Ive always thought that if I would have to use a firearm to stop a threat to my family it would likely be in my home at night. Ive prepared for the scenario, my wife knows to gather the kids and get on the phone with the police. I know to get on the phone with the police as well, arm myself and prevent a would be attacker from getting near my family. Ive practiced and ran drills to make sure I know what I will likely be doing. Ive purchased a weapon mounted light for my handgun so I can be sure to identify a threat at a greater distance. The one thing I cant do in my city is to actually practice shooting with the weapon mounted light or handheld flashlight. All the indoor ranges are well lit, and the outdoor ranges close at night. When I saw a class being offered for low light shooting I jumped on it.
My gear for the course was my trusty HK P2000 with a Viridian c5L light/laser. It puts out 100 lumens so not the brightest light, but still enough for the compact size. Ive got a Kydex holster from Raven Concealment that fits the P2000 with the C5l attached that I wear OWB. I actually use this setup for IDPA, but have to remove the battery from the light during the matches.
Phobos Solutions offered a Low Light Pistol, and Low Light Carbine course. The course taught some handheld flashlight positions, all of which I found cumbersome. That is after all why I purchased a weapon mounted light. Then the course settled on weapon mounted lights for the better half of the night. During the 400 round course we shot from standing, kneeling, and prone at 7, 15, and 25 yards. The drill I enjoyed the most involved a target with a 10″ circle, square, rectangle, and triangle, each in a different color. Starting position was facing up-range, holstered, hands at side. The Instructor would call out a color, shape, 2 colors, 2 shapes, or a color and a shape. Turn, draw, light, identify, 2 rounds per shape/color called, light off, scan, and holster. Right about the time that fatigue was setting in disrupting my aim we brought it out to 25 yards against steel targets. My light couldn’t light up the targets well enough to identify and hit them. This picture was from that part of the class. Take a look at all the soot on the end of my handgun. I’m willing to bet it would have been brighter if I would have just wiped it off.
All things considered I definitely got my moneys worth from the class. I could have used a little more ammo, being the first one to run out. But the syllabus stated 400 rounds so that is how many I brought. Note to self,… the two things you cant have enough of is Bug Spray and Ammo.
What an excellent idea and something I had never taken into consideration before. Thank you for posting this.