# Shooting In Low Light



## watchmaker (Jul 6, 2007)

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 conjunction with the Borealis 1050 lumens light.

The Harries technique










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.
For lights with switch on the top (as the Magcharger, Stinger and Borealis) the index finger is used to press the switch down without clicking it on (if you drop your light you don't want it to illuminate you)
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.

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 on the gun

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 or Stingers and for the modification of the Maglite like the Borealis 1050 lumens flashlight.

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.

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 big room, warehouse or backyard, 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.

These positions I have shown here will work with big lights too (except for the cigar position), the thing you will have to remember is that when you need a light in a hairy situation you need it badly and that two is better than one, so a big light in your hand to blind you opponent and another smaller light in your belt as a back up is better than only one. (two is one and one is none).

Cheers
Watchmaker


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## Mike Barham (Mar 30, 2006)

Mas Ayoob also came up with his own, which I learned from him at LFI-1 and he also shows in the first StressFire book. It's a speed technique where the thumbs are simply pressed together, with the light held with the bezel "up" (toward the thumb).

It works okay, though I see little need for a speed flashlight technique. It's not like you don't know it's dark, and if you are looking for someone in the dark, you have time to set up one of the above techniques.

Ayoob taught me Chapman with the flashlight fingers wrapping around the gun fingers, rather than the "fingernail to fingernail" technique demonstrated above.

There is also the "jaw" or "neck" flashlight hold where the hands don't touch. This requires shooting with one hand, which maybe isn't such a big deal since few people will be trying for 15 yard hits in the dark.

The arrival of the small "tactical" flashlights like the Surefire and Streamlight have really opened up the gun/flashlight techniques. You could never do a Rogers with a D-cell MagLite unless you had hands the size of a catcher's mitt. As well, the big lights were more fatiguing to hold in the ready or firing positions than the little lights.


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## propellerhead (May 19, 2006)

The IDPA club I'm in had a low light match. It was quite an eye opener. I realized that I would rather have a wide beam flashlight that illuminates the room than a concentrated beam that lights up a spot. In a low light situation, the bright white spotlight makes you focus on just the spot. Since it is a bright spot, you lose sight of what's around it while you're busy focusing that bright spot on the target. Once you light up the target you still have to aim your pistol. In the end, it took me a longer time to get oriented. Having your hands together like in the Harries or reverse Harries doesn't guarantee your gun is pointing where your flashlight is pointing. If it was a gun mounted light, it would be a different story. The gun would always be aimed where the bright spot was. With a handheld spot light you have two things to focus, the light and the gun. This is why I feel a wide broadcast flashlight will have the advantage. You can just point the light towards the floor in front of the target and get a bigger picture without having one bright white spot.

Edit: Without night sights, I used the jaw/cheek method to light up the area and my shooting hand. This is another reason why a broadcast light would be better.


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## Mike Barham (Mar 30, 2006)

You can shine a spot beam at the ceiling and the light diffusion will usually illuminate most of a room. A spot beam also gives you the ability to (theoretically) blind an opponent. Not sure how well that works with a more diffuse beam.

If you do Harries correctly, the light should be coaxial to the bore, or very close to it. It does take some training and practice. I use Harries and it works well for me. When the big MagLites were popular, one accepted Harries modification was to situate the barrel of the light against the strong forearm for a repeatable index. This is obviously impossible with a light that disappears in the palm, however.


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## propellerhead (May 19, 2006)

Aiming the flashlight upwards can ruin your night vision by blinding you unless you make it a point to hold it above your head. 

Speaking of losing your night vision, a few of the guys that had night sights said they couldn't see their sights after the first shot.


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## Mike Barham (Mar 30, 2006)

propellerhead said:


> Aiming the flashlight upwards can ruin your night vision by blinding you unless you make it a point to hold it above your head.


Uhhh, yeah, don't look at the light when you do it. Just point it away from your eyes. I've never blinded myself doing it. You don't point it straight up while holding it next to your face.

In fact, I just tried it again here in my darkened hooch. I can still see.



> Speaking of losing your night vision, a few of the guys that had night sights said they couldn't see their sights after the first shot.


Low flash ammo is your friend.


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## propellerhead (May 19, 2006)

Mike Barham said:


> Uhhh, yeah, don't look at the light when you do it. Just point it away from your eyes. I've never blinded myself doing it. You don't point it straight up while holding it next to your face.
> 
> In fact, I just tried it again here in my darkened hooch. I can still see.


If I hear a noise at night and go investigate, I am most likely going to be holding the flashlight around above waist level slightly forward. Like a non-tacticool person would. It's more natural to me. It's the same arm and hand position as grabbing a door knob to open it. And if I do have to open a door, my shooting hand will stay up and ready and my flashlight hand will grab the door knob. If I have to acquire a sight picture of my target while moving across the room and falling on the floor, I can't say I'm special enough to coordinate all my movement to avoid catching a little light in my face from my own flashlight. I just think it would be less likely (not guaranteed) if I were shinning the light down than up. Besides, if I were out in my backyard, shinning the light up won't help.

If I was ever in a situation where someone is breaking in or has broken into my house, I still prefer a rail mounted laser/light combo.


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## JeffWard (Aug 24, 2007)

A little late on this loop... but my two cents.

1) We'll assume it is a home invader.
2) We'll assume I've already yelled at the guy down stairs, telling him "I'm armed, and to get the F___ out of my house!"
3) Now we're assuming he hasn't already left, and he's willing to die for what he came for....

Now... The flashlight...

1) I have always trained myself to shoot defensively one handed. It's all inside 20 feet, and my left hand is often quite busy w/ doors, curtains, lights, or my loved ones. And I'm a much smaller target from the side.
2) I know every inch of my house in the dark. He doesn't. Why help him?
3) I have a laser on my home defense weapon, and above average night vision...

The giant Mag light is in my left hand, light off. The gun is in my right hand, with the laser off. If I can't identify my target in the dark, he gets the light. If I can... he gets the laser. If he's dumb enough to do anything other than flee, or drop everything and give up, he gets the lead.

If you're dependant on "Weaver Technique" you are 1) presenting a bigger target, 2) unable to shoot effectively if you've taken a hit to either arm, 3) unable to move obstacles and find your way in the dark, and 4) taking too damn much time to shoot from anything other than a conventional position.

If you are depending on a self-defense weapon without a laser... you're just plain nuts. Evolve... lol

I shoot very well, at the range for score, with iron sights, BTW.

If you're shooting back, I don't have to find any front blade. I can hit you100% of the time from around the corner in the mirror, from the hip, left handed.... if I can paint you, I can hit you. And my sight radius is 15-20 FEET! I can chose which ventricle to punch if you give me 2 seconds.

Just my two cents... okay, maybe a buck 50...

Jeff


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## SemoShooter (Jul 5, 2007)

I took a low light tactical class this weekend. If you have never done this I suggest that you find a GOOD trainer and take a low light class. It will change many things that you THINK you would do to some tactical methods that will work.


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