Laser sights?

[ViolenceinSilence]

I'm new to airsoft, and was wondering about where laser sights stand, as far as rules, and what others think of them. I realize that in the day they're next to useless, but at night they have their advantages.

[league 4]

I haven't seen a game where they weren't allowed... But common sense should be used, IE dont aim it at peoples eyes intentionally or things like airplanes.

[Patrick750]

If you want to use it for indoors i'd reconsider. It can give you away very easily, all the enemy has to do is trace it to your location. I'd recommend a nice flashlight. It can easily distort the vision of the enemy and highlight your bb's which makes them look like tracer rounds. The only thing is for an effective blinding flashlight you need to be willing to shell out enough for a gas pistol.

[ViolenceinSilence]

I have a Co2 USP, so I was considering buying a laser, along with a weaver adapter, since about 70% of the time my friends and I play, we play in the dark, and aiming is rather difficult without light, or in positions where I can't look down the sights.

[dos_Santos]

If you want to use it for indoors i'd reconsider. It can give you away very easily, all the enemy has to do is trace it to your location. I'd recommend a nice flashlight. It can easily distort the vision of the enemy and highlight your bb's which makes them look like tracer rounds. The only thing is for an effective blinding flashlight you need to be willing to shell out enough for a gas pistol.

I wouldn't reconsider...if you know how/when to use it, it is an awesome tool. Unless it's dusty or a fog machine is in play, it can't be traced, so I am not sure what Patrick's experience is (beyond Call of Duty et al).

[Patrick750]

I wouldn't reconsider...if you know how/when to use it, it is an awesome tool. Unless it's dusty or a fog machine is in play, it can't be traced, so I am not sure what Patrick's experience is (beyond Call of Duty et al).

quite a bit of experience actually. Notice how we both said "I would('nt) (re)consider as it is mainly opinion.

[Beran]

lasers are good for close range target acquisition, but only as a momentary thing. weapon ready, laser on, dot on target, pull trigger, laser off. even if you cant see the beam, the amount of light coming out of the lens is significant and will draw attention to you very quickly.

outdoors and long range they are next to useless. i cant tell you how many times ive spotted some kid shining his laser at me from 150 feet away and dropping rounds 50 feet short because the projectiles don't have the energy to get to where the laser dot is. all it does is highlight the shooters position and get him killed.

[Zack]

One of the largest uses for a laser indoors is that you do not need to properly sight your weapon, which can sometimes be difficult in CQB. Again, use it momentarily - weapon up, laser on, shoot, laser off, weapon down - and you are unlikely to be "traced". Even if by COD magic you are found by your laser in the moment it's on, people know you're there anyway, that's why you're shooting them. In field games, the laser is very deceiving (if you can see it), because you're rounds aren't flying nearly as far as your laser dot.

Use red, not green.

[DJ]

Lasers are very cool, as are white lights. (gun mounted lights).....if you have the discipline to use them correctly. As mentioned above use both for very short term to identify and acquire the target . Then fire, kill the light/ laser. Do not indiscriminately use either light source and do not stay in the same place you last used the light source from. It will become what is known as a targeting indicator and you will bring in fire to that location , or in this case plastic rain. discipline your self in the use and you will be fine. The green laser seems to be most effective. Be cautious in the use of the laser. I just read where a wash co man was sentenced to prison time for shining one into the eyes of a wash co deputy and causing eye damage. Recently I was up at Oregon airsoft in Hillsboro and some one was playing "disco light" with a green laser. I dogged him out pretty badly.

[Steve]

When used properly, lasers are great, especially for CQB. To echo the other posters, always use a pressure switch or some other momentary-on option.

They can be used to direct fire from other team members into an area where bad guys are, or point out objectives.

I use them as intimidation tools. By sweeping a laser through a window or doorway from a distance, I can encourage the bad guys to pick a different place to poke their heads out of, or stall an advance.

