@Avery
A friend owns the Holosun unit and I've played with it more than anything except my Perst.
1. In the category of .7mW illuminator devices, it is the dimmest. It's still more useful than an ATPIAL-C, because it can focus. The .7mW category illuminators are all better than nothing- but still terrible. My Perst is 500mW, I think a PEQ15 is 250. You need all the help you can get with a civ device. But if small differences in barely functional illuminators matter to you you should probably look at VCSEL or full power instead. It's a clean illuminator, unlike an ATPIAL-C. Or Perst.
2. It focuses out from a narrow beam out to an exceptionally huge, wide, cone, which is nice in a unit with no diffuser, and it does this with a knob on the back, no groping around up front and getting fingerprints and dirt on the lens. I like that.
3. All 3 lasers, the illuminator, visible, and aiming, are in one aligned unit. So you only have to zero the visible or IR laser, the illuminator and other laser don't have to be zeroed separately. This might be why there's no diffuser, it would cover the vis and aiming laser as well.
4. No diffuser. Since it's only .7mW, I don't think a diffuser is necessary, the incredibly wide cone won't blind you inside and spreads out plenty. Using the knob on the back to adjust focus is convenient and fast.
5. I think it is compatible with aftermarket switches, but look that up if that matters. It comes with its own tape switch.
6. For the form factor, It's not huge, but it is tall. The zeroing protrusion and button on top are as high as a standard AR front sight post and the front sight is between them. It will be very visible in your still usable dot window if you run a 1/3 cowitness. Sitting so high above the rail leaves plenty of room for different flashlight mounting options, at least, and everyone else runs risers or higher than 1/3rd dot mounts anyway, so this may not matter at all.
7. I can't get my thumb on top of it to hit the button in a firing grip, so I would have to use the tape switch to trigger it, which means I'd have to fit a large tape switch somewhere on my rail or get an expensive aftermarket button to use one. My left hand is small, YMMV. The button has a nice feel to it, though.
8. It doesn't seem particularly fragile. Holosun has a good reputation in durable optics. I suspect the LS321 will hold up. No diffuser to tear off, very few moving parts, none of them exposed except the turrets and focus knob, and the form factor is a solid feeling brick. I think it is most likely more durable than the competition, which is a very low standard.
9. The controls are fine. The rear knob has all the options you need in a .7mW laser, which is to say, vis high, IR laser high, and IR laser illuminator both high. It has some other settings you won't use. In a full power device you might want to dial your power levels more precisely to handle laser bloom(
@surrealone mentioned this), range, safety in close quarters, etc, in a .7mW device you just use high.
[EDIT] 10. The price is attractive, it's higher than it used to be, but the ATPIAL-C has risen 500$ in a few years, the MAWL goes up several hundred a year, and it might be better to go with something cheap rather than expensive if VCSEL is about to revolutionize the market in a year or two anyway.
Do you want the Perst 3 summary too?
