My agency does not have a formal class, but we are required to do a night/low light qualification once a year.
My issue H&K came with night sites, just like my previous issue BERETTA. I would not want to be without them.
We are also given flashlights as we have to identify our targets before firing or not firing. The cheap plastic lights we use to qualify are terrible and nearly useless. I bought my own and even at 500 lumens, I do not think it is enough and we are not allowed to put a light we were not issued on our guns.
As far as I am concerned, you need every bit of light you can get. Identifying a possible threat is based on what you can see and unless you have been in the dark for a few hours, your eyes will have a hard time seeing.
When I do my night qualification, we are not in total darkness, but I cannot make out any details. Is it another LEO with their gun drawn or a bad guy? It is a civilian in the wrong place?
We are trained to illuminate the target with just a momentary glow from the flashlight and then line up and fire. I can tell you, it is much harder to do, than say.
I usually have a higher score than many of the "NON GUN PEOPLE" that I work with and my score would barely qualify on a regular qualification shoot. Some of those shooters will do badly in a gun fight at night.
The night sights also help when the target is backlit. You can see the silhouette, but not your sights invisible, unless they are night sights.
When I started as an LEO, we were issued .357 magnums and trained to fire a shot in the dark and use the illumination/muzzle flash to I.D. our target and get sights on target. That was after we fired our first shot! Good idea!
When I bought a BERETTA M9A3 as my home gun recently, I put an 800 lumen light on it. Also, if the lights go out in your house, they are just as likely to go out for the entire street.
Jim
My issue H&K came with night sites, just like my previous issue BERETTA. I would not want to be without them.
We are also given flashlights as we have to identify our targets before firing or not firing. The cheap plastic lights we use to qualify are terrible and nearly useless. I bought my own and even at 500 lumens, I do not think it is enough and we are not allowed to put a light we were not issued on our guns.
As far as I am concerned, you need every bit of light you can get. Identifying a possible threat is based on what you can see and unless you have been in the dark for a few hours, your eyes will have a hard time seeing.
When I do my night qualification, we are not in total darkness, but I cannot make out any details. Is it another LEO with their gun drawn or a bad guy? It is a civilian in the wrong place?
We are trained to illuminate the target with just a momentary glow from the flashlight and then line up and fire. I can tell you, it is much harder to do, than say.
I usually have a higher score than many of the "NON GUN PEOPLE" that I work with and my score would barely qualify on a regular qualification shoot. Some of those shooters will do badly in a gun fight at night.
The night sights also help when the target is backlit. You can see the silhouette, but not your sights invisible, unless they are night sights.
When I started as an LEO, we were issued .357 magnums and trained to fire a shot in the dark and use the illumination/muzzle flash to I.D. our target and get sights on target. That was after we fired our first shot! Good idea!
When I bought a BERETTA M9A3 as my home gun recently, I put an 800 lumen light on it. Also, if the lights go out in your house, they are just as likely to go out for the entire street.
Jim
