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I know that over the years, and in many articles, I clearly stated that when lasers for firearms first came on the market, they were mostly considered “toys” by most professionals, myself included. The lasers back in the day, were big and bulky, cost a lot of money, and the battery run-time was short. Additionally, there really wasn’t any way to holster a handgun with a large laser on it – no one made holsters to fit the cumbersome handgun lasers. So, for the most part, lasers didn’t catch-on, at least, not right away. They were a rich man’s toy.

Today, there is a  huge line of laser products for rifles, shotguns and handguns made by with Crimson Trace Corporation (CTC). I’ve tested a number of CTC products over the years, and have been totally impressed with all of them. I’ve toured their manufacturing plant, and got a real insider’s look at all that is involved in producing CTC products. It isn’t simply a matter of slapping a red or green light on a module and shipping it out the door – a lot of research and development is involved in coming out with CTC products. Just the R&D alone is quite a project, and it requires a lot of work to come up with the various lasers for the many firearms that CTC lasers are installed on. Then we have the production department, and I’m here to tell you, a LOT of work goes into assembling a pint-sized laser for handguns. Plus, each and every laser is individually focused before it is shipped – again, no small project, to be sure. I’ve watched CTC technicians assembling lasers, and it is a meticulous job – one I clearly couldn’t do because I couldn’t even see some of the wires they were attaching inside the units – they are very thin.

CTC was the first company, to my knowledge, to come out with “instinctive” lasers. Now, what does that mean? Well, many laser units have to be switched on and off – it takes a decisive movement. Instinctive lasers are just what it sounds like – they come on “instinctively” – you don’t have to think about it – just grab your firearm as you normally would, and when you do, the pressure on the laser by one of your fingers automatically turns the laser on. Release the pressure and the laser goes off – couldn’t be any easier than that – you just don’t have to think about it – the laser is ready to go on when you need it. There are a few units that also have an on/off switch that you can use to keep the laser turned off if you don’t think you’ll need it – the 1911 grips lasers come to mind. I personally keep CTC lasers turned in, if they have that switch. I don’t want to have to think about it – I want my firearm ready to fire when I’m ready to fire.

The CTC product under review today is their MVF-515 laser, and this is for a railed AR-15 type of rifle. Although, you can also attach it to a standard forearm if you attach a separate rail to it. However, many of the standard “plastic” forearms don’t stay in the same place – they tend to wiggle around a bit, throwing-off the laser from the intended aiming point. However, for CQB use – up close and personal – the laser won’t be “off” by enough to matter if you are taking a center-of-mass aiming point. Still, it’s wise to use the MVF-515 on a Picatinny railed forearm for best results. For this article, I used a parts AR – the lower receiver was from POF USA – and they make piston-driven ARs – but also sell lower receivers that can be used to assemble a direct gas impingement upper or a piston-driven upper – my sample has a standard Direct Gas Impingement upper, there is also a quad-rail forearm, and the MVF-515 slipped right on without any problems.

Now, the MVF-515 sample I received had the green laser aimer – and you can even see the bright green dot from the laser in bright sunlight – so long as the target is very far away. I believe lasers are best used at 50 – 75 feet, especially in daylight. Even though you can see a red or green laser from hundreds of yards away, you can’t readily ID you target at that distance to make a clean kill shot. So, I believe lasers are best reserved for up-close and personal use. CTC also offers a separate laser module unit – this means you can switch the laser module out in a few minutes from red to green, or green back to red. CTC send me a separate red laser module to test with the green MVF-515 unit. And, it only takes a minute or two to change the modules back and forth.

