Great product, but it ain't cheap. - Viridian Universal Sub-Compact ECR Green Laser Sight

I bought the C5 because my eyesight will need some help if I'm awakened by an intruder in the dead of night. So why pay all that extra money for a green laser when a simple bright white light will do? Because the C5 offers more than any of those glorified tactical flashlights. And maybe the laser will make the bad guy think twice and you won't have to fire a shot.

The green laser on this thing is much brighter that any red laser and it will light up a pitch black room. If you don't need to blind the unfortunate burglar before plugging him, you needn't pay the extra $53 for the Viridian C5L and it's 100 lumens tactical light (they're hard to find anyway).

You get 3 different rail mounts and setting up the right one for my Beretta Px4 was quick and easy. The laser was almost dead on right out of the box and it took less than 10 minutes to zero it in at the range.

I have no trouble hitting the target out to about 20 yards without any help, but what the laser gives you is valuable feedback on your technique before you shoot. It made me a better shooter even after I turned it off.

The C5 is a little on the big side because Viridian chose to power it with a fairly large battery. Its closest competitor, the LaserMax green, is smaller and weighs less, but it's also $100 more.

Green lasers are probably overpriced at the moment. But I have to say the C5 offers the best feature to value ratio of any rail-mounted laser sight, and it will likely be a while before new innovations make it obsolete. It delivers on its promises but, yes, you'll have to pay for it.




Pros: Extremely bright, easy setup, a useful training tool.
Cons: Could be smaller.

This review was written in the old system and had content requirements that are different than reviews written today.