What’s the point of a pistol mounted laser?

[OldBroad44]

Yeah, it would be nice to have more shots than the 6 a revolver supplies in a SD situation. However, I enjoy firing revolvers much more than semiautos. I hate loading clips. I enjoy the contemplative reloading of the revolver. So I've always shot revolvers lots more than semi autos and have more confidence in them and in my ability with them. I also figure in an emergency such as a mega-9 earthquake, unless I was at home, my EDC is the only gun I'm going to have. So it better be something I can hunt with. I can't say I trust 9mm all that much. I've taken several deer with a .357 revolver. Nothing like taking deer with your EDC to give confidence. (People don't normally hunt deer with 9mm handguns. Nor do manufacturers make bear loads in 9 mm. If it can't kill a deer reliably why should I trust it for SD?) Where I currently live, a bear or a cougar in my yard might actually be more likely than a human of ill will. In addition, semi autos heavy enough for me to shoot well are hard for me to carry concealed. I can easily conceal even a 6" revolver because it fits my female curves easily. In addition, whatever the advantages of the high capacity plastic wonders, its apparently impossible for me to buy one. Right now for example there are at least two more .44s that I feel I "need" a lot more than any semiauto. And I can be quite certain that if I went to a gun show to buy a plastic wonder, some revolver would whisper seductive things and I would never make it as far as the semiautos.

 

[Catfishmoon]

Yeah, it would be nice to have more shots than the 6 a revolver supplies in a SD situation. However, I enjoy firing revolvers much more than semiautos. I hate loading clips. I enjoy the contemplative reloading of the revolver. So I've always shot revolvers lots more than semi autos and have more confidence in them and in my ability with them. I also figure in an emergency such as a mega-9 earthquake, unless I was at home, my EDC is the only gun I'm going to have. So it better be something I can hunt with. I can't say I trust 9mm all that much. I've taken several deer with a .357 revolver. Nothing like taking deer with your EDC to give confidence. (People don't normally hunt deer with 9mm handguns. Nor do manufacturers make bear loads in 9 mm. If it can't kill a deer reliably why should I trust it for SD?) Where I currently live, a bear or a cougar in my yard might actually be more likely than a human of ill will. In addition, semi autos heavy enough for me to shoot well are hard for me to carry concealed. I can easily conceal even a 6" revolver because it fits my female curves easily. In addition, whatever the advantages of the high capacity plastic wonders, its apparently impossible for me to buy one. Right now for example there are at least two more .44s that I feel I "need" a lot more than any semiauto. And I can be quite certain that if I went to a gun show to buy a plastic wonder, some revolver would whisper seductive things and I would never make it as far as the semiautos.

It seems that through trail and error and years of experience you have determined what works best for you.
It is interesting and entertaining to come to a forum like this and learn what works well for others, but at the end of day it's about each individual determining what is best for themselves. Sounds like you have done that...

 

[Dirty Cary]

I have a viridian laser on my p 938 and viridian light on my legion 938, both
have auto on when removed from the holster and I have three different holsters
for how i'm carrying that day.

 

[3MTA3]

I have a Crimson Trace on my Shield 9mm first gen. It integrates well with the piston and the momentary switch that turns it on is on the pistol grip. I can make a slight adjustment to my grip if I don't want it on.

The laser allows quicker target acquisition and if distracted during a stressful situation lets me get it back where it needs to be very quickly.

Yjere is also some flexibility if I'm taking cover and can't otherwise line up the sights for whatever reason. All I need to see is the dot, and yes, it's daylight bright.

Is it essential? No.
Is it useful? Yes.
Do I prefer it? Yes.

 

[OldBroad44]

I have a Crimson Trace on my Shield 9mm first gen. It integrates well with the piston and the momentary switch that turns it on is on the pistol grip. I can make a slight adjustment to my grip if I don't want it on.

The laser allows quicker target acquisition and if distracted during a stressful situation lets me get it back where it needs to be very quickly.

Yjere is also some flexibility if I'm taking cover and can't otherwise line up the sights for whatever reason. All I need to see is the dot, and yes, it's daylight bright.

Is it essential? No.
Is it useful? Yes.
Do I prefer it? Yes.

Re "There is also some flexibility if I'm taking cover and can't otherwise line up the sights for whatever reason." Illustration. Suppose I am lying in bed and hear someone trying to break into my front door. I would grab and put on glasses, grab my 686 (which wears a grip type Crimson Trace laser) and go to the always open bedroom door. I would grip gun loosely enough so that laser does not turn on. The hall leads left toward the little alcove that holds the front door. Now what? Go down hall toward door? No that would put me almost within arms reach of any bad guy breaking in. And my familiarity with the house would offer no advantage. And if bad guy has a gun and there is a gunfight I'm better off being in the opening to the bedroom door, which is 22' from the entrance alcove. Distance is an advantage for me since I can shoot very fast and reliably from that distance, and bad guy may not be able to. And I would have the drop on bad guy. In addition, most of my body would be hidden behind the bedroom door frame. And here's where the laser comes in. Without the laser I would need to have gun on the line of sight between my eyes and the alcove. This would require exposing about half my head and chest. But with the laser I need to expose only one eye and my right arm and shoulder. I've practiced lifting the gun and shooting from such stances, and can deliver a bullet just as fast as if the gun was aimed at the target. If there really is someone breaking in he is likely to poke his head around the wall of the alcove into hall along with gun if he has one. If he has a gun I shoot him in the head, with the laser coming on the last instant before gun fires. If there is no gun I yell "Get the fvck outta here!" And the laser will be pointing right at his eye. If he withdraws behind wall but not from house I crouch, as he probably is going to come back with a gun. And if he does I'll have the draw on him again since he will be aiming several feet over my head initially. Given the option of just leaving vs facing an armed home owner, though, I think he'll just leave . My goal in a HD scenario is to drive the intruder out, optimally without damage to either of us. I think trying to capture the bad guy increases the risk that he will fight instead of run...try to take the gun away from me for example, which would necessitate my shooting him. Then there would be a messy body that has to be explained away and possible legal and/or civil repercussions. Assuming I escaped unharmed. Which I might not.

