[strakele]

Hey guys,

I just received my new LaserLyte rear sight laser for my Glock 19. I was somewhat hesitant to buy it because of the mixed reviews I have read, but I figured I'd give it a shot since I really like the idea. I use a Hogue grip on my G19 so I didn't want a CT grip laser, and the Lasermax guide rod is 3x more expensive. My carry holster doesn't allow for rail or trigger guard mounted lasers.

So with that out of the way, on to the review. After all the issues I had read about, I made it a point to test for all of them.

Issues I had read about:
- Battery cap comes loose
- Turns on/off after first shot
- Switches from pulse to constant on after first shot
- Elevation/windage won't adjust
- Loses zero
- Poor battery life

So you could say I took a gamble getting this thing at all, but I read that their customer service was great, so I figured for $94 from CTD, why not?

So today my laser arrived. Again this is the newer version, the RTB-GL, not the older RL-1. This one has a black on/off switch instead of grey, and does NOT have the small light on the back of the sight to show you what mode it's in (most people complained about this), although the spot for it is still there.

So, as soon as I took the thing out of the package, I checked to see how loose the battery cap was. It was easy to turn, so I cranked it nice and tight with a pair of pliers. The battery cap has an O-ring to seal from water, so you want this to be nice and compressed for a good seal. If not, I don't doubt that it could come loose. Then I hit the button to turn it on and make sure it worked, in both constant on and pulse. Then I threw it on the ground a couple times in different modes to see if the shock made it do anything funky. No problems.

So then I tapped out my stock rear sight and tapped in the LaserLyte, and locked down the set screw. Next I pulled out the smaller hex wrench to adjust the laser. At first, I thought I had run into the "laser won't adjust" problem. The laser comes stock aimed very left and down. So my logic said if I want the laser to move up and right, I should back out the little set screws, taking pressure off the diode and allowing it to move to where I wanted, right? Wrong! It probably says this in a manual that I (and I bet other people who had this "problem" didn't read) but to adjust the laser right/up, you turn the screws to the right, OPPOSITE of most scopes adjustments. So after feeling like a dummy, I had the laser adjusted.

Next was a trip to the range to test out the laser as well as my new tritium front sight. I shot 150 rounds. Around 100 with the laser off, and 50 or so with it on. No random mode switches, no random turn ons/offs. After 10 mags without ever touching the battery cap, it was still just as tight as I had left it. It didn't lose zero while I was shooting, but it's only the first day, so that remains to be seen. The laser was bright enough to see down at the 25 yard mark on the well lit indoor range.

So for now, I'm very happy with my new LaserLyte. Let's recap my experiences with the known issues:

- Battery cap comes loose - not if you spend 3.5 seconds to tighten it enough to fully compress the O-ring
- Turns on/off after first shot - nope
- Switches from pulse to constant on after first shot - nope
- Elevation/windage won't adjust - yes, they will, just not how you're used to
- Loses zero - not so far (and if it does, I'm sure a drop of Loctite on the set screws would fix that)
- Poor battery life - haven't used enough to test so far

So in conclusion, I'm happy with it. I'll keep this updated if anything gets screwy with it.

And for those of you who thought that was way too long, here's some pictures :D

[DEEAYCEE]

thanks for this. was eyeing this at my LGS last week.

[Tomcat55]

Thanks for sharing.

[strakele]

No problem. Doesn't seem LaserLyte made it very clear when they made some updates to their product, so I wanted to let everyone know that, at least for me so far, the new version fixes the issues in the old version and is basically what the original should have been.

[strakele]

UPDATE!

Yesterday I went to the range again to put another 100 rounds through the gun. Shortly into my session, the laser turned itself off after a few shots, and continued to do so. Not after every shot, but fairly regularly. Still held zero.

I went home unhappy. I thought I had escaped all the problems and felt bad having written a praising review. I figured I'd take a good look at it before sending it back to see if I could figure out what the issue was.

I took off the battery cap and removed the batteries to check if I could see in the tube if there was any kind of loose contact or anything. Nothing. Bummer.

I was about to put the gun away for the night when I took a close look at the back of the sight under a light. I then noticed that the gap between the tube body and the back plate was slightly bigger than I remembered, and I could push on the back of the sight and the gap would decrease.

The arrows show the area that I'm talking about (but no gap)



Then I took a closer look at the back of the sight around the white U and saw what I believed to be some allen screws.

