LPC Model 16: An AR With a Huge Helium-Neon Laser Built In
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Published 2022-01-28
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Laser Products Corporation got its start in 1979, with a laser sight mounted atop a Colt Trooper .357 Magnum revolver. Shortly thereafter they introduced a range of other small arms with lasers fitted, including the Mini-14, Remington 870, and AR-15/M16. The whole line was intended for police use, as a way to aim the weapons in the dark. The lasers were large helium-neon gas tubes with rechargeable batteries. The LAPD did acquire Remington 870 shotguns with Laser Products laser sights for the 1984 Olympic Games security, and the laser also made an appearance in the movie Terminator (1984). These two things helped raise the status of the company, and they would go on to become Surefire, still around today in the same industry. Total production of the LPC Model 16, however, appears to be not more than a few dozen units. They were made in cooperation with Colt, as the upper receiver was modified substantially to fit the (factory-zeroed) laser assembly.
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All Comments (21)
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A 40 year old Nicad battery with ANY life in it after that long is crazy.
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I want us all to appreciate for a moment how absolutely peak cool it was to be an LAPD Olympic Security guy in 1984 with your mirror shades, fingerless gloves, jacket sleeves pushed up and your LASER SHOTGUN.
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Oh how far we've come with laser efficiency. Diodes rather than chemical lasers, and much, much brighter from tiny batteries.
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I can't believe my $5 "made in china" pen laser that runs off a single AAA is like 100 times brighter than that behemoth.
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I love the idea of the "AVOID EXPOSURE" sticker placed on what's already the business end of a rifle.
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You can make replacement batteries easy, the body can be 3D printed and the internals replaced with modern lithium cells and a simple control charge/output circuit. The originals, as the Indiana Jones saying goes, belong in a museum.
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There is something about old tactical equipment that I just love. A lot of it just wasn't at the point where it could be downsized so its all just so in your face giant. Where it seems to offer a practical solution yet at the same time it seems so impractical.
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there it is, a phased plasma rifle in the 40 watt range
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The laser dot was probably a lot brighter in the '80s. Helium-neon tubes have a limited lifetime, the helium eventually diffuses out through the glass tube and they get dimmer over time. Also, it probably shouldn't buzz, unless there's a loose connection or bad insulation in the high-voltage circuitry.
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I really want to see what this looks like with a underbarrel shotgun mounted.
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Peak 80's. Also, Surefire making extremely proprietary packs and then dropping them from production is STILL SOP.
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Man, if you made a laser of that size today it would be the weapon. :)
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I remember our Physics teacher in about 1975 being really excited as he demonstrated a new helium-neon laser. It was huge. He demonstrated getting reflection diffraction patterns off an engraved ruler at an low angle of incidence. Years later I casually did the same demo as a teacher, using a laser pointer I had just confiscated.
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I remember seeing something like that in the middle 80s on an AR-15 that dad's friend had. Dad was a cop and had lots of friends with lots of neat toys. The lazer I saw was like a Maglight size with 4 D batteries mounted on the handguard, not exactly the same but close. As a 10 year old i was impressed. A toy laser pointer from the dollar store is more powerful now but at the time I thought it may as well have been a Star Wars blaster.
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That's even bigger than the laser they strapped to an AR in an episode of Miami Vice. Man, the old days were wild
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Microization of technonlogy has come a hell of a long way in 50 years .The battery alone is bigger than most modern AC adapters, and the charger is the size of a book!
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Ian is one video short of covering all guns from the Terminator gun store scene.
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This laser needed quick detach rings so it could be detached from the rifle and used as a club.
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nothing makes an already cool gun cooler like a giant fricken lazer
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I always thought it was hilarious how huge lasers used to be. I remember being in the science lab in middle school and they had a wood grained tabletop laser that looked like a projector to use in some of the experiments. while around the same time I went to the fair and bought a double barrel green flame torch lighter with 6 diffuser laser pointer pistol from the knife/bong carnie trailer that was tiny
