Of the 10 various CTC laser sight products I've had or still have, EIGHT OF them (now 9 malfucntions as of May 9 2023) had functional issues!
Of the 3 CTC products on 2 pistols I still have, 2 were faulty. and 1 can be zeroed but will go a little off when firing!
To keep using the three I have now, I rebuilt & reengineered the switch on the LG-431 and had to return and get replaced my CT RAD Micro Pro which wouldn't zero out of the box and a CMR-207(which quit working altogether today after about 1 year of occasional use it just quit coming on anymore with new batteries installed) before today it also had trouble keeping zero because the mount screws are too far forward toward the very front of the clamp, which is not robust enough to keep the unit in place perfectly on a weapon!
Previously, I've successfully used 1 of 3 CMR-205s, all which came with bad switches, and then sold it, BUT ONLY AFTER I learned to reengineered the paddle switches myself. So based on that, I bought a used CMR-205 for a new compact pistol, knowing it would have bad switches taht I could fix, and it did and I fixed it. Only problem with this one is that it was the first one, new, refurbished or used that ALSO WILL NOT ZERO, which I found out the other day the first time I took it to the range and shot with it.
So why is CTC still in business? Because most people don't know their shit don't work because they don't know how to sight weapons or shoot them accurately in the first place. So CTC can churn out expensive, shoddily manufactured pretty craps and sells it to most people and they never know the difference!
The only people who know whether their sites are good or not are ex U.S. Marines like me, who are the only people who know how to sight in and shoot firearms.
A synopsis of the issues I've had with CTC products over the years:
1 new 2 refurbished CMR-204s all had bad switches; a used CMR-205 (won't zero, bad switches); 2 LG-431s,1 used that didn't zero that CTC replaced and the replacement on which the switched stopped working after a short time; 2 CT Rad Micro Pros (first 1 wouldn't hold zero second one worked).
So I learned to reengineer the switches on the 204s and 205s, but to no avail in the last 205 for my compact pistol because it also doesn't zero and I can't fix that.
The use CMR-204 is a used one I recently bought on Ebay that doesn't zero and all of a sudden Crimson Trace won't cover it, which HAS NOT been my experience in the past, as I have had a CMR-205 that they took back after the 3 year warranty was up. Not only that, their competitor Streamlight has no time limit on their warranty for factory flaws and didn't even ask for a receipt, speaking of which, failing to achieve or hold zero is, absent any external signs of trauma, is a manufacturing flaw.
This is actually the first CMR-204/205 product I've owned that refuses to zero.
ON all the 204s and 205s, The switches don't activate the laser with a consistent pressure. sometimes it is very light, which is good, but gets worse over time, but most of the time they start out very difficult to activate, requiring undue finger pressure. and the pressure required for activation often varies significantly between the 2 activation paddles, which indicates imprecise manufactured of devices needing precise manufacturing standards.
My fix that work in the cased of 3 of them so far, has been to extend the length of the tiny microswitch activation post(s) on the paddle(s) with drops of Super Glue cured immediately and hardened with baking soda. then I have to repeatedly reinstalling the paddles, check the pressure, uninstall them, file off some of the super glue extension and repeat until I get it just right. & 2 times I took new ones apart for the first time to fix them this way, THE SCREWS HOLDING THE SWITCH HOUSING ON the back of the lasers WERE LOOSE. but tightening them did not fix the issue.
Details about trouble CT Micro RAD green: CT sent me the first one which wouldn't zero and they had to replace it.
Trouble with LG-431pink: wouldn't zero, sent in and replaced. CT back then did they didn't check when or where I bought any of the products or seem to care, in fact, I had bought this one used on Ebay. So they replaced it and the new one worked for a couple years but then the pressure switch slowly started getting more difficult to engage until it wouldn't work anymore. At this point, I decided that I had to fix the issue myself because all I'd get from CT , if anything, would be another LG-431 with an inferior switch that went bad in a couple years under light use.
This was my my repair for that one, which is really reengineering that is still working perfectly and activating with the same exact pressure 2-3 years later: Note that the materials I used to make the successful repair were arrived at after trial and error. The successful repair I did by reattaching the micro switch plate that had separated from the contact underneath the rubber pad that i had to remove and was unable to save. The tiny square plastic flexy contact plate is plastic and the 4 soldered attachment points that had come apart on the corners are almost microscopic. I cleaned them with alcohol and after many trials and errors, essentially working blind because of how tiny everything is, managed to reattach the contact plate in the corners with tiny dabs of Super Glue and check its operation.
Then to re-cover it, i used polyurethane roughing caulk, because it is much tougher and much more adherent than silicone. But it still didn't stick well to the laser housing. Not out of tricks yet, i then used Por 15 Rust Preventative paint to cement the polyurethane to the shell. Por 15, I'd found out previously is the best solid slightly flexible epoxy adhesive I've ever used, which includes it being better than original JB Weld. It's especially good on plastic and works on polyurethane as well when NOTHING else will bond polyurethane caulk to anything except more polyurethane, if you rough it up or chemically etch it (which is easy to do). but roughing up the shell didn't make the polyurethane stick to it well enough.
So there you have it folks, the many true ways CT either has become a bad company with bad products it refuses to back or maybe has always been bad, I don't know which. But I'm tired of having to reengineer their shoddy products to use them and am done with spending my hard earned money for their garbage."
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