These:





I took the smallest hex wrench provided with the sight (the one for adjusting windage and elevation) and popped off the white plastic U to gain full access to these screws. Using the other wrench that comes with it, I tightened these screws very well. The gap between the back plate and tube was now gone.

I couldn't wait to see if this simple tweak fixed my problem, so today I went back to the range and shot another box of ammo, all 50 with the laser on. It functioned perfectly as it should - never turned itself off. I'll be keeping a close eye on this as I continue to shoot and make sure it doesn't get loose again. If it does, a drop of loctite should do the trick.

I believe this is the root of the problem that many other users had with their units switching modes or turning on/off during shooting. If you have this issue, tighten those 2 little screws as much as you can and I bet it'll be fixed.

[strakele]

Another 50 rounds down the pipe today (in the hands of a Glock employee after upgrading some internals) and no screws loose. Working fine.

[strakele]

Well I was kind of planning on that being the last update assuming everything continued to function perfectly, but the next weekend I shot, after 100 or so rounds, the laser started to occasionally turn off again.

I was frustrated since I thought I had fixed it, and wasn't sure what else I could possibly do. All caps and screws were tight. I decided to take the thing apart by removing the back cover. This revealed the tiny circuit board that runs from one tube to the other to supply power to the laser diode. After some poking and prodding it seemed that the cause of the turnoffs during firing was actually a result of loss of contact on the laser side, not the battery/switch side as I had originally thought. So I took a small bit of closed cell foam and placed it on the inside of the back cover so that when it's reattached to the laser, it will put more pressure on the circuit board keeping it in contact during firing. I didn't take any pictures of it, but I can if anyone is interested.

I shot around 200 rounds this weekend with zero issues. I'll keep watching it, but I think this finally fixed it.


So, in summary, if you have one of these rear sight lasers and you have issues with it, there are ways you can fix them without sending it back. If you want to buy something to mount up and know it'll just work, maybe this isn't the one for you. If you like the idea of this product and are ok with possibly having to thinker with it a tiny bit, go for it. Making sure some screws are tight and putting a spacer or shim in the back cover is faster and easier than adding an extended slide release or mag release or grip sleeve or most of the other things people do to their Glocks.

[redhot]

Awesome review! Thanks strakele! Keep me updated

[strakele]

No problem, glad it was helpful. I'm hoping my latest tweak will make it 100% reliable. I'm planning on putting another 150 rounds downrange this weekend to verify.

[strakele]

Another 3 boxes of ammo down the pipe and no more issues. I think I'll call it fixed. This'll probably be the last update unless something else happens or if anyone has any questions.

[Trooperk]

Bought one last week and had a chance to mount it today. Sight centered with a micrometer adjusted perfect to front sight. Laser was high right. Windage adjustment would only get it about 1/4 inch to right of the front sight. Elevation adjustment doesn't work at all. Laser sits about 1/2 inch above the front sight reguardless which way you turn the screw. Not a happy experience. Will call Laserlyte tomorrow. See how they stand behind their product.

[strakele]

Sorry yours isn't working out so far.

Are you saying that before any adjustments, after installing it the laser was high right? If so, that's weird because they are supposed to come from the factory pointing low left (basically the dot will be pointing right at the front sight).

The windage and elevation adjustments are just a set screw pushing a spring loaded pivot point. If they aren't working, try this: back the set screw completely out of the hole. Then, turn the laser on and gently push the end of the tiny hex wrench into the hole that the screw came out of and see if the laser will move at all. There may be a tiny bit of thread lock or something in that hole that is jamming the adjustment mechanism and preventing it from moving. Pushing on it directly may loosen it up.

[Trooperk]

I've tried everything. When both windage and elevation are backed all the way out, when placing a paper at the end of the barrel the laser is 1/2 inch high and 1/2 in wide right. When I turn the screws in the laser goes higher and more right.

[strakele]

Hmm, not really sure what to tell you. When you aim at something 20ft away, how far off is the laser dot from where the sights are pointing?

Regardless, it still sounds screwy, so calling them is probably your best bet. The laser diode is probably misaligned inside the housing.

[Trooperk]

When aiming at about 25 ft. it appears to be off about 3 feet high and to the left (yes left) about 10 inches. I can adjust the windage to line up but not the elevation. With the elevation screw all the way out I'm 3 ft high. Screwing it in makes it higher. I read that the spring in the laser is some sort of polymer, to back the screw out and let it sit overnight but tried that and laser was still in same position.

