Blue laser weapon sight? (noob questions)

[Jagernaut]

just wondering... why don't they make a blue laser weapon sight? is it not practical? it is my understanding that green is more stimulating to the eye, i guess is how you would say it. but is blue not more powerful and more visible during the day? it is also my understanding that red lasers are a diode type as green is crystal, which makes them more sensitive to shock. is blue also made this way? sorry if this has been covered or perhaps i'm on wrong forum. just didn't expect many people on a gun forum would know much about lasers. and sorry if i don't got my facts strait, i'm very new to lasers other than buying a pointer here and there lol ><; any input would be much appreciated.

 

[Blord]

Blue diodes are multimode and so it has very bad beam spec. The 445nm blue laser are very powerful but the dot is rectangular and not round.
Blue DPSS is also no go because the technology is still very expensive.

And welcome the forum

 

[Toke]

You could attach a 1W 445nm to a weapon.
The beam and dot would be more visible than any green in the same size, the downside would be the duty cycle and the danger to eyesight.

 

[Leodahsan]

You could attach a 1W 445nm to a weapon.
The beam and dot would be more visible than any green in the same size, the downside would be the duty cycle and the danger to eyesight.

well, you would save on the bullets lol.

 

[Cyparagon]

The 445s have a powerful yet clumsy beam. For a weapon sight, you want a precise yet lower power beam. I'd say green is the best for this application.

 

[RA_pierce]

The 445s have a powerful yet clumsy beam. For a weapon sight, you want a precise yet lower power beam. I'd say green is the best for this application.

Agreed.

I've mentioned this before in a couple similar threads, but the short wavelength (445nm) is difficult to perceive outdoors in bright conditions.
The human eye focuses short wavelengths just above the retina, resulting in a distorted, blurry image at a distance.
Green will remain sharp and bright in any conditions.

On the range it will be next to useless. At night it will ruin your night vision and give you terrible after images.
Also, these blue diode lasers are power hogs and pump out a lot of heat. You will need to carefully watch your usage or reduce the power.

All things considered...
If you must have a laser on your weapon, a medium power green will be superior (50mW would be fine).
If constructed well, a green laser sight should have no problem handling the recoil.

 

[Benm]

It depends on the application of the gun, i think. The beam specs of the blue lasers make them pretty much useless at long distance, so its a no-go for target practice, sniper rifles and such.

They would be usable in a range up to about 20 meters though, and very visible even in a bright environment. Perhaps if you want to use it on a handgun for self-defense situations it would actually be useful.

Eye hazard is another issue entirely - but as long as you don't point guns at people you don't plan to shoot, its a bit of a moot point.

 

[Nanolaser]

Would be nice to use it on a automatic heavy calliber shotgun @ night :

YouTube - AA-12. World's deadliest shotgun!

 

[Jagernaut]

let me first say thx for input i was considering blue as more of a novelty than a practical application. and i was under the impression(i may be wrong) that green lasers are quite a bit more sensitive to shock than blue lasers because of the construction. i considered building a green laser but im not sure it would hold up to the recoil of a 5.56 and i dont know how i could make it shock resistant yet. the actual application of the sight would be for fast targeting when shooting from the hip. i have had many laser sights and i have never been impressed with the ability to hold zero. it seems no matter how expensive the sight is, it is always off after a day at the range. so aslong as it hits in ~2-4in group at 15-30yards i dont really care what color it is lol. just thought it would be unique to have a blue sight and i have never seen them on the market, probably due to issues others have stated here. so that being said, would it be a better idea to go with a 50mW green? or should i just stay with a red (mod the current 5mW one i have at the moment)? would it be impractical to go with a ~50mW blue? im not even gonna flip on the laser if im taking a longer shot, thats what the red dot and 3x magnifier is for ^.^ i did like the 1w 405 laser idea to cut down on wasted ammo lol jk

 

[millirad]

With the green laser site, there is some chance that it would allow the shooter to hit the target. With the blue 1W laser, you would always be shooting the target in the "back", as they avert the blinding beam. J/K

 

[Cyparagon]

The human eye focuses short wavelengths just above the retina.

The focus is variable. Why would the eye do that?

 

[AJ_Dual]

The 445s have a powerful yet clumsy beam. For a weapon sight, you want a precise yet lower power beam. I'd say green is the best for this application.

Honestly, at the ranges you'd actually be using a laser, I don't think the high fast-axis of a 445nm diode would be a problem.

You generally don't use a laser much past 10-20 yards, they're more of a CQB, instinct shooting aid. And since it's perfectly straight, as opposed to the curved trajectory of a bullet,, slug, or shot, you're limited in what range it'll stay on a target (presumably a human torso) before the trajectory departs too far to be useful.

I'm waiting on Kenom's Kryton Groove group buy, and I just so happen to have a Saiga 12ga on order as well. , so I guess I'll need to mount the two together and try it out.

It should look roughly like this when all the mods are done. I just need to find some rings that have some external adjustment to fit the Kryton.

 

[RA_pierce]

The focus is variable. Why would the eye do that?

Yes, the eye can adjust focus on objects.
But short wavelengths will 'bend' more in a different medium.
The refractive index causes the light to be focused above the retina rather than on it, unless you have an achromatic cornea.

As I understand it, the reason 405nm appears blurry is because human eyes are short-sighted to short wavelengths.
The effect (at least from what I observed) is much the same with other light sources close to the violet/UV range.
445nm appears to me to have the same aberrations as 405nm laser light - only less pronounced.
I can force my eyes to adjust to it (and 405nm, too) at short distances, but my eyes do not naturally "see" 445nm or 405nm in focus or as sharp as 532nm or 589nm, for example.

If I am misunderstanding, please correct me.
I'm not an expert in human anatomy or physics, but I would imagine that the rules that apply to refraction in glass optics should apply to other mediums as well (obviously different mediums have different indices of refraction)...
Or maybe I'm the only one that has observed myopia with short wavelengths? :thinking:

 

[Chicxulub]

Blue diodes are multimode and so it has very bad beam spec. The 445nm blue laser are very powerful but the dot is rectangular and not round.
Blue DPSS is also no go because the technology is still very expensive.

And welcome the forum

OT, but where the hell did you find a 578nm yellow? If you're doing a beam combine, that's NOT 578nm, it's a 532 and 660 running together, which is known as RGY.

 

[Blord]

I know, it is not real 578nm but I hope the color appears te be yellow. I just want a yellow pointer

 

[Cyparagon]

Yes, the eye can adjust focus on objects.
But short wavelengths will 'bend' more in a different medium.

And long wavelengths will bend less, yet red appears clear.

As I understand it, the reason 405nm appears blurry is because human eyes are short-sighted to short wavelengths.

I always thought it was the slight fluorescence of material in the eye. I have a little evidence for this. If you view a fluorescent black light through a diffraction grating, the colors around 400nm seem violet, but the colors closer to 370nm appear more blue, possibly suggesting increasing fluorescence. You may also notice when staring into a black light that your whole vision has a sort of "haze" to it. It would indeed be difficult to focus on an object if some of the light came from within the eye.