This past weekend, we did a HD class with Mr. Hackathorn at Ft. Harmar. Included in this class was a low light block.
Students got a chance to use their hand held light and weapon mounted lights while clearing rooms.
The rooms were setup very simply with only one bad guy per room and at least one no shoot (usually a Cop with a badge displayed).
The longest shot was roughly 30-35 feet with most of the targets at around 10-15 feet.
Errors made:
Not comfortable with using a hand held and a handgun (unsure of their grip).
Failure to recognize that the barrier is on the right side and the light is on the right side as they pie and vice versa. This caused them to illuminate themselves instead of the target.
AD’s with their light (giving away their location and or announcing that they were about to enter a room).
Forgetting to move after they illuminated an area.
Afraid of the dark. Students were taught to only use light sparingly and to illuminate areas where they thought there was a threat. Many of them illuminated blank open areas just so they could see better.
Poor shot placement (rounds thrown off target from close distances).
Poor identification of targets (which lead to ALL the LE targets getting shot).
Two students dropped their lights while clearing rooms in a pitch dark hallway. Two is one and one is none.
Gear that made a difference:
Weapon mounted flashlights
Lasers
Night sights
Guns that hold a lot of ammo (15 + rounds)
Bright lights (at least 100 Lumens)
Many people carry a hand held light or have a light attached to their weapon. Few know how to use it while searching rooms.
The best way to solve this is via practice, but FIRST make sure to get quality training so that you do not create any bad habits. Square range training with a light is an eye opener. Doing it in a shoot house is a completely different animal.
Spend time shooting around barricades on the square range. At home, work on moving around (in the dark) so that you understand the weak points of your layout. Be comfortable with the light and handgun in your hand and how to switch through the fundamental positions (Rogers, Harries, FBI).
C4
Gun is a fake so no students were flagged, swept or put in danger in the making of this pic.
Great post. While I haven’t had formal training in low light, I have shot night time 3-gun matches and have been out varmit hunting at night on a regualr basis. Night shooting is a different beast and you really have to test out your gear and practice firing with/without handheld and weapon mounted lights. I’ve practiced clearing my own house and I find that a weapon mounted light definitely helps, especially in letting you keep a free hand to open doors or push someone out of the way.
On another note, I want to emphasize that everyone test out their gear before you actually need it. I’ve seen flashlights burn out due to the guns recoil, I’ve seen light fall from a person’s firearm and people having difficulty seeing their sights because they have no night sights. That’s just to name a few things I’ve seen.
Absolutely true, and many people think that if they shoot well during the day, this will carry over to the dark or night. It doesn’t, in all the night shooting I’ve done.
Yes. Crimson Trace grips and an X300 is ideal. If that is not possible. Something like the X400 is a good option.
I run an M&P with the CT laser grips, X300 with the DEVGRU switch.
So while I am scanning for a threat, I use short bursts of light. The laser comes on as I squeeze my grip, but my trigger finger blocks it (as it is high on the slide). Once the threat has been located, light comes on, laser come, shots are fired, light and laser come off, move offline.
Pics and video are always nice. There is just one problem with that though. WAAAY too much armchair quarterbacking going on in the errornet by people that have never logged an hour in a shoot house. So we have had to establish a no pic and video policy (sorry).
A big thank you to Ken, Grant, and Sgt Watson for donating their time and top quality instruction. The lessons learned in this class are priceless to me. I was really impressed with what a super nice and down to earth guy Mr. Hackathorn is. Hell. He even ate lunch with us.
This was the first time that I have ever shot in the dark. What an eye opening experience. I shot my non rail Springfield Pro with factory 7rd mags. The light used was an old surefire e1 with a lumens factory bulb. I love my 1911,but this setup sucks for fighting at night. I did run the light too long and AD it more than a few times. Switching sides with the hand held was just something else to worry about. I learned if you shoot “OK” in the light,you will really shoot like crap in total darkness. Gun handling with the hand held light needs to be second nature. Also a weapon mounted light gives you one less thing to drop. Yes. I did drop my light in the pitch black night of the Wayne National Forest and only found it because I stepped on it.:rolleyes: When I shot Tom’s M&P9 with X300 and laser grips I could see this is the only way to go.
Things I will be getting
10 rd Wilson mags for my 1911 as per Ken’s advice. He even loaned me one so I know they work.
2.Get laser grips for my M&P9 and 1911.
Get an x300 for the M&P and a little bigger handheld light with a lanyard. I do not want to do the " clunk… f***" ever again.
A night gun fight against an intruder is probably the most LIKELY scenario I will have to face defensively…
I read and re-read all the AAR’s from night training classes trying to learn how this rapidly changing firearm industry is best dealing with this scenario. And it does seem weapon-mounted laser & light is the winning ticket at this time (and naturally, the most expensive)…
X2. A big thanks to Ken, Grant, and Sgt. Watson from me as well. I practiced for a few days before the class inside my home and still learned a heck of a lot more. The fact is you can read as much as you want to on the net on the subject (and it does help some) but it cannot and does not replace face-to-face instruction from knowledgable and experienced instructors.
This was my first time shooting in the dark also. It’s easy to want to use the light more than you actually need to. It took a couple of runs before I began to feel more comfortable and not want to light up everything. My HD pistol has night sights, CT grips, and an X300 and they proved their worth during this class. On one pass Grant suggested I try a hand held light to experience the difference. It is much more difficult and becomes an even bigger concern when changing mags. Also, constantly changing positions with the hand held light when transitioning from moving left to right and back again takes a lot more practice to accomplish successfully than with a weapon light.
This one can’t be emphasized enough. All of my previous training has been on a square range during the day. I agree with Rmplstlskn that a night fight against an intruder is probably the most likely scenario I will face and it’s the situation I’ve trained for the least. This class showed me many more things I need to work on in addition to what I’ve learned in previous training sessions. Shooting competently in the dark is much more difficult than during the day and should be something that anyone who is serious about self defense should incorporate into their training.
I’m teaching a lowlight handgun class on 4 Dec here in NC. I’ll try to grab some pics like that during the day light portion and post them up unless someone beats me to it.
I’ll be there for the class. My wife is a photographer. I’ll either see if she will come out for a few hours and shoot some pictures, or see if she will trust me with one of her back up cameras to get a few pictures. Can’t make any promises, though.
I know I need to do a class, along with all the other classes I’d like to do that our wonderful economy is denying me… :sarcastic:
It has been a while since I have investigated new techniques for a handheld flashlight… and I don’t remember their names… Hold light in reactionary hand and place reactionary hand under weapon hand wrist, etc…
But I never liked any of them as it was basically single-hand shooting.
I now have a SSL-1 light on my home defense pistol (until I can afford a brighter one), but when I carry I am back to a handheld light. So I am wondering if the techniques have changed any?
I will have a kydex holster made up by a local guy here once I invest in a better, keep it for years, light… Till then…
Most handgun/flashlight techniques indeed put you into a position where you are shooting one handed. The two methods that have the closest thing to a normal two handed firing grip are: Rogers/Syringe/Surefire/Cigar and Graham