[Trooperk]

Called Laserlyte. They determined the the laser was defective. Sending a new one. AAA++ customer service. A human answered she asked several questions to determine what the sight was doing. Determined the site was defective and said they would get a new one out ASAP. Said they would send a postage paid envelope to send the defictive one back. Couldn't ask for better service.

[tyr0981]

wow you guys are great for sharing this info in such detail! thanks for taking the time to help everyone out! (and myself too)

I'm seriously looking for a laser sight for my G29, i'm sure you're aware it's a 10MM which will be even harder on the poor little laser then a 9MM is.... so i guess this is the gods telling me to go with a tritium ghost sight instead.... i really like the Laser on my M&P 9MM, but it has to be removed when it goes in the C.C.H., a I.W.B. type, and it's looking like the Glock is no different....

[Trooperk]

Quick follow-up

Got the replacement Laserlyte in two days. It was shipped 2 day Fed Ex. Just hadn't had a chance to put it on the G27. Got it on last weekend. Had it aligned in just a few minutes. Ran about 50 rounds through it so far. Laser has stayed dead on. Me Likey

[strakele]

Glad to hear you got it fixed!

[skipitxd40]

Originally Posted by strakele

Another 3 boxes of ammo down the pipe and no more issues. I think I'll call it fixed. This'll probably be the last update unless something else happens or if anyone has any questions.

I like many im sure just gotta have the guide rod laser but Not at $300.+
I also heard all the bad press about the Laser Lyte but after reading your thread im sure to get mine next week.
I have no problem tweaking small parts
"I still go Carburater over fuel injected any day" & with your advice I feel good about getting the thing up & running on my 1st try.
Thanks for the best heads up ever on the Laser Lyte

[strakele]

Thanks for the comments and glad my review was helpful to someone!

[TSAX]

LaserLyte is one of those hit or miss products, when hit they are really good but when miss its frustrating. I prefer LaserMax and Crimson Trace. If you like their concept/version of laser Id say give them a try. The no need for thicker grip and different holsters is very attractive. And some people dont want a rail laser or switching out their guide rod. On the other hand some people want to grip and activate or turn on with the support hand when it meets the gun.

For me Ive had great success with LaserMax and Crimson Trace. No first hand with the LaserLyte except for the people Ive known who have tried it or read about using it.

[skipitxd40]

I am curious, would the AmeriGlo +1 Classic Night Gr/Yel front sight only be a good idea? especially in the event of the laser failier Also I doubt the Laser Lyte would mount on the Ameriglo rear sight.
Of course this all may be academic since im just out the door for Cataric surgury consult & dont know when my procedure will be done & could wind up blind any how.
If so I will have a couple guns for sale

[RayB]

Originally Posted by skipitxd40

I like many im sure just gotta have the guide rod laser but Not at $300.+

The LaserMax guide rod lasers can be had for well under $300.00...

http://www.lasersales.com/index.php/...07a5442b21a61d

...though I'm not sure which gun model you're talking about.

--Ray

[strakele]

Originally Posted by tyr0981

wow you guys are great for sharing this info in such detail! thanks for taking the time to help everyone out! (and myself too)

I'm seriously looking for a laser sight for my G29, i'm sure you're aware it's a 10MM which will be even harder on the poor little laser then a 9MM is.... so i guess this is the gods telling me to go with a tritium ghost sight instead.... i really like the Laser on my M&P 9MM, but it has to be removed when it goes in the C.C.H., a I.W.B. type, and it's looking like the Glock is no different....

If you're willing to make the few tweaks I listed, I'm sure you could have it running reliably on a 10mm. I think I saw a video of a LaserLyte installed on a Desert Eagle. May have been something else though.

Originally Posted by skipitxd40

I am curious, would the AmeriGlo +1 Classic Night Gr/Yel front sight only be a good idea? especially in the event of the laser failier Also I doubt the Laser Lyte would mount on the Ameriglo rear sight.
Of course this all may be academic since im just out the door for Cataric surgury consult & dont know when my procedure will be done & could wind up blind any how.
If so I will have a couple guns for sale

I have an AmeriGlo tritium front sight on mine coupled with the LaserLyte and it's great.