Need advice

In my opinion, a flashlight is 100% essential for any home-defense firearm. Whether it's mounted on the gun or carried in your off-hand, you NEED to be able to identify your target before you shoot.
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This^

Before you spend any money on night sights or a laser, you need to have a decent flashlight.
 
I'm talking about a face to face confrontation not in your home but out on the street and this is not "Hollywood", this is a real life situation.
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Home, or away, the belief that someone attacking you is going to look at a laser, and run is strictly "Hollywood".
My SD gun is not for scaring someone away. As any CCW instructor will tell you. At the point that a weapon is needed, it isn't for warning, and a red dot is not what is coming out of it.
 
doc holliday 1950 said:
Ever have someone use a laser on you in the evening or in darkness. Try it sometime. I think you will see it.
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If I'm in a situation where I'm in fear of death or seriously bodily injury and for some strange reason I'm looking at my own body, if I noticed the dot from a gun-mounted laser on me I believe that I would consider that the "go" signal to begin firing at the person with the gun-mounted laser.
 
I guess I'll join the few voices of dissent. I think a laser is great if it's used correctly. First, it's a excellent training device, especially for point shooting practice. I also think that it works as a deterrent because of personal experience with a trespasser i stumbled upon years ago. I do agree, it's not a remedy for poor training and practices and it certainly will not diffuse any potential situation.
 
When I was a kid I mounted a laser to a bb gun. It was tons if fun to plink with. I wouldn't want to put on on my conceal carry gun or home defense gun though. If you train with it you will become reliant on it and I don't want to rely in some battery powered device if I don't have to (keep it simple). If you don't train with it then what's the point?
 
Lasers are for speed and movement that result in sub-optimal firing positions or lighting conditions. Not for precision. This holding a laser on someone is hollywood balony that is going to get someone killed.

They can be used for precision training as a dry-fire aid. But don't use these to shoot groups.


There are no good cheap lasers. The cheap ones are essentially AirSoft / Paintball Geegaws. They function, as in they throw a beam. But they won't hold their zero, or likely live if they are subjected to use on a real firearm. Typically anything that is a "universal fit" laser is going to be a toy grade piece of junk. It will also immediately limit your holster options. IMO Crimson Trace laser grips are the ONLY way to go.


Crimson Trace and LaserLyte are about the only dedicated lasers I would trust. Surefire and Streamlight also have good lasers as part of their flashlights. You are looking at about $200 on average to get into lasers aftermarket. It's a little cheaper if you buy the laser grips already on the gun, but you say this guy is on a budget so a $500 gun with an extra $150 of laser grips bundled into the price is probably going to put most folks on a budget looking for alternatives.


Keep in mind that you need to tell your friend to stick with popular handguns so that there are actually laser grips made for it. No Taurus, Ruger 9E, Arcus 98, Ruger P90, etc, etc because it was cheap. You won't find quality laser grips for those guns.


My advice for a budget........Look around for a Police Department Trade-In Glock 23. Then scour eBay, gunbroker, and message boards looking for a set of lightly used Crimson Trace laser grips. Do your part, and you can probably get away for less than $500 for the TOTAL investment of gun, transfer, taxes, and the laser grips. You may do even better and get the whole set up for under $400 if you are lucky.
 
First off you did not say what gun the laser was to be mounted on. If I was in the market to replace my Aimpoint which is probably to large and way out of your price range I would be looking at a green one from sportsmans guide. First off it needs to run on 123 lithium batteries for you to get much use.

What is wrong with your stock sights? I just did a quick search and tritium paint looks to be no longer available but if your white dots are dull you can find plenty of videos online on how to refresh the dots using simple tools and white finger nail polish.

Lasers look cool but they also give the bad guy a target to shoot at.
 
There are no good cheap lasers. The cheap ones are essentially AirSoft / Paintball Geegaws. They function, as in they throw a beam. But they won't hold their zero, or likely live if they are subjected to use on a real firearm. Typically anything that is a "universal fit" laser is going to be a toy grade piece of junk. It will also immediately limit your holster options. IMO Crimson Trace laser grips are the ONLY way to go.
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True.

But, I've got a couple of $20 ebay rail lasers that I modded into reliability by filling the housing with Rtv gasket material. Then while still uncured, mounted on the gun and zeroed to the sights point of aim. Left untouched mounted overnight to cure and they now hold zero dry firing AND live firing 40sw.

They are now real nice training aids for improving trigger motion.:D. But, I dont trust any electronic gizmo in a life and death situation.
 
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