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Yes, you do get scattered light from the beam. Kendricks make a laser collimator for SCTs (I think it can be used on Maks) that uses the scattered beam to project an image on a paper target placed at the near focus point (10 to 30 m away). The theory is that you can use this beam for collimation....however, I bought one for this reason and you can forget it. Any slop in the fitting of the laser in the eyepiece tube MORE than exceeds the tolerance required. If you search the forum you will see that Rumples Riot got one and found he had to recollimate with a star test (I found this after I bought mine).
I don't know much about Mak collimation so this may not be applicable, however HoTech have a new laser out that they say allows you to check that the secondary hasn't moved once a good star collimation has been done. Their locking mechanism uses two rubber o'rings that expand inside the tube to remove any slop. The theory is that once the secondary is set, the laser can be used to check that the return beam comes to the same point each time on the face of the laser. If you google HoTech SCA collimator, you might get some info and if it is suitable for a Mak. I bought one a few months ago but it doesn't work in mine, the o'rings don't expand enough to grip. Maybe I should sell it...
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