All posts tagged Crimson Trace Laser Grips

Adding gear and altering the guns feel

I took the dive into the laser sights and laser grips world a  few years ago and I am very happy with the results.   The whole pocket pistol and pock gun thing has actually boasted laser grip sales and it’s very obvious why.  The smaller the gun, the shorter the sight radius and the more likely you are to not really use them.  The Rohrbaugh firearms have guns with sights and without them.   The Ruger LCP practically goes hand in hand with the Crimson trace grip, probable 40% of what we sold has them on them.

The one thing  you have to think about though is the laser grips will not be the Hogue grips you have on your gun now.  The vast majority of the guns I own have Hogue Grips on them and the Crimson Trace laser grips were a trade off.   The laser sights are very nice for that short pistol especially at night and it is a confidence boost, but I did have to adjust my grips slightly.   If you are spending $200 on a laser, make sure you know you want the grips too.

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Gun alterations make affect your holster

There are now so many things you can do to a firearm that you better be real careful that you think things through before you find out at the wrong time that  your guns and gear don’t match up very well.  One of the most common problems I am starting to see on the firing line while watching defensive weapons training with handguns is this.   Operator replaces the front sight on his handgun to a slightly higher version, gun fits in holster.   When the operator walks onto a firearm line and tries to quickly pull the firearm out, the front sight snags on the holster on the way out and the gun spins forward out of the operators hand, and then flies forward.

The obvious issue with gun holsters is adding on laser grips, something like the Crimson Trace Laser grips may mean tweaking your holster or having to buy a new one, be real careful about the gun sights though.  Many holsters don’t give you the specs on what kind of sights it will tolerate and this is something you’ll have to do on your own.   Lasermax laser grips will not be an issue due to the fact that there is nothing protruding out

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Standard capacity magazines and balance

There are plenty of firearms out there that can handle magazines that have a higher capacity than the standard magazines, and in most cases, I really don’t understand why anyone would want anything protruding out of the bottom of a handgun.   I’d rather have an MP5 semi-auto than a Glock 17 with a 30rd magazine.    I’ve seen some of the full auto Glocks, but they are nothing more than an assassin or a nose maker for most purposes.   I’ve always liked 1911 handguns, and I’ve shot a few auto ordnance guns that were similar, but were double stack 45acp magazines, but the guns were just too heavy for me to wield one handed.

There is something to be said for handguns and how they are balanced out.   If the gun feels like  you are holding a bowling ball you’re not going to be very smooth in engaging multiple targets.   Just like someone who is using a 44 magnum Desert Eagle, you get a lot of bang, but what is your hit ratio? Can you carry something like that in gun holsters? I’ve done one too many tests with new shooters and 7.62×39 AK rifle and compared bullet hits with an M4.   Ever single time I’ve done a comparison people shot the better with the M4.   I’ve also done comparisons with extending magazines in 9mm and 45acp and there is a certain point, guns get too darn heavy.

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Revival of laser grips?

I think there really has been a change in attitude towards  using laser grips.    Now that police and military are actually being trained to use their weapons and every municipality has a better trained SWAT team than a decade ago, lasers are actually finding a place in the CCW and LEO communities.   When I first saw lasers coming onto the scene in the late 1990s many un trained LEOs got into situations where they would have normally pulled the trigger and taken the first shot, but the lasers slowed their shooting down because they were tracking the dot.

Instinctive shooting can’t be compromised, period.  When you are  in a defensive situation, you are more than likely within 9yds are less of your attacker and there is no need to even look at your sights let alone your laser dot.   Now that we have cleared that up, Crimson Trace laser grips has done a good job as a company of sending out a Free DVD that gives you some ideas on how to deploy a laser in defensive situations where it actually reduces your chances of being shot by helping  you stay under cover.

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Concealed carry holter or tactical?

