The thin red line

Guns Magazine, August, 2004 by Zach Foster

For your target, CTC Lasergrips are the stuff of nightmares.

Few areas of technology have advanced at the rate of firearms-mounted lasers. Some 20 years ago the first examples were huge, looking like a five-pound sack of flour screwed to the Ruger Mini-14 and Colt Trooper test beds. Later lasers were smaller and cheaper, but wouldn't hold a zero as long as you could hold your breath and had all the durability of a two-dollar watch.

But those days are gone.

Of all the current laser systems the one to beat is the Lasergrip[R] from Crimson Trace. The sample at hand is fitted to a Browning Hi-Power. What's good about it? Well, the performance of course, but let's get to that in a minute.

Electronics can fail. Batteries go dead. But if the worst were to happen and your Lasergrip were to go toes up (which seems pretty unlikely, they're about as fragile as an anvil), so what? You've still got your iron sights and a rather comfortable pair of wraparound rubber stocks.

What you don't have is some bulbous, goiter like growth hanging off the front of your gun. And yes, they still make that kind of laser--you know, the type for which you can never find a holster to fit after you attach the silly thing to your gat.

So, the Lasergrip doesn't add any undue bulk to your gun, holds up to hard use and keeps its zero perfectly. What else is good about it? First, it's bright. Really bright. Daylight use is no problem, and of course in low light it makes getting good hits a cinch. If you can see it (and identify the target!), you can hit it. Battery life seems very good, and while my unit was nearly perfectly zeroed right out of the box, it's easy to adjust to your needs.

The unit has a manual power down switch, which is a great idea. This way you can switch off while practicing your iron sight skills and not deplete your battery.

Better Than Blurry Sights

So it works great and it's high-speed, low-drag 21st century magic, but there's one other virtue for those of us who have started to get those AARP membership solicitations in the mail.

Everybody under age 40 leave the room. Are they gone? Okay, here's the deal. I don't know about you, but about the same time I started noting nearly as much gray in my beard as brown, the front sights on all my pistols underwent some strange transformation.

What had once been a razor-edged, crisply focused front sight suddenly turned into a furry, indistinct, gelatin-like blob. Sound familiar? Well, these Lasergrips solve that problem. My arms may not be long enough to read the newspaper any more but I can sure see that bright dot out on the target. A little careful trigger pressure and bang I've got another pinwheel.

While it's fun the be able to shoot as well on the practice range as I once did, it's better to have the confidence to know I can--if forced to--see that red dot and shoot well at three o'clock in the morning when weakened from a sound sleep.

Bottom line? Lasergrips from Crimson Trace work well, make placing hits a simple matter in any light condition and they look pretty darn good too. At $329 MSRP they're a mighty good bargain. Crimson Trace Corp, [503] 627-9992, www.crimsontrace.com.