Why aren't lasers more popular on handguns?

[jmorris]

Firing the gun will instantly give away your position.

Yeah, I guess if lasers followed the bullet vs gave away my position before any shots fired, I might have more use for them…that said I also like suppressors for both the reduction in flash and noise.

 

[Smaug]

I don't, they're not for me. However if that's your thing and you can make it work, rock on then.

I prefer to be shakiest with a red dot rather than a laser though, YMMV.

If you want to feel shakey, NOTHING beats a laser!

 

[LeftyRed]

They aren’t cool or the newest thing anymore. Lasers in my edc and duty pistols have saved me from having to fire on a threat both in uniform and off duty. Know of several REAL life events just like mine and thats good enough for me to have them in my weapons and suggest them to those I care about.

And unless I’m storming a high raise building to save my girl friend from international special op mercenaries with fully automatic weapons, I don’t think the laser on my weapon will give me away to your local thug. In my experience, when the red/green laser is in their chest they shut down and the hands go up. They really only have the brain function to know that the next thing coming is a bullet. But then I never went sweeping a room with my laser on either. But I have never been an extra in a motion picture and have to let the audience know that there are deadly laser sighting systems on my movie prop guns either.

 

[243winxb]

Can see the green one in daylight. Red, not so good. By the time you find the dot, get it on the subject, your dead.

Not for my guns.

 

[tdbmd]

Lasers do not make you more shaky, you can just see your muzzle movement. If you are shaky with a laser, you are shaky with irons or a red dot.

 

[The_Quartermaster]

I never said that they were doing it either, plus the OP's response to me was in good humor.

 

[lee n. field]

Lasers do not make you more shaky, you can just see your muzzle movement. If you are shaky with a laser, you are shaky with irons or a red dot.

Yep. It's not the laser that's twitching the dot all over the place. It's the shooter. You just didn't notice it with iron sights.

 

[mavracer]

By the time you find the dot, get it on the subject, your dead.

If you have to find your sight picture and put it on the subject, you're probably dead too.
If you're practicing your presentation correctly the dot should find your line of sight just like the irons do.

 

[The_Quartermaster]

If you have to find your sight picture and put it on the subject, you're probably dead too.
If you're practicing your presentation correctly the dot should find your line of sight just like the irons do.

Exactly. A lot of people don't realize that their presentation is bad (again, bad fundamentals) and will blame everything but who's solely to blame for this; themselves.

I don't like emitting, which is why I don't have nor want one.

 

[entropy]

The Viridian green ones that turn on when pulled from the holster make sense in that respect, but yeah, I don't have any handgun lasers anymore. I'd much rather have a light on a home defense gun, as I do with the long guns, my Gx4 has a red dot, but I'd only grab that first if an assailant somehow got in my room before I could grab either of the long guns, and then sights/lasers won't matter.

 

[jmorris]

Why don't use use a laser on your carry or home defense gun?

Shooting with one is slow and as soon as it’s on my position is instantly given away.

I do use them but not for that.

 

[JoeHenry]

No red dots, no lasers. Just regular black on black or night sights. When I was shooting NRA action pistol I had a red dot sight mounted on a Smith 686. That is about the limit for me. For self defense just regular sights or night sights. Just as I right this now I’m thinking that the Sig P365 is the only gun I have with night sights that still function.

 

[Pat Riot]

Truth - I did not read all the pages and I didn’t vote.
I tested a friend’s laser a few years ago. I tested at the range and at home with an empty gun.
I don’t care for them.
Why?
1. I would rather watch the bad guy, not a dot.
2. Lasers are electronic and have batteries. These can fail or become unreliable. Iron sights are what they are.
3. If I can see the dot the bad guy can see my laser light. If he/she aims at the laser my head is right behind it if I am shooting as I usually do.

Lasers aren’t for me.

 

[wayneinFL]

I have a few guns with lasers. I think they're great, but never really trained with them.

I always have visible iron sights as a backup.

It's easier to see entire target, and concentrate and focus on the target with a laser. As opposed to focusing on the front sight.

It could give away my position, but so do weapons mounted lights, and even flashlights.

 

[Tinman357]

Unless you're LEO or a military sniper giving away your position isn't any real concern. As a civilian, I can't think of any scenario that you would need a gun where the critter doesn't already know where you are.

I mean, he targeted you as the victim of a crime. He knows where you are, he can see you. If it's a home invasion robbery, he knows you're home, you'll eventually show up.

And in that event, radid fire muzzle flashes will probably get his undivided attention as well as pinpoint your position.

Just saying.

I would think that shooting even a criminal who doesn't know where you are, therefore not an active direct threat to you would be greatly frowned upon.

Might even get you a rent free tiny apartment at the Steel Cage Condo for an extended lease.

 

[Old Dog]

Dang, a year-old laser thread to which I'd not responded.

