I am a big fan of dry fire training. There is noting else that can return a greater value for the cost. There are times that dry fire can fix problems that live fire cannot. Any time I come across a product to make dry firing more effective or more interesting, I have to check it out. When Hits Arms asked me to look at their Laser Bullet, I accepted.
The Laser Bullet is a very simple product. It is a brass housing, shaped like a 9mm cartridge. In the tip is a lens and in the base is a switch. You insert the Laser Bullet into the chamber in the same manner that you would a live round. When you press the trigger on the firearm, the firing pin strikes the switch and the Laser Bullet shines the laser on your target for a fraction of a second. After re-cocking the firearm, you are ready to shoot again.
The Laser Bullet works exactly as advertised. Hits Arms claims at least 5000 actuations. After several training sessions I notice a little intention on the primer switch. I did not notice any damage to the cartridge rim from installing and removing it from the firearm.
The Laser Bullet works, but there is some significant room for improvement. The largest issue I have with the design is that it looks almost exactly like a live cartridge.
If you adhere to a dry fire safety protocol (removing all live ammunition from the room and never pointing the weapon at anything you are not willing to put a bullet through) then the safety risk is minimal.
Extra care needs to be taken to keep the Laser Bullet apart from any live ammunition to prevent it from sneaking onboard a magazine with live ammo.
The second issue is that when cycling the slide to re-cock a semi-auto pistol often the cartridge is ejected. It takes some care to not pull the slide back too far.
These two issues could be solved by removing the “cartridge rim” so that the extractor could not grip it. The rebated case could then be painted red or blue to indicate a training cartridge. This would likely add minimal cost to the product.
There is no way to “zero” the laser to your pistol sights. Ours was about 1″ off at two to three yards. Significantly more from across the room. You can resolve this somewhat by rotating the Laser Bullet in the chamber, but that will only go so far.
At this time there is no “target” receiver for the Laser Bullet. Scoring is done by looking at the target. Care should be taken to prevent a training scar. Getting used to looking at your target immediately after the striker falls can inhibit proper follow-through. This is not a problem when using a red dot sight, but with traditional iron sights the shooter needs to keep his focus on the front sight.
Hits Arms stated that they are working on an App to pair with the Laser Bullet. There is no estimated release date.
The Laser Bullet retails for $65 on their website or $54.99 on Amazon.