A few months back I was contacted by the representative for Viridian Green Laser systems and asked if I would be interested in writing a review of their product. Well, of course... it's what I do. The challenge we immediately faced was finding a holster or holster system that would support any of my test weapons with their unit affixed. In the end a solution was found. I received the test unit from Viridian and a holster from BLACKHAWK!. My Springfield-Armory 1911 was the test platform and away I went.
As you can see from that first photo on the right, the unit, the X5L, will fit on Glocks as well... and Springfield Armory XDs and and and... it's the Viridian answer to all "universal", Weaver and picatinny rails. According to their website it will even work with closed rail guns such as the H&K USP, but requires an adaptor to do so.
In the package with the unit came:
- one CR2 battery
- one Hex Drive wrench
- two adjustment wrenchs (for the windage & elevation)
- 1 rear mounting screw
- the Operator's Manual
- the Demo DVD
For all shooting exercises, as mentioned above, I used my Springfield Armory 1911 which has recently passed the 10,000 round mark. Mounting the laser unit was pretty quick and easy. After opening the box, I actually read the directions (a rarity for me) and had the light installed into the housing in moments. The unit runs on ONE CR2 3V lithium battery. Once the light was installed I had the unit mounted on my 1911 shortly thereafter. I used a SureFire accessory rail to accomplish this (because my 1911 doesn't have integrated rails).
The unit-to-rail fit was VERY snug. Even without the spring-loaded pin that holds the unit onto the rails it would take quite a bit to get this unit to come off. Just to find out how it would take it, I mounted the unit without the security pin and did ten holster / draw / presentations. (second photo shows holstered weapon - and the Glock 17 blue gun w/ unit mounted in the same holster) I couldn't detect any movement in the unit on the rails. I put the security pin back in place and got everything ready for the range. Targets, ammo, holster, weapon, magazines, adjustment wrenches...
The first chore was to zero the laser to my mechanical sights. This took me just a few minutes. I decided to zero the laser at the 15 yard line. It is adjustable for windage and elevation by way of two pretty small allen screws. The wrench to make such adjustments is provided in the box with the unit. With the laser zeroed, the green dot sat just on top of my front sight as I acquired proper sight alignment at the 15. It was time to load some rounds and see if the unit would hold zero.
With all my magazines loaded (5 7-rounds, 1-8 round, and 2 10-round) I engaged a B27 target from the 7 yard line. The point-of-point to point-of-impact relationship was as expected. The bullets were hitting just a tad higher than the dot because I had zeroed it at twice the distance. I have to say this: that green dot was a LOT brighter than a red dot. It was much easier to see in the bright afternoon sun. That said, there was also more noticeable "splatter" - that aura of extra miniscule dots that you can usually see around any laser dot.
I spent three of the 7-rounders at the 7 yard line and then moved back to the 15. From the 15 yard line my shots were pretty close to the dot and what difference there was I attributed more to my marksmanship laziness than any performance of the laser aiming unit. Then I started to play with the controls...
The X5L, on top of being versatile for mounting, provides both a light and a laser. Each is adjustable to suit your preference in performance. The light can be set for:
- Steady on: 100 lumens is what the published material states
- Strobing: 140 lumens in strobe mode according to that same material
- Two reduced light levels: (guessing) about 50 lumens and 10 lumens
- off
The laser unit can be set for:
- Steady on
- rapid blink
- medium speed blink
- slow speed blink
- off
Consider all the different pairings that can be made. There are four buttons on the unit. The two on the right side activate and deactivate the unit. When you push either one the light and/or laser come on in whatever configuration you have set them for. If you push and HOLD either of the right side buttons the laser/light only show while you hold the button down, and go out when you release it. If you push and release the button then the light/laser stay on. The top left side button adjusts the laser setting. The bottom left side button adjusts the light. It takes a bit of practice to get into the proper habits for manipulating the buttons / unit, but once you've gotten the hang of it it's almost fun.
The Viridian website lists the X5L at $379.00. A Google search for "Viridian X5L" found me a unit for as low as $338.13. I consider that a good price for the kind of versatility this unit contains.
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