| Review By: Bill Graham aka the Graybeard | Review Posted on: Tue, Jan 08, 2002 |
| Manufactured by: Crimson Trace Corporation | |
| Product Reviewed: Crimson Trace Laser Grips - Part I | |
| Review Status: tc | |
| Description of Product | |
| On the afternoon of Dec. 9, 1999 I received two of Crimson Trace
Corporation's Laser Grips for a Product Evaluation and Test. The following day I opened the boxes and put them on a couple of S&W revolvers for a Product Test. I received one set for the S&W J-frame revolver which I installed on a S&W Model 60 3" in .357 Magnum. The fit was snug but installation proved easy and took at most 5 minutes including the time to read the instruction manual that comes with each Laser Grip, take off the old grips and replace them with the Laser Grip. Call me a dummy and regarding electronic devices maybe I am but I confess to being a bit confused over which side of the batteries went up vs. down. Luckily I got it right the first time and the laser worked when I hit the button. I recommended to Crimson Trace that they consider adding a line to the battery installation instructions for dummies like me to tell us which side of battery goes up. Ya'll probably would have know already. The other set of Laser Grips fit S&W K,L and N-Frame revolvers with square butt. They were placed on a S&W Model 18 for testing. Crimson Trace uses a neat little plastic insert behind the frame between frame and grip to allow the use with both frame sizes (K and L use same grips but the larger N normally requires a different set of grips). Neat idea. I found the factory adjustment appeared to be about right on for the J-Frame when mounted on the M60 but the ones placed on the Model 18 needed a bit of tweaking. When I did the actual shooting with them later I found I needed to do very little fine tuning of this preliminary adjustment. The instruction manual recommends you align the laser dot to coincide with the alignment of the sights on the gun at some convenient distance and they recommend 50 feet. Since I have a nice dark stone on my rock wall about 75 feet from the bedroom window this is what I used for the initial adjustment. Adjustment was quick and easy. It sure doesn't take much adjustment of the small screw so don't get carried away and make a half turn like I did at first. The adjustment screws are on the right side panel just above the laser diode. I found the laser dot to be very bright and easy to see even out to 50 yards in daylight on a cloudy day. Further testing of the visibility both day and night proved the laser to be easily visible during all but brightly sunlit days. Inside even in brightly lit rooms the dot is bright and clear. The diameter is small enough that precision shooting proved easy at 25 yards but large enough to be easily seen under all conditions. One test I just couldn't pass on trying, was to see how visible the laser is from the side. One of the negatives I've often heard from folks regarding the use of lasers in personal defense situations is that if you have the laser on it makes you a good target for anyone who is in the general area. Don't think so! From across a normal size room I had my wife hold the gun with laser on while I moved about the room to see just where I would be able to see the laser source and where I wouldn't. From 15' the laser had to be on my shoulder before I could see the source and even then all I saw was just the thinnest sliver of red coming from it. Based on this I'm confident that inside of my home and probably yours too anyone who sees the source diode will have the beam on them and therefore I'll be ready to shoot if need be before they are able to pick me out from seeing the diode on the gun. I've long heard this was a real handicap in the use of laser sights but at least with the Crimson Trace Laser Grips I don't see why it should be. In the hand the grips felt comfortable but not quite so much so as the Pachmayrs I removed to install them. The J-Frame grips are of the "boot grip" style and therefore might be a bit short for use with full .357 Magnum loads for the recoil shy but proved to be no problem for me during the shooting test. They are fine for easy concealment. The larger set on my Model 18 are somewhat large for best concealment but then not too many folks use full size revolvers on the K,L or N-Frame for concealed carry. For home use they are just fine. The larger K,L,N model has a small switch on the bottom of the grip to allow you to turn off the laser to prevent inadvertently running down the battery should the push switch used during deployment happen to come in contact with something to depress it while in storage. The smaller grips for the J-Frame don't have this feature. My impression of these grips is positive. I like the small bright dot and the easy adjustment. I'm definitely happy that the laser diode on the gun is not visible by someone to the side. If they see me holding the gun then I'll already have the laser on their person and I think that might be of more concern to the bad guy than looking for the source. I think there is a certain "intimidation" factor involved in having that little red dot shining on the bad guy. It gives the impression that if the trigger is pulled they are in deep trouble. That factor is missing with any other sighting device whether the perception of imminent danger is real or not. Dec. 18, 1999 was a cloudy day and seemed a good choice for the outdoor shooting test of the two revolvers on which I had placed the Crimson Trace Laser Grips. The revolvers were: 1) S&W Model 60 3" .357 Magnum and 2) S&W Model 18 4" .22LR. I began the testing, after waiting for a short rain shower to end using the S&W 18. I found the initial sight in using the procedure recommended by Crimson Trace was nearly dead on at 25 yards. I had sighted it in initially by aligning the laser dot to same POI as the iron sights. Using this method I found the group to be about 1.25" left and about the same high at 25 yards. Close enough for accuracy testing. Six shot groups averaged about 2" at 25 yards using the laser for sighting and that's as good or better than I've been shooting this particular revolver using the factory iron sights due to my tired old eyes. I think with more time and practice I can improve on the groups using the Laser. Next I moved to the S&W 60 using full power Magnum loads of 19.0 grains of W296 under Remington 125 grain SJHPs. This load has proven quite accurate in this little revolver for me in the past. Groups again averaged just a bit under 2" which is about the best I've gotten from this short barrel beast. The recoil with the "boot style" grip of the Crimson Trace Laser Grips was a bit less comfortable than the larger rubber grips it normally wears but not that bad and it certainly didn't seem to affect the accuracy. The POI using this one was even closer than with the rimfire. The groups were dead on for elevation and about an inch left after the initial sight in as recommended by Crimson Trace. I'm very well pleased and impressed with these Laser Grips. The laser dot is bright and easy to see on a cloudy day but not on a bright sunny day for outside use and is plenty bright enough for all inside lighting conditions and for night time use. Accuracy when using them is as good as or better than with the regular sights on the gun. They take up no extra space and don't require a change in holsters which is important to me considering the cost of holsters I have for these guns. Crimson Trace Laser Grips have earned the Graybeard Seal of Approval for their performance during these tests. If you are looking for a laser sight for your handgun and if your handgun is on the list offered by Crimson Trace I'd suggest you give them a try. For a full list of the guns Crimson Trace offers their lasers for go to the Crimson Trace Home Page |
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| S&W J-Frame Revolver -
Specifications
class IIIa laser. Maximum output that federal law and current technology allow. (Also available in infrared for law enforcement and military only.) 0.5" diameter @ 50 feet batteries (included); over four hours of on-time use and a five year shelf life. switch. Three year full warranty.
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| S&W K, L and N Revolver -
Specifications
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| For more information on the S&W
J-Frame |
Click HERE | |
| For more information on the S&W K, L and N-Frame
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Click HERE | |
| For a Free catalog from Crimson Trace | Click HERE |