Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns The Best Low Light Sighting System

An experienced shooter can draw and immediately index the front sight on the target. If a shooter can do that with a laser dot he doesn't need a laser.

If a shooter has to slide the laser dot from somewhere else to get it on target it's slower. Sliding the dot also assumes there will be a backdrop to reference the dot to the target - there won't always be one.

The correct way to transition from one target to the next is with your eyes first followed by the front sight. Less experienced shooters tend to do the opposite - once they have the front sight in focus they are reluctant to shift their eyes to the second target. They attempt to keep the front sight in focus while moving it to the target. That's also slower and often results in an under or over correction - moving left to right that would be a 9 o'clock or 3 o'clock miss.

Kinda related - If your target is moving quickly left to right at 15-yards and there's no backdrop, where do you place the dot?

Sorry, JOG, I can't agree with that analysis.

Just about every shooter of any talent in every shooting discipline has gone to red dot sights because they are better......... a laser is just another version of a red dot, except that the shooter can decide whether or not to activate it on any given target.

You really gotta get out & try one.

MM

The red dot and laser are similar in that they put the 'sight' and target on the same focal plane. The similarity ends there though. The red dot forces the shooter to sight over the top of the gun in a conventional manner - if there's a misalignment there's no dot in the sight picture. The red dot doesn't need a backstop, doesn't reflect, and can be used in any lighting.



That must be it, I've only seen lasers on the TV.

Lasers have a place. They're just not the "Best Low Light Shooting System".

In good light the sights are first, but in the dark (such as in a night home invaqsion) I am in the dark and intend to remain so. When and if I intend to shoot I will be looking over the gun and the laser will show up boldly. I have been shooting all of my life and have a lot of experience and in a low light setting the laser is faster IMHO.

One must find the sights and allign them and the lower the light the slower this procedure becomes. Not slow with a laser IMHO

Trtrinium sites in low light draw my eye away from the target and to the sights, never liked them and still do not

A rule-of-thumb for a proficient shooter is drawing from concealment and placing a shot center mass in 1.5 seconds at 7-yards - every time. Whatever your time is with tritium, my bet is a laser will be slower. All you have to do to prove me wrong is post your times.

Whether or not sight alignment is necessary for close range, low light shooting is open to debate. I prefer tritium on the front sight only, but I definitely focus on the sight. The rear sight really isn't a factor.

At close range I dought that I would even need a sight

It's all part of the tool-box. I off-loaded my Sig220 that had the CT. I'm still working on "policy" issues to enable me to replace the stock grips on my 229 with CT.

Tritium has never bothered me and I prefer them. Lasers are great if you're in a situation where you aren't able to aquire a proper sight picture: wedged against something, compromised body position, grappling, etc. You stick the dot on the BG and squeeze.

As far as a light not being important, I'll leave that to each individual. In my line of work if you don't properly identify your target, quite frankly, you're [bleep]. I prefer a light on a weapon due to my "specialty". I've said it before: try juggling a light, a weapon and an exited GSD. I was only issued two hands.

George

I'm not critizing CTC's. If you look at my first post on this thread I say I've had several for several years. I believe I got my first one 5 or 6 years ago. I really like them a lot. Currently mine are on a 1911 and a 360PD. Both have tritiums too.

Yeah, and we've been arguing about it ever since.

jwp,

You sir, have killed a boat load of schit with a handgun. More than most can hope to. But there is no way you can't see the merit in sights that are visible in the dark.

I'll say it again: there is no drawback to tritium... They are the best solution to a low light situation.

Offer a scenario where they can fail.


Travis

An experienced shooter will pull up and instinctively seek out the front sight; and should always do that. If you switch to looking for a dot, then you'll have to re-train yourself.

I pull my pistol, I am focus on my target and I am looking down the barrel at the front site. If I activate the laser why would I be looking for the dot. The dot will be where my sight are pointed. If one is looking for the dot then the pistol is not pointed at the target.

I have never ever shot aany type of colored or tritrinium sites as well as I do flat black ones

Anything after that is extra time. There is no need to activate anything.

BTW, focus on the front sight not the target.

I've been hitting fairly well for a looong time, maybe I'll get it down one day

JWP, you really need to listen to JOG.
Focusing on the front sight is THE secret for winning a gunfight. The only exception is when the BG is not much over arm's lenth from you.
LAPD developed this technique. That's because it is very easy to miss at 9-15 ft. in a for real shooting. LAPD has the highest survival rate of any large police agency anywhere in the world. That's why the Delta Force guys went to them to learn how to shoot a handgun rapidly and accurately.
BTW, if you have enough light to see your target, you have enough light to pick up a white dot on the front sight of your pistol. That's all you need. I'm not knocking lasers. They are, as Kevin pointed out, a good tool or choice to have. E

You acctualy think that I don't?

I sure hope so. E

I prefer a Tritium insert on the front sight only on hand guns. That and a Sure Fire flashlight. As civilians we can get in trouble in a hurry if we point a gun at some one. So we better know what we are "pointing in" at. I have done some night shooting and found I need lots more practice, especially when one is in a hurry.