Laser Targets?

[stonewall50]

Has anyone used these things before? How do you think it is for practicing shooting on a budget? Especially training in my own home so that I am in my "own turf" so to speak. Any ideas on limitations and so on?


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[T. O'Heir]

Price way to dry fire practice.

[OhioGuy]

I have the LaserLyte 5" "quick draw" target, and while I was skeptical at first, I've found that it really does help in some circumstances. The trouble with dry firing is a lack of feedback. The laser helps tremendously with that. One of the first things I learned was that I was failing to hold the gun steady while firing...even if the shot landed where it should, the laser would always sweep across the target. By making sure I followed through, my real shooting became more accurate almost instantly.

The target itself isn't terribly useful just for practicing accuracy. Honestly, just picking an area on a wall, like a switch plate, or a paper plate taped to the wall, will be enough. Even focusing on the front sight, you'll still be able to tell whether the flash landed where it should.

The one place where the target has been useful has been on timed fire. I got an insert for my 9mm that fires the laser when the trigger is pulled, so I can start the timer on the target (counts down from 5) and on the beep, draw and fire from concealment. That's been tremendously helpful for improving speed and accuracy from a draw, which is something almost no range allows these days.

I've even begun using the laser insert at the range, between live fire sessions, to work on accuracy and dry fire between shots. I triples my trigger time but for the same cost of ammo.

So in conclusion I'd say:

Laser cartridge for your gun: absolutely worth it

Laser target: meh...kinda...helpful for timing your shots, otherwise you can get by just by seeing where the dot hits the wall.

[stonewall50]

Originally Posted by OhioGuy

I have the LaserLyte 5" "quick draw" target, and while I was skeptical at first, I've found that it really does help in some circumstances. The trouble with dry firing is a lack of feedback. The laser helps tremendously with that. One of the first things I learned was that I was failing to hold the gun steady while firing...even if the shot landed where it should, the laser would always sweep across the target. By making sure I followed through, my real shooting became more accurate almost instantly.



The target itself isn't terribly useful just for practicing accuracy. Honestly, just picking an area on a wall, like a switch plate, or a paper plate taped to the wall, will be enough. Even focusing on the front sight, you'll still be able to tell whether the flash landed where it should.



The one place where the target has been useful has been on timed fire. I got an insert for my 9mm that fires the laser when the trigger is pulled, so I can start the timer on the target (counts down from 5) and on the beep, draw and fire from concealment. That's been tremendously helpful for improving speed and accuracy from a draw, which is something almost no range allows these days.



I've even begun using the laser insert at the range, between live fire sessions, to work on accuracy and dry fire between shots. I triples my trigger time but for the same cost of ammo.



So in conclusion I'd say:



Laser cartridge for your gun: absolutely worth it



Laser target: meh...kinda...helpful for timing your shots, otherwise you can get by just by seeing where the dot hits the wall.

Thanks man. I appreciate that reply


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[DMK]

The target itself isn't terribly useful just for practicing accuracy. Honestly, just picking an area on a wall, like a switch plate, or a paper plate taped to the wall, will be enough. Even focusing on the front sight, you'll still be able to tell whether the flash landed where it should....

Laser target: meh...kinda...helpful for timing your shots, otherwise you can get by just by seeing where the dot hits the wall.

I respectfully disagree with that.

You don't look for bullet holes in the target as you shoot on a live range. That's very bad.

For the same reasons, you don't want to train to look over your sights for a laser dot either. That is a very bad habit and will not be conducive to accuracy.

You want to train yourself to concentrate on the front sight regardless of any distractions. Let the electronic target or software record where your hits went. You can verify your results after you've finished your string of shots.

This is how you would (or should) do it with live fire and this is how you should do it with your training tools.

Remember, practice does not make perfect. "Perfect practice" makes perfect.

Laser targets, or software with a webcam to record your shots is not difficult or expensive to obtain.

Ultimately, an infrared of otherwise invisible laser would be best for practice, but those are still expensive.

More info here (actually, this was your thread OhioGuy):
https://thefiringline.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=583268

[Koda94]

I would think dry firing press-out drills would be more practical. The laser target seems like a gimmik

[cslinger]

Here is my experience.

https://thefiringline.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=588747

[OhioGuy]

The LaserLyte target is the only one I have experience with. Its major drawback is that it can record multiple hits if your laser sweeps across it even slightly. If I fire a run of 5 shots, it's common to see 7 or 8 dots show up afterwards. I don't know how well the other methods, i.e. cell phone cameras or whatever, are. The laser pulse lasts long enough to be recorded more than once by my particular target.

To the point about "looking over your sights" to watch for a laser--I don't. In close quarters (like almost everywhere in my house) the pulse is bright/large enough on the wall to still be slightly seen behind the front sight, with my eye focused on the sight. At slightly longer distances, seeing no light at all means I hit exactly where I was aiming. In fact, NOT seeing the light would be the goal there. You can get a good enough idea of where it lands without focusing on the target.

For target-focused shooting/point shooting drills, it's less of an issue for me. I know that my own shooting, both in accuracy and speed (and especially point shooting) have improved considerably using the method I described. At ranges, I don't find myself cheating to look for where the shots landed. But when I do eventually go looking, I see that they've landed better than they used to. That's just one guy's particular experience, and I won't say it'll be the same for everyone.

[Bartholomew Roberts]

I picked up the SureStrike laser cartridge. I just use it with a normal target and the laser is bright enough I can register hits without affecting my accuracy. I've found it incredibly useful as a training tool; but all of the use so far has been defensive style shooting on IPSC A-zone targets at less than 10yds.

[DMK]

The LaserLyte target is the only one I have experience with. Its major drawback is that it can record multiple hits if your laser sweeps across it even slightly. If I fire a run of 5 shots, it's common to see 7 or 8 dots show up afterwards. I don't know how well the other methods, i.e. cell phone cameras or whatever, are. The laser pulse lasts long enough to be recorded more than once by my particular target.

That would be annoying. Using the software on my Laptop, I can adjust the sensitivity and avoid that problem.

To the point about "looking over your sights" to watch for a laser--I don't. In close quarters (like almost everywhere in my house) the pulse is bright/large enough on the wall to still be slightly seen behind the front sight, with my eye focused on the sight. At slightly longer distances, seeing no light at all means I hit exactly where I was aiming. In fact, NOT seeing the light would be the goal there. You can get a good enough idea of where it lands without focusing on the target.

Fair enough, and I know you've had some experience and thought about this for a while.

However, I have heard many other folks talk about shooting and looking over or around the front sight for the dot. I just wanted to emphasis that doing that is exactly the wrong way to practice and would be more harmful than just dry firing augmented by technology. Unless one is using an red dot optic (or practicing some advanced unorthodox technique), one needs to focus on the front sight intently, especially in practice.