LaserLyte RSL: Initial Impressions

LaserLyte RSL Laser Sights Review, Part I

I've had the LaserLyte LSR laser sights in my hot little hands for over a week now. It's about time I gave my initial review. They have not made it to the range yet, so that part of the review will have to wait until next week (I'm off Monday and have planned the entire day around going to the range to test out these laser sights. I know, I know; the sacrifices I make in the name of Product Reviews).

I've had the sights for just under two weeks now, and have had some time to inspect, install, and perform some rough alignment of the sights on both of the test guns. The sights are a marvel of engineering - they're not much larger than the standard night sights they replaced on either gun, yet each contains a fully functioning laser sight. I've got an old pen-type laser pointer that was the pinnacle of laser technology back in the '90s and it's easily 5X larger, with a significantly less cohesive beam...

Installation was a breeze; but then again I punted. I brought both guns (a SigSauer P226 and a Glock G30) to my local gun shop to have them install the sights. It's not that installation is difficult - pretty much anyone that can swap out backstraps on a Smith & Wesson M&P can handle it - it's that I just didn't want to run the risk of messing it up. I don't have a proper gunsmithing bench, nor the appropriate tools (although LaserLyte does supply the brass punch needed to drift out the sights). For the $20 the gun shop charged to swap out the sights, I got to hang around in one of my favorite stores and drool over a bunch of new guns. A fair trade, IMHO.

Please let me reiterate that this was my choice entirely; had the charge been more for the service I would most likely have done the work myself. It's a simple process and the instructions from LaserLyte are top-notch; anyone even remotely mechanically inclined could put these sights on in hardly any time at all. I felt more secure having the gunsmith take care of it; knowing that it would be done properly without danger of damaging the laser unit or my sidearm.

Here are some pictures of the guns in question with the LSRs installed:

Glock G30

Sig P226

Glock G30 Offset

Sig P226 Offset

And finally, a picture of the sights in use:

The View from 45 Feet

Sorry about the messy office; this is the furthest distance achievable inside my house. It's approximately 45 feet from the outer wall of TheBoy's room to the back wall of the office at the end of the hallway. Click the picture to enlarge - you can clearly see the laser dot on the target at nearly 50 feet.

As an aside, y'all have any idea how difficult it is to hold a laser sighted (UNLOADED) firearm in one hand and take a picture with the other?

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Rough alignment of the laser sights was performed by bringing the laser dot in line with the sight picture using the iron sights. Again, the instructions were crystal clear and simple to follow, and a few turns of the provided Allen wrench had the dot pretty well lined up with the iron sights. Distance for the rough alignment was approximately 35-40'; at that distance the dot was bright and very easy to pick up. A trip to the indoor public shooting range this past weekend allowed me to briefly test the light at a distance of 25 yards (backstop). At that distance the dot was still easily visible and quick to acquire.

And I have to admit, the laser cutting across the smoky indoor range was a nice touch - talk about calling attention to yourself...

Turning on the sights does require your off hand (or some contortion with your strong hand). A quick push of the button and the laser sight is on; a second push and the beam pulsates for faster acquisition. There's a convenient light on the back of the unit facing you that glows red when the laser is on steady and blinks when the laser is pulsating. Some find this distracting; I didn't even notice it. Replacement cost for the batteries from the LaserLyte website is $12 for a dozen batteries - the units take 4 batteries each - and run time is an hour on constant, two hours on pulsating. $4 to replace the batteries isn't terribly expensive, and the unit with the power switch simply unscrews to replace. Very intuitive, very simple.

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Up next will be the final adjustments at the range and the first range report. The plan is to visit both the 25 yard outdoor pistol range at my club and the 25 yard indoor public pistol range (on a less crowded day); both sights will be adjusted on target and then shot extensively to see if the point-of-impact (POI) changes at all. Followup range trips will see how/if the POI changes with multiple rounds sent downrange.

Look for Part II - the shooting part of the Range Report - next week.

That is all.

Obligatory FTC disclaimer: LaserLyte did provide two RSL laser sights for review as well as a PB-3 pistol bayonet in their shipment to the writer of this review.