How many Lasers are in line with your Irons/Red Dots/Cross Hairs etc. Not many. POA/POI is different than normal iron sights/ red dots mainly due to where the Laser is mounted on the gun......and in most cases people dont take that into account. If you train enough to understand the effects when under stress then fantastic let it ride. How many people under stress forget the POI difference of a 50 yd zero when stressed, and this is just in the vertical plane (assuming a proper zero). If your Laser is mounted high and left did you take into account horizontal shift as well as vertical. Same for low and right, etc. If you train enough that is great but lets face it you need to be competent with your irons first and many people try to use lasers as a short cut to accuracy.
Lets look at a common handgun laser, where is it in relation to the bore, generally at least an inch to 1 1/4" below the bore. Your irons are maybe 3/8" to 1/2" above. That means that the line from your sights "slopes down" until it intersects the line from the bore...at a relatively low angle. The line from your laser "slopes up" until it intersects the line from the bore....at a considerably steeper angle. The closer you are zeroed for the more dramatic the result. If you are zeroed at 10yd for example( I am not suggesting this) with your irons, at 15 and 20 and 25yds you will be hitting slightly high, while conversely with the Laser you will be hitting low (proportionate to the angle). Also at 5 yards with your irons you will be low (though barely) and with your laser you will be high of your POA. That means that when presenting to fire the person utilizing the laser need to process the corrections to get good hits.......easy at a square range, more difficult under stress. I have RDS on a couple of my pistols (though I dont beleive they are worth the difference in cost over irons) and they co-witness with my iron so it doesnt matter which I shoot, or which gun I pick up technique is the same. If I then grab a different gun with a rail mounted laser I now have a different set of variables.
As USMC0331 said....lots of reps....even more to understand what your specific laser/mounting position does.
I do not like visible lasers much because I do not want one of my sight systems to act differently than my others. My iron, dots, scopes, etc work generally in the same plane. Particularly because if you get too reliant and it goes down then you will be less effective with your others. I use 45deg irons with some of my intermediate set ups on my rifles. It takes reps to keep proficient with the effect of the position related to the bore. Short quick snap shots are fine (which is mainly what they are for), precise shots at any longer range requires some thought. When using an IR Laser with NODS as a primary aiming system I zero taking into account my offset (my Raptar puts the IR laser above and to the right of the bore). I try to zero my IR laser so it stays a close to parallel with my bore and zeroed vertically for 100yds. This means that my POI is slightly to the right of my POA when using my IR Laser. Obviously different than with my Aimpoints, EOtechs, Leupolds, or irons.
If you like lasers, COOL, stick with them, just fully understand them and practice, practice, practice.
