Bump for a great laser.
hak, I examined the picture closely. I will stake what little rep I have on the following:
This laser looks EXACTLY like the 1500mW Rifle Lazerer used to carry. I compared mine to the pic. Aluminum case is exactly the same. Warning sticker placement is identical to mine, they will peel off eventually, as they overlap the edge. Same host, Lazerer just prints "Rifle" onto it. Same effects caps, note it is really four effects, with one that is just for looks with the raw beam. same foam in the case, in your pic the laser is smashing the battery slots, but I can see them. Same glasses.
the ONLY difference I see is the charger. the one in your pic looks far superior to the one Lazerer includes, but I think Lazerer used their own crappy chargers and crappy blue batteries for the ones they sold, I don't see blue batteries in your pic. This is a good difference.
Finally, I think you got some bad info about the batteries. I know you were told they take primary cr123, but I am willing to bet a lot that in fact 16340s are preferable, though li-ion rcr123s would work. rcr123s will not give it the full 1500mW, you need 3.7 volts x2 for that. LPM one of these with each battery type, and see.
I'd contact your guy and ask about the battery thing. I am nearly willing to bet the cost of one of these that he was wrong. I might do that.