I don’t know how much the MVF-515 weighs, but it was under a pound – maybe even half a pound. I’m not one of these folks who will take a 6-1/2 to 7 pound AR/M4 rifle or carbine, then add another 5 or 6 pounds to it – just doesn’t make a lot of sense in my book, no sense at all. Part of the concept behind the 5.56mm round is that, you have a small, light-weight package to shoot this round through. I couldn’t tell you the number of ARs that I’ve seen with all manner of toys attached to ’em – to the point where you really wouldn’t be able to carry the gun very far comfortably, nor would you be able to deploy it rapidly. Still, a lot of mall ninjas and armchair commandos insist on attaching everything they can buy on their ARs, no matter how impractical it all might be. Sorry, I’m of the old school, in that, less means more, and the less I can attach to my ARs, the better I like it. As a matter of fact, most of my ARs don’t have quad-rails on ’em, so I’m not tempted to hang a lot of junk on ’em to start with. We can agree to disagree on this – if you are comfortable adding a lot of useless toys on your ARs, then go for it. As for me, I’ll go the opposite direction, and only put on my ARs the bare essentials.

What we also have with the MVF-515 is a powerful 150/200 Lumen LED light module – it’s built into the MVF-515 so you don’t have to attach a separate light – nice, real nice! The anodized tang is the foundation for the rock-solid foregrip on the MVF-515 and is made out of 6061-T6 aircraft grade aluminum for a lifetime of service. The laser and light are instinctively activated as you hold the weapon, and activation switches are ambidextrous – which allows the operator to select the light or the laser individually or simultaneously.  On top of that, both the light and the laser are functions are programmable with three illumination modes to select from including: independent momentary, strobe or constant on. A master on/off switch permits complete shutdown of either the laser of the light.

The material that the actual MVF-515 us made out of is black polymer – super tough stuff. The overmold rubber activation switches are easy to activate, too. Laser battery life is 6-hours of constant on – and will last a lot longer by using it on/off – just when needed. The laser is sighted at the factory for 50-feet, and if you need to adjust it for longer distances, it’s easily done with supplied Allen wrenches. The MVF-515 also has a 3-yr full warranty – should you have any problems.

Okay, enough about the specs of the CTC MVF-515, how did the unit actually work in practice? Well, I’m here to tell you, that attaching the unit couldn’t be much easier – only takes a minute or less. However, the user has to decide exactly where to place the unit on a quad-rail – some folks like ’em farther out on the quad-rail than others, some like ’em as close to the mag well as possible. I took the middle ground and placed the MVF-515 just about in the middle of the POF USA M4 sample – it felt extremely comfortable there for me – not too far and not too close. I did experiment with the laser placed as far forward as possible, and found it tiring to have to have my left arm extended so far forward on the quad-rail. Experiment to find the “sweet spot” for your own use when you get an MVF-515 for your gun.

With the green laser module attached, I headed out to my usual shooting spot and set-up a target at 25-yards away. Even though it was very sunny out, I could still easily see the green laser dot on the target without any problems. I fired and found that the shots were just a tad lower than where I was aiming. Again, this unit is sighted-in at the factory at 50-feet, you can adjust the point of aim/point of impact to your own liking. I didn’t really see any need to make any adjustments for my use – the difference between the aiming point and point of impact were enough to matter. I tried aiming at some trees and brush with the green laser attached, and the green dot was all but lost in the bright sunlight. I switched over to the red dot laser – again, this only takes a few minutes to do. While I could still see the red laser dot on my target in the bright sunlight, I had to struggle a little bit to focus on it – which wasn’t a surprise. For daytime use, the green laser is the way to go if you are expecting to take a shot under bright sunlight. For low-light or indoor shooting the red dot was more to my liking. While the green dot laser worked well under low-light conditions, it was actually a bit too bright – the red laser dot was easier on the eyes. Experiment with both and make your own choices…what’s nice is that, if you purchased the MVF-515 with either the red or green laser attached, you can purchase the other color laser separately and it only takes a few minutes to change out the laser module.

