Hello fellow photon aficionados and welcome back to another Friday Night Lights. Today we take a look at another Insight product. This time we are looking at their pistol mounted MFAL (Multi-Function Aiming Laser), the AN/PEQ-14. Friday Night Lights is brought to you by ATN Corp, manufacturers of night vision and thermal optics like the THOR LT. As with all of our sponsored series, Friday Night Lights will continue to bring you unbiased news and reviews from a variety of companies.

MFALs @TFB:

• Friday Night Lights: Steiner DBAL-A4 All-In-One MFAL
• Friday Night Lights: SureFire XVL2 – An All-In-One Multi-Function Aiming Laser
• Friday Night Lights: Rheinmetall Vario-Ray LLM

PEQ-14 The Dual Spectrum Pistol MFAL

When it comes to pistol lights with integrated lasers, the vast majority of them have a combination of visible light and maybe some infrared capability. The old Streamlight TLR-VIR has an IR laser and a white light. The same goes for the Olight BALDR-IR. The SureFire X400V and Streamlight TLR-VIRII both have white light, IR light and IR laser. However, they rarely have the full package of dual spectrum light and laser. What am I talking about? VIS light/laser as well as IR light/laser. The PEQ-14 is such a pistol light. It has an incandescent bulb for white light as well as a red visible laser. The VIS laser is slaved to the IR laser so when you zero one, it zeroes the other. And to complete the package the Insight PEQ-14 has an IR laser illuminator.

The PEQ-14 is actually an old design. There are a number of variants out there. Some call it the LAM-1000 and it is also known as the PEQ-6. It was designed by Insight Technology for the US SOCOM pistol, the MK23. The military also calls it the ILWLP (Integrated Laser White Light Pointer). See Pete’s article about the KAC suppressor and some background on the MK23. I have reviewed the MARK23 as well with you can read here.

Below you can see the PEQ-6 direct mounted to the H&K Mark23 and another Mark23 with a low profile rail to mount the PEQ-14/LAM-1000

The PEQ-14 is not that much different from the LAM-1000/PEQ-6. It has all the same features. There is a rotary mode selector on the left-hand side of the PEQ-14.

As you can see in the photo below, the 6 o’clock position is OFF. Rotate the switch clockwise to 7 o’clock is VIS aiming laser mode. Move the switch to the 8 o’clock position and you are in VIS aiming laser and VIS illumination. Rotate the switch to 5 o’clock and you are in infrared aiming laser mode, while 4 o’clock position is infrared aiming laser and infrared illuminator mode.

At the back of the PEQ-14 is a remote tape switch port. This is a standard Insight/Crane port for use with their tape switches. On the right-hand side of the laser body is a rotary switch to turn the aiming lasers off. This way you can isolate the VIS or IR illuminator and not use the aiming laser.

Remove the rubber plug to access the remote switch port.

At the bottom, near the back end of the laser body, is the paddle activation switch. Press the paddle to the left for momentary use. Press it all the way to the left and it will lock in position for constant on. If you press the paddle to the right, it will also lock into constant on.

The label states that the IR laser is 30mW while the VIS laser is an eye-safe 5mW. However, according to the instruction manual, the VIS laser is only 4mW, the IR illuminator is 25mW and the IR aiming laser is just 0.6mW. The IR illuminator is considered a Class3b laser even though it has a fixed divergence of 50 MRAD.

The PEQ-14 comes with five pattern generators and one IR illuminator diffuser. Below I have the + pattern generator installed. When you activate the IR aiming laser, the pattern generator shapes the beam to look like a +. The five patterns are:

• ＋
• △
• ⃝
• T
• X

Unfortunately, you cannot use the IR illuminator diffuser and a pattern generator at the same time.

The pattern generator and diffuser are all the same slip-on style covers that are held in place with this metal thumbscrew.

Due to the design of the screw, it is easier to remove the VIS illuminator head/battery cap to make room to remove the screw. As you unscrew it, it has a tendency to butt up against the bottom rim of the VIS light head.

The PEQ-14 uses an old incandescent bulb to produce warm white light.

The screw that holds the diffuser or pattern generator in place has a double purpose. It is also the adjustment tool to change the elevation and windage of the aiming lasers. Both VIS and IR aiming lasers are slaved to each other so when you adjust one, it will also adjust the other aiming laser.

There is an LED drop-in upgrade for the PEQ-14 by Lumens Factory.

PEQ-14 A Pistol Light/Laser

The PEQ-14 was built for the US Army. It comes with an adapter for the standard issue Beretta M9. I do not have an M9 and none of my immediate friends have one. I do have a 92A1 with an integrated rail in the dust cover.

One thing I was wondering was “how did the Army holster this massive setup?”. Enter the Safariland 3084 holster. I was told this holster is what can carry such a large setup. I ordered one off eBay, I will update this article once it arrives and if it does indeed work with my 92A1 and PEQ-14.

Edit: The holster arrived. It is like a giant bucket. The holster has polymer rails inside that ride under the slide and hold the Beretta in place. So you could use the holster without the PEQ-14.

 

 

As mentioned earlier, there is a version of the PEQ-14 called a PEQ-6 or LAM-1400 that is molded specifically to mount directly to the MK23. I am using a GG&G Mark23 adapter to attach the PEQ-14 to the MARK23.

I tried mounting the PEQ-14 to some other pistols like my FNX-45 Tactical,.

What surprised me the most was how well it seem suited for the new Army service pistol, the M17. While I have not been able to see in person the LMD-PAIL light/laser that is issued by the Army, I have read about it and the LMD-PAIL pales in comparison to the PEQ-14. It lacks the VIS aiming laser and the light output is rather meager. I do not know the lumen output of the PEQ-14 incandescent bulb but once I get the Lumens Factory LED drop-in, it will be much brighter than the LMD-PAIL.

While the PEQ-14 looks great on the SIG M17, it works very well on the FLUX Raider chassis.

Surprisingly, a SureFire Scout Light infrared filter fits the bezel of the PEQ-14.

One minor issue you can see in the photo below, the left sliding bar of the brace hooks onto the rail clamp of the PEQ-14 causing drag when you deploy the pistol brace.

When mounted on the second most rearward slot, the aiming laser rotary switch kisses the AFG mag well.

PEQ-14 Final Thoughts

The Insight PEQ-14 is a bit obsolete but it still performs decent enough for a handgun. My friend JW Ramp has one on his MP5 clone for night vision shooting. The laser illuminator is brighter than one would expect and the aiming IR laser is decent enough even in bright photonic barriers. Activation is a bit cumbersome since the toggle switch is a paddle, almost like a rudder on a very small boat. It is not as ergonomic as a SureFire X300 style pistol light.

Price-wise the PEQ-14 fetches just under $1,000. I have seen some of them go for more as high as $1,500. It is powered by two CR123 batteries so it is not the most efficient multi-function aiming laser on the market. But it does give you dual spectrum aiming lasers and illuminators. The LED upgrade is worthwhile and makes the PEQ-14 an option for some who want an all-in-one setup on a compact weapon like a pistol or perhaps a small PDW PCC.

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