Functional inexpensive light and laser combo ruined by under-engineered mounting screw - Sightmark LoPro Combo Green Laser/220 Lumen Flashlight

The laser and light portion of this sight work reasonably well. The green laser is bright and visible at reasonable distances in daylight. The flashlight is sufficiently bright for a barrel-mounted light, although will not be a real dazzler for that surprise moment. The remote switch is serviceable, but not my favorite. It will give you access to light, laser, or both, but does not have great tactile feel (think fretting a guitar).

The vertical and horizontal adjustment seem okay. There is a tactile click with each adjustment. I did note that adjustment of one axis appears to cause slight drift in the other. Correction is relatively simple, but it is a little annoying if you are making adjustments on the fly.

The complete fail of this item is the mounting screw. It is held in place by 2-3mm wide pins glued(?) into a 3-4mm threaded bar. The clamp is set by a thumbscrew with a flat-head screwdriver slot only (despite looking like it should have a hex nut). The manual states that the clamping force should be set to between 45-65 in/lbs. I attempted to install the unit using my Tektron 1/4 inch drive torque wrench, starting at the 45 in/lb setting. Within less than one turn of tightening the clamp, the pins sheared cleanly at the threaded rod. Clearly, settings recited in the manual are purely aspirational. Playing with the sheared pins, it appears that they move together, suggesting that they are held together by some sort of plate, but in order to remove it will require complete disassembly of the unit.

Ordinarily, I would have returned the unit as suffering from a manufacturing defect. However, these were the Days of COVID-19 and returns are somewhat more difficult than usual. Instead, I reset the threaded rod with Gorilla Glue and allowed it to cure overnight. I then installed the unit on my rifle, using blue threadlocker to hold the thumbscrew in place. It seems to be holding, but I don't have a lot of ammunition to test the durability from recoil (I would not try to bash this around in a 2-gun or other tactical situation). Regardless, I should not have to jury-rig a solution for the manufacturer's mounting system failure.

Do yourself a favor and pay extra for better quality.