Compensated Firearms and LowLight Situations, your thoughts desired....

Marion David Poff

Marion David Poff

Joined
Oct 8, 1998
Messages
5,403
So,

I have heard that one would not want to choose a compensated firearm, due to the flash of the discharge being focused up, into your vision, and potentially ruin your night vision.

Your thoughts?
 
That's what I've heard to but have never fired a compensated firearm in the dark. I have fired non compensated handguns in the dark to check muzzle flash and depending upon the ammo used, the flash varied from slight to bright enough that it took my eyes more than 10 seconds to re-adjust.

Another thought assuming you are talking about a defensive situation: how can you be completely sure of your target? You might (I always do) have a flashlight to illuminate your target and verify it's intent. When you light up a Surefire in low light that's a heck of a lot brighter than any handgun round and would ruin your night vision anyway so it wouldn't matter how much flash your firearm makes.
 
Don't worry about the muzzle flash, unless your shooting a 44mag, then it really doesn't matter does it. I've fired a bunch of both, the flash is pretty much a non-issue.

You're going to have to have enough light, ambient or with your flashlight, to identify your target anyway or you shouldn't be taking the shot. Remember, a miss goes a long way and may go into the next house and hit a kid in bed.

If you shoot the comp. gun better, use it. But the comp. really only helps get back on target for the follow up shot, not the first shot. Plus, I hate to clean the little comp. ports.

Few actually practice low-light shooting at all. So find a way!!

Be Safe,

Brad
 
Some shooting instructors have another concern with using a ported barrel for self-defense. They feel that the hot gases being blasted up perpendicular to where the muzzle is pointing could injure or disorient the shooter. If there is time to take a proper grip and stance, like at the range, it doesn't matter. But in a defensive situation, who knows what kind of odd grip or angle a person might have to shoot from. I don't know if this is a real issue or not, since I don't own any ported guns.
 
I have fired both ported and regular barrel autos and revolvers in very dim light. I was surpised at the flash on top of the gun and this distracted me fom the sight picture and target for the next shot.
The flash varies according to the ammo.
Its intresting in that a low flash from an unported may have a very large and sparking discharge in a ported weapon.
Like all things that you depend on with you life, you need to try it out in you own weapon and pratice.
This is just my experience.:D
 
Main reason why a defensive handgun for me would never have ports is because if you have to shoot from a close held position(where the gun is relatively close to your waist, and the opponent is pretty close to you) there is a likelihood of having gasses from the port launched into your face, which is very distracting.

TC
 
All of you seem right to me. The comp. really will have no effect that you really need on a defensive gun, and it can be a brighter blast when the guns is fired but that point is nule since pretty much and handgun with a caliber over .32 will have muzzle flash enough to throw your eyes off for a few seconds at night. When we were doing gun evalutaions for my department Glock sent me out serveal guns to try one was a 22 .40cal with comp. we tried but really could not tell any difference between it and a standard 22 not enough to justify it's downfalls by any means, the downfalls? one being the close quaters shots if the gun is near your body or face, another is the fact most Police officers are not very good at maintaing thier duty weapons and the comp. collects dust depris and other junk when carried daily and I didnt want my lazy Officers to have any more chance of getting screwed in a gun fight then they already would, even if it is a small chance.

So you have 3 reasons why not to carry a comp gun as a defensive weapon: 1. muzzle flash in eyes 2. Muzzle flash close to body/face 3. Maintence. and four: It cost more for very little advantage it would give.

I recommend the Glock 19F :)
 
Two LEOs I spoke with recently both had compensated barrels.

One said the flash was a non issue, because as mentioned above, his use of a highpowered light negated the night blindness.

The other dumped the compensated barrel because it was shaving bits of the bullet jacket off and causing the bullets to keyhole.

IMO, compensated bbls are nice but if you can hit what you aim at rapidly, isn't that enough? I avoid compensated bbls because they are LOUD.
 
Whenever this subject is mentioned, people always bring up these same two arguments, and most of them are just repeating what they heard, having never tried shooting a compensated gun in the dark or practiced weapon retention techniques.

I have shot them in the dark, and it's very much dependent on the ammo you choose. It hasn't been hard for me to find 9mm and .45 rounds without that much flash. In addition, as someone said, you shouldn't be shooting in complete darkness anyway, if you're identifying your target.

As far as the gasses in the face thing is concerned, I haven't practiced shooting compensated guns close to my face, but even if the remote possibility of such a thing were to happen, I doubt you'd even notice it in the heat of battle, and a few powder burns would be worth saving your life.

That being said, I don't notice any particular advantage to compensated guns either. I have an S&W 625 with a removable compensator, and I honestly don't notice much of a difference, so I leave it off. The only exception I know of is my Marvel .22 1911 conversion, in which the compensator's ports and additional weight eliminate *all* muzzle flip.

I wouldn't buy a ported or compensated gun for a carry weapon, but if it was what I had, I wouldn't hesitate to use it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top