{"id":116197,"date":"2019-09-24T09:35:53","date_gmt":"2019-09-24T13:35:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gunsamerica.com\/digest\/?p=116197"},"modified":"2026-01-08T04:56:55","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T10:56:55","slug":"lights-out-10-things-ive-learned-about-shooting-in-the-dark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunsamerica.com\/digest\/lights-out-10-things-ive-learned-about-shooting-in-the-dark\/","title":{"rendered":"Lights Out: 10 Things I’ve Learned About Shooting in the Dark"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Lights<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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Editor\u2019s Note: <\/strong>The following is a syndicated article by author Tom McHale that first appeared in USCCA\u2019s Concealed Carry Magazine Volume 14, Issue 2, February\/March 2017 under the title, \u201cLights Out: 10 Things I’ve Learned About Shooting in the Dark.\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve had some interesting opportunities to shoot in the dark: during midnight 3-gun competitions, where your objective is to find and engage multiple targets in the fastest possible time while on the move; during dark shoothouse scenarios, where you move cautiously from room to room while searching for \u201cgood\u201d and \u201cbad\u201d targets (ability to discern and identify targets is paramount here); and, in the category of \u201cmost fun shooting thing ever,\u201d at the shooting cave at Rockcastle Shooting Center in Park City, Kentucky, where you have the opportunity to navigate a pitch-dark underground cavern while engaging hidden targets with rifle, pistol or both. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like many topics we debate, shooting in the dark \u2014 with or\nwithout lights and lasers \u2014  is one of\nthose activities you really need to try before creating plans and strategies of\nyour own. Some of the \u201cfacts\u201d\nthat get passed around aren\u2019t quite what they seem, while other hearsay gems\nare downright false. Fortunately, using safe dry-fire practices or a blue gun,\nyou can learn quite a bit by bumbling around your own home in the dark. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s take a look at some of the things I\u2019ve learned, or at\nleast have developed opinions on, after some time spent shooting in the dark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. No, a laser isn\u2019t going to give away your position.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My favorite response to this immortal myth came from a gun\nblogger I know:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou know\nwhat will give away my position?\u201d he asked. \u201cMe yelling \u2018Get the [expletive]\nout of my house!\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the majority of home-defense scenarios, I agree with him.\nIf you\u2019re out and about, you\u2019re almost always better off trying to get the heck\naway rather than sneaking around trying to find bad guys. Playing ninja games\nin the dark with a horde of silent attackers just isn\u2019t a very realistic or\nwise scenario. That scene sure was thrilling in Silence of the Lambs,<\/em>\nbut the odds of you implementing it at home are about the same as politically\ndisappointed celebrities actually moving out of the country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oh, one more thing: Unless your environment is full of\nairborne dust and smoke, most lasers won\u2019t cast a visible beam anyway \u2014 just a\ndot on the target. Red lasers are invisible in clean air and green are nearly\nso. The bottom line? Stop stressing about giving away your position and use\ntools like lasers to help you get shots on target faster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. You can change batteries before they run out!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even still in this miraculous technological era of\nsmartphones and Flex Seal, the biggest objection I hear to putting a laser on a\nself-defense handgun is this: \u201cYeah,\nbut what are you gonna do when the batteries run out?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a great point, because look at the chaos that ensues\nwhen our cars run out of gas, we forget to pay the electric bill or the pantry\nruns low on Pop-Tarts. But, seriously, I\u2019ve learned an important concept: You\ncan change batteries proactively. You know, like before they run out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The way I see it, if a light or laser device has the\ncapability to dramatically improve my advantage in a self-defense situation, I\nfigure I can take responsibility as a big boy and change my batteries on a periodic\nbasis so that I never get surprised by them failing at the worst possible time.\nIt\u2019s no different than stopping at the gas station before your engine sputters\nout on I-95.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. A rifle makes a great low-light weapon.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, I know this is Concealed Carry Magazine<\/em>. I also know that AR-15<\/a>s are tough to conceal, especially during sundress season. But if we can stretch the concealed carry topic just a tad to include home defense, you might think about using a modern sporting rifle. Handguns are built for handiness and maneuverability, but when it comes to getting fast hits on target, a rifle is hard to beat, especially in low light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having two hands supporting the weapon and that extra-long\nsight radius makes it very difficult to miss close indoor targets. Add a light\nand laser, and you can easily shoot from unconventional positions. While it\nmight seem a little strange at first, try some rapid-fire, close-range shooting\n(like room or hallway distance) with an AR or similar rifle and you\u2019ll see what\nI mean. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. The perfect light strategy remains elusive. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s an example of learning that something has no clear\nanswer. Conceptually, I think we can all agree that having a separate\nflashlight on hand is a great idea. Gun-mounted lights are convenient and are no\ndoubt the best solution for actually shooting with a light, but you don\u2019t want\nto use that for search and identification because, by definition, you\u2019ll be\npointing your gun at whatever you illuminate. Before you make a conscious\ndecision to shoot, that\u2019s a bad idea. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019ve got a light in one hand and a light on your gun,\nwhat do you do if it comes time to shoot? If you use one of the classic\ntechniques like Harries or Chapman, the light is \u201canchored\u201d to the direction of your muzzle,\nso you\u2019re really not accomplishing anything different than having a light\nmounted on your gun. If you use a freehand technique like the FBI, you\u2019re faced\nwith one-hand shooting unless you quickly assume a braced position. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think much of the confusion arises from the fact that most\nlight techniques were developed before the advent of small, reliable and\ninexpensive weapon-mounted lights. So what to do? Take the extra time to\nexperiment on your own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. If you search with a weapon light, you\u2019re going to\npoint your gun at someone.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s relatively easy to train yourself to search with the\ngun indexed down toward the floor, and you\u2019ll certainly light up the room\nindirectly with this technique. However, when you see a shadowy figure start to\nemerge, the first thing your brain will instruct your hands to do is raise the\nlight, which is attached to the gun, in order to identify whatever you\u2019ve just\nfound. Now you\u2019re right back to pointing your gun at what might be a home\ninvader or perhaps a family member.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. It\u2019s a good idea to practice things like magazine\nchanges in low-light scenarios. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Want to look like a drunk attempting needlepoint while\nwearing mittens? Try changing magazines while using a hand-held flashlight.\nCruising through a dark environment with a flashlight in one hand and a gun in\nthe other is not exceedingly difficult with any of the common techniques. Even\ngetting shots on target is fairly intuitive. When your magazine runs dry,\nthough, things can get really awkward really fast. Do you move the light to\nyour weapon hand? Try to retrieve and seat a new magazine while juggling the\nflashlight in the same hand? Stuff the light in a pocket? Drop it? You\u2019ll have\nto develop your own right answer based on your light technique, so the learning\nhere is to try it sometime and work out the kinks before<\/em> your life\ndepends on it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7. Lasers might not be fast during the day, but they\u2019re\nscreamin\u2019 fast at night.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In daylight conditions, using a laser sight is a game of \u201cfind the dim dot\u201d even when using\na brighter green unit. That\u2019s OK though, as their real reason for existence is\nto facilitate shooting in lower-light conditions. It doesn\u2019t have to be dark \u2014\njust less light than midday sunshine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What I\u2019ve found is that the darker it is, the more a laser\nadds to your speed. Your eyes are going to fixate on the threat anyway, so that\ndot on or near your target will leap into view. You won\u2019t be slowed down by any\ntransition back and forth between your target and your sights. Your ability to\nshoot when the gun is not in a conventional sight picture position will also\nincrease dramatically. If your gun is in some low-ready vicinity, you can shoot\njust as accurately if you need to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

