American Defense Mfg. AD-DBAL-SF Light/Laser Base

The Steiner DBAL A2/PEQ-15A comes from the factory with an A.R.M.S. #17 Trilock Mount, which is all well and good, but I enjoyed the thought of combining my white light and laser on a single, monolithic picatinny base.

I gotta say, I'm very satisfied with this arrangement. The cable management is a little more convenient, the setup feels slicker, and the light body is suspended slightly further away than on an Arisaka MLOK Mount, allowing my Z-Bolt Tailcap to tuck in more neatly against the rail.

Though it's kinda funny - the only thing the MLOK is holding now are a couple Magpul Wire Control Clips. If not for that, I could use literally any other free-float handguard with a stable picatinny top rail lol

I'd run a KAC URX 3.1 Rail with this setup if I wasn't a perpetual broke bitch

The only potential downside to this type of mount is that any bumps on the weapon light would transfer force into the laser mount, too - potentially shifting the point of aim.

I decided to move the DBAL A2 back a little bit to clear up space for a dedicated flip-up front sight.

Something about the lack of anti-rotation geometry on the Railscales LEAF just rubs me the wrong way :V

Having it back here also gives me more instantaneous access to the controls on the unit itself. Though I'll need to see how much (if any) IR splashback I get from the illuminator before I fully commit to this arrangement.

Some of you may have noticed that my DBAL no longer has its default rubber dust caps and I've since added a neutral density filter to the laser side to cut back on the bloom of the full power laser.

Oh boy, another fucking laser! :D Holosun IRIS-3

Nothing I can really say about it that hasn't been said by a half-dozen gunfluencers at this point. Very small, light, and very ergonomically convenient - the controls are right where I need them to be without needing to break my grip and I don't even need to use a remote cable for this setup.

Main drawback is it's lack of a proper flood setting on the illumination, with the beam being a bit too tight on the widest setting and the smallest divergence being uselessly small. Hopefully VWS will come out with a diffuser cap in the near future. My only other complaint is the control switches on the back are ridiculously stiff, but that just tells me they're at least waterproofed properly.

^Size comparison with an EG NGAL.

Admittedly, the Chinesium NGAL is a bit more functional on paper since it has upgraded diffuser/neutral density caps from DarkLight Dynamics to give the illuminator a nice flood and to cut back on the intense bloom of the full-power laser.

So I bought another DBAL A2/PEQ-15A lol

old one was too crusty to use, but I liked the aesthetic and the form factor so much I just bought a minty one off the 'gray market'.

Now god willing this thing doesn't give me any trouble cause if it breaks, there's no way to get it serviced unless FDA full power laser regulations magically disappear.

CTF Photonics CTF3 + Malkoff E1HTv2 and Z-Bolt Blazer IR Heads

A follow-up to the previous post, this unit officially belongs to @bureau-of-mines' AK build and figured I'd give my own more thorough early impressions on it so far - despite the presence of other devices hitting the market around the same time and price bracket as this, I still feel like the CTF3 has a niche of its own to fill.

The key selling point to this unit is its modularity - in lieu of an onboard IR illuminator, the CTF3 features effectively two 3V Scout Flashlight bodies machined into the laser body that sit saddleback on either side of the top rail. This allows you to interchange whatever IR or white light heads you need for your specific setup.

The fire buttons are surprisingly easy to reach despite the protruding battery caps; the center button being laser only and the smaller left and right buttons activating both the laser and the corresponding light body.

Sadly this means your IR laser will be activated when using the white light, and there's also no constant-on function for the light bodies, but such is life.

In my opinion, the greatest benefit of the CTF3 is its low profile - this really is the perfect laser for an AK or other rifle that force you to use lower-mounted optics. It fills the same niche as the 3EIR DIR Series, except it's more modular, made of higher quality materials, asks roughly half the cost (as far as a base unit without heads), and eliminates a separate white light setup, keeping the overall cost of accessories down.

Obviously, you also lose a remote cable port, vis laser, power output controls, the ability to co-align the illuminator with the laser dot, and divergence control is greatly limited as well (unless you get an IR Blazer Head), but you get the benefit of having less integral components to fail within the laser body itself.

Although I have a massive bias to ancient laser boxes, the CTF3 is a very cool unit and I love how it works on "westernized" AK setups (though how well it handles 7.62x39 is yet to be determined). Love to see more from CTF going forwards.

God's saltiest DBAL A2/PEQ15A All emitters still work, somehow.

CTF Photonics - CTF-3 Laser Aiming Module

So far it seems very well-constructed. The CNC billet 6065 aluminum body feels solid, the rail clamp is well thought-out, the and the battery caps don't impede button activation as much as I thought they would.

However, getting the bad out of the way first, the adjustment turrets, contrary to my original assumption, do not feature 'clicky' MOA increments - they seem like they've got an internal o-ring somewhere to tension the screws for zeroing adjustment and the marks on the vertical turret are just there as witness marks more than actual adjustments.

Additionally the screws are small and seem easy to strip for how much pressure's needed to turn them. But for they do seem like they'll hold zero no issue once adjusted, for what it's worth.

The unit is incredibly low-profile as you would expect - an IR-only laser diode sits center over bore with what amounts to two independent 300-style scout flashlight bodies sitting saddleback on either side of the top rail. One holds a white light and the other would hold some form of IR illuminator head (B.E. Meyers KIJI, Z-Bolt Blazer, 3EIR Vulcan).

It seems like a good solution for secondary or tertiary builds that you wanna tack NV capabilities onto. Incidentally, due to being so low-profile, it's the perfect MFAL for an AK or other rifles that you can't put excessively tall optic risers on due to the stock being lower than the top of the receiver.

I've ordered a Z-Bolt Blazer Head and will be donating this laser to @bureau-of-mines' AK in trade for a Holosun IRIS-3 or AMMJ Penumbra (depending on whether the former restocks before I make up the additional cash to afford the latter).

For the sake of comparison, here's the CTF-3 without any heads in between a Steiner DBAL D2 and an EG NGAL.

The CTF-3 seems like a large unit, but it's very flat and carries most of its weight in the integral flashlight bodies, which it spreads out nicely. Plus the fact it eliminates a separate white light setup also cuts down greatly on weight.

Pleasing little sci-fi greeblies

Managed to pick up another Somogear Modbutton in a trade, this time with an LA23 plug for the IS-EG NGAL, so enjoy some cable management porn for today

Now for the bad news - The Somogear LA23 plugs don't play well with the ports on an EvolutionGear NGAL

They function, but the slightest nudge will make it lose contact, meaning it's basically useless.

I might end up splicing in the LA23 plug that came with the EG pressure pad, as that one's a much better fit, but I'll continue trying other solutions in the meantime.