inexpensive laser grips

[SSN Vet]

Rumor is that Crimson Trace laser grips are coming off patent.

I see Hogue now sells Laser Enhanced (LE) grips. for $147 on Amazon (cheapest CT 1911 grip laser grip is now $300 with this years sizeable price increase).



Then I just just saw these for sale on e-bay, NIB for $20.
Red Trace Semi-Automatic Black Matte Finish 1911 Pistol Laser Grip

I'm not sure if these are CT knock offs, or gray market CT grips.



There are a lot of gray market products coming into the US from Hong Kong, as they speak English there, so the product manuals and literature are all "right" for the US market. So you often can get the exact same product (though not covered by a US authorized distributors warranty) for sometimes half the price.

Either way, it highlights what kind of mark up CT has on their products.

Sounds too good to be true. But for $20, it's almost worth rolling the dice.

Anybody out there tried these?

 

[SSN Vet]

Looks like the CT patent was filed in July of 1995



and according to this site, patents filed after June of 1995 have a 20 year term.

So CT's original patents expired at the end of last summer.

 

[JeffsJeep04]

Nice, now just need to find a set for my Ruger MkI suppressor host

 

[gotboostvr]

Well, color me interested.

At the CT prices I might be able to put laser grips on ONE, but on this I might be able to put them on many. If the Houges didn't have those finger grooves, I might order a set today.
Houge is a pretty well trusted brand, I'm not a huge fan of rubber grips on revolvers, but recognize they do good work.

I'm keeping a close eye on this thread, especially if theres a set of N frame grips in the works

 

[lsudave]

Wow, that is worth the risk, and my brother (who owns a couple of 1911's) has a birthday coming in April.

I'll get him a set, and will follow up on our experiences with it.

(added)- I'm rolling the dice on the $20 set. At worst, it's a novelty. At best (and it's functional), it's a steal.

 

[NacsMXer]

I read on a forum recently where a guy tried the $20 Chinese knockoff laser grips on a lark since they were so cheap.

In a nutshell, he said the plastic was very cheap-feeling. The laser would not hold zero worth a darn. The laser turned off and went dead from the recoil after just a couple of magazines. He ended up using the junk grips as a range target.

 

[danez71]

If it seems too good to be true ... it IS.

Cmon...20 bucks?!?!

Send me $20... at least you wont be feeding the problem.

 

[SSN Vet]

I've got a couple laser pointers dissected and have thought about trying to make my own laser grips by modifying an old set of wood grips.

If these $20 wonders don't pan out, I'll cannibalize the switch and battery pockets and make a fun project out of the deal. I've done a lot of woodworking and a bit of plastic fabricating before and a wood plastic hybrid sounds appealing.

I'd consider getting the Houge grips, but I'm not so fond of the contoured wrap around finger part.

 

[SSN Vet]

Well the laser grips were in the mail on Friday....

What a pathetic joke! I got the trigger button to light the laser once, and after that they were dead in the water. They fit well enough, but I could not get the laser to come on again.

Looks like I now get to try out ebays return policey, with the seller obligated to pay return shipping.

Lets see how that goes.

 

[Joezilla]

Well the laser grips were in the mail on Friday....

What a pathetic joke! I got the trigger button to light the laser once, and after that they were dead in the water. They fit well enough, but I could not get the laser to come on again.

Looks like I now get to try out ebays return policey, with the seller obligated to pay return shipping.

Lets see how that goes.

Sorry they didn't work out. Keep us informed about the whole return thing with Ebay.

Joe

 

[340PD]

Crimson Trace is a great company with fantastic customer service. Their products just plain work. If my family's life is on the line a Chinese copy is not in the picture for me regardless of price.
Good luck with going cheap when it has anything to do with protecting your life.

 

[gotboostvr]

340PD, that's why he was testing them. He didn't just slap them on a carry gun and go on his way.

 

[RLHIII]

Why would you want the cheapest when it comes to defending your life or your friends and family!!! Spend the bucks and get the best product that fits what you want!!

 

[maxxhavoc]

Why would you want the cheapest when it comes to defending your life or your friends and family!!! Spend the bucks and get the best product that fits what you want!!

Sometimes folks just buy things because they are fun to play with. Not every gun is the gun you need to trust your family's life with. I was thinking of getting a set to play with too, depending on the review that SSN Vet generously provided.

And no, I wasn't planning on "operating" with them, defending my home or anything else except having a little fun with them.

 

[tonyjr]

I probably blew it , but I ordered one .
For protection - no - If I can you you , I don't need a laser sight .
I don't remember the name on laser sight I bought maybe 6 - 7 years ago , It was mounted on a1911 [ 92 ] model 70 and was only 99 more if I took it with 1911 . Last one and they threw in a box of cartridges . It had the hang on switch that you had to squeeze - that kind of threw off grip .
Anyway , I reload for 4 nephews and 2 nieces - if I don't like [ pretty good chance of that ]
Someone else might .
I would like a green one [ easier for me to see at range ] that has an on / off switch and mounts under barrel .

 

[SSN Vet]

Save the sanctimonious speeches for someone else's thread....

Not everyone has $400 to blow on laser grips..... and my objective was to investigate whether the knock offs were any good at all. I fully expected at least 50-50 odds that they would be junk, but for $20 was willing to roll the dice.

Seller responded and gave me option to have another pair sent or return for refund....

Then later they responded saying that they would refund money and I could keep the grips... but requested positive e-bay feedback.

I told them that when I saw the pay-pal credit, I would leave feedback that they made it right.

One use for laser grips that is often under-appreciated is dry firing practice.... as you can tell if your trigger pull is taking the bore axis off POA by watching the dot.

