SHOOTING IN LOW LIGHT

[black bear 84]

Hi guys,
Just in case is any interest in using a flashlight in conjuction with a pistol, I will contribute with this post.
It is not the first time that it appears in a Forum, but it is a first in this one.

Shooting in low light



I am going to explain how to employ the useful techniques of using a flashlight with a pistol, especially useful for those flashlights that have a tactical switch.

As many of the members already have a Surefire of two or three batteries with a tactical switch or a similar one of another brand, going from 60 to 200 lumens, I am going to explain the two most popular techniques.* One is the Harries which I have already explained in the previous post in using with my BOREALIS 1050* lumens light.

Michael Harries invented this position and it is considered one of the first positions ever that coordinates the use of the flashlight using the two hands.
For using with tactical switch lights (with a switch in the tail), the flashlight is grasped with the left hand around the body and the thumb will activate the switch.
The back of the hands are pressed together and maintain an isometric tension to help control the recoil of the gun.* Your wrists will be crossed and the light will be parallel or close to the muzzle of the gun.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v111/blackbear11784/crossedwrist.jpg

The Roger-Surefire
Holster maker, ex FBI agent, and competition shooter Bill Rogers teamed up with Surefire to adapt a rubber grommet or washer to the Surefire 6 Z (now available in most combat models of Surefire and copied by others light makers).
The position is also called the cigar position, as you grasp the body of the flashlight like a cigar, with the index and middle finger.* The tail cap is resting on the fleshy part below your thumb and a little pressure back on the rubber ring will activate the light (the tail cap button resting in that part below your thumb will switch the light on).
That position will let you grasp the hand shooting the pistol with three fingers of the left hand, and it is the only position that let you use a two-handed grip.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v111/blackbear11784/rogerssurfire.jpg

The Chapman technique
Ray Chapman was the first IPSC world champion.* He invented his position for use with the Kel-Lites of the 1970’s (probably the first high quality Police Flashlight) that have a sliding switch on top of the barrel.* It is still a great position to use for those that don’t want to cross the wrists as in the Harries position when using a big flashlight.
It is well suited for the Maglites and for the modification of the Maglite like my own BOREALIS

You just grasp the flashlight as you usually do, with your thumb in the switch and your fingers circling the barrel and you bring it up to index your fingernails with the fingernails of the shooting hand.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v111/blackbear11784/chapman.jpg

And here is the REVERSE HARRIES that have been demostrated lately by my friend Middlebrook, the light will illuminate the front sight in a way that side positions can't, so it is very useful with pre-war pistols and their tiny sights.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v111/blackbear11784/kevin.jpg



In my other post I have mentioned the old FBI technique which is to separate the flashlight high and away from you in order to confuse you opponent about your position.
Another technique that doesn’t offer any support to the shooting hand but it can be very useful when using a pistol with lousy sights (original 1911, Luger, etc) is the one I used more than 40 years ago when I started combat shooting.
It indexes the light on top of my head, letting the light fall on a line from the sights to the target.* Even the minuscule back up .380 or the Baby Browning sights gets illuminated using this ridiculous position.

In closing, I would like to say that in my opinion lights with less than 60 lumens are out of the new low light fighting techniques.
For my belt light I will prefer to have a minimum of 200 lumens, using the Surefire C-3 and the P-91 lamp as my favorite.
But if I have to clear a room I prefer a light with more power.* My Surefire M-6 with the 500 lumens lamp will do, but I prefer even more lumens to really blind, disorient, and roast my opponent.* That is when I use the BOREALIS 1050 lumens light.

I want to show you some pictures that illustrate the amount of lumens you are putting out when using a Surefire Centurion 2 with the 65 lumen lamp, the Surefire M-6 with the 500 lumens, and the BOREALIS with the 1050* lumens.

Surefire Centurion C-2 with P-61 (65 lumens)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v111/blackbear11784/P-6060lumens.jpg

Surefire M-6 (500 lumens)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v111/blackbear11784/sureeme6.jpg

BOREALIS 1050 lumens

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v111/blackbear11784/ls.jpg

Best regards
black bear

[Crocodilo]

Great post, thank you! Although I have a SF C2, my favorite stance is the harries, even with a snub-nose .357 S&W. The front sight does not get illuminated, but rests as a black area over the lighted target. and I like the isometric support.

For those who have not handled a 60-lumen light, let me tell you this: the pics don't make it justice. In reality, it looks a lot more like something between pics #2 and #3. So, imagine what in reality the 500 and 1000 lumens will look like! Truly blinding for someone even not totally adapted to darkness.

[oregonshooter]

Personally, I find anything over 70 lums to be too much for clearing due to bounce back.

The best way to clear is to turn the lights on as you go if you can find the switches, and the only house you should need to clear is your own, so that's not an issue.

[webley445]

Also consider bouncing the light beam off the ceiling in close quarters situations. Helps to dispel some of the shadowing that occurs with a light that is focused in one direction.
Experiment in a darkened house to see what I mean.

I appreciate the fact that a variety of techniques were displayed in this post, I find the reverse Harries useful for my aging eyes and to illuminate the sights. My SIG has nite-sites, but my snubbies don't.
I appreciate you mentioning it as I have never seen any others speak of it, was something I figured out for myself.

I find the FBI style useful for cornering and the head mount is a new one on me, variation of one I use where light is held up by the jawline above the shoulder. Allows for quick "wrist twists" to manipulate the light in different directions, especially to scan if muzzle is fixated on a specific area. This technique came about from my uses of Maglites (3 cell) before learning about CR123's.

Use what works for you, and if you are one that likes to use many different style lights, learn a few different ways to accomadate type of light/switch that you have with you at the time (i.e.-SL Stingers and US's use side switch, SF's use tail caps, etc.)
Good post, I like it.

[VWTim]

I also find 60-150 lumen the sweet spot for shooting/clearing at close ranges. Any more than that and you loose any night vision you had before and in some cases start seeing stars due to bounce back and glare. I've tried night shooting at ~10 yards with my Mag85, similar output to Blackbear's Big Dog Borrealis; and as soon as I lit that light up, my target area was fully illuminated, but I reactionally (is that a word?) started blinking because it was so much light. The difference in lighting also caused my Big Dot tritium front sight to effectively dissapear, as well as even seeing the slide of my 1911.

This was just my experience, so for any technique you plan to use if you have to, please train with it. After this I even keep any of my hotwire magmod's out of the bedroom nightstand area so I don't grab them in a daze. I don't think I even want to attempt shooting with my Mag138 (~2800 lumens)

[0dBm]

I've trained with all these techniques but have found that all of them impair my shooting skills that I have practiced for decades. I guess I just need practice more. I like the Harries technique best.

Years ago, I had the opportunity to speak with the late Michael Harries when at a gun show in the Midwest. There were 4 of us just shootin' the breeze with Mike when one asked him if he would hold the light in the entire duration of a firefight. I never forgot Mike's response: "S**t no! Are you f*****g crazy! I just use it to keep from tripping over my own a**!"

Kinda cracked me up hearing that from the guy who invented the technique. ;D

He likely would never say that in public or in print.

I would likely not have the light on nor hold on to it the entire time were I to ever become unfortunate enough to actually be in a firefight.

OT.
black bear 84, nice work modding those Maglights.