viridian green lasers....any one use them?

[kenndapp]

im thinking about getting a viridian xl5 gen 2 for my glock. how is the quality of viridian products? do they hold a zero? are the adjustments solid? any info would be appreciated.

[kenndapp]

no one for viridian? really?

[Plato]

I've wanted to try them but the price has warded me away.

[Alan Williams]

I have a Viridian C5L on a FNP9.

Pros: very compact, green laser is highly visible both day or night, LED light is bright and has very good strobe effect, easy on/off with either hand and simple to program, great customer service-my LED module on the light went out after 9 months and Viridian replaced the whole unit quickly

Cons: expensive, no "quick release"-must be attached to rail with screws, hard to find holsters (I'm using a generic Blackhawk model sold by Viridian but it is not weapon specific)

Happy overall. I also have on other weapons a Streamlight TLR2 and Insight M3. TLR2 is my favorite due to the quick release feature although the laser is not as good as the green Viridian. Hope this helps, let me know if you have other questions.

http://i1211.photobucket.com/albums/cc422/FNHFaN/FNP9.jpg

[montrala]

I have C5L on HK P2000SK. Initially I had huge problems with it, mostly due to old style mounting, that could not hold zero for more than 5-6shots or 2-3 gun presentations. Also had some problems with switches.

Finally Viridian exchanged my unit for new one, with new mounting system (like in Gen2 X5L). It is huge improvement. New system sets unit in good relation to rail and hold zero much better. There are still some issues I would improve but it seem to be OK now. Also mounting is (in my case) polymer-on-polymer; some amount of play will always be present.

As to holster, I use RCS Phantom light compatible holster. Works very good for me, however carrying this setup AIWB does not work too well. One can not have everything.

[kenndapp]

so they really dont hold a zero well when mounted on a plastic frame, huh? holster problems dont bother me. it will probably sit on the night stand glock. my main concern is holding a zero.

[Ned Christiansen]

My experience has been all good. They are the only one I know of that has grabbed onto the very simple concept that the closer the laser is to the bore, the better.

[mkmckinley]

I remember reading something about green LASERS not doing well in the cold. Supposedly their output drops. I have not experience with Viridian and this may or may not be an issue, just something I thought of that you may want to look into.

[oef24]

I have an X5L and it has worked great on my G19. I also have a Raven Phantom for it. No problems so far. I highly recommend the Viridian lasers.

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[montrala]

so they really dont hold a zero well when mounted on a plastic frame, huh? holster problems dont bother me. it will probably sit on the night stand glock. my main concern is holding a zero.

It depends what you define as holding zero. If you look for sub-MOA zero with LaRue mount on rifle rail, it will not. But if you need battle zero for self defence, it will hold. Nightstand is, for me GTG. Especially that X5L with longer mounting rail will sit much stiffer on Glock, that ultra short mount on my P2000SK


I remember reading something about green LASERS not doing well in the cold. Supposedly their output drops. I have not experience with Viridian and this may or may not be an issue, just something I thought of that you may want to look into.

It is issue for temperatures below 0C (actually below some 5-8C, but I tested Viridian to work to 0C). For pistols sight that is on CCW gun, this is non issue, as unit is always close to the body (at least in my case). But it is a problem on rifles. That is why mil-grade green lasers have systems that heat laser in low temps and cool it in high temps.

[Big A]

Holy thread resurrection Batman!

I'm looking at both the C5L and X5l for something smaller for carry on my G19. I currently have a SF X300U on it, it is a fantastic light but makes for a rather bulky carry package.

How well have these held up to hard use since this thread is from 2011? Any issues of them falling off the gun or shorting out after a few shots?

What holsters are you using? I've found one form Zero Concealment and Galco makes the King Tuk for the C5L. Any others I should take a look at?

Thanks! :cool:

[Wake27]

Holy thread resurrection Batman!

I'm looking at both the C5L and X5l for something smaller for carry on my G19. I currently have a SF X300U on it, it is a fantastic light but makes for a rather bulky carry package.

How well have these held up to hard use since this thread is from 2011? Any issues of them falling off the gun or shorting out after a few shots?

What holsters are you using? I've found one form Zero Concealment and Galco makes the King Tuk for the C5L. Any others I should take a look at?

