Lasermax: Getting the laser on the gun and how it differs from Crimson Trace

Right side snapped in place

The necessary parts

How the right side grips the trigger guard

Left side in place

How the two sides mate up after installation

This part is so easy you honestly don't need instructions. Really. On my unit, the battery was already in place. Looking at the parts it is obvious what goes where. Once the right side is snapped onto the trigger guard, lock the left into it at the bottom of the trigger guard, press the sides together while you place the two self-tapping screws and tighten them down. Don't overdo it of course.

That's it.

As to sighting the laser, use the small Allen wrench provided. Line up a standard sight pattern with your iron sights, check where the red dot falls and tweak the adjustment screws a slight amount at a time until you bring the two together at the distance you want. For me, that is about 10-12 feet. I'm not toting a target gun here.

Done.

I've had the opportunity to test the red laser beam in the daylight and I'd say for normal self-defense distances, even out to twenty or thirty feet, it is plenty bright in sunlight for me to easily pick up. At low light, and at night, it pops - a bright wavering dot impossible to miss. (Wavering is because I can't hold a pistol rock steady. I thought I could, but the laser tells me differently.)

On the draw from the holster, assuming you do it correctly, your trigger finger (no, it's not the booger hook on the bang switch. I don't find that cute, but moronic. This isn't a plaything. It's a gun. Relate to it like one.)

Anyway, rant aside for now, your trigger finger should be extended alongside the pistol which puts it right over the Lasermax on/off switch. Your finger should remain there until you decide to shoot and by firmly sliding the fingertip along the Laser body, where your finger should be resting already. As you move your finger to the trigger it will easily actuate the laser. You can, of course, decide to actuate it without moving your finger to the trigger and this is easily done with a press of that finger. Turning it off while holding the gun in a two hand stance is easy. The switch also protrudes from the left side, so use your finger on the support hand to flick it off.

This is the main and significant feature that differentiates the Lasermax Centerfire sights from the Crimson Trace Laserguard sights. As you probably know, CT (Crimson Trace) sights are made with an 'instant on' feature. A button on the butt strap, which falls naturally under your finger while curled around the grip of the pistol, actuates the CT. Gripping the gun firmly will do this. On the LM (Lasermax) Centerfire sights, the laser stays off until you purposefully switch it on.

Using the CT you don't have to worry about, or remember to, actuate the laser. You grip the gun properly and the laser comes on. Using the LM, the laser is only on when you want it on. The positives and negatives are these:

Negative: with the CT setup, you might actuate the laser when it would be better not to do so because it can reveal your position and the fact that you are armed, when you might not want that knowledge to be shared with someone out to get you. With the LM setup, actuating your laser sight requires a decisive and definite action that is not part of gun handling without a laser. You don't show your laser until you decide to. But, this is an action you have to train for so your unconscious will remember it. In other words, you have to make the decision to energize your laser and perform a separate movement which might impede rapid response.

Positive: with the CT setup, one does not have to think about actuating the laser. Grip the gun. It's on. With the LM, it's the opposite. One does not have to think about being revealed, because it's not on until you turn it on.

So, which of these is best. Or are neither the "best", but different responses to different possible scenarios? I haven't decided which I prefer yet. That is a big reason why I want to spend time with each laser system. Practicing with them and shooting with them will tell me which is the best system for me. I suspect it will vary with the individual, but I won't know for sure until I get more time in with the sights.