I was planning on getting some, but after reading some of Gabe Suarez's discussions on the warriortalk.com forum, I decided to hold off. His main point was that in his FORCE ON FORCE testing scenarios, folks were not as fast as they thought in getting off their shots. It seems counter intuitive, but I I have not conducted 100's of force-on-force scenario drills/tests/competitions.
For arm's reach self defense to about seven yards, listen now - YOU DO NOT NEED ANY SIGHTS ON YOUR PISTOL. SI grads can hit a man at this range with the stock sights that come on a glock, enhanced sights like trijicons and warrens, and even with red dot sights like the RMR and J Point....even if the battery has been removed and there is no dot.
Additionally, the laser is asserted to have value in specific circumstances (some mentioned above, e.g., sighting at long distance), but the logic is that a red dot would perform much better since the laser point is not easily seen at farther distances during the daylight, where you don't have the issue with a red dot sight. Of course the cost of the red dot is 3-4 times that of the laser, which is a real consideration. He says that he sells lasers, but would not put one on his gun.
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Update On Red Dots and Pistols - Warrior Talk Forums
An excerpt:
... Another proposed solution has been the laser. This attractive techno- advancement seems to give you the answer and on the shooting range, it is a great thing, but it is far too slow in actual practice. It takes excessively long to get that dot just right. Its hard for someone who has dropped $200 or $300 on a laser to admit they made a mistake, but I have yet to see anyone with a laser keep up in our drills if they actually rely on it.
A better solution, again in my opinion, is the pistol mounted red dot sight. There are several, and I got to see many of them at SHOT that I will discuss.
The pistol mounted red dot gives you the ability to focus on the target, and still see the sight indexed perfectly. The red dot is not actually placed on the target as is required with a laser, but is one the same visual plane as the target so it seems like it is. You can focus on the target and still see the dot. There is no visual bounce of focus as you have with steel sights (target - sights - target - front sight - etc.), and those with extreme eye-dominance differences can still keep both eyes open.
Most importantly, a laser on a target at 25 yards is barely visible because as the distance to target increases the appearance of the laser dot decreases. Not so with the mini red dot sights. The dot is one size regardless of the size or distance to target.
These are not for the economically challenged. A red dot of quality will run you about $300 with the best ones reaching $500. A melted low mount will be at least another $100. But in a world where guys will buy free floated handguards for their AR for about the same maybe its not so bad.
The discussions that ensued got a bit heated, in the end the force-on-force training to test use of lasers, red dots, traditional aiming, point shooting, etc. ,,,, seemed to me to be the way to evaluate effectiveness.
If the technology and your appropriate training build your confidence, which is key in an SD scenario, then I would say that is what counts.