Thanks! :cool:

I experimented with the C5L (second gen I think) for a little while a couple of years ago. It was pretty friggin cool, but would't seem to hold a zero for me. I also found that like many others, the laser only distracted me from using the sights properly.

[Big A]

I experimented with the C5L (second gen I think) for a little while a couple of years ago. It was pretty friggin cool, but would't seem to hold a zero for me. I also found that like many others, the laser only distracted me from using the sights properly.

Yeah, I can see how one could become laser dependent. But it can be turned off and they now have a light only model, the CTL, which I am considering.

How reliable was yours when you had it? Any negative issues?

[Wake27]

Yeah, I can see how one could become laser dependent. But it can be turned off and they now have a light only model, the CTL, which I am considering.

How reliable was yours when you had it? Any negative issues?

I only put a few mags through mine because the dot jumped all over the place - I saw no point trying to rezero.

[Savior 6]

Green lasers can be highly susceptible to over-heating AND can have cold weather issues. I originally thought that my C5L ate through batteries but after reading an article (American Rifleman) about this I payed more attention. The article mentioned simply letting the green laser cool down so when I thought my battery was out I would actually take it off my body for a couple of minutes and the unit could then be turned on. They still eat batteries but just not one every two weeks. The Viridian battery 3-packs are a nice price but are not near as effective as the Energizers or Duracells. I seem to have less issues with the latter brands so not sure if my previous problems simply stemmed from low output batteries or if they were due to the overheating/cold issues.
All this being said I still prefer to use the C5L as it provides a highly visible laser and a disorienting strobe. Plus it's a usable size for CCW.

[Voodoo_Man]

I have a x5l gen2.

It is a good little setup, on the expensive side but it really does well. I use rechargeable batteries and with testing and nominal usage a standard battery will work for a few weeks. I ran one in a class all day for two days and it worked fine, needed one battery change but then again it isn't meant to be run for two days 10hrs a day.

I had a little hiccup with it, after one of the battery changes the thing stopped working. I warrantied it with Viridian who had the gizmo back to me in a few days. Posted it on my blog - http://vdmsr.blogspot.com/2013/05/viridian-x5l-gen2-use-update.html

I say go for it. It is a very compact combo that works really well and lets you multiply your force without much overhead.

[themonk]

I have a Viridian C5L on a FNP9.

Pros: very compact, green laser is highly visible both day or night, LED light is bright and has very good strobe effect, easy on/off with either hand and simple to program, great customer service-my LED module on the light went out after 9 months and Viridian replaced the whole unit quickly

Cons: expensive, no "quick release"-must be attached to rail with screws, hard to find holsters (I'm using a generic Blackhawk model sold by Viridian but it is not weapon specific)

Happy overall. I also have on other weapons a Streamlight TLR2 and Insight M3. TLR2 is my favorite due to the quick release feature although the laser is not as good as the green Viridian. Hope this helps, let me know if you have other questions.

Allen is spot on. I have a C5L on a G17. I think it was a gen 1. It went back to Viridian twice because it couldn't hold zero and the lights would change modes on it own. They sent me a new gen 2. The gen 2 does have a better mounting setup. It has been relegated as a nightstand piece at my lake house. I think they are great for nightstand duty. I dont get the warm and fuzzy the way I do with Surefire and INFORCE. The laser is bright and you can easily see it at 50 yards in the middle of the day.

[Voodoo_Man]

Forgot to touch on zero.

I used to zero for 25 yards, POA/POI. Now I zero to 5ish. At distance I use sights, up close I want extremely quick acquisition.

[Big A]

I ordered the C5L off of Amazon for $268. I'm going to get a Galco King Tuk to carry it. It is supposed to have the "ECR" capability that activates the light upon the draw.

We'll see how it goes. I think it will work for my needs. I will follow up with a range report once I get the holster so I can carry it.

Thanks for all the input gentlemen :cool:

[blade_68]

Viridian GLK, I've taken it off and went back to TLR1 on G19. It would turn on in holster and I would be walking around with a "green dot" following me or strobe by my foot or cover shirt. I got the package deal with holster for it other holsters may not have that issue. Was neat but distracting from using sights as well.