I typically zero the laser to the longest range I am likely to engage at. It lets me take tougher shots at range with less time wasted employing optics, especially since I zero reflex sights at a shorter range. Generally, I zero the laser at about 100 feet, and the eotech at about half that.

And red vs. green: green tends to be visible a lot further away. And if you are using it with a bright tactical light, the green dot generally still shows up, even with a 200 lumen weapon light. Red, not so much.

ninja edit: Make sure you are using an eye-safe laser. Typically, 35mW or less is good. Yes, if you track it across someone and they intentionally continue to stare into the beam it can cause temporary vision issues. But it isn't permanent damage, and generally you will cause as much or more spotting with a bright flashlight than you will with a laser sight (sub 35mW)

[ViolenceinSilence]

When used properly, lasers are great, especially for CQB. To echo the other posters, always use a pressure switch or some other momentary-on option.

They can be used to direct fire from other team members into an area where bad guys are, or point out objectives.

I use them as intimidation tools. By sweeping a laser through a window or doorway from a distance, I can encourage the bad guys to pick a different place to poke their heads out of, or stall an advance.

I typically zero the laser to the longest range I am likely to engage at. It lets me take tougher shots at range with less time wasted employing optics, especially since I zero reflex sights at a shorter range. Generally, I zero the laser at about 100 feet, and the eotech at about half that.

And red vs. green: green tends to be visible a lot further away. And if you are using it with a bright tactical light, the green dot generally still shows up, even with a 200 lumen weapon light. Red, not so much.

ninja edit: Make sure you are using an eye-safe laser. Typically, 35mW or less is good. Yes, if you track it across someone and they intentionally continue to stare into the beam it can cause temporary vision issues. But it isn't permanent damage, and generally you will cause as much or more spotting with a bright flashlight than you will with a laser sight (sub 35mW)

Thank's for the info. Would it work to zero the laser so that it aims below the sights by exactly the distance between the sights and the laser? Wouldn't that effectively zero it fie any range, if you remember to aim lower?

[Steve]

Umm. No.

Pellets move in a ballistic arc. Gravity pulls the pellet further down the longer it is in flight.

Lasers emit visible radiation. The particles are also affected by gravity, but the distance travelled versus the time spent is so much smaller that they are, for the purposes under discussion, basically running in a straight line.

Zeroing is matching the impact point of the pellet at a fixed distance with the impact point of the stream of light particles. Shots fired at targets closer to the shooter than this fixed distance tend to impact above the point of impact of the laser, while shots fired at further distance tend to impact below the light beam.

The practice of guessing where your shots will land by deviating from a known point of aim / point of impact pairing is known colloquially as "Kentucky Windage". Putting this type of guesswork into the equation reduces the likelihood of making a successful first-round strike.

Proper zeroing requires that you shoot at a stable target, observe the point of impact, and adjust your optic to aim where the pellets were striking. Repeat the cycle of firing and adjusting until the place you aim is the place the pellets impact. While doing this, it is essential that you are applying the fundamentals of marksmanship, which basically boil down to this: "Screw up the same way every time, and fix it with the sights".

[Beran]

Pellets move in a ballistic arc. Gravity pulls the pellet further down the longer it is in flight.

'cept for that whole hopup thing.

[Jester316]

Pellets move in a ballistic arc. Gravity pulls the pellet further down the longer it is in flight.

'cept for that whole hopup thing.

'cept for that whole inescapable pull of gravity thing... Hop up just delays the drastic effects of gravity...

[Beran]

sure gravity constantly pulls it down, but the backspin affects that to a great degree. unlike a real bullet which will likely never gain "altitude" (for lack of a better term) a BB will rise above the line of the barrel before it drops again (if the hopup is adjusted correctly). when properly set, it is a guarentee that at certain ranges the round will impact above the point of aim, and then fifty feet farther out, will be below it. a laser does not account for this, so you cant assume that your laser's point of aim will always be at or above your impact point.