Can't help myself. Just commented on 2 posts w/Crimson Trace reference. I love the things. What does anyone else think? Great for quick target acquisition, low light, training? Or a crutch, a complete waste of money?
They are no replacement for a good fundamental shooting skill set. With that out of the way they work great and come in real handy sometimes.
I like them, just train yourself to take the shot without hesitation if you don't see the red laser dot appear like you expect it to. Your finger can miss the button, OR the thing could malfunction, or the batteries could be dead, etc. If it doesn't work instantly, use the sights or your best pointing technique to get off the shot anyway. I have one set of C.T. lasergrips, and others in my family have a couple more sets. P.S. I've noticed that they don't hold a zero with great precision, but who cares on a short-barreled self defense carry pistol anyway? If my groups are 3" off at 30 feet, I'll still hit the bad guy center-of-mass.
I have CT's on both my primary carry (Para Tac @ LDA 45) and BUG (NAA 380 Guardian). Reasoning is both: are Double Action (no confusion of operating system) and both have CT. Now, it can not be said too strongly about the above statement ie: CT should not be your primary sight picture but an additional form of sighting that can be useful in a situation of less than good light, POSITION (on your back etc.) or any of Murphys' other 55 laws. (Yes, Murphy has 57 laws and I have the poster to prove it ) BTW, CT is not that great in daylight but the new Viridian "Green" units are. Also, just out today on Ammoland is a new "ultra violet" type of aux visiable sight. Pretty neat. Your adversary "glows in the dark but he/she/it can't see your beam All of the above is just my Happy Trails
I like them also and like others, feel they are a tool and cant replace the necessary skill set. They are my choice for my J Frame 360.
Lasers are great for quick target acquisition, but people still need to practice the basic fundamentals. I personally do not own lasers for any of my guns, but that is mainly becuase of the price of lasers. One of the things I like best about a laser is that it can act as a deterrent. On deployment in Afghanistan we often have civilians try to approach us, we don't know if they are suicide bombers or not, and need to get them to stop. Sometimes shouting at them doesn't work, but as soon as that laser appears on their chest, they get the message.
Have it on my colt 1911 commander, love it. If I am half asleep and can't get to my glasses, it is that extra assistance that I like to know is there.
Rarely do I agree w/everything in a post but certainly do in this one. No substitute for knowing how to shoot, but still a nice accessory. One thing to add - make sure to change the batteries regularly - especially the original ones that shipped w/the unit! The batteries that came with my second CT died within six months. Symptoms are the same as a flashlight with weak batteries - the beam is barely visible. You would not want to respond to a threat at 2 AM with an impotent beam!
[/quote]You would not want to respond to a threat at 2 AM with an impotent beam![/quote] That's what she said
You would not want to respond to a threat at 2 AM with an impotent beam![/quote] That's what she said [/quote] Nice!
Yeah, and if you let the batteries get too low the beam drops like a musket ball fired from a long distance with a headwind. The trajectory isn't as flat as when the batteries are nice and fresh. You'd have to point the pistol two feet over the bad guy's head just to get that dim little red laser dot on his chest. But your bullet would not drop that much, so you'd miss if you had to shoot.
ADDITIONAL COMMENT: I just noticed that if you're holding a small-frame revolver with CT lasergrips and "covering" a target like youre in a deadly force situation but you haven't actually started shooting yet, and your trigger finger is off the trigger and outside the trigger guard (like it should be), your finger will block the laser. Now if you're just holding the gun in low ready and not actually facing an adversary, this is no big deal because you probably don't want the laser coming on anyway, and if it did but the beam was blocked, no big deal. But suppose youre holding a felon at gunpoint or wanting to warn him to back down by putting that red laser dot on his chest (meaning, you "could" legally shoot him but you don't want to do that if there's any way you can avoid it)? Then you will have to put your finger at least inside the trigger guard to keep it out of the way of the beam of laser light. Comments, anyone?
I miss mine. I had a set on a Sig P226 that was my night stand gun. I wear glasses. Without them on I can see well enough to differentiate targets and tell a good guy from a bad guy, but I can not see my sights clearly enough to take a good shot. If things went bump in the night, I didn't want to have to fumble for my gun, phone and glasses. The CT grips would allow me to get a good shot on target without my glasses on.
I have half a dozen laser sighted pistols. After I started working with them seriously, I realized there were many things I could do with the laser that I couldn't do without it. Lowlight CT Laser Test My score on that set of drills was in the mid 60's, without the laser it would have been in the mid 20's. The dimness is due to the camera. The light was more than sufficient for me to see the targets but too low to see the sights.
I just I thought I would resurrect this thread to put in my .02 on the CT laser sights. I went to the range for the first time with them today and all I can say is wow. I was cutting a jagged hole in the bullseye at 30 feet with my G26. I agree that these sights should be used as an aid and not a replacement for good shooting fundamentals, but dang did they make shooting easier.
CT's are a plus no matter what skill level you are, or situation, there is no real bad point contrary to what so many say. The only bad thing about CT is they don't respond to customer emails and they have no real competition so their prices are about double what the product should actually cost. $299 for a one of these is really highway robbery, otherwise I'd have them on every gun I own. Although I have some fiber tritium sights that I feel are so good the laser would not be a huge benefit with those guns. If you can ever get an inline laser you only have to worry about elevation and not windage and the benefits begin to increase. The side mounted lasers take some thinking and practice if you want to know exactly where the bullet will hit at various distances. But for carrying my snubbie concealed you can't beat the combo of 38/357 snubbie with a laser at 10 feet. It would be a bad day for the bad guy.