Ruger Pistol Forums banner

EC9s red dot/ laser experiences, advice, please-

555 views 2 replies 3 participants last post by  atticus  
#1 ·
Hello, relatively new to CCP concealed carry. Have shot rifles for many decades, and co2 air pistols as a youth.
Now CCP licensed and self training for accuracy in Pistols.
I am in a gun club, and am doing 22 target pistol activities regularly... longer LR 22 pistol much easier to aim, and have added a red dot to my Beretta Neos.
My CCP is a Ruger EC9s, and the shorter pistol with fixed sights are not ideal for accuracy, but in a LOD situation- it will certainly do what is needed.
I Would like to add a compact, inexpensive R or G laser under the barrel... Would appreciate feedback on what others have tried, and like or dislike- & why... Thanks!
 
#2 ·
I have an LC9s that I carry for the half of the year it is warmer than jacket weather.

I added night sights and the LaserMax Gripsense in green.

The large white donuts on the night sight around the glowing dots, and any glare/reflection I can get off the plastic vials, make the iron sights usable for me during daytime. They're probably not very useful at night or dim. I need the white brail donuts for the daytime, so I put them on everything.
The two ways to add those to a EC9 would be paying a lot of money to have the slide cut, or looking for a used LC9s slide sold by itself or in a parts kit.

I have liked lasers for a long time. What they call "old age and treachery" is just knowing all the good ways to cheat and taking advantage of them.
None of the trigger guard mount lasers for the LC/EC are exceedingly durable or offer any waterproofing. They are just like a computer mouse: a couple circuit boards jammed into a plastic housing with screws holding the two halves together and the guts inside. They are disposable. Nothing like the 30 year old built-for-military/swat stuff that are epoxy encapsulated in an aluminum housing, and nothing like the good quality rail mount stuff. Don't get mugged in the rain or thrown into a swimming pool.

I like the fit and layout of the LaserMax Gripsense.
I did not like the button of the Crimson Trace. Having a button under my ring finger would drive me crazy. It would have required notching out the Hogue grip, and maybe gluing it to the grip frame.
Viridian's magnet switch looked like a problem for finding a holster or having a holster made.
I don't think ArmaLaser had theirs out when I was looking.

On the LaserMax Gripsense, the housing covering the trigger guard takes up some real estate on the grip, and you will need the little extension on the bottom of the magazine, or the 9 round magazine.
The on-off buttons are 1/4 inch beyond my index finger's reach, so it's either two handed manual or go with the sensor activation.
The sensor will turn the laser on whenever anything steel or a body part is close to touching the trigger guard. Any holster must enclose the trigger guard and keep anything 3/16 inch away from that portion of the laser housing to keep the laser off when carrying. Alternately, wear a OWB holster with the grip sticking up in open air. If your carry position keeps the sensor pressed against flesh or metal, or it becomes moist from sweat, the laser will disengage and switch itself out of gripsense mode after it has been on for a while. So, you unholster to put into storage at the end of the day, and the laser is back in manual mode.
The sensor will drain the battery if you leave the battery in the laser while it is sitting on the shelf. Everything that has "logic" style buttons instead of a physical contact type switch is going to bleed electricity. You have to pull the battery when not in use. Even then, you're going to be going through batteries faster than you want to.
The plastic battery cover depends on the spring pressing against the battery to hold it in place. It's a pain for falling out when storing without the battery in place. It's not a confidence builder for retention even with the battery in place.
This whole thing would work a lot better with a main toggle switch to break the electrical connection when turned off for storage. Heck, the toggle switch on the 30 year old lasers worked pretty good because you could brush your support hand under it to turn it on and off.
I've sent a couple back for battery drain and whacky sensor stuff. Two replaced and one repaired. They've been living a lot longer since I started pulling the battery and modifying my IWB holsters to enclose the trigger guard.
I had the laser housing 3D scanned and printed to use to modify and have holsters made, because it is significatnly different than the Crimson Trace that everyone makes holsters to fit.

The ArmaLaser looks like an uglier version of the Lasermax Gripsense. You pick up a screw to retain the plastic battery dover, but then you have to have a screw driver in hand when you leave in the morning to put the battery in, and when you come home at the end of the day and put it away. The sensor and logic switches will bleed the battery. I also suspect the sensor on the ArmaLaser trigger guard will have the same issues requiring IWB holster modification. I am not going through another 3D scan and print and holster making adventure to try out the ArmaLaser.

Green vs. red lasers.
My 30 year old aluminum body laser is red, and was probably made before they had the OSHA/whatever power imitations. The LaserMax lasers I have are green. I have a green aluminum body rail mount laser which has power settings, from the same company as the 30 year old laser.
Green is easier to see in dim and medium light. I can see it farther out, maybe twice the distance. Don't expect to see even green at 100 yards on a partly cloudy day. I tried comparing the two several years ago and it was something like 5-10 paces for red and 10-15 paces for green on a white background.
Neither is going to be good in blindingly bright noon time sunlight, especially on a black or dark surface.

My opinion.
 
#3 ·
Hello, relatively new to CCP concealed carry. Have shot rifles for many decades, and co2 air pistols as a youth.
Now CCP licensed and self training for accuracy in Pistols.
I am in a gun club, and am doing 22 target pistol activities regularly... longer LR 22 pistol much easier to aim, and have added a red dot to my Beretta Neos.
My CCP is a Ruger EC9s, and the shorter pistol with fixed sights are not ideal for accuracy, but in a LOD situation- it will certainly do what is needed.
I Would like to add a compact, inexpensive R or G laser under the barrel... Would appreciate feedback on what others have tried, and like or dislike- & why... Thanks!
I put the Crimson Trace green laser on mine. Works great and much better than a red laser, (the ArmaLaser TR9G on Amazon is a lot cheaper). I also put the Galloway flat trigger on it because honestly, the factory trigger sucks. The flat trigger kit from Galloway also deletes the mag safety. I also painted the front sight white so my eyes could pick it up quicker. I added a Hogue grip to give it some traction. I plan on installing a MCarbo trigger spring kit soon as the factory trigger pull is a little too stout IMHO.

I did a side-by-side comparison with my Max-9, and they are almost identical in size and weight. The added bonus with the Max-9 is you can get a 12-round mag, has a front rail, and it is optic RMSc ready. Just something to think about for your next purchase :)