Lasers or not?

[rmarcustrucker]

Originally Posted by MikeS.

So who has the best price on the CT's?

ebay. I've bought two on there. CT's.

[tmushy]

I wanted a laser for so long and finally bought one a week ago. I got it in put it on and said to myself "hmm nothing special I can shoot better without it"


I read many people had the same experience. If the laser was $50 I wouldn't mind putting it on but for $200+ ill pass

[lostone1413]

The best thing to do is take some lessons from a good instructor in Point Shooting. In 90% of your defensive shootings you will point shoot whether you know it or not. Talk to some that have been involved in a few shootings if you doubt that. I've seen more then once a Point Shooter getting 2 to 3 hits on target before the one with his laser got one. Who would you bet would win the gunfight??

Oh by the way I do have CT but not on my carry gun. The CT are nice to play with but I'll trust my life to my ability to Point Shoot way ahead of how fast I can pick up that dot.

[DUBYA R 2U]

Hi, I'm the new guy here today. This is, as noted several times already, a very interesting Thread.
I have to agree with just about every post on it. I know point shooting is the most realistic way to defend yourself in the majority of life or death situations.
At the range, placing a silloette target about 8 feet in front of you and practice
pointing (not aiming) and shooting. Once you know you can get 2 or 3 rounds in the right places, go to a place where you can draw, point, shoot, over and over again at similar short range targets. Your not looking for 1 inch groups,
you want to hit vital organs.
But, enough of that serious stuff, I got my XD 45 compact only a month ago.
I put a LaserMax rail mount LASER on it 2 weeks ago! I sighted in for POA @about 18 to 20 feet. I like it. With these old eyes of mine it just might come in handy someday, and since it has an accessory rail on it, I shopped around the internet for a Procyon light to add to the LASER! Have one on order.
So, being the old practical guy who never thought he would even own a polimer frame pistol, I realize that all of these things may be new to me,
but have been proven to be accurate and dependable for some time now.

[Ajcrash]

I bought a TLR-2 when I first got my XD, it works as it should but I've taken it off. I find I shoot better with stock sights. I even wasted a sh!t ton of time trying to find a holster for it.

Now it's on my AR, mainly for the light aspect of it. Although it is pretty cool shooting the AR accurately in the dark out in the desert.

[Cupsz71]

Put CTC on my XD9sc for the tune of $280.

No buyer's remorse here.

One can debate all day about the pros/cons. Ultimately it comes down to personal choice & IMHP......they give me an overall advantage if/when a situation presents itself...... then it's worth it.

No question.

[Bob RI]

How did it change the feel of the grip? a little, a lot?

[BaxterTheBunny]

[img]


(pictures above are posts from another board member who has the same set up. These are not my personal photos)
I have the Crimson Trace laser grip on my XD9sc. I use it to practice dry firing and I train with it shooting from the hip.

My OWB holster is a Blackhawk Serpa which allows me to draw and begin pointing my gun up quickly since the front part is cut out.

I've taken one-on-one personal self defense classes w/ an ex-marine instructor who taught me to use the laser for shooting from the hip. My shots are tight and dead on when utilizing the laser for this situational shooting.

I do not use the laser when practicing with my sights.

I love how easy it is to use the CT laser grip. Although I believe a laser mounted right below the barrel would be sighted better, having to turn it on would be more cumbersome than with it right on the grip.

I considered the laser/flashlight combo and decided I'm going to focused on shooting and not turning on a light.

Go to a gun shop and check them both out. I'm very happy w/ mine.

[kanemochi]

Originally Posted by robinsre

IMHO in most situations lasers are a better training tool than a shooting tool

They work well to practice trigger control while dry firing.

Pick a small area across the room. Put your laser on it. Dry fire. Is your laser still in the place it was before?

I agree 100%.......

I wanted one for this purpose only, but didn't think I could justify spending the money...for this purpose only. Also, not just dry firing...but they can be a decent training tool for the same purpose at the range.

However...
In bright daylight, outdoors here in Arizona...it is VERY hard to pick out a laser dot, and anything that mounts to the rail, prevents me from using my Crossbreed SuperTuck Deluxe Holster....the Crimson Trace ones will work with my holster...but they change the feel of the grip...and I love the feel of my XD45's grip. That leaves us with the laser-max internal. People have already documented the issues with reaching for the switch plus what I said above about how diluted the laser dot can be in the bright Arizona sun so I just couldn't justify the price.

However, I was looking for a different product altogether and saw a laser with rail mount and batteries on clearance for only $19.00 at combathunting.com ....and figured I had nothing to lose.

It's a cheap NCStar laser...but for what it's made to do, it actually works perfectly for me.

I mounted and zeroed it for 10 yards. I use it for dry fire practice exactly as described above.

Also, I slide it on there in the middle of the night. when my gun is in the nightstand. I figure if someone is breaking in the back-door I'll have time to flip the switch to turn it on...and target acquisition in total darkness should be just as quick or quicker than expensive night sites for my gun. Yet, I can easily slide it right back off again in the morning before I put my gun in my holster.

The part that surprised me most is that it really holds zero well. Every time I slide it back on...it's right exactly where it was when I last slid it off.

I agree with everyone else, that you don't want to learn to depend on a laser...but if you use the laser to help train your muscle reflexes it will improve your shooting with the standard sites.
Also....it's very fast for target acquisition at night time in HD mode...and at the price I got mine....much cheaper than installing a set of tritium night sites.