Archive for January 13th, 2012

Your lasers shoot straight but your bullets never will

Lasers have been around for a long time and there are plenty of stories out there with credibility that involved Law Enforcement using them on firearms and then removing them because they were a liability.  With each accessory you put on a firearm, there is always a chance that it will fail or snag on something or change your perception of  the way you are engaging a target.  Although laser grips can have their advantages, you have to train to use  them properly. If you are looking for that dot to exactly where you want it to be you are wasting time and giving your opponent an opportunity to get his sights on you.  I have done enough testing and evaluations with new students to know that the majority of individuals act a certain way when given laser grips, they slow down when engaging targets.

For those of us that have taken Carbine Courses, we know that the AR15 his a very  high sighting picture and in a home defense or hostage situation, you better know your point of impact or something catastrophic can occur.  Crimson Trace Laser Grips have really picked up for the concealed carry market and they fly out of the door for those carrying pocket guns.  The reality about most pocket guns is the sights are never used.  Some guns like the Rohrbaugh R9 come with and without sights, why… because at certain ranges and certain calibers you train not to use them.  If you using laser grips for carry purposes, you are better off training to use it as a highlighter for low light threats but you must always be aware that your point of impact changes over distances.

 

 

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Know the color of your target and background

Recently I got into bow hunting and some of the bows they have out now are setup just like rifles are.   The optics are as fancy as the stuff that Trijicon has out and I got a good crash course on green vs red reticles.   Illumination is something that can bother me.   I still have pretty good eyesight for my age and I really don’t like it when I have reticles that obscure my target or cause fuzz and  haze.   Many of the red dot optics just piss me off if I have to use them past 100yds.  I do like my Eotech optics but am still looking for those skinny reticles.
The Trijicon TA01NSN is my favorite Trijicon ACOG and it is because it has nice skinny black lines and backup iron sights.   The TA01 is the even simpliar version of the ACOG.   These Trijicon Rifle Scopes have illumination when it is dark out but the bad thing about them is those nice thin black lines get lost on black clothing targets.   How many bad guys wear black over in Iraq and Afghanistan?  The vast majority of them.  Not only can a red dot obscure your target your black lines will fade on a target too.   A little bit of color contrast is a good thing for hunting and defense.

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