Laser tips?

[wobblinwheel]

Ok, so I just broke down and bought me a little green laser sight and a 45 degree offset mount to go on my Colt/Umarex M4's quad-rail gas block. It's installation and operation is pretty straight forward, and I first sighted it in at about 20 yds. so the laser dot and the crosshairs on were both on target. It didn't take me long to notice that the dot and the crosshairs were only on target at TWENTY YARDS! As the distance changed, the laser and the scope gradually moved apart. So my question is: when people such as Law Enforcement and Military rely on lasers (like they do in HOLLYWOOD), how do they keep them sighted-in at varying distances? If the laser is mounted on the left or right side of the barrel, the dot wanders to the left and right, according to the distance, of course the dot goes up and down vertically as well. There seems to be a very limited "window" to where the bullet and the laser actually intersect without further adjustment. So how is it feasible to use these things in the field at all? I like pop my pecan-eating squirrels every now and then, but I can't get them to stay in that 20 yard range!

[Hoss]

Don't use a laser myself, but it's like iron sights, except off-set in some direction.

I'd aim it so that it was parallel to the line of sight.  Then you'd only have to worry about the vertical aiming component.  Of course, the dot would always be off by that 1" or so on whatever side it was mounted on.

[asmurff]

I have a laser on my nightstand 1911 (Crimson Trace which is aligned right down the side of the slide so no problem.

I also have one on my home defense shotgun which is set to be spot on at 21ft (the distance from my bedroom door to the entryway). Any other distance in the house the dot would definitely be within the pattern of the shotgun.

I'm not sure how you'd go about setting up one for changing distances on a rifle.

[bgc]

You're dealing with multiple angles, gravity, a strait line and that is why your P.O.I. is changing in relation to the "dot".

I have mine mounted 1.75 inches below the front sight (Auto Pistol) and on a vertical plane with the bore and sighting system. The P.O.I. is on the dot at 20 feet but high closes and low further due to bullet drop.

Lasers are a great tool for rapid sighting as your eye is drawn to the light. It is not a great tool for sniper shots, like in the movies.

Measure the offset and angle from the bore to the laser aperture. Then sight it in with this distance and angle from your grouping. This will give you a consistent plane to base your bullet drop from.

or get a couple clips and when the thieving squirrel shows his head...fill the air with lead.

[wobblinwheel]

I decided to mount the laser directly under the barrel, on the gas block rail, which is considerably closer to the bore than the foregrip rails. Now I only have to worry about elevation. With the laser so much closer to the barrel than it was, the differences between dot and crosshairs is not so drastic. This really kinda opens your eves to the peculiarities of the AR sighting format when using optics on the carry handle, open sights also, involving the distance between the barrel and sights! The higher the optics are from the barrel, the smaller your "window" is for POA. I guess that's where the "bullet drop compensators" come into play. The one on my scope comes in really handy when shooting at targets that are too CLOSE (believe it or not). It actually keeps you from shooting about an inch or so too low at short ranges.