Mine is better since I got it back. I have no idea what the “fix” was though.

That looks like a Gen 1 to me.

A. It’s not a pic of the actual item being sold.
B. It’s a transitional model with the upgraded laser, but not the other upgraded features (not likely).
C. They’re trying to pull a fast one.


Take your pick.

Got my Perst 4M on Monday, havent had time to play with it...

The visible laser is definitely brighter..

Perst 3+ on the left, the same unit I mentioned that was noticeably brighter than the perst 4 green+ I talked about a few posts above.


The new perst 4m, is awesome, ignoring physical switches on the unit body, I prefer it over the perst4.  The original perst 4p with the set screw tailcap is nearly useless in comparison, as this one is nearly bombproof.
I also really like the tape switch it came with, but I need to figure out how it works.

My ONLY complaint, is there is no physical switch to go between visible and IR... even though there are two switches on the tape switch. You have to turn it on, and then press both buttons to swap between vis/IR. Actually my second complaint is, it doesnt do momentary/constant like the others. Left button is constant, right is momentary (on the rifle back plate).. you cannot do a long press for momentary and a short press for constant.


Attached File

Appreciate it, eagerly awaiting your feedback.

I had this setup for about 2 months and ran it for a while on my AK until it broke. The remote pressure pads themselves are awesome and heavy duty as well as the main unit, but the connector they used for the remote is really crappy and it broke off while I had the rifle on my back walking through the woods. I wasn't beating it up or anything. The Klesh-2 has a cool extended rail mount that actually protects the connector and they need something like that for the Perst-4. I sent both back for a full refund and I'm trying to decide what to replace it with. Either a Perst-2, PEQ-16B, or PEQ-15 with surefire light. Hopefully these images work:

Additionally, I bought mine from Ivan Tactical and they were great about taking them back for a full refund even though it was only the Perst-4 that broke. I wanted a lighter weight and less bulky alternative. The Klesh-2 is beefy.

Got my perst 3 in today, setup a quick constant offset zero and played with the vis laser for a bit; really impressed so far with everything but the cap safety wire. It’s no shock that several of y’all have had it break.

Attached File
Attached File

Attached File


That is why I set up my Perst-1 like this. The front sight is barely usable, but it does a great job protecting that plug. It would be much harder to accomplish the same on an AK though.

That's a concern of mine on the klesh-2 as well. (I'm using mine without the mount).  I'm trying to think up something to have 3d printed that will protect the plug a bit.



I like it!

Where can I get a PEQ16B?

New to NV, but diving in deep. Thinking of getting the Perst-4M and a separate illuminator (as I am waiting for my PVS-14), instead of the Perst3+. I'd like to be able to illuminate where I'm looking without muzzle sweeping, syncing my PVS-14 with the illuminator on a bump helmet. I figure when I aim with the 4M, I will be illuminating the designated target area as well, because I'll be looking at it already. It would be important to me to get a pid before point. Since there are advantages and disadvantage to every setup, what would you more experienced people see as pros and cons? Thanks.

I'm still figuring out how to operate the forum so sorry about the multiple posts in a row.

Yeah I didn't have much space for some sort of protective guard on the side but I think if I go Perst-2 then I'll definitely mill something out of aluminum to hold that connector better. That's a nice setup.

That Perst-1 first gen connector looks like it's a little better than the new ones. I'd prefer just a screw in industrial M8 style connector over this quick attach design. I mean it's going to stay installed if it's going on the gun. I definitely don't need it to be easy to remove but I definitely need it to not break.

I don't think they're easy to find. I have a line on one but I'm not sure if it's worth the money compared to something like a Perst-2 or even just a PEQ-15 with surefire. I've heard the built-in PEQ-16B LEDs are pretty crummy and the reliability is poor on the lasers. I only have seen one thread about them. My buddies who are in the marines have used them but not extensively. I do kinda want a full-power one and not just a class 1. I've heard many people say they don't like the idea of having an all in one unit in case it goes down but the AK has limited mounting space and something like a PEQ-16B, a DBAL-A4, a Wilcox RAPTAR ES Lite, or a Perst-2 would be ideal for my setup and the Perst is the most affordable and it is the only one I know of that offers the instant white light feature using the rear button.