I wish that, when I was in law enforcement – public or private – that the MVF-515 would have been around, I surely would have had the MVF-515 mounted on my AR or M4 back then. The intimidation factor alone, with a red or green dot on a bad guy’s chest is often enough to put a stop to any further hostilities if you ask me. I know that, if someone were pointing a gun at me, with a laser on it, and I saw that little red or green dot over my heart, I’d think twice before making a move – simple as that. Another nice thing about lasers is the fact that, they allow for VERY rapid target acquisition – you don’t have to close your eye to get on target – both eyes are open. This really makes it fast getting on target with a bad guy. If you are a home owner, and your bedside has a laser on it – anyone who might be breaking into your house will wish they were some place else if they saw that laser pointed on their chest – I know I would, if I were a bad guy.

In firing more than 500 rounds of various Winchester http://www.winchester.com/, Black Hills Ammunition http://www.black-hills.com/ and Buffalo Bore Ammunition http://www.buffalobore.com/ though the POF USA parts gun, the CTC MVF-515 never came loose, nor did it need any adjustments when I switched from the red to the green, and back from the green to the red laser modules – the point of aim stayed the same – and I really did switch the modules back and forth a number of times. The MVF-515 never worked itself loose from the quad-rail, either – and I can’t say that about some other lasers I’ve played with over the years. While this wasn’t a test of the POF USA parts M4, the gun performed great, never missed a beat – whoever built this M4 up, knew what they were doing. I was getting one-hole, 3-shot groups all day long with all of the above ammo at 25-yards – you can’t ask for better performance than that. I couldn’t pick a winner from any of the ammo – all ammo went into one hole at 25-yards!

Anything negative about the MVF-515? Well, not really. The unit performed as it was supposed to. However, take some time to go over the instructions and learn about the different modes that the laser and light have to offer – and practice the different modes – it does take some time to get it all mastered.  I really liked the strobe from the light – it would easily confuse someone who looked at the light – and if they had a weapon, it would make it difficult for them to deploy it against you. The steady “on” mode for the light is also really nice – again, if a person is temporarily blinded, it makes it difficult for them to attack you. The strobing laser is sort of cool, too – it catches your attention in no uncertain terms.

Full-retail for the MVF-515 with the green laser module attached is $649 http://www.crimsontrace.com/products/manufacturer/ar15-m16-rifles and you can add the replacement red laser module for $249 more – a bit spendy? Yes, but you are getting Crimson Trace Corporation quality (and made in the USA, too) and they don’t make junk – simple as that! I believe the MVF-515 would be an asset to anyone who uses an AR or M4 for self-defense. I know this product is used by thousands in our military and in law enforcement. If you want the best-of-the-best, for a worthy addition to your AR or M4, then this is the one product I highly recommend that you attach – you can keep most of the red dot holo sights – I’ll take the MVF-515 for CQB use…for long-range shooting, a holo red dot is great to have, though. But for CQB, I can’t think of a better thing to add to your AR or M4 – and it won’t weigh the gun down like so many other “toys” tend to do – and many of those toys will fail you when you need ’em most – the MVF-515 won’t fail you under harsh conditions. You should also be aware that, many green dot lasers don’t work well when temps drop below freezing, the  folks at CTC figured out how to overcome this with their green laser module. If you want a laser for $29.99 – then go out and waste your money – you’ll be sorry you paid a red cent for junk. If you want what is the best instinctive lasers on the market, then CTC is the only way to go in my humble opinion.

If you plan on using your AR or M4 for self-defense – I honestly can’t think of a better product to add to your gun. If you are in law enforcement or the military – there is no excuse to not have an MVF-515 mounted on your weapon – it can and will save lives – simple as that. Save your money and buy the best!

Iain Harrison is the new PR/Marketing guru at CTC – and if his name sounds familiar to you, it should – he was the winner of the first season of the popular “Top Shot” television program. Iain went above and beyond to get me the MVF-515 samples for this article. And, Iain wouldn’t have joined the CTC team, if he didn’t think their products were the best-of-the-best. – SurvivalBlog Field Gear Editor Pat Cascio