Lasers have proven to be considerably slower than presentation of a handgun for a sight picture. The only application the laser might be useful for is threat management (when one has to hold someone at gunpoint pending arrival of LE/back-up). But in rapidly evolving circumstances, particularly a defensive handgun use, lasers are useless.

Having once been part of a trial, after a couple months of frivolity, my employer's firearms training unit determined that the only thing we'd hang on a pistol would be a WML.

Another issue was that when we went to TASER's latest incarnations (first the X2, then the TASER 7) with lasers, we didn't want any confusion with lasers bouncing around if handguns were also deployed. TASERs being more commonly deployed than handguns.

The rapid evolution of the mini-RDS for handguns pretty much rendered lasers obsolete.

 

[kimberkid]

Truth - I did not read all the pages and I didn’t vote.
I tested a friend’s laser a few years ago. I tested at the range and at home with an empty gun.
I don’t care for them.
Why?
1. I would rather watch the bad guy, not a dot.
2. Lasers are electronic and have batteries. These can fail or become unreliable. Iron sights are what they are.
3. If I can see the dot the bad guy can see my laser light. If he/she aims at the laser my head is right behind it if I am shooting as I usually do.

Lasers aren’t for me.

I had the same thoughts back when RDS were big and bulkythen I’d traded for a Glock 22 with a LaserMax guide-rod laser which was highly unreliable and later for a Kimber Pro-Carry with a grip laser which was a bit better but for the reasons above they weren’t satisfactory for home defense, concealed carry or competition … which only leaves expensive range toy.

 

[toivo]

Truth - I did not read all the pages and I didn’t vote.
I tested a friend’s laser a few years ago. I tested at the range and at home with an empty gun.
I don’t care for them.
Why?
1. I would rather watch the bad guy, not a dot.
2. Lasers are electronic and have batteries. These can fail or become unreliable. Iron sights are what they are.
3. If I can see the dot the bad guy can see my laser light. If he/she aims at the laser my head is right behind it if I am shooting as I usually do.

Lasers aren’t for me.

1. I'd rather watch the bad guy with a laser dot on him, not my front sight.
2. My laser is mounted under the slide. The iron sights are still there, right on top of the slide, if I need them.
3. Fair point. Same is true of weapon-mounted lights.

 

[I6turbo]

This seems to be one of the most "polarizing" topics, right up there with 9-mm vs. .45 ACP.

I read responses to Lasers: love 'em or hate 'em? questions like this on the internet and I really wonder if a lot of the laser haters have actually tried a laser in an HD type of setting. A couple of the common claims that people make against lasers, yet they make no sense to me based upon my own experiences:

Can't see the dot: A Green laser (the only color I want to own) provides a BRILLIANT green dot on anything inside a building, and does pretty well in the outdoors except in bright sunlight (Red lasers are pretty dim compared to Green). When someone says that they can't see the dot indoors, I can only think their eyesight is beyond terrible, or they haven't tried a Green laser.

Can't find the dot: Properly sighted, the laser is pointing exactly where the iron sights are pointing. I don't understand how someone can fail to find the laser dot unless they also can't find the target in their iron sights. The way to use a laser is to draw the weapon up just like you would if you were aligning iron sights, then just use the laser to maintain the actual aim. (If you're chasing the dot around the room like a cat trying to find the target, you're doing it wrong.)

This brings me to the main reason I like a laser for HD situations: I can hold my POA precisely without focusing on the iron sights. In such a situation, one of the most important decisions one might make for the rest of their life is whether or not to pull the trigger. I would hope that situation never arises, but if it did, I want to be able to focus on the target to see what the target is doing so that I know whether or not I have to pull that trigger. I do NOT want to be distracted at all by having a lot of my focus on the iron sights or even a red dot. With a laser you can focus your vision and attention on the subject and exactly what the subject is doing, while at the same time maintain a precise aim without looking at the gun or the sights.

Beyond that, some of the hate-claims that I see being made against lasers do not fit with my experiences at all:
- Laser is difficult or somehow distracting to turn on and turn off. -- I don't understand this because the wing-switch is immediately in front of the trigger (there's a switch on each side, so it doesn't matter if your left-handed or right-handed). If you can't quickly learn to use this device, I'm not sure you can use a safety or a hammer.
- Laser dot is hard to find. I REALLY don't understand this one because the laser dot co-witnesses the iron sight POA within the ranges that one would use the laser. If you can't immediately find the laser dot, just look where the iron sights are aiming and your dot will be there. How can this be an issue???
- The laser dot exposes my shaky aim. So? It doesn't exacerbate the shaking, it only exposes it. Possibly the laser will help you reduce shaking if it makes you aware that you aren't holding a precise aim.
- Can't see the laser dot in the sun. A fair complaint, but you also still have the iron sights if needed. And for HD situations bright sunlight is rarely a factor.