This was my old setup with the Zenitco hardware. I'm not a huge fan of the RS Regulate rail and I might swap it with a Zenitco rail so I can mount the laser on top of the gun.

That's really cool of them. They seem to be batting 100 on the service side. I kinds wish I bought from them, instead of Zenitco Ebay - oh well.

They come up for sale from time to time on sites like Tacswap. Even eBay. But the cloners have driven the price way above what it's really worth. The white light is trash. But one thing that's neat is that I don't know of any other illuminator has the pointer on the left side, so that it's on top if you mount it on the right side of the rifle.

Black Phase Tactical had at least one in stock recently. Maybe check with him. Honestly, it's going to cost at least as much as a Perst-2 and is inferior in pretty much every way except the fact that it takes a standard plug.

Just be aware of any IR splash you'll get on your weapon from a helmet mounted light. The brightness can autogate your nods and prevent PID of your target. Just something to consider if you're helmet light has a lot of flood.

What don't you like about the rail? I have one also and am curious if your concerns mirror my own.

I ordered a PERST 3 through Black Phase Tactical about middle of February and received it yesterday 4-1-20. This is my first weapon-mounted laser of any kind, but I've been pretty impressed with it.





I've only gotten to play with the visible laser so far (it was off any weapons for the picture), and I'm waiting for an aurora to ship end of next month to play with the IR side of things.

Edit: trying to fix pictures and not succeeding

Good point, no pun intended. Thanks.

That's my line of thought too. The Perst-2 seems to be more modern in every way and if I can purchase one from a reputable Zenitco dealer like Ivan Tactical or Black Phase I can get good support.

It's a little "flexy" towards the end where I would ideally mount a laser. I also had fitment issues with my PSA AK where the lower handguard retainer actually slightly pushes the rail to the right. It's a really thin aluminum and it would probably work well for most things I'm just nervous about breaking it, plus it doesn't have a top rail offering so I'm going to have to use an ultimak or just swap it out entirely which is where I'm headed.

Oh and also it makes a comfortable grip where my long arms can get more control but since it doesn't cover the top of the gas tube my thumb always ends up touching the tube so the gripping surface towards the front, for me, is useless.

Do it, store it at my house.

You probably need it to find all the stuff you lost in the black hole there.

[img]/images/smilies/icon_smile_dissapprove.gif[/img

It’s unplanned inventory controls.

What was your experience with Zenitco ebay? They are like $200 cheaper than Ivan and free shipping.

Go through the checkout process, eBay was adding tax to my order making it more expensive.

Mine all have been smooth no issues no tax

Smooth as silk. Mine had a *very* minor problem where the back blue indicators don't light for IR - which I give 0% about - but I decided to contact Zenitco Ebay. The guy replied quick, but said he doesn't know much about them, but could "walk over" to Zenitco and rush it through service if I wanted to send it back. Nah - I'm good. But I got the impression he is either a reseller that gets to use the name, or it's Zenitco, but some office dude running the ebay site? Either way, delivered fast and other than the blue lights, it's 100%.

Ivan is a known quantity for service, but $200 is a lot. I don't remember there being that big a difference for the same model in Jan. Only reason I didn't go Ivan, was they were out of stock - back then.

I have the same reservations about the front end flexing where I want to put a klesch 2iks. The zenitco b30 is nearly twice the weight though. I'm torn.

My RAPTAR ES LITE has instant (well, 1/4 of a second) light on with the rear button. IR Illum is weak (to be nice).

I don’t think there is a civi power level PEQ16B in existence. I think they were all sold to .mil and are full power.

Yeah the one I'm looking at is a full power PEQ-16B but it's double the cost of the Perst-2.

