Night Scare... Light/Laser makes it easier

[Mtbkski]

Woke to the dog barking up a storm the other night. Wasn't sure what was going on. She very rarely barks in the middle of the night, so this got our attention.

Now just a quick note. I live in the woods. If I did call the local LEO. Response time is around 20 - 30 minutes due to my being in the sticks, and we only have a part time cop around here. I had seen two guys walking thru the woods back behind my house earlier that day, but never got a chance to see where they went. Now this....

I grabbed the M&P off the night stand and headed for the door where the dog was barking. I peeked around the corner without turning on the lights. I didn't see anyone or anything thru the French doors leading outside. If anyone had been on the porch, they were gone now. The dog was standing at the door, ready to go out.... NOW!

I walked to the door, peaked outside and checked the porch. No one was there. The yard was pitch black just yards from the house. I couldn't see a thing. I didn't want to turn on the porch light and illuminate myself to whoever was out there. I swung the door open, stepped outside, and hit the lever to activate the light/laser on my pistol.

The light went on and darkness turned into daylight. I brought the pistol up and scanned my yard once rather quickly. Looking for anything that was out of place. The light worked really well, and lit up the yard way better than I ever expected. To say I could see good was an understatement. In fact, and I could see back into the woods a few yards past where the yard ended. I swung the light thru the yard scanning for something, anything, that shouldn't be there. I was hoping to see a bear or a skunk and not a person. The adrenaline was still flowing pretty good at this point.

After two or three sweeps with the light/laser. I relaxed a bit and eased the pistol down slowly. It was clear, nothing was there. If anyone or anything had been there. It/they were gone now.

After it was over. I was able to think about what had happened. Here are some things that I noted.

With the gun extended out in front of me, and me trying to see the best I could, I just kept both eyes open and scanned the yard thoroughly. It wasn't till later that I realized that the entire time I was doing this. I was also aware of the red dot, running thru my yard. The few times I thought I saw something and paused, the red dot instantly assured me that the pistol was pointed exactly where it needed to be if I had to use it. Later I realized that I had never once even tried to find my front sights. Instead I was able to totally concentrate on what was out in the yard. Yet the laser gave instant assurance that the gun was on target if needed.

It was then that I realized that this set up had worked better than I ever expected, and I am really glad I have a laser on my pistol. The benefit of a laser over night sights was driven home to me in a very real and scary way. This was real. I was scared (I ain't going to lie. It was totally nerve racking). I never seen my sights the entire time the pistol was out in front of me, even though the pistol was at eye level. I was too busy trying to ID what was out there. I didn't have to worry about lining up the three glowing dots.

I'm impressed with the light. I'm really impressed with the laser. I'm really glad whatever was there, was gone before I went outside. And if it was a person. I hope they saw that little red dot running around the yard too.

[son of the revolution]

Rep sent
Nice way to describe a tense situation and your reaction /thought process during . Feel free to ignore the following . In fact you may have already thought of it , humbly suggest you try some low level /dark practice with just the light . Theres nothing at all wrong with the laser , love them myself and several studies have shown that in encounters between LEO's and criminals at gun point , just the presence of the little red dot can be a deterrant / de escalate a situtation . I think a couple of the major manufacturers even have real life encounters posted .
That being said , theres always the danger of becoming dependant on them and that can be bad . Im not terribly fond of Mr Murphy , but he must be factored in . If not .............................. God forbid there is a " next time " when you have to check something out or even present your weapon to prevent an attack , that will be the one time when the laser for some inexplicable and unexpected reason simply wont be there . And the " now what " moment of hesitation that occurs as your brain tries to process the fact that something that was always there in similar situations is now gone may have serious consequences . Im all for every tactical advantage one can get and afford , but good ole iron sights will always be ready and available to do their job , no matter what the circumstances .


Just sayin

[normanvin]

Good story. I might have taken the dog outside with me. Of course I have some big ass dogs to help out.

[cgbudde]

Good story. I might have taken the dog outside with me. Of course I have some big ass dogs to help out.

I think that would scare someone more than a firearm.

