[Correia]

My club just shot a night match. Tons of fun.

www.udpl.net/results/ResultsInfoByTime8-30-03.htm I did okay I guess. :)

Out under the stars, having to use your Surefires to engage targets. It was a blast. And it is also a great way to practice your low light flashlight techniques.

I would recommend that you guys try this in your local clubs if you have not yet. Night shoots are a blast. This is the second one we have had here in Utah this year, and it even makes shooting in the summer time pleasant.

Has anybody else tried having a night match? What are your opinons?

[kotengu]

"I did okay I guess"

Yeah - I guess we'll let you slide with YET ANOTHER FIRST PLACE :rolleyes:

Man, I wish I could get out and shoot as much as you do - you must either have the range in your backyard, or have nothing else in your life going on........can you hear the envy in my typing????

Back to the topic - we had a stage in the 3-gun match last weekend where you had to enter a "dark house" which had been completely blacked out and engage targets with your Surefire as you described. I'd done it once before at a training class, but never gone directly from blinding sun to pitch black, then right back to blinding sun again. Many issues came up that I hadn't thought of before (like pausing as you exit the dark to let your eyes adjust - could be very dangerous) - there also weren't many people spotting/shooting, then turning the light off and moving and doing it again to the next target. Most simply left the light on the whole time (even when they shoved it in their pants - that was kind of funny to see....:D

[444]

My club in Las Vegas shoots night matches in July and August; when it is far too hot to shoot during the day. I don't get to make many of the matches because of my work schedule, but I did make the August night match.
I fell apart like a cheap suit. This of course is one of the great things about competition. You might think you know something, but can you do it when someone requires performance on demand ? I found myself overwhelmed with too many things to think about. I had a malfunction during the match and had to not only go through the malfunction drill, but had to deal with the light at the same time. I had the light on a lanyard, but after clearing I forgot to use the light again, just fired the rest of the shots pointing.
The night we had the match, there was a pretty bright moon. You could easily identify the outline of the targets, but not your sights. This made me a believer in the utility of nightsights.
Like any other skill, night shooting requires practice and I know that I certainly don't do anywhere near enough of it to be good. And, there is no reason for it. When it is 110 degrees during the day, why not practice at night. It makes practice a lot more pleasent and also would allow me to perfect my night shooting technique. And it certainly needs a lot of work.

[Correia]

Kotengu, I actually only get to go shooting 2-3 times a month. (August was a fluke with 4 matches) I wish I had a range in my back yard! Believe me, that is one of my goals in life. :)

444 brings up a good point. Lots of things we are used to doing in the light suddenly become much harder in the dark. One stage required a tac reload, and my larynard got in the way. I ended up not seating the mag fully, so when I got back into it I fired one shot, and then click, tap, rack bang.

Night sights are wonderful things. Last night match we had I got whooped by one guy, he was shooting a 1911 with night sights. Since that match he got himself a nicer custom 1911, but with no night sights. He told me that it made this match a whole lot harder. Personally I use Ashley Express sights and I absolutely love them. Great big bright green ball on a green post. Makes a super fast sight picture.

One stage was pure evil. A strobe light was placed to the side of the shooter while we engaged a runner. That strobe light sucked. I shot it last in my squad, and I was ready to barf by the time we finished. :)
Between the strobe and the fact we were all wearing little glow sticks on our hats to prevent accidents it looked like a rave party.

One thing I would like to do for the next one is get one of our LEO shooters to bring their squad car, then we could shoot a stage with the red and blue flashers on.

[Prodigalshooter]

We shoot one flashlight only stage almost evry month the last 5 or 6 months and it is very challenging. As mentioned above, these things are hard to practice for; lanyards get tangled with mag changes etc. Once I was doing OK, then realized I'd missed a threat target and moved to engage, but instead of bracing my gun hand over and on top of my flashlight hand, I ended up with the flashlight hand behind the gun hand. When the next double tap was sent off, the slide hit and cut the flashlight hand. :rolleyes: Ouch. I'm getting better, but it is a real tough learning curve! Fun, but tough.

[444]

I did the same thing in another of my screw ups. Somehow I ended up with the flashlight behind the gun and firing one handed. It actually worked fine, the targets were close, but I didn't get any style points.

[Dr.Rob]

Cool idea. Bring your most experienced SO's.