Would I call 911 first when I first before I responded? No. First, dispatch would probably at least try to keep me on the phone, or give me stupid orders like put the gun down and go hide in a closet. Totally counterproductive. The cops would be unlikely to arrive for at least 20 minutes, and when they did, they are likely to shoot anyone with a gun, which could be me, since they would be arriving unexpectedly and I cant put the gun down until the problem with the presumptive intruder is over. I need to deal with the problem myself if there really is an invader. If I can merely chase him away I don't need to endanger myself by calling cops at all. If I have been forced to shoot the bad guy at least the body will be indoors and if I call cops after emergency is over I can tell them emergency is over and I will be sitting on front porch with my hands on my head and no gun around. But the main reason for not calling the cops when I hear something that sounds like someone trying to break in the front door is its probably a bear, deer, cougar, or raccoon on the front porch. They look on porches for pet food. I don't have any pets but that doesn't keep critters from hoping. Or a rat has got in the house and has fallen in an empty bucket. If I called the cops every time something went thump in the night that would be about twice a year. So I figure anything that sounds like an intruder probably isn't, but I pretend that it is and use the situation for a HD practice drill.

By the way, if it was hot and I was sleeping nude when putative home invader came I'd put on eye glasses and grab gun. Period. If bad guy freezes in horror at sight of my 77 year old bod, so much the worse for him.

 

[SunTzu]

IR pistol lasers are awesome for night vision.

 

[TTSX]

I'm not in a Tom Clancy novel so I prefer mounting a mirror so the bad guy can see the surprise on their face when my wing wang is flopping in the AC

 

[CamoDeafie]

UV lasers. Give them skin cancer and likely optical damage!! used mainly in laser engraving businesses though as it can mark pretty much everything.

Edit you know how fluorescent black lights hurt your eyes if looking directly at them? Same idea

 

[Certaindeaf]

The way I see it, if a shark can have a laser on its head, at least my pistol won't bite my dick off.
It's actually quite simple.

 

[Member 53328]

My laser sits in a little box on top of the slide.

 

[titsonritz]

Take a red and a green laser outside on a sunny day. HUGE difference! The green still jumps out at you but you'll play hell findin' the red one.

Again may just be me but I was just outside shooting so I took both. Can't seem to see much if any difference. May well be just my old eye's though. Anyone who wants to try these should try to get a look at both. See if they can see a difference.

There is more to it than that, green is better in some conditions while red is better in other conditions. Here is a video on selecting an ACOG reticle, but with regards to color the concept is the same. Color is covered between minute marks 1:10 and 10:20.

As a general rule I use green lasers because I want to be able to instantly tell the difference between the red reticle of my optic and the green of the laser.

 

[CamoDeafie]

The only lasers in my apartment are for the PS4, and for the optical mouses for the laptops.

 

[titsonritz]

IR pistol lasers are awesome for night vision.

Yes they are, they are awesome on rifles too.

 

[ilikegunspdx]

What I like about them is that pew pew sound.

 

[Alexx1401]

There is more to it than that, green is better in some conditions while red is better in other conditions. Here is a video on selecting an ACOG reticle, but with regards to color the concept is the same. Color is covered between minute marks 1:10 and 10:20.

As a general rule I use green lasers because I want to be able to instantly tell the difference between the red reticle of my optic and the green of the laser.

Had not till very recently tried a scope with lighted reticle. Just got one a bit ago to slap on my new coyote getter and it has both red and green to choose from. Will have to slap a laser on it to play with. Again though what my aging eye's see or don't see on mine may not translate well to what others see if they try it. Last time I was playing with them at my impromptu range here I just took two pistols with me that both have a laser on them, one red one green. I could not seem to see one better than the other just pointing them at things at the kind of range I use those pistols at.
Now with the new Coyote remover I could be taking shots at a lot further distance too. Will want to mount a laser on that to help kill humanly if I have to take one of them out. Since I will be firing that thing in full auto the laser along with optic will be fun to try out too. Damn thing has been fun to play with anyway. Last time Wife and I were sitting outside I saw one of the wild dogs roam past us couple hundred yards off. I told him "son you get close to the home here again and I have something to try out on you."

 

[whiskeybill]

Watched a Utube video a few years ago, a guy pointed the laser at his hand and pulled the trigger. Hit what he was aiming at, so it must be effective.

 

[titsonritz]

Watched a Utube video a few years ago, a guy pointed the laser at his hand and pulled the trigger. Hit what he was aiming at, so it must be effective.

Was it this guy or another knucklehead?

 

[thebigbaby]

Watched a Utube video a few years ago, a guy pointed the laser at his hand and pulled the trigger. Hit what he was aiming at, so it must be effective.

Link?

 

[Certaindeaf]

Link?

Missing.

 

[Alexx1401]

Was it this guy or another knucklehead?

Well at least he had on ear protection so he could hear the people at the ER laughing about him