LaserLyte Training in Home and How To

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  • Brent

    #2ALivesMatter
    Nov 22, 2013
    2,656
    Amongst the Deplorables, SC.
    Hey crew!

    So with ammo drying up on shelves, we still need a "real" way of ensuring our fundamentals are tight and right. I started looking into a not-so-new way of training. Laser training is by no means a new idea, but I never brought it into my house.
    I picked up a 9mm LaserLyte trainer from Brownell's for $100. Not the most expensive, not the cheapest, middle of the road! The app that I am using is called iTarget and is free to download. With the app there's a degree of calibration involved but is very easy. Here's a clip of it in action!



    Now through iTarget, you can purchase a target stand for $50. I mean that's great, but I have a woodshop and scrap lumber so the hell with spending money, I like a project. In any event, here is a little clip explaining what I did and how I figured would be the best way to put it together.



    I hope y'all find this helpful and useful. If you have any questions, let me know!! With laser training, there are so many targets and options, which can add up quick. This will get your feet wet without too much investment.

    - Brent

    Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
     

    ToolAA

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Jun 17, 2016
    10,499
    God's Country
    I can’t watch your video yet while at work but I’m check them out later.

    Personally I’ve gone down the laser trainer and electronic target rabbit hole myself with some mixed results but here is my 2cents.

    1) The laserlyte cartridges dont seem to last long. I have one that is an actual barel replacement for my G27 died after maybe 6 months. Others that slip into the chamber or into the muzzle. Some have died for unknown reasons. For the ones that have a rubber mechanical switch on the tail end that rubber seems to get deformed by some firing pins and eventually develops a hole on the back to the point that the firing pin impact doesn’t work it just goes
    Into the void. This can be temporarily fixed with a drop of hot glue but it usually doesn’t last long.

    2) For electronic targets ive downloaded a number of free and paid systems including iTarget. What I’ve found is that unlike a real projectile the laser stays on for a split second. So if you have any movement after pulling the trigger this is going to “Drag” spot on the target from a point to a line. This “Line” effect is what actually causes some problems by confusing the software into not registering or creating multiple impacts on the device. Not a deal breaker but important to know.

    3) In practice I found that iTarget actually worked pretty well while practicing my Service rifle stance and trigger discipline. I know a posted a review here somewhere a few years ago. I couldn’t trust that my impacts were accurate but I concluded that it was better than nothing and added some feedback stimulus to the boring monotonous service rifle practice.

    4) No matter how well I seemed to had done with the dryfire tools I still sucked ass live fire. My takeaway is that the biggest value of dryfire sessions was to reinforce the most basic fundamentals. Hand position and grip, trigger discipline and positioning sights. While I could still practice those things without the laser, having the laser made it a little more fun to practice. The key is to NOT rely on the laser impacts as anything more than fun feedback. If you start to practice only hitting the center of the electronic target you will be practicing fundamentals which have little impact in live fire exercises.

    5) Look into the MantisX. When used dry it can help give usefull feedback on what exactly is happening when you pull the trigger. When used with live fire it provides great feedback. I am a “pusher” meaning in live fire I tend to push the muzzle down. This happens in dry fire too. I would never see this effect using just a laser but the MantisX helps. Specifically in my case say I was only using the laser as feedback and my shots were all consistently low. I could make a few incorrect assumptions that either my laser it my sights were low and compensate by adjusting the laser or simply aiming higher. However I wouldn’t know what was causing my low shots.

    6) One area where I think the laser has added value is quick point and shoot drills not using the sights. Put a cardboard idpa sized torso target in various walls and simply practice point/shoot from say 20ft or so. If I hit anywhere in the target I’ll call that good. I’m surprised that after doing it enough shots get closer to the center of mass even though I’m not really focusing on sights. This is something that I really couldn’t do in live fire unless I had my own property to shoot.

    Good luck.
     

    Brent

    #2ALivesMatter
    Nov 22, 2013
    2,656
    Amongst the Deplorables, SC.
    I can’t watch your video yet while at work but I’m check them out later.

    Personally I’ve gone down the laser trainer and electronic target rabbit hole myself with some mixed results but here is my 2cents.

    1) The laserlyte cartridges dont seem to last long. I have one that is an actual barel replacement for my G27 died after maybe 6 months. Others that slip into the chamber or into the muzzle. Some have died for unknown reasons. For the ones that have a rubber mechanical switch on the tail end that rubber seems to get deformed by some firing pins and eventually develops a hole on the back to the point that the firing pin impact doesn’t work it just goes
    Into the void. This can be temporarily fixed with a drop of hot glue but it usually doesn’t last long.

    2) For electronic targets ive downloaded a number of free and paid systems including iTarget. What I’ve found is that unlike a real projectile the laser stays on for a split second. So if you have any movement after pulling the trigger this is going to “Drag” spot on the target from a point to a line. This “Line” effect is what actually causes some problems by confusing the software into not registering or creating multiple impacts on the device. Not a deal breaker but important to know.

    3) In practice I found that iTarget actually worked pretty well while practicing my Service rifle stance and trigger discipline. I know a posted a review here somewhere a few years ago. I couldn’t trust that my impacts were accurate but I concluded that it was better than nothing and added some feedback stimulus to the boring monotonous service rifle practice.