I have to admit that I do read a lot of gun magazines, I guess it’s primarily to educate myself on what is out there as far as firearms and gear and see if there is anything ground breaking.   I remember when I could name about 5 or 6 good gun manufacturers, but now there are so many people making AR15 guns that I don’t think I could really say that I have a very good point of reference if I was going to give my critisism because not all of the direct impingement guns are the same.   There have been some productions with Springfield Armory XD guns when they first came out as well as a few others, but eventually the gun company gets it right.  I have never seen so many holster modifications done in the last 2yrs as I have before.   If you had a Sig 229 6yrs ago and get one now, and put a light on it, time for another gun holsters.

I guess the real question that we need to ask ourselves is do we want a tactical gun or a concealed carry gun?   Even that can become complicated if we start putting lasers on them which many are doing for small frame revolvers and semi-autos.   I took a training course using lasers and gun holsters and learned in the first 5 minutes that a laser has an extreme advantage over non laser guns with shooting around corners.   Anyone that has taken a defensive firearms course has learned to use cover, and limit the exposure when shooting around a corner, keep your feet behind cover and try to only move the barrel and your eyes around the corner.  With a laser, you can learn to keep your gun at one firing point and your head at another which gives your threat 2 things to think about if they want to return fire.

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Tactical gear and clothing

There are a lot of words that get thrown around in the firearm industry that are fairly broad.    Tactical clothing these days may sound like BDUs to one person and 5.11 tactical clothing to another.    Tactical gear can mean anything from a folding stock to a knife, or a $1500 rifle scope.    The word “tactical” doesn’t really tell you what something is going to be used for in the field.    I have some pretty dressed down AR15 rifles that to some people, just look like violent weapons and scare them, while most of us that are familiar with the accessorized M4 Carbine, will find a A2 style AR15 to be  pretty bland.

The so called tactical clothing and concealed carry markets seem to be new markets and these terms get thrown around a lot but don’t really tell us much.  To the trained individual, they can spot a knife in the pocket and 5.11 style pants from a mile away and loads of pockets full of tactical gear and usually that’s a dead giveaway that someone is carrying a firearm.   Think about what purpose your clothing is to serve and adapt to it.   There are more than a few good clothing companies that are making concealed carry friendly apparel.

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Why Laser Sights?

Crimson Trace Laser GripsWhy Laser Sights? Immediate Decisive AdvantageThe answer is short-and-sweet: Lasergrips provide you with instant and overwhelming advantages you wouldn’t otherwise have. Laser sights simply help you shoot better, with greater speed and accuracy, which translates into increased confidence—even in tense and threatening scenarios, when hours and hours of vigilant training can disappear in a haze of panic and confusion.

 

Maybe it’s a conversation with a shooting buddy, or with your better half, or maybe with yourself. The topic used to center on whether laser sights such as Crimson Trace Lasergrips have a legitimate place in the world of guns and personal defense. (Which, of course, they do.) So today the specific question is more along the lines of: “How much more effective will a laser make me?”

 

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A liability?

Crimson Trace Laser GripsMan in the training in the self defense school will argue about the use of lasers on firearms.    Lasers are used for as many diverse reasons as any tool.   You can use a laser to direct someone to a target, highlight a threat, targetting a threat and using the laser dot to give you an approximate point of impact.   When lasers first came out, there was evidence that operators were using them to aim and for close quarters fighting, sometimes aiming is not necessary and will slow you down in getting the first hits in.   Hits count and the first hits usually go to the winner.
Whenever you think about putting a laser on your firearm, think about the tactics and reasons for using them.   The Crimson Trace laser grips have an excellent reputation for durability and will fit for most modern handguns.    Lasers won’t slow you down if you don’t let them, they can actually help you in many ways and there are some instruction DVDs out there that will show you how.    Lasers are also a good weapon of intimidation and can give some comfort to less trained shooters.   Whether your carrying a laser for your Glock, 1911, Sig Sauer, XD or revolver, remember, it’s what’s in your head that helps you win a fight.

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