Laser sights

In the aftermath of the dirty bastards getting to shoot buttloads of ammo with new guns Para blogger shoot(sounds like they were targets, doesn’t it?), there’s been a bunch written, especially by Tam, about laser sights. They’re something I’ve thought about, but kept putting of. I mean, something like Crimson Trace grips ain’t exactly cheap.

Then, at the show last weekend, a guy had a big selection of grips(with a demo mounted on each of a whole bunch of different pistols for trial) and I took a more serious look at them. My father looked them over and decided to get a pair for the S&W snubbie he carries. And, as a bonus, the guy had a Aimshot boresighter and a bunch of housings for different cartridges so he could boresight it for you. Dad was happy, and when I went back to the show the next day I broke down and bought a set for my Kimber.

Last couple of days I’ve done the usual fooling with them, then the other morning I was able to hit the range to zero them and give them a real try. After 60 rounds, I’m a believer. Put the dot on the spot and press the trigger, and watch the hole appear. Draw & fire, slowfire, it was great. The only thing- a distraction, not a real problem- is that, once there’s some smoke in the air, you do see a visible trace of the laser between you and the target. Which is kind of cool. Mind you, in an actual defense situation I can’t see it even being noticed.

The model I got has a single switch in the center, right under the trigger guard where your middle finger activates it. With a little practice you can open that finger a touch to turn it off, close to turn on. The other model has a switch on each side where a finger can press it down; that just didn’t work real well for me, the buttons were just in the wrong place for my hands. His having all the different models on either pistols or plastic models(the blue training ones) really helped make the choice. Helped sell them, for that matter.

For having to use a sidearm in a low-light situation, these things should be wonderful. And, as pointed out, for dry-fire training they’re helpful, too. There’s no question in your mind where the impact point would be, which, I think, would be especially helpful in point-shooting practice.

Two things. I fired a few left-handed and, as might be expected, the point of impact was off from the aim point; in my case about 3” to the right. However, four of the five rounds made one big ragged hole at about 20 feet. Which I can’t do with iron sights. For COM/high COM aim in a self-defense situation, I don’t think the goblin would much notice the difference.
Second, if you’re right-handed and hold your finger WAY high along the frame, it blocks the laser. Happily my hold has always been lower, so didn’t have to adjust.