ONE MORE REASON to have a laser sight!

[JohndeFresno]

Just thought of this en route to the range, 'cause I almost forgot my glasses in my hurry!

Scenario: Middle of the night, glasses somewhere on the nightstand, .45 within comfortable reach and invader(s) crashing through the door, as is happening in some locations with home invasions.

OK - adrenalin pumping, your first instinct is to grab the gun and then try to assess your surroundings. If you even THOUGHT of your specs, can you find them quick enough? No problem with that laser.

Or - how 'bout - You have just ducked down, or behind something, and your glasses fall off in your jump to safety from one of those bearded rascals who has invaded your part of the world with a crazy belief and a firearm?

While we think about that, I'd like to disagree with some well meaning and highly qualified folks - including a police officer relative, a couple of rangemasters I personally know, and some NRA instructors who have posted on various Internet sites:
Laser sights do NOT slow down that first shot, at least for me.

I've been shooting and carrying a 1911 off duty full time and partially on duty (with some agencies) for almost 50 years (starting in Viet Nam, 1966), so it is true that I learned the proper way to use the grip and sights long before installing a Crimson Trace on my current Colt Mk IV Series 70.

However, if you train regularly to use the sights and develop at least some muscle memory with the proper shooting stance (whatever you consistently use), then you won't "follow" the red dot to the target all the way from the floor - you will already have it pretty much on target before you rely on the dot. The common thing I hear is that "laser rookies" (coining a term) take too long to acquire the target because they walk the laser up into position.

OK - rant over. Now, I have my four eyes in place and it's off to the range to tune up a bit with the .45 and .38 snubby, hoping that they never have to bark at anything but paper or metal gongs.

[AJMD429]

On hand guns used for self defense, they would be very helpful if you were knocked down and could not get the handgun in a position between your eyes and the target.

On a rifle used in poor lighting, the laser dot helps verify that d target has no intervening structures such as tree limbs or whatever. On the lever action I take out at night when I check the livestock, the blinking red laser being in the same place as the red dot from the Bushnell FastFire-II sight goes a long way towards assuring that I will hit the possum, raccoon, or coyote comma instead of something else.

NightScout44Mag.jpg

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=46640#p583183

[Pete44ru]

.

I agree - too many focus/practice under conditions that, most times, IMO don't reflect reality.

I believe that one should hope for the best - but practice for the worst......



.

[mikld]

While today it isn't "cool" or "tactical", I practiced a lot of "instinct shooting" (aka "point shooting"). I can/could keep all my shots in 4"-6" at 20' without aiming with my specs on. During the 50s and 60s wasn't it Jordan who used/taught this style?

[JohndeFresno]

While today it isn't "cool" or "tactical", I practiced a lot of "instinct shooting" (aka "point shooting"). I can/could keep all my shots in 4"-6" at 20' without aiming with my specs on. During the 50s and 60s wasn't it Jordan who used/taught this style?

Correct - In the book "No Second Place Winner" by Bill Jordan, still available, one can learn the complete technique. I practiced this method, too. I could never approach Bill Jordan's accuracy and speed where he shot aspirins, but to some extent this worked for me. The hurdle was being able to quickly assess whether they are five feet away (hip draw), 15 feet away (extend arm), or further (bring up gun sights to eye level), or something like that. I have forgotten exactly the distances, which under stress (for me) seemed to be problematic. But clearly Mr. Jordan used the technique with deadly speed and accuracy. As you indicated - it does take a lot of practice, and constant refreshers. I practiced this methodology when I carried a .357 Python for uniformed duty.

Moving over to the .45 ACP pistol as a duty carry gun, the Cooper technique worked better for me, especially with anything more than just a few feet away. And indeed it became popular with agencies using semi-autos. But I would not discount Jordan's paradigm for one who practices it diligently at varying ranges. I just found that Cooper's style improved my game, since (other than the emergency close contact draw), you use the same technique for any normal pistol shooting ranges. One less thing to think about for this rather simple minded boy.

And now trainers and some tactical shooting schools are "rediscovering" the Weaver Isosceles Stance (I think the two terms go together) that was popular during the revolver days, for a number of reasons, like alleged improved pivoting shots, better protection if you are wearing body armor (sideways, you get it under your armpit), and a more natural alignment of your arm bones (I am told).

The trouble is, it just doesn't work very well for me, so far. I'm too used to the Cooper Technique and maybe have a little too much moss on my aging brain to make yet another full shooting transition.