point? Looking thru my omni7 pvs7 last night ( got to bring out even the old stuff every so often ) bloom even on high was not bad at all. Its not way over powered. White light has a good hot spot at 50 yards was maybe 10 feet wide with some spill. I would say usable with no issue to 100 yards in the open. Un like the royvon thing which was just a massive flood. On ir illum I was able to tighten it down and get it between 2 trees 60 yards away that were about 3 feet apart to light up another 80 yards away with no issues from bounce back. |
"I am gonna laugh my ass off looking out the air vent of the box car watching some of you shot in the head in a ditch when you finally realize it's time to resist." stolen from RR_broccoli
|
Originally Posted By StaccatoC2: Got mine yesterday and it feels very well built. Played with it a little after dark and I really like the focus on the ir light. A trick for those trying to get it in to high power mode, you dont actually have to re attach the battery cap. Just push it on enough to make contact, I struggled for a few mins trying to get it in to high power. Just touching the cap to the body would put it in high power then the short breaks in contact trying to screw it on would take it back to low power. So I just held the buttons and pushed the cap on until it made contact and the light flashed then released the buttons. Are there instructions in the box? First I've heard of a special process to get it into HP mode. Thx. |
|
Originally Posted By KaerMorhenResident: How is the IR laser with the IR illuminator on high? Does the IR laser at that dual setting bloom too much or is it fine enough of an aiming point? I found that - in low power mode, like how it first ships - the laser and illum were overpowering everything, washing out the target. Immediately disappointed compared to my real DBAL, which has a very crisp, small aiming laser that is easy to distinguish from the illuminator beam. But - perversely - when you switch the HFXC into secret high-power mode, NOW that gives you ability to dial the power up and down with the level buttons so the levels are more functional. I also wish I could change the power of the illumination separate from the power of the IR laser (so you could have a fine, non-bloomed dot, but tons of light around target.) I'd ask them if next gen would let users do that and program the rear setting that is now "strobe" to user-presets. |
|
Originally Posted By mickdonaldson: Are there instructions in the box? First I've heard of a special process to get it into HP mode. Thx. Yes they are. top right corner of the page, there is only a front and back of the card so not much to choose from for pages. Just got done cowitnessing it to my red dot. At about 70 yards for now, it might be two or 3 inches off which is close enough for social work. I used my mum 14 this time, next time I will use my duals, then my -14. It is easy to zero, the turrets click well and are easy to move but being a recessed screw no way to bump it by accident. They also move like you would think, think. As in all the screws move everything in the same direction in relation to the POA, no remembering this screw is clockwise for up and the other is counter clockwise. Its mounted on the right side with the button on top. It would be nice if the momentary was a little better with the button on the unit, but the touch pad having a momentary and a click on works well. |
"I am gonna laugh my ass off looking out the air vent of the box car watching some of you shot in the head in a ditch when you finally realize it's time to resist." stolen from RR_broccoli
|
Originally Posted By kel: I also wish I could change the power of the illumination separate from the power of the IR laser (so you could have a fine, non-bloomed dot, but tons of light around target.) I'd ask them if next gen would let users do that and program the rear setting that is now "strobe" to user-presets. That's kind of how I use the illum focus, need less illum go to a wider spot, need more tighten it up. I know this is not perfect and could cause an issue but for now it will work. |
"I am gonna laugh my ass off looking out the air vent of the box car watching some of you shot in the head in a ditch when you finally realize it's time to resist." stolen from RR_broccoli
|
Originally Posted By StaccatoC2: That's kind of how I use the illum focus, need less illum go to a wider spot, need more tighten it up. You're not wrong! :) With your advice in mind, I tried that last night, and really when the flood is opened ALLLLL the way up, it's near invisible. Tighten it down all the way to spot, and you've pretty much got a second laser. It's been freezing fog the last week, so this was the first time I could get more than 10 yards visibility. I had been wanting to A-B compare and contrast this HFXC with my Streamlight SuperTac IR torch. I love that thing, and for $90 bucks, it's been hard to beat for years. Long throw, bright, useful. So when I compared with wide HFXC, the Streamlight blew it away. But when I tightened the HFXC beam down... dang if it wasn't nice, tight and bright. Quick video through some properly surplused USG PVS14's and an iPhone 15 ProMax ~185 yards away:  SMS Laser HFXC - Beam Examples Oh: a note about power up-down. I figured out that there's a range of five or six power settings from low to high. So when I'm single-clicking away, shaking the laser/illum on camera, it's me hitting the buttons single-press, repeatedly. However, in real life, you can just press and hold a single power button up or down and the levels go quickly to max or min power without having to slowly single-step through levels. |
|
