By RK Campbell
From USConcealedCarry.com
When I was very young, I read a story by a New York city cop who faced three burglars in a warehouse. The building was practically pitch dark and his description of the pop and flash of a small caliber handgun being fired at him impressed me very much. He survived the gunfight unscathed with one bullet left and one burglar wounded and captured. Since that time I have had an interest in nocturnal combat. I read of a great knight who fell from his horse at night and was nearly trampled. During the Civil War a confederate general sadly remarked, "We have killed one another in great number." He was alluding to mistaken-identity shootings at night.
When it comes to civilian personal defense, I think that we need to realize that the night can be our ally and offer concealment if not cover. I am very reluctant, despite the current fad, to turn my handgun into a beacon. I think that pointing a light is just fine to identify a stranger, but pointing a handgun at what may be a family member is another thing. Just the same, my home has several inexpensive lights at hand and I keep others in my truck. A good flashlight is handy if you need to clean your battery cables, inspect a leaking pipe, take a look in the attic or illuminate a burglar. But when it comes to fighting in the dark, the hand and eye and gun and light coordination needed demands practice.
We will seldom face a threat in complete darkness. In the close-range scenarios that are most often experienced in defensive shootings, the body stance and proper alignment of the sights with the eye will carry the day whether or not you can see your sights clearly. I am speaking of firing at a few feet with a handgun that fits your hand and with which you have practiced. You should not fire unless you have a clear target, but if the threat is firing at you from a few feet away and you are caught without cover you have to go with what you know.
If you are prepared, you will have a light in the home. I think that for the most part flashlight and gun combinations are best suited to peace officers who conduct searches. Self-luminous iron sights (night sights) are more applicable to civilian shooters, but either benefits from having both on hand. A true twenty-four hour personal defense handgun should be graced with night sights. Night sights contain ampules of radioactive tritium, a hydrogen isotope. They are sealed in a tube with a synthetic sapphire at one end to pinpoint the energy and focalize your miniature nuclear furnace. These sights offer an excellent option when we are able to see the target but light conditions prevent seeing the sights.
Most of my personal defense handguns sport some type of tritium sight. The Wilson Combat sight is available, excellent, and affordable. The XS sights big dot is brilliantly fast into action and a true purpose designed personal defense sight for moderate range use.
While night sights are an excellent option, too many shooters never practice in dim light conditions. Night sights will not carry the day if you have not practiced. You have lost visual acuity and target definition suffers. It is as if your glasses have fogged so to speak. You need to practice and understand the relationship between the sights and the point of impact at close range in dim light.
I was involved in a night action during which I dropped my flashlight while moving in a large, open rural field off a major highway. It took precious seconds to recover my night vision enough to use the night sights on my handgun. This was an invaluable lesson. Do not let your night vision be diminished--and target the other man's night vision. I once had a particularly offensive individual shine a powerful flashlight out the back of the truck he was a passenger in, attempting to affect my night vision. I had enough lights on the Crown Vic to illuminate the traffic stop and let's just say it was the worst night of his life.
The proper form in marrying the light and the handgun are simple enough, but you will tie your arms and hands up like a pretzel if you do not practice. The non-dominant hand comes under the dominant side wrist. The back of the hands are held tightly each against the other. The non-dominant hand will carry the light, with the globe pointing out of the bottom of the hand. Practice activating the on and off switch to produce short bursts of light.
Another consideration in night firing is muzzle blast. Some are worse than others. Inexpensive foreign ammunition often gives a tremendous blast and so will handloads. But quality American ammunition most often gives little muzzle signature, as the loads often feature a full powder burn. While some flash is expected a warm orange glow is all that should be acceptable.
The first line of defense is the shooter and his or her skills. Everything else is secondary but any advantage should be taken.
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RK Campbell is a writer with twenty years police experience. He holds a degree in criminal justice and has studied firearms and their use for nearly forty years. He is the author of three books and over six hundred articles, columns, and reviews.
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