The data sheet specs 25 mA as the max current sourced by a pin. I'd like to source 75ma to 100ma, but for relatively short duration - say 20 uS max - in short groups of pulses (maybe 20 to 30 pulses together) followed by several seconds to several minutes of no pulses.

That's probably technically out of spec, but most LED's that spec 100 mA may spec up to 2A or more for short durations.

I wonder if the PIC is similar?

I know there is some variance between parts also - and I plan to make a bunch of these. Just because this current doesn't fry my prototype pics, doesn't mean it won't fry production units down the road - right?

Ideally I'd use a transistor but the prototype boards have already been run and it's wired direct and space is very limited for this application. Just wondering if it's at all safe or what I can expect as problems if we do run it and drop the resistance of the output low enough to generate the 75-100 Ma.

Thanks!