Initial Impressions: I used the HFXC to help zero an offset red dot on my .308. It worked well for this and held zero for 40 rounds of .308. Not a significant test by any means, but its a good sign. I compared the light to my 18350 PLHV2. Both were very usable at 100M, though the PLH clearly had more candela at that distance. The usable beam of the HFXC didn't reach as far as the PLH, but I was actually surprised at how close it was. I imagine the distance between them would be greater if I was using an 18650 on the PLH. If you are not going to be trying to light things up much over 100M and aren't concerned about breaking through photonic barriers, I would say the HFXC is good to go as a WML. I like the fire button and mode selector. I do think the adjustments are a little coarse, seemed like close to 1moa per click. |
|
Things are heading in the right direction, that's for sure. The issues right now, as I see it, are that these Chinese lasers are over-powering the IR the laser pointer and for these four in one units there needs to be a like a visible override quick option to switch to white light fast and ideally also visible laser. I do feel like we're just a few iterations away from having highly affordable and ideal MFALs. Now, we just need more affordable 640 thermal clip ons. |
| Dnt just released the hydra 640 that is 2k with the discount code, I think it uses a iray core too. I was ready to pull the trigger but I’m too intrigued with the day/night camera, laser rangefinder and ballistic app of the thermnight. Think I’m gonna wait for the 50mm 640 version to come out in a month or two. I sent dnt a email asking them to have a dovetail shoe made for it so It can be used in the knockoff kvc dual mount and knockoff kvc flip to side mount. It uses a 4 hole mount so if two were used it could be moved forward or back too. |
|
Originally Posted By KaerMorhenResident: Things are heading in the right direction, that's for sure. The issues right now, as I see it, are that these Chinese lasers are over-powering the IR the laser pointer and for these four in one units there needs to be a like a visible override quick option to switch to white light fast and ideally also visible laser. I do feel like we're just a few iterations away from having highly affordable and ideal MFALs. Now, we just need more affordable 640 thermal clip ons. |
Got the FDE one: Man, this thing is impressive for the price - it is SOLID. Yea, some niggles could be better, but for the price...man! They need to do like the PERST, where it remembers power levels for the designator when it switches to Dual Mode...then the buttons adjust the illuminator without touching the designator power. But overall - man its hard to beat (so far, haven't shot it yet) - especially for the price. |
|
They do make non white light models, but I’d wait for their yet to be released 3-mode Aimer/Illuminator. VCSEL, compact, etc. and of course all their lessons-learned from this unit. But I like having a white light on the weapon though. For the small weight penalty, it’s a handy thing to have. (And honestly, I was going to mount a white light anyway so having it all in one place on the rail is nice). Even if I’m using thermals, I light up a hunting kill to inspect when I walk up to collect hogs, etc. when the sneaky shooting part of the night is over. |
|
Originally Posted By kel: They do make non white light models, but I’d wait for their yet to be released 3-mode Aimer/Illuminator. VCSEL, compact, etc. and of course all their lessons-learned from this unit. But I like having a white light on the weapon though. For the small weight penalty, it’s a handy thing to have. (And honestly, I was going to mount a white light anyway so having it all in one place on the rail is nice). Even if I’m using thermals, I light up a hunting kill to inspect when I walk up to collect hogs, etc. when the sneaky shooting part of the night is over. Well shit now I'm interested |
"Life is Hard, its Harder if You're Stupid" - John Wayne
|
I would agree that a 3-in-1 makes sense for people who need a higher performance white light anyways (like an OKW / LH8) or really need to switch between white light and IR instantly (via Axon switch or whatever). On the whole, though, I gotta say that the HFXC's white light is like a 90% solution in my book. It genuinely has a nice balance of hot spot and flood, which is refreshing at this price point. I am looking forward to finally finishing up my testing tonight so I can get a thorough review out on Monday or Tuesday. |
|
Originally Posted By fortydelta: So has anyone actually done some hard shooting with one yet? I've shot through a few magazines with mine. No issues with zero retention. The reality is that high round counts generally take some time, and you're talking about hundreds of dollars of ammo if we're talking 5.56. It's not reasonable to expect a lot of data in this regard very early on. On the plus side, if it holds zero, it typically keeps holding zero for a while. ETA: review: https://thehebrewhammer.net/2024/12/22/smslaser-hfxc-review/ |
|
Originally Posted By csireeves: I take it, with the laser being centered over the bore, it won't work with any rifle that has a fixed front sight like an AK. We shall see. It may thread that needle just fine. My need to find one of those peq center mount offset things to uncenter these lol. |
|
I just ordered 1 to try. The silly thing to me is, I keep chasing the cheap options and if I would have just kept my money, I'd be less disappointed and I'd have more than half the money in my pocket for a dir-v. Lol. Oh well. It's still fun playing with these less expensive Chinese options. I do think I'm going to get a 6mtr or a Holosun if they ever release it. I really think the 6mtr has potential. Especially with the reduced power laser model. Can't wait to drive my cat nuts with another new toy. . |
I am not an operator nor am I very smart.