[Matthew_Q]

The club I shoot matches with down here puts on a night match in the winter months after the carbine match in the afternoons. I haven't attended one yet, as I've only been going to the matches since the end of last year, but I hear they're a BLAST.

[Smoke]

I first experienced a night shoot at gun school. I was feeling pretty cocky with my performance up until that point. The darkness humbled me. (I blamed it on the sleet hitting my muffs at the time)

I have continued to shoot at the same school and we always do a night shoot. When possible, I shoot at my range at tnight too.

A note on Night sights. I thought they were a must have after my first pitiful effort. So I got some. After practicing my flashlight techniques, I found I shoot better with my Para Ord with no tritiums than I do my Kimber with them. Why? Because I shoot the Para Ord better in the day time. its more comfortable and fits my hand best. Tritiums are great for low light, but when a flashlight is called for I find they are not necessary. i get plenty of wash from the light to get good sight picture. YMMV

My $.02

Smoke

[444]

I find that when using a flashlight, I can see my sights just fine. The problem is, what if you don't have a flashlight. Examples: you drop the flashlight. You just don't have a flashlight for whatever reason. You find out that you batteries are dead or the bulb broke at the worst possible time. You are surpised in the middle of the night, in your home, and have to shoot immediately and don't have time to pick up the gun and light, etc.
Having night sights is just another option open to you when Murphy comes calling.
I have also heard the comment about: if it is too dark to see your sights, then you shouldn't shoot at all because you can't clearly identify your target. Like all these caveats bandied around the internet, they have some truth to them, but you can also come up with any number of senarios where it doesn't hold true. Plus as I mentioned in my previous post, the one IDPA night match I shot had bright moonlight; I could easily see the target but not my sights. One reason for this was that at least one of the stages had the shooter inside a building and the targets outside in the moonlight. Obviously another another use for night sights is simply shooting in matches, schools, or personal training at night. Shooting at night is a fun variation to your regular practice, and it is a good way to beat the heat. Why not be as versitile as you can be. You may never need night sights, but it is nice to have them there in case you do.

[Prodigalshooter]

We just had another dark stage on Sunday, it was a good one. It was a house clearing scenario, there was a diagram on the door before the shooter went into the set-up, it showed the basic floor plan, but not how many threat or no-shoots there were. The RO made sure everyone understood that time was not the major factor in this stage, but rather, technique and using cover etc. Most people did pretty well, but we all need more practice doing mag changes.:o
I helped set it up the night before and it was still challenging, I didn't clean the stage by any means! I agree that night sights are kinda superfluous when you have a flashlight, but agree that w/o one the little glowing dots are very helpful.

[rock jock]

We shoot a night match every month, just like the regular match. Typically we shoot four stages over two hours with low light, flishlights, and no lights at all. The latter is very helpful in learning to use your nightsights. Most folks do equally well with flashlights and no lights since the tradeoff between holding a flashlight is use lose a complete two-hand grip.

[TonyB]

Last sunday we had a no-light night...I need to practice this more.......holding the flash light while shooting and actually having the light on the target is difficult........It was fun tho,the muzzle flash and all is cool......we try to do no light every couple of months.......:cool:

[Tree Rat]

How many shoot strong hand only and hold the light seperate from your grip?

TR

[TonyB]

I tried that way but all I can see is the shaddow of the gun on the target...so I hold the light in my weak hand right up to the gun.......still real hard tho....:confused:

[Eskimo Jim]

Corriera,
that's a great standing.

I used to shoot in a local IDPA league and they regularly had a flashlight stage. I think that last year they had a couple flashlight matches where all of the stages required a flashlight. Some of their matches are weak hand only or strong hand only. They mix it up pretty well.

They also have a 'frame' with flashing lights on it to mimic a traffic stop or police officer's response to a scene. Try shooting with a strobe only, no flashlight. It is tough. Since shooting a stage like that, I've noted that many policemen turn off the front strobes when they make a traffic stop and turn on a solid white light.

I typically use a Surefire Z2 with a surefire/rodger's technique. I hold the flashlight like a syringe and match up my flashlight hand to my gun hand. I find that I'm actually a little more accurate with my flashlight than without it. I depress the button on the back when I move, reload etc. I try to only have the flashlight on when I'm lighting up a target.

-Jim