The range I have a membership with has “tactical Tuesdays” where we shoot various scenarios and tonight was low light with shoot/no shoot targets after an entry.
I’ve never done anything like this and I know I need to change some gear. My handguard is going to be changed to something that will allow me to mount the pressure pad on the top. I think I want a taller optic mount as well. For some reason my earpro kept getting in the way, and I never noticed that before.
Anyway, I can’t afford night vision, but I’m all ears for suggestions or training tips.
You talking low light with a rifle or pistol or both?
With a rifle I prefer a pressure pad. I generally shoot my rifle with my support thumb on top of my rail. I have my pressure pad mounted a couple inches behind my front sight so my thumb rests in the gap and only needs to move back a smidge without grossly altering my grip to activate the light. Not a fan of tail cap activated lights as I have to alter my grip more than I want.
Low/no light shooting is a must in my book. These I"ve been playing with NV but before that it was white light all the way.
I also typically prefer a pressure pad at 12 o’clock on my rifles, but I don’t altogether trust them and I believe they are a potential failure point so I use Surefire DS00 tailcaps for the backup switch. Call it a love/hate relationship. IMO one of the negative are the cables you need to deal with,
I’m using a Cloud Defensive LCS to hold the pad of a SF ST07 switch and a combination of FCD and Arson Machine cable guides, here is a thread on them… M-LOK Wire Management
One of the drills we do is work with several black targets, either painted and/or clothed black, and paint cheap dollar tree type guns black and place them on wires hanging from a few of the target. The goal is to ID the armed bad-guys and shoot them and not smoking any of the non-armed good-guys, missing a bad-guy mean your dead. It can be pretty challenging seeing the black pistols against black threats and it requires a top notch light to make it happen reliably. I’ve been very happy with my Modlite OKW and PLHv2 lights, they blow the doors off my SF dual fuel.
Which handguard do you have that will not allow a pad on top? Most things can be made to work, even the ol’ polymer type.
Thanks for the link. The handguard is an ALG, pretty minimal and is pretty small diameter, so mlok nuts hit the gas tube where I would want the pressure pad.
Both low light and shoot/no shoot are two big components that I neglect greatly. Have the pressure switches reached an excellent level of reliability???
Those do look nice. I worry about adding multiple switching because my brain can’t do two things at once. I’m already in need of practice just running my tailcap switches.
Also, any recs for a taller mount for my Aimpoint Micro H1? It has the OEM throw lever mount with 39mm spacer. It looks like its absolute cowitness with my irons.
Lots of quality lower 1/3 height mounts out there. I have a Geissele and Daniel Defense mounts. Have also used Midwest Industries. All are good. Just depends on whether you want a QD type mount or not.
They make some taller ones these days but any higher than lower 1/3 and your existing iron sights won’t work. You’ll have to buy some offset ones if you want to keep irons sights.
I am moving away from my 1/3 lower mounts in favor of the Unity FAST mount which has a 2.26" optical centerline height and a window with rear sight that allows use of standard height sights, it also come with a front sight post that can be used in lieu of a separate front sight, albeit with a very short sight radius. It comes stock with a torx mounting jaw that is very clean and low profile, but one can add their QD lever option if desired. They are spendy but I can not recommend them enough.
If you want an NV-optimized height mount, the Unity FAST is a decent set-up, while you can save a few bucks and go with the Midwest 2.33" one. ADM has a 2.33" with QD if you want, but it does not have a port for irons. The KAC Skyscraper is also 2.33".
If you just want a taller mount in general, lots of options for 1.93". Scalarworks, Arisaka, Geissele, Reptilia, Spuhr (well, 1.89" on that one), etc. There are also lower 1/3rds that are closer to 1.7", like ADM, LaRue, or Bobro’s high mount.
During a Defoor class he had us do low/no light rifle and pistol drills.
It was really interesting to see how fast the wheels came off - most of us (me most of all) were not sufficiently set up for any of this type of shooting.
Very sobering, considering how often things go boink at night
I now try to shoot low/no available light whenever given the chance. I consider it one of the more essential skill sets.
I shot a pistol match last night that we did low light shooting for the first time ever. Was not much to it but was able to use my 226 with X300 for that stage.
I almost signed up for a Frontsight class that was lowlight but never did. I would love to do more training on low light. Ive done jackshit and need it badly. And is probably the situation where I would need to use a gun.
From the few low/no light classes I’ve taken, I almost feel like I’m faster with my pistol than I am in daylight conditions. I haven’t put it to the test with a timer, so it’s probably all in my head. At 15y and in, my weapon light almost feels like a huge MOA dot on the target. I wouldn’t say it does anything for my accuracy, but the light on the target seems to make things go bang faster. I’m not sure if it’s necessarily a good thing so I hope I never have to try it out for real!
Been a ‘few’ years so let me try n remember.
All training/classes are/were ‘9-to-5’ so the entire lo/no light spectrum rarely gets addressed, other than “you need to have a good weapon light”.
Most of it (especially rifle) was obvious-stupid-basic: insufficient light, not able to see the target.
Crazy how much light you need to id a target at even 25yds. Not just volume, but focus, if that makes sense.
Hard to hit anything if you cant see sh#t…
Also muzzle blast, recall the difference between ammo. That steel case Tula/BrownBear stuff put out these massive flames. It did have an effect on your night vision.
Reiterating the essence of suppressors if wanting to remain concealed…(alive?)
My main takeaway was to have a bright enough weapon light (be it pistol or rifle) with enough of a focused beam. AND a laser - especially on my pistol, dialed in for whatever max distance is reasonable. AND a laser. With suppressor as cherry on top…
Red dots on pistol is big these days but having tried a few set-ups its not for me, so yeah laser is my go to.
Another thing I find helpful is large enough sights - tritium suppressor height sights really help, on so many levels. I’m in the process on putting them on every edc pistol i own.
(But then again I’m getting old and my vision is going down the drain).
No doubt. We shoot a night shoot maybe once per year. Amazing how difficult a 100 yard target is to see or hit even with a decent rifle light.
It really becomes a 50 or shorter deal.
Also muzzle blast
Last time I shot a night class some dude ran a Cav Comp, and it was flashing gloriously.
Red dots on pistol is big these days but having tried a few set-ups its not for me, so yeah laser is my go to.
Yeah. Red Dots have a long way to go before I’d consider one. I shoot my buddies all the time, but it’s not for me… yet.
We shoot low light just enough to realize how ill prepared we are. Another buddy of ours has killer NOD gear, and since he never practices with it, it’s a whole learning curve when he brings it out.