Yeah I am thinking about running the Perst underneath the handguard or getting an ultimak and running it that way

I just ordered a perst 3 and I’m a little unclear about the eye safety aspect.
I get it, don’t shine it in your eyes or anyone else’s...
But is it just the two aiming lasers that will do damage, or is the illuminator also an issue?

Yes.

Big boy lasers = big boy rules. IR ND should be treated the same as a weapon ND.

The illuminator is laser-based, but it has a diffuser. Not too sure how "safe," if at all, that makes it, so I'd still try my very best not to point that at anything you wouldn't be okay with shooting. It's marketed as 500mW, but TFB said they measured it at 44mW so the 500 is probably a "50" with an accidental "0." The "eyesafe" MAWL C1+ has a laser illuminator at about 40mW. That being said, it's "probably" not going to fry your eyeballs from any moderate distance on a wide pattern, but I'm not willing to be the test dummy, and you shouldn't subject your dog, or your neighbor, to such a potentially dangerous situation, so play it safe. Like the guy before me said, treat laser NDs as firearm NDs (I'd also treat flashlight NDs the same, too).

As for @cloud9actual, maybe you should consider a Perst-3 on the right, and a standalone white light on the top gastube rail, offset left on a forwardly-extended mount. A gastube mounted laser may overheat, not hold zero well, not return to zero, and possibly block part of your view. I personally like having two units. I don't know how good the Perst-2's light is, but i doubt "500 lumens" out of that is nearly as impressive as a TLR-1's, nevermind the Modlite OKW's 600 lumens 69,000 candela. You could mount a Perst-3 on the right, and the pressurepad on the left near to where your thumb goes, and reach up to the white light you get if you need white. I'd suggest a Modlite PLHv2 or surefire M600DF for white, and if you want redundancy you could go with an M600V. I'm swapping my HL-X off my SAM7R for a PLHv2, partially because the scout-mount-screw-in for the HLX is too far forward on the light (making the button slightly too far back for me), I love it as a flashlight (when using 18650s), but it just doesnt fit for me. I have an SLR Rifleworks handguard, so i dont know how that RS Regulate one is, but if it's like this, you should be able to have a similar setup. I have long arms, too, and my thumb naturally sits right at the gas block as well. Id post a pic of my setup, but can't for the life of me figure that whole process out.

____________
For the new guys I see, and anybody lurking this thread to learn of the Perst, don't take anything here condescendingly, because I don't mean it that way, and I doubt anyone else does in whatever they post either. This stuff seems common sense to me now, but when I was just getting into NV stuff, i didn't know barely any of it. I may have "just joined," but ive been frequently reading the other forums here for quite a few years now, so I don't want to assume anyone else's experience or knowledge based off of their very low post numbers, but we're all here to learn from each other, and if this helps even just one person, great. These safety things and usage tips should go for everybody who's reading anyways:
When the laser is off, treat it like a gun. It's dangerous, especially if it goes either directly into someone eyeball, or by reflection/refraction. When the laser is on, you should still treat it like a gun, but I'd say to also think of it as a constantly-firing BB gun — no, it isn't going to kill you if the beam "shoots" your chest, but it does "bounce" back off of stuff, and if that beam so much as touches your eyeballs, you won't be posting here any more, and all that money you spent on gear just got flushed. I'd lump potentially-dangerous illuminators into this as well. Also remember that when it's on your gun, it's on a gun, so eyesafe or not you shouldnt point it at people. I know a very intelligent guy who almost ND'd a .30-06 into his dog in a very unintelligent manner — smart doesnt mean safe, please be safe. Don't point it at glass or shiny objects, either, and recognize it has some "spill" to it (the laser isn't just a point, there may be a semi-ring around it that may be dangerous). Don't "shoot" your buddy with the laser thinking it's funny, don't "shoot" the neighbor's cat either. If there's a chance, if you have to stop and think "is this safe to do?" then you probably shouldn't do it. You shouldn't be pointing your gun at any people, pets, or even at places with people in them anyways. I can't count how many videos i've seen of people pointing their guns at other people's homes to show off the laser. Have fun, play around with it, but be safe. it's better to be safe than sorry, because sorry can't fix a fried retina. Keep your laser lens's cover on until you're going to use them; itll keep them clean, and you and your gear safe. Keep your selector switches to "off" as well, because that could drain it. Keep a spare battery, because they tend to drain and die. My D2 drained itself to death one day and I couldn't explain how or why, but i had spares in the buttstock. Check your zero and remember where, approximately, the laser is in relation to your reticle at 100m, because maybe you can't always shoot to confirm, but you can have a pretty good feel for it this way. Mark off where you're dialed in on the knobs, and remember where you placed the laser on your rail, because a lot of units have a very good repeatable zero if you remove it, and this way you can easily swap one unit between guns. Read the owner's manual, too. A guy I know couldn't get his D2 to stay zeroed, and it was likely because he didn't know he had to to put a positive load on it. No question is a dumb question either, everyone here is nice and we all like to help.