Keep that in mind when reading my comments:-)
Keep that in mind when reading my comments:-)
|
The build feels solid, buttons and stuff are nice. Got it zeroed to the red dot for pretty quick. The ir laser is bright as hell. Lots of bloom up close. I’m not sure if that is as low as it gets as I haven’t unlocked the power adjustment yet. ETA: no go on anything with a fixed front sight. Due to battery location you can’t have one right behind it either. I may just drill some holes in the base of the front sight. |
|
Originally Posted By hodgescl: The build feels solid, buttons and stuff are nice. Got it zeroed to the red dot for pretty quick. The ir laser is bright as hell. Lots of bloom up close. I’m not sure if that is as low as it gets as I haven’t unlocked the power adjustment yet. Unlock it and use the Up and Down buttons - no idea if it'll go lower, but there are 5 or 6 power levels using the buttons. They even control the White Light intensity, which surprised me. |
|
I received mine yesterday. I pretty much agree that it's well built and fairly ergonomic. I had it out tonight using my PVS-14 helmet setup. With the unit on the default low power mode: - The power adjustment buttons only affect the white light level. - The focus adjustment only affects the IR illuminator. - The white light is brighter than my TLR-1HL and I'm quite happy with it. Beam spread is a bit wider than I'd like, but very nice nonetheless. - The green laser is stuck on its weakest setting and not terribly useful beyond 100 meters. Beam divergence is excellent (minimal). - The default IR laser brightness is excellent out to my maximum test range of 200 meters. Beam divergence is excellent (minimal). - The IR illuminator is stuck on its weakest setting and essentially unusable unless the focus is made very (too) tight. With the unit set to high power mode (I would consider this "normal' mode, and that's where I'm leaving it): - The power adjustment buttons affect all of the various emitters individually. - White light output is the same as above. - Green laser output seems quite usable out to my max. test range of 200 meters. Divergence remains minimal at max. power. - The IR laser is, IMHO, best at the lowest setting and at the highest setting is frickin' bright and you get a visible beam. At power levels above the minimum there is some blooming around the dot but the dot itself remains crisp with minimal divergence. - The IR illuminator becomes suitably bright and at max. brightness the focus can be widened significantly. - The IR illuminator+laser setting seems to have a bug in that the laser jumps up in power and cannot be adjusted down. Thus one gets the laser effect and a dot with enough blooming to obscure the target. As far as the strobe setting goes, it certainly strobes. I'm not a big fan of this mode on any light. Negatives (so far): - The aforementioned bug in the IR laser output level in combined IR laser + illuminator mode. - The mode selection knob goes round and round. This makes it very difficult to tell where it's at without looking. I'd prefer a hard stop at the 180 deg. point instead of the strobe function, and a harder detent at the off position. This way you can tell where you are at just by feel and, in an urgent situation, merely crank it all the way left or right depending on whether you want white light or IR. - The mode selection knob is too small to be handy with gloves on. I've got a random battery tube extender on order. I have no idea if it will fit properly and work with an 18650 battery but it was only $10. I won't get it until mid-Jan so will report out on it then. Next up is to get it mounted on a weapon and give it a try. |
|
Originally Posted By DDS87: They have posted some rolling updates to this unit on their Instagram page. Among them, strobe is now OFF, button is double-tap for constant, and the IR laser power and illuminator power are individually adjustable in IRL mode. Fuck.... I wonder if mine that hopefully shows up tomorrow will have those updates... Found the post... Apparently all currently shipped models are the old version. I sent an email about doing an exchange. |
"Life is Hard, its Harder if You're Stupid" - John Wayne
|
Originally Posted By treasurediver: In the comments on their IG page they also said they are developing a 3-in-1 with IR illum/IR laser and Vis laser. I think I’ll wait for that one. It is amazing how quickly they can evolve this system. Dang I jumped on this too quick. On the upside, if you have instagram you can see videos of how they do recoil testing (7.62 rated supposedly) and how they fully pot the electronics. Cool stuff. |
|
SMS emailed back and said they won't accept returns of any previous versions of the laser, even though mine is scheduled for delivery today and hasn't been opened. There is no mention of this policy on their return page or item page. So I politely asked again for a return auth. |
"Life is Hard, its Harder if You're Stupid" - John Wayne
|