[Mtbkski]

That being said , theres always the danger of becoming dependent on them and that can be bad . I'm not terribly fond of Mr Murphy , but he must be factored in . If not .............................. God forbid there is a " next time " when you have to check something out or even present your weapon to prevent an attack , that will be the one time when the laser for some inexplicable and unexpected reason simply wont be there . And the " now what " moment of hesitation that occurs as your brain tries to process the fact that something that was always there in similar situations is now gone may have serious consequences . I'm all for every tactical advantage one can get and afford , but good ole iron sights will always be ready and available to do their job , no matter what the circumstances .


Just sayin

I have worked on low light/no light situations. In fact I have night sights on two of my pistols. I too believe that sights are there for a reason. USE EM. I have added the laser to the equation as another equalizer. I also figured it would help the betterhalf out much more if she ever found herself in this same situation since she hasn't had near the shooting experiance that I have had.

What surprised me was my total disregard for of front sights period, when things got serious and the adrenaline was pumping. I wasn't depending on the laser as I thought I might be too. Actually, it was just there. Since it went where the light went. It wasn't till later that I was actually aware of the red dot being there till I thought about it later.

Yeah, Murphy's law sucks. And I hope it never steps in when I need it the most.

I train myself pretty hard to look for my sights. I am a Certified Firearms Instructor where I work, so I preach sight picture. I attend IDPA and USPSA shoots all the time, and shoot groups that get me comments on quite often. I do drills on my own all the time. Yet, when the SHTF and the adrenaline was flowing. I never once looked for my sights (I'm not happy about this. But it is what happened, so I wanted to point it out). That is what surprised me the most. And it is this observation, that later really made me appreciate the laser/light I had purchased.

I had heard that most people in high stress situations with firearms, do not remember using the front sights. I guess I understand that a bit now. I can't even begin to wonder how much more stressed things would have gotten if I had encountered someone, especially if they had been armed.

I left the dog inside, since I was hoping it was the bear that shows up here every spring looking for food. Besides, she is a Golden Retriever and may have licked a person to death. But she did get me up and let me know something was up. Either that or she had a bad dream too.

[Curmudgeon]

Wow.


It may have been nothing... it could have been everything.

Thanks for posting this, along with all your thoughts and observations.

I'm glad it turned out to be 'nothing'.

rep sent.

[Nic]

Thank you for the story, I'm glad everything turned out ok for you.

I am curious about which brand of laser you used. I have a Crimson Trace laser grip, and also a Streamlight TLR flashlight mounted to the rail on the end of my pistol, but I could not have swept my yard with that laser.

I don't want to hi-jack your thread, it's just that a CT grip is mounted to the right of the barrel and a little below it, which means it is range specific. It has to be sighted-in to a pre-determined range... 20 feet, 20 yards, etc... it doesn't matter what you sight it in at, but you are pretty much stuck with that range afterwards. I have my CT sighted-in at 25 feet, but if I use my iron sights at a target that is 25 yards away, the laser dot will not be on target... the dot will actually be off target high and left. If I take aim with my iron sights closer in than 25 feet, you will see that the laser dot will be slightly off, low and right.

This doesn't happen with an internal type laser, or a laser or laser/light combo that mounts to the front rail and is parallel with the barrel. The dot may be a little high or a little low, but it will not be off to the left or right. I did not realize this when I purchased my brand new Carbon Fiber Crimson Trace laser grip for $300+. I am thinking of getting either a Streamlight light/laser combo, or a Lasermax.

[Mtbkski]

I have a streamlight light/laser mounted on the rail of the M&P.

[LittleRedToyota]

i wonder if you would have focused on the front sight if you had actually had a target, though?

the training i have had has emphasized making a very purposeful and positive trainsition of your eye focus from the target to the front sight as you bring the gun on target...and i practice this regularly. it seems to have become an automatic reaction in training, at least.

i would think your training would be the same. after all, you do not want be focused on the front sight while you are scanning for threats.

so, i personally would not be at all surprised to have not seen the sights at all in the situation you described...since you never found a target to get the sights on.

so, i'm thinking that, if you did see a target, you may have unconciously shifted your fous to the front sight as you brought the gun on target. i'm curious if you think you would have?

[Tootie]

This is a good story to be told. It helps us all to realize that when things like this happen it's not always training that come into play.