When I go to checkout it adds like $170 in tax. How are you avoiding that?

I was considering this as well. Might be a better option but I'm just concerned about my fingers getting in the way of the laser like it did on my perst-4. Although a Perst-3 might be better since it has the laser in a different spot. The cost savings could cover the expense of a nice light. I'm just trying to come up with a way to not have to use a remote on the Zenitco units since the connectors are so fragile. I might just need to design a device to beef up the connector and run a Perst-3 with a remote. :/

You could put the Perst 3 on the left side (probably easier to run this way anyways), and use a switch mounted atop the gastube rail for a light mounted on the right side. Modlite has some new button mount that might interest you, and there's plenty of great options out there for american lights.
You could also just run the white light on the bottom rail and use a clicky cap on it. I do that on one of my AR15s, i just roll my index finger a little forward and hit the cap.

The savings you keep from a Perst-3 to a -2 is more than enough to get yourself a really nice white light, and if you went with a DBAL D2 then youd have even more money to spend elsewhere. The HL-X is nice for the money, but you could get a new modlite and still have money left. Id recommend the PLH, or maybe the PHLv2, over the OKW for an AK. I run an OKW on my 14.5 with a D2 and 1-8x Trijicon — there is very, very little spill from the light, it truly is suited only for extended ranges of, say, 75m or more, or really penetrating through photonic barriers. The PLHv2 combines the two lights, and i havent handled one yet but they look like a decent middle ground.

Wow thanks for the detailed info! I'm seriously considering this. I'm not sure how much benefit the full power laser gets me over just a civvy one but it's so tempting to have that capability although it's probably not that useful. I have seen some uses for it when in an urban environment with lots of ambient light and it cuts through that much better. Plus the Dbal D2 is probably way better built than the Perst stuff.

I have no idea...I’ve ordered a couple of Perst units and now a light and 0 tax. Maybe it varies by state?

Tax on eBay? Is it the seller 'zenitco'? Mine was priced On Screen in Canadian Dollars and I was charged less after the conversion, and there was no tax? As above ^ I think States have a say in who gets charged tax?

In you opinions, is the Perst-3 green+ worth the extra bucks over the Perst-3 green just for a more powerful visible laser?

I don't have any time with the + but IMO no. I only used the vis to get a rough zero and don't use it anymore.

Anticipate shooting from really weird angles and positions within 100 yards or with a gas mask a lot? Then yes. Otherwise, no. On the other hand, isn't the price difference only $50 or something close to that?

$110, an I suppose not enough to twist over. I had a visible laser and actually sold it because, at the time, it had limited use. That was then.....

Just a showcase. The setup with the gkr10ms from a year ago.

I've only had the green+, so I can't say if it's worth it or not, but it is ridiculously powerful. Can take cool pics for the gram of your lightsaber.