Great to see that they're resolving the IR laser+illum power issue. Personally, I think even the old version is plenty usable in real life situations, and people shouldn't freak out so much about it. I think a lot of the griping was from people who didn't realize there was a high power mode. I also think ditching strobe was smart. I don't care so much about the behavior tweak to the on-board button... but that's because using a remote switch works so much better anyways. I'll probably buy HFXC with a clone Hot Button in the near future. |
 The King of Budget LAMs? | SMS HFXC |
|
This was a good video, and I appreciate that he did the metering and the vis/IR laser divergence testing. I'm still undecided whether he really had a tiny zero shift vs his barrel and handguard shifting under the heat, but either way, it held up nicely under his fire schedule. All in all, I'm not sure why I'd buy the M6TR over the newest version of the HFXC. |
|
Originally Posted By erwos: This was a good video, and I appreciate that he did the metering and the vis/IR laser divergence testing. I'm still undecided whether he really had a tiny zero shift vs his barrel and handguard shifting under the heat, but either way, it held up nicely under his fire schedule. All in all, I'm not sure why I'd buy the M6TR over the newest version of the HFXC. Originally Posted By erwos: This was a good video, and I appreciate that he did the metering and the vis/IR laser divergence testing. I'm still undecided whether he really had a tiny zero shift vs his barrel and handguard shifting under the heat, but either way, it held up nicely under his fire schedule. All in all, I'm not sure why I'd buy the M6TR over the newest version of the HFXC. |
|
Originally Posted By fivepointoh: I was chalking it up to accuracy of the barrel/ammo. Bc you had some rounds impacting right around the dot and then others you had about a 1 MOA shift which to me means more ammo/barrel related than dot shift. I don't agree with him on that point and almost said the same thing you did on the video. I really felt like he was weirdly diffident about the device. Like, it's $250, it had next to no zero shift (if it really had any at all), the lasers didn't move relative to each other, and it has a fuckton of power. The only really serious complaint about it (selecting IR illum vs laser powers in IRL mode) is apparently being fixed. What else is he expecting out of it? I've got another HFXC + Hot Button on the list for January or February, and if they can release the 3-in-1, it'll be replacing my Somo PEQs. |
|
Originally Posted By fivepointoh: I was chalking it up to accuracy of the barrel/ammo. Bc you had some rounds impacting right around the dot and then others you had about a 1 MOA shift which to me means more ammo/barrel related than dot shift. I don't agree with him on that point and almost said the same thing you did on the video. I got mine, and I'm happy with it as it is, but I really wish I had waited because the newer setup really seems to check all the boxes on things I would have liked to see in the first place. I ordered knowing how it worked, and said "Well, for $250 I can live with it."..... then they released one that I wouldn't have to live with it. I just wish companies would do more beta testing and refine their products a little more before release. All of the things they fixed were mentioned right off the bat when the unit got into peoples hands. I admit, I'm just salty because now I'm debating on buying one of the new ones and putting this one on a backup upper. If that was their marketing plan to sell more units, damn it, it might just work.  Well, I'm going to zero the one I have, and see how it holds up for me, then make up my mind if I want another. If I really like it, I'll make a 18650 length battery cap for it, and order the new version to play with. |
| Who here is gonna do actual ODA missions with this? I pre-bought. It has a LOT of good, and a couple pitfalls at a GREAT price point. Take it for what it is. |
We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm.
I will die for the USA. But, I'd rather kill for her---DeathHates
Follow Me! I am the INFANTRY!
I will die for the USA. But, I'd rather kill for her---DeathHates
Follow Me! I am the INFANTRY!
|
What's the take away here? That the HFXC's issue is with thermal inducted zero drift and a lack of an IPX rating? The water issue could be easily solved without pushing the price up that far. The thermal drift that 4MR experienced, is another issue. However, for the price it is definitely something I'd consider with all its functions for a bag PDW/Sub gun. |
|
Originally Posted By KaerMorhenResident: The water issue could be easily solved without pushing the price up that far. The thermal drift that 4MR experienced, is another issue. However, for the price it is definitely something I'd consider with all its functions for a bag PDW/Sub gun. The dude said his barrel hit 600f during the zero test. There's no way I'm going to just assume it's the HFXC at that temperature. Stringing is a well-known phenomenon with hot barrels. |
SMSLaser HFXC (Page 2 of 6)
Armory Sponsor