8. You can see regular iron sights in the dark.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m a big advocate for using Tritium night sights that glow\nbrightly in the dark, mainly because I\u2019m happy to take every possible\nadvantage. There\u2019s no downside except one: cost. Night sights will add a C-note\nto the price of your handgun. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The big advantage to night sights is that you can see your\nsights without any ambient light. However, if it\u2019s that dark, you won\u2019t be able\nto see and confirm your target either. Just something to ponder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you don\u2019t have the budget for night sights and are\nconcerned with positive target identification, a weapon-mounted light will work\njust dandy with regular, non-illuminated iron sights. This is one of those\nnifty tricks to try: Using an unloaded gun, go into a dark closet and hold a\nflashlight in the approximate location of a gun-mounted light. You\u2019ll be\nsurprised at how clearly you can see your sights even though the light\u2019s lens\nis forward of the front sight. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

9. Muzzle flash isn\u2019t that big of a deal.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you get the opportunity to shoot in the dark \u2014 indoors or\noutdoors \u2014 by all means, do it. I suspect you\u2019ll find what I did: Muzzle flash\nisn\u2019t all that big of a deal in a self-defense shooting situation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The internet forums will tell you that the muzzle blast from a .357 Magnum<\/a> or other \u201chot\u201d caliber will permanently blind you by melting your corneas into a puddle of goo. You\u2019ll hear the same thing about using handguns with ported barrels. I think this myth persists because there\u2019s a little bit of truth to it. There is muzzle flash. There\u2019s more with boomier cartridges. Ported-barrel guns will create an exceptionally cool V-shaped flame pattern. The myth part is that it\u2019ll kill your vision and spoil your view of the target.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve shot lots and lots of pistols in 9mm, .40 S&W, .45 ACP<\/a>, .357 SIG and more in the dark (along with AR-15s and shotguns). In no case did the muzzle flash from any of them impair my ability to make the next shot. In fact, I never saw the flash unless I consciously looked for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think this one also persists because it sounds logical in\ntheory. Think about it: If you\u2019re in the pitch dark for a while, your eyes will\nbegin to adjust. If you suddenly shine a flashlight into your eyeballs, you\u2019ll\nsee weird blotchy stuff for a few seconds. However, are you really going to\nfire a shot in near total darkness where you have no ability to confirm your\ntarget?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

10. Use all the light you want.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On a related topic, plenty argue about having too little or\ntoo much light. You might hear that using a 300-lumen light indoors will blind\nyou in addition to any attackers. The theory is that light reflecting off\nthings like white walls and such will impair your ability to see because of too\nmuch glare coming back your way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fortunately, this is an easy one to test on your own. If you\ndon\u2019t have a big, flame-throwing flashlight, borrow one from a friend. Then\nwander around your home with the lights out and try it. I suspect you\u2019ll find\nwhat I did: It\u2019s pretty dang hard to have too many lumens. If the paint starts\npeeling off your walls, then you might want to consider backing down, but other\nthan that, get a light that offers the power you want. Besides, assuming it\u2019s\nportable, you can use it for concealed carry too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Practice, practice, practice!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Handling guns and lights in the dark is not a pre-wired\nbiological instinct like winning Facebook arguments. It can seem unnatural, and\nyou\u2019re going to have to work at it. If your plan is to do \u201cX\u201d in a low-light\nsituation, then you\u2019d better practice that a lot in advance. Fortunately, most\nscenarios are fairly easy to try out right at home. Just be safe about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Discover how you can join nearly 300,000 responsibly armed Americans who already rely on the USCCA to protect their families, futures and freedoms: USCCA.com\/gunsamerica<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n