I bought a Green laser for the first time after shooting handguns for several decades without ever trying one. From the first trial, I will NOT have a HD handgun without a laser (and I have one on my ARs that I might use for HD). This is how I feel about a laser for ME, a person who is very comfortable with a handgun. For someone like my wife or others who haven't shot handguns a lot and aren't thoroughly comfortable with them, I find a laser even more (much more) beneficial for HD use after a modest amount of training. My good friend trained his wife and kids the same way and discovered the same thing -- that they pretty quickly become able to put shots on target much more reliably using the laser instead of irons.

 

[Trey Veston]

The Kimber Crimson Carry II that I inherited had a laser that could no longer be aimed.

Contacted Crimson Trace and the wouldn't warrant it, but offered me 50% off a replacement. Ordered one just because I've never had one and wanted to try it out for myself.

Unfortunately, it is specific to the 1911 platform and my carry pistol is a p365.

 

[Howland937]

I've only owned one laser in my life. It was a cheapie $75 rail mounted job that instantly turned a FNS 9mm into a tack driver. For about 15 rounds, then it came loose. Tightened it to the point of worry about stripped screws, worked loose again. Contemplated thread locker, then realized it would require a new holster so I gave my dad the laser. Far as I know it's in a drawer or box at his house because I'm sure he's never tried it.

 

[peeplwtchr]

I see to many people that are not use to using lasers spend more time chasing the dot than actually shooting. And accuracy suffers from it. Like any type of sight or aiming device, one must practice to be proficient.

WE HAVE A WINNNNAAAAH!

I focus on the front sight with great results, which is how I was trained. I've found that trying to use a laser makes me focus on the target rather than my front sight, which makes my brain's "Muscle memory" switch back and forth between my front sight, the laser and the target. It's a mess for me; eyes refocusing on too many things. If your goal is efficient defense shooting, it goes out the door using a laser. Lasers sound great in theory, but in practice they do the opposite of what you think. I've found that they rob me of speed, accuracy and efficiency. Try someone else's sometime, and try to shoot in the thorassic cavity box twice in 1 or 2 seconds, it's really hard because after the first shot, you're struggling to get the laser back in the box. Using front sight only with good technique, no problem.

By the way, when I first started shooting, I bought several high end laser lights for various pistols, now I've switched the lasers off. I wish I would've just get lights, far cheaper and faster.

 

[RetiredUSNChief]

My experience was not a rewarding one. But then, I bought my laser sight back in the 90s. I rather suspect their construction quality has improved since then, not to mention the fact that my income these days would allow me to invest a bit more for a higher quality one.

There were two areas of significant frustration for me with my experience.

1. I just could not get with the program of aiming/holding on target with the laser. I found it to be excessively distracting and all attempts I made at using it only produced disappointing performance. I was significantly better without it than I was with it.

2. The laser simply would not stay sighted in. Shooting from a bench rest where I could hold the laser steady did not produce repeatable results.

So I gave up on a laser sight and haven't looked back since.


Would I try one again? Honestly, I have no real desire. If I did, I'd go for a higher end model and I suspect that, with an additional 30 years experience and understanding of the mechanics behind shooting, I would likely fare much better.

However, there are other options today that would be more appealing, such as a holographic sight. My vision these days has also declined over three decades, as people who are passing through their 40s can attest. My wife has a holographic sight on her M&P-15 and I kinda like it.

But would I put one on a carry pistol? I dunno. I'd have to work with one on a non-carry pistol first before considering making that leap. I'm a minimalist on carry pistols.

 

[Space Ghost]

Never could figure this out.
For a defensive handgun, it seems to make perfect sense.
I'll take mine built into the guide rod please...

 

[SterlingBullet]

I have lasers on all of the pistols I can afford.

About ten years ago, I had a business meeting with two retired undercover New York City PD detectives.
They told me that they placed lasers on their concealed guns as soon as they were small enough to conceal.

Their rationale: They had been involved in several shootouts while undercover. The lasers allowed them to aim at a perpetrators behind cover without having to have a proper stance, hand hold, or proper alignment of sights. When the dot is on the bad guy, pull the trigger.

First, I count myself lucky to get advice from two men who lived the walk, no stolen valor bull-dingy. Second, I can’t think of a single argument why that extra advantage is not some of the best handgun advice I’ve ever received.

The only problem, the four very tiny, high quality lasers I bought the last time, broke my wallet. I’ve been kinda gun-shy since because I need four more, and now you have to buy green if available.

I’ve got two options, start panhandling on one of the interstate off-ramps or a go-fund-me. I have no self respect so it might happen.

Yes, it’s hard to learn how to shoot with the laser. The point is don’t learn, just pull the trigger when the jumping red dot hits center mass. Yes, the little lasers pop out of alignment after an extended range session. Buy a bore sight tool, and realign them right there at the range after shooting, so they are ready to go when carried.