    4) No matter how well I seemed to had done with the dryfire tools I still sucked ass live fire. My takeaway is that the biggest value of dryfire sessions was to reinforce the most basic fundamentals. Hand position and grip, trigger discipline and positioning sights. While I could still practice those things without the laser, having the laser made it a little more fun to practice. The key is to NOT rely on the laser impacts as anything more than fun feedback. If you start to practice only hitting the center of the electronic target you will be practicing fundamentals which have little impact in live fire exercises.

    5) Look into the MantisX. When used dry it can help give usefull feedback on what exactly is happening when you pull the trigger. When used with live fire it provides great feedback. I am a “pusher” meaning in live fire I tend to push the muzzle down. This happens in dry fire too. I would never see this effect using just a laser but the MantisX helps. Specifically in my case say I was only using the laser as feedback and my shots were all consistently low. I could make a few incorrect assumptions that either my laser it my sights were low and compensate by adjusting the laser or simply aiming higher. However I wouldn’t know what was causing my low shots.

    6) One area where I think the laser has added value is quick point and shoot drills not using the sights. Put a cardboard idpa sized torso target in various walls and simply practice point/shoot from say 20ft or so. If I hit anywhere in the target I’ll call that good. I’m surprised that after doing it enough shots get closer to the center of mass even though I’m not really focusing on sights. This is something that I really couldn’t do in live fire unless I had my own property to shoot.

    Good luck.


    100%. There is no REAL substitute for live fire. The more I shot with this last night, the less “drag” I exhibited in the post-shot follow through. The app did not pick up drag, nor register extra shots. At in home distances, I know for a fact where my shots should fall with this particular firearm and sight set up. There has been plenty of range time to reinforce that knowledge.

    There will never be a substitute for live fire, but I don’t want to dip too far into my reserves at this date due to an unknown in future ammo supply.

    I wish I could pop off 124gr every day, but the laser will do for now. Again, this is purely for fundamental practice.

    Thank you for your $0.02!!!


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     

    ToolAA

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Jun 17, 2016
    10,499
    God's Country
    So old school dryfire is out of the question ?

    I think old school dry fire is still relevant. For me dry firing is a way to concentrate on the simple things like how you grip the gun and pull the trigger.

    However technology has some usefulness here too. The Mantix-X thing actually records the really subtle movements that you make just before, during and after you pull the trigger. The laser light will tell you if you are are on target. When I use both in combination it helped me to really understand how my movements were influencing where my shots were going.
     

    ToolAA

    Ultimate Member
    MDS Supporter
    Jun 17, 2016
    10,499
    God's Country
    Hey crew!

    So with ammo drying up on shelves, we still need a "real" way of ensuring our fundamentals are tight and right.

    Even though I reload I still value my shooting cost as the current cost of ammo. So the last two weeks I shot about 200 rounds at the range. Let’s say that’s probably about 100 bucks.

    I had read about Laserhit software
    https://youtu.be/69p_J08JIw8

    You can download the app and use the software on any apple or android phone or tablet with any laser cartridge. So I downloaded and tried it out. I setup a paper Torso target and pointed my ipad at the target and it worked pretty good. If you have a laser cartridge try it out.

    After playing around with the app I found that they sell an HDMI device so you can display the target image from your tablet onto your TV. This really helps if you are shooting in your basement say 25ft from the targets. Since you cant see your tablet from that far, you can see your TV. You may not need the dongle thing if your phone and TV are already capable of screen sharing.

    dec2ff97ebc47ca849bf0e9762d8c1d8.jpg




    818b727b04d7b78ab5963f0d8ed06649.jpg



    I just played around with it for about 45min and I really like it much better than iTarget. I suggest you give it a try.
     

    Brent

    #2ALivesMatter
    Nov 22, 2013
    2,656
    Amongst the Deplorables, SC.
    Even though I reload I still value my shooting cost as the current cost of ammo. So the last two weeks I shot about 200 rounds at the range. Let’s say that’s probably about 100 bucks.

    I had read about Laserhit software
    https://youtu.be/69p_J08JIw8

    You can download the app and use the software on any apple or android phone or tablet with any laser cartridge. So I downloaded and tried it out. I setup a paper Torso target and pointed my ipad at the target and it worked pretty good. If you have a laser cartridge try it out.

    After playing around with the app I found that they sell an HDMI device so you can display the target image from your tablet onto your TV. This really helps if you are shooting in your basement say 25ft from the targets. Since you cant see your tablet from that far, you can see your TV. You may not need the dongle thing if your phone and TV are already capable of screen sharing.

    dec2ff97ebc47ca849bf0e9762d8c1d8.jpg




    818b727b04d7b78ab5963f0d8ed06649.jpg



    I just played around with it for about 45min and I really like it much better than iTarget. I suggest you give it a try.


    That’s awesome! I am going to look into that, thank you!


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     

    erwos

    The Hebrew Hammer
    MDS Supporter
    Mar 25, 2009
    13,866
    Rockville, MD
    I have THOUGHT about trying to do an IR setup with a SIRT gun (I'm flat-out not going to do visible, it leaves training scars), but dealing with the camera situation looks like a hassle, especially given the general shortage of webcams.
     
    Buy an airsoft gun. Those laser target practice kits are clumsy and don't really recreate a real shooting experience. While I know that the airsoft guns do not provide much in the way of realism they are better than the laser. Several law enforcement agencies that I know of bought airsoft guns back during the 2013 ammo shortage and used those instead of burning through their range ammo
     

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