Help with tips on Low light Techniques

[Classic_jon]

I did a quick search and did not find much so I thought I would ask those in the BEverse that know more than I for help.

My club just did a low light match and I did terrible.

If anyone has any tips or tricks, articles or books on this topic I would be more than willing to listen! I figure that a lot of self defense type shooting is going to happen in just such a condition and I want to be safe and shoot accurately if that happens.

I noticed two things that I think were major factors in my performance.

1) Skill set? what skill set?

I have never shot in a low light condition like that "under stress" before and in the lighting conditions I had a hard time finding the front sight and did a lot of point/index shooting.

To me this pointed out a major deficiency in my skills to bring the gun to the same place every time after the draw. I would think that only devoting a lot of time to dryfiring and other similar types of practice would help with this but I am open to any and all suggestions!

2) I had a **cheap** 10 LED "floodlight" flashlight that did not have a focused beam and so I could either light up the top of my gun and get the red fiber optic to be visible OR I could light up the targets... doing both was near impossible.

This will be rectified shortly with the purchase of a Streamlight or similar bright and focused "tactical" light. If I still cant shoot in low light/flashlight after that...it is my own fault!

Most of all I saw it as a major hole in my skillset that working on could benefit me in my normal shooting as well as low light so please, suggest away!

[Jadeslade]

You need to get a switch that clicks on when you push it. Then practice seeing the target with the available light while lining up your sights. Fiberoptics become black sights without much light on them. Don't try to get the beam focused on the target, just be happy with the light that gets on it. Keep your gun on the target, the light will be there. Ask some of the better shooters to show you their grips and figure what you want best. A lot of people use the "cigar" method with the light between the index and third finger. Or you can just put the light in your off hand and shoot one handed. Have fun.

[Boats]

Quick tips.

Figure out your best grip holding a flashlight. Work on it in daylight on paper to see how you can group with the light in your hand. Most find mimimum modification to your regular freeestyle grip is going to work best. Very small lights that produce about 100 lumen's and have a flood beam and a click and stay on tailcap are more often used than other lights. Surefire has a series of articles on low light shooting on there web site, It's sort of hidden under articles. Well worth reading

Tactical sounds good but if you only need to illuminate targets fairly close a long tight beam is not the best choice, There is a strong tendency to try to focus the lights hot spot on target when all you want to do is focus the guns sights. Flood with no hot spot it's not as likely to happen plus the way we shoot there is another target to acquire and flood beams light them up even while you are shooting the target at hand. I used to use a Surefire G2 with there combat ring cap and the cap switched to click on. Now am using a HDS Ra Clicky with a wrist lanyard, it's so small it hardly changes my freestyle grip at all when held cigar style between index and middle finger. I think it's 120 lumen's more flood than spot. I will also use a strong hand pistol hold with the light up high indexed on my neck too, if the targets are close. High neck index is a good alternate in case smoke obscures the light when held cigar style. This has happened to me when shooting multiple shots same spot.

While my curent favorate is the HDS I keep the Surefire in my bag as a back up. The new Surefire combat lights with small diamater were it goes between your fingers are seen a lot at our club matches.

Work on mag changes with the light in your hand too, Daylight dry fire. Make handling the light 2nd nature and dark is not so difficult. Our club usually starts with the light in hand drawing the pistol or Pistol in hand drawing the light, Figure out exactly how your match is going to run and practice same way.

Boats

Edited December 15, 2009 by Boats

[Graham Smith]

The most common currently taught technique is the Harries, where you cross your hands and lock them back to back. Works pretty well but you have to learn to see your sights more as a silhouette.

If you hold the flashlight back by your neck on the left side and cant the gun a little, you can see both the sights and the target. Or you can hold the light on top of your head to get the same effect.

[mikegot38]

We do a lot of low light at our club. Almost all of the shooters place the light between the index and middle finger of the "weak" hand and "pull" the light into the grip thus activating the tail cap. It works well and gives you good recoil control as the grip is almost normal. The key is a good flashlight that also fits betweenn your fingers. I use the thinner surefire as I get a better grip on it. I also prefer incandecent light to LED light. Practice it when you dry fire and you will progess nicely. Good luck and enjoy.

Edited December 15, 2009 by mikegot38

[38supPat]

I can't remember what it's called but I used the technique where you hold the flashlight between your thumb and index finger shaped like you are making the "ok" sign. The remaining three fingers go around the grip kinda like normal. It works fairly well except the flame from an open gun makes the flashlight pointless after a few rounds ...lol

[Duane Thomas]

I'm not much of a fan of the Harries technique. It's very muscle intensive, very tiring to execute for any length of time. Also when the gun fires it tends to "bounce" away from the support hand wrapped around the back of the master hand, so shot-to-shot speed sucks, as well. The Roger/SureFire technique (aka cigar or syringe technique) works a lot better. Of course, neither is as efficient as having a dedicated weapon-mounted light that leaves both hands free to just shoot the gun using your standard two-handed grip and stance.

[Duane Thomas]

I can't remember what it's called but I used the technique where you hold the flashlight between your thumb and index finger shaped like you are making the "ok" sign. The remaining three fingers go around the grip kinda like normal. It works fairly well except the flame from an open gun makes the flashlight pointless after a few rounds ...lol

The would be the Roger/SureFire/cigar/syringe technique.

[G-ManBart]

I'm not much of a fan of the Harries technique. It's very muscle intensive, very tiring to execute for any length of time. Also when the gun fires it tends to "bounce" away from the support hand wrapped around the back of the master hand, so shot-to-shot speed sucks, as well. The Roger/SureFire technique (aka cigar or syringe technique) works a lot better. Of course, neither is as efficient as having a dedicated weapon-mounted light that leaves both hands free to just shoot the gun using your standard two-handed grip and stance.

Same here.

We'll show people how to do the Harries technique, but almost everybody winds up using the cigar/syringe method. The thing I always worry about with new folks using the Harries technique is that people will cover themselves while moving the support hand into position. They need to be taught to bring the light over back near the elbow and slide forward into position...yet one more thing to learn. R,

[Dan Burwell]

This is what I came up with and has worked well for me in low light matches. It is the closest thing to a normal grip so your gun recoils about the same. Basically I am jaming the flashlight against the under side of the trigger guard while stablizing it between my first and second fingers. I have also found it easy to keep a hold of the light this way while doing all the fun IDPA mag changes.

* I am not any anyway suggesting this to be useful for LE as you cannot work the light on and off with this grip without a momentary switch and a lot of practice.

[mikegot38]

This is what I came up with and has worked well for me in low light matches. It is the closest thing to a normal grip so your gun recoils about the same. Basically I am jaming the flashlight against the under side of the trigger guard while stablizing it between my first and second fingers. I have also found it easy to keep a hold of the light this way while doing all the fun IDPA mag changes.

* I am not any anyway suggesting this to be useful for LE as you cannot work the light on and off with this grip without a momentary switch and a lot of practice.

Thanks Dan. That is what I was trying to describe.

[Classic_jon]

Thanks everyone! I now have a good place to start and am going to try and find the surefire videos suggested.

If you have any more suggestions please post them!