And I'm still interested in making my own laser grips some day.

 

[danez71]

Save the sanctimonious speeches for someone else's thread....

But you clearly said above you were going to use these to guard the Pope, small children, and puppies.




One thing I did want to comment about in a more serious fashion is this comment.

Either way, it highlights what kind of mark up CT has on their products.

It doesn't reflect anything to do with CT's mark up. And heres why.


What these sellers do is buy defective components for literally pennies on the dollar. Then they use the defective product to build another defective product and sell it.


In the SIM card world for phones it works like this.

They buy defective memory from one of the manufacturers (Samsung, Toshiba etc) for dirt cheap.


That memory would be perfectly fine in other applications such a Talking Elmo doll. Samsung etc knows it has value and legitimate applications so they sell the defective memory chips in die/wafer form (basically unpackaged).


But instead, they package it up into SIM cards for phones and not refund peoples money as much as possible. The defective chip may not present a problem for quite some time.


As a real life example, I bought 3 Samsung SIM cards through Amazon. About 6 months later I had phone issues (documents, pics, etc).

I spent hours on the phone with tech support trying to fix the phone. Hard reboot... reflashing the firmware. ugh.

Then a SIM card just stopped working. I took it out and as I was looking at it, I notice some very fine laser etched marking.


To shorten this up.... As I worked directly with Samsung for a warranty return to them, it was discovered that, besides being defective, it wasn't even Samsungs product.


I contacted seller... he wouldn't do anything to help. Contacted Amazon and they didn't want to help either due to amount of time that passed.


I presented to Amazon the warranty from Samsung and the warranty stated on Amazons site and the info from Samsung saying it was defective product and not theirs.

Amazon went after the seller on my behalf. They ended up refunding my money but never collected from the seller.

Amazon banned the seller but theres nothing preventing the seller from opening up a new account and doing the same thing.




That's the story behind my earlier post to just send me the $20 instead of feeding the problem.


Its not that its a 'cheap knock off'.


Its an intentionally made defective product.

 

[TTv2]

I would not pay $20 for a fancy laser pointer.

If you want a good laser, you don't have to spend $400 to get them. There are options out there for much less than $400, look.

 

[Onward Allusion]

If all you're getting them for is the range, sure. Maybe even take an exchange for the defective set instead of getting a refund. But if the gun's for defensive use, no way!

 

[cslinger]

Just to give a shout out to Crimson Trace. My dealings with them have been nothing but stellar. Their products that I have used have been fantastic and the 1 time I needed to use their customer service it went something like this.

ME- Hello, I was wondering if I could send in a set of Glock 17 laser grips to be repaired and give you my credit card to be billed for the cost.

HER (CT REP)- What happened sir.

ME- Well you see some jacktard with a screwdriver and a hands that move much faster then his brain completely boogered up your grips on install.........that jacktard was me. I just want to know if I could get them repaired or if I should just buy a new set. If I can get them repaired I am happy to give you my credit card..........................

HER - We wouldn't hear of it. I will have a new set of grips in the mail to you by tomorrow. If you could just pop your broken grips in the mail to us as soon as you can.

ME- I don't think you understand there was NO defect in your product only a defect in the USER.

HER - Chuckling, Not a problem sir. Whats your address so we can get you taken care of.

So yeah they are not cheap but they make good stuff and at least in my interaction went WAY ABOVE and beyond what they should have even with me urging them not to as any issues were MY FAULT.

I know not everybody can drop 1000 bucks on an ACOG, or 500 bucks on a dot or 400 bucks on lasers etc. But if you can and are on the fence Crimson Trace seems like good people.

Chris

 

[tonyjr]

I am the only one in family with reloading set up . Why - I taught them to reload and they would rather spend the money on bullets , primers and powder . Refund checks , overtime , etc is for a new gun .
They are not going to buy a laser when a little more will get another gun . I have one that has a switch on a cord you squeeze - no one like it .
I think there has been 3 or 4 made out of laser pointers - really hard to adjust .
For 20 bucks they can play with it and probably break it before I ever get a chance to .
Simple rule with my stuff - you break it - you fix it .
Besides the wife likes it when they show up . She told me today not to park blazer in garage tomorrow - Maria and Essie want to reload tomorrow and she wants to make tacos . 2 other nephews went camping / hot springs last week end - so they will probably want more 380s and 9 mm .
I spend 20 bucks on a pizza and it is gone -

 

[Warp]

If you are okay with sketchy reliability and almost guaranteed lack of durability (plenty of guns qualify for this), go for it.

 

[tonyjr]

I kind of expect that .

 

[SSN Vet]

Well the story ends some what happily...

I think these guys know darn well that they are shipping grips that don't work, but are planning on most people just rolling over.

When I contacted them, they didn't eve want to pay the shipping for me to send them back the grips. They just said they'd issue a credit to my paypal and asked me to leave positive feedback.

I just got the e-mail from paypal saying they received the credit.

Ultimately, a waste of time.... but I have some parts I can play with to make a set of my own out of wood.

I want a set of CTs but simply can't afford them.

 

[Warp]

Well the story ends some what happily...

I think these guys know darn well that they are shipping grips that don't work, but are planning on most people just rolling over.

When I contacted them, they didn't eve want to pay the shipping for me to send them back the grips. They just said they'd issue a credit to my paypal and asked me to leave positive feedback.

I just got the e-mail from paypal saying they received the credit.

Ultimately, a waste of time.... but I have some parts I can play with to make a set of my own out of wood.

I want a set of CTs but simply can't afford them.

Trying to buy you out in exchange or positive feedback lol.

I'll definitely continue not considering them