Viridian Laser Sight – AR and Pistol: Review

Today, I’m going to review two Viridian laser products: one for your pistol and one for your AR.

These days, it’s easy to buy a cheap laser to mount onto your pistol or rifle. This is because of the huge availability of Chinese imports and knock-offs online. It is tough for a bone-fide American company – like Viridian – to compete, at least for the civilian market.

Viridian is a Minnesota-based manufacturer of mountable firearm optics. They are a long-term supplier to Law Enforcement. You may have read about their high definition ‘gun camera‘ used by some Police Departments. You may have seen them in my Ruger LCP .380 review and Taurus G3c upgrades article.

Why Buy a Green Laser?

• Green lasers can be 50x the brightest of red lasers
• Green is visible at all times, under all conditions and is effective at longer distances than red
• If you suffer from poorer eyesight, a laser aids a shooter’s focus far more than iron or open sights

The reason why green is easier to see than red is because green sits bang in the middle of the visible spectrum for humans.

Viridian Pros and Cons

AR-15 – Viridian Hand Stop Green Laser

Viridian’s AR Hand Stop Laser is a new product. It attaches to an MLOK or other handguard.

It is an adjustable, bright green laser that doubles as a safe area to place your support hand on. That’s if you use the thumb-over style of grasping the handguard near the muzzle.

The green on-off button is almost as bright as the laser. Two of our sons were shooting my 7.62×39 Bear Creek Arsenal AR with this little doo-da attached.

It’s impressive. The dot is visible up to 60 yards or more, in bright daylight.

How could you use this sight? If you’re the type who places your off-hand over the handguard, the button falls under your index finger. I have a scope on this rifle as well and the laser assists quick sight acquisition.

If you are wanting an AR for home defense or something for your truck, this sight would be the only one needed. If I didn’t have a light under my Diamondback 9mm AR’s handguard at the muzzle, this green laser would go there. It is an innovation.

Pistol – Viridian laser for the Taurus Spectrum

You might not expect to see a laser on a Taurus Spectrum. It’s a small pocket .380 so usually, you go with whatever sights it comes with.

That said, today you can buy the Smith & Wesson Bodyguard .380 and Ruger LCP with lasers. These are factory installs.

Viridian plugs the gap for people who want a laser on their pistol but with no accessory handrail. How do they do this? It’s ingenious. The laser wraps around the trigger guard’s base. It screws together under the barrel for a secure, two-location attachment.

The engineering is excellent – it looks like it came from the factory with its laser installed. It is secure. Another plus is that so far I haven’t had to adjust the laser – the dot remains centered over the front sight at 10 yards.

This engineering feat means Viridian can add lasers to guns that are less adaptable.
Manufacturers they have created products for include:

• Springfield Armory
• Ruger
• Taurus
• Smith & Wesson
• Glock
• Walther
• Sig Sauer
• Bersa
• Diamondback
• Honor Defense
• Kahr Arms
• Remington
• Mossberg
• Kimber
• Byrna
• NAA

Conclusion

If you are in the market for a red dot, laser, scope or related item, check Viridian Weapon Technologies out. They are true innovators… that hand stop laser is a great idea! It works very well.

Today, with all the bargain, off-shore-based firearms optics, it is comforting to place an optic on your AR or another gun that was designed and built in the U.S.

Viridian is that company – check them out.

If you have a Viridian story, please let us know below. As always, keep ‘em in the black and stay safe!