PERSONAL DEFENSE WORLD
Pistolero Motion Shooter, Will Dabbs, MD, Feb. 23, 2015
Hone Your Shooting Skills Indoors with the Pistolero PistoLaser Motion Shooter
Now that the panic buying seems to be abating, most everyone in America who wants a gun has a gun. Ammuntion can still be an iffy proposition, but for the most part this new crop of American gun owners now just needs to train. As formal shooting facilities are hard to find or are expensive in many parts of the country, American industry has stepped forward with some novel solutions.
Shooting skills are neither natural nor permanent. The iterative experience needed to establish proficiency with a firearm and then keep those skills sharp requires practice that is repetitive and focused. Some folks just naturally shoot better than others, but to stay good everybody needs plenty of trigger time.
There was a time when surplus ammunition was dirt cheap and nobody really cared much where you did your shooting. I recall a day when Chinese 7.62x39mm ammo was $79 per thousand rounds, and for just a little bit more they would throw in an SKS to shoot it through. Alas, those days are long gone.
Nowadays even the cheap steel-cased imported stuff is expensive, and many calibers are simply not available. Additionally, the expansion of shooting range facilities has not kept up with the explosion of new shooters. As a result, many Americans, particularly those in urban areas, lack access to suitably convenient range areas at any price. To address these issues, the Robert Louis Company of Newtown produces a fascinating indoor training system.
The Big Picture
We need to understand what this system is and what it is not. The Pistolero PistoLaser Motion Shooter is a safe, indoor-training tool that teaches sight utilization on moving targets with what are essentially zero operating costs. As there is no recoil, mechanical trigger reset or magazine changes, this system is not a true firearms simulator, however.
The system includes a tripod-mounted laser projector with a wide exit aperture called a LaserPro. The LaserPro device can project either one or two laser dots that are either stationary or sweep across a room at an infinitely adjustable speed. The two dots can be set to sweep side by side or spread out to assist with calculating lead for shotgun shooters. This system can be set up in essentially any room to provide a moving target in a variety of environments. Set it up in a gymnasium for distance work or to simulate trap shooting. Place it in your living room to practice room clearing in a familiar environment.
The gun piece of this system includes a laser projector that fits onto a variety of mandrels called “spuds.” These spuds are configured for various calibers and incorporate brass ball bearings to prevent bore damage. Once tightly installed, the point of impact may be adjusted using an included hex key to align the laser dot with the sights.
There are several trigger switch configurations, and the most natural wraps around a weapon’s existing trigger. Alternative finger ring-mounted switches are available for guns with solid triggers like those on 1911s that do not lend themselves to the earlier design. Two of them incorporate a small electronic microswitch that is connected to the laser projector via a discrete wire. The trigger on the shotgun version is a metal loop that wraps around the trigger finger and uses the chassis of the weapon to complete the firing circuit. Once configured and zeroed, the weapon-mounted projector fires a red laser dot along the gun’s bore axis.
Practical & Tactical
It takes a little discipline to use this device effectively. The target is a moving red dot or pair of dots, and the simulated projectile is another laser dot. There is a subconscious drive to use the splash of the weapon’s dot to walk your rounds onto the target, but this defeats the purpose. The point of the system is to use the gun’s sights and then register how close or far the weapon’s splash is to the moving target dots. However, once you get the hang of it, the PistoLaser Motion Shooter really does enhance instinctive gunmanship.
The downside to the system rests primarily with the impracticality of simulating recoil, magazine changes and realistic trigger work on a genuine firearm without a prohibitively expensive system or facility. The upside is what the company calls “real instant feedback training,” or RIFT. Each shot informs the shooter instantly of how close or far he is from the target dots.
The portability of the system allows it to be used in areas like your home where a legitimate defensive engagement might actually occur. The system allows for the use of your existing handguns, shotguns and rifles with appropriate adaptors to gain familiarity with the weight of the actual firearms from all shooting positions. Using the PistoLaser Motion Shooter, the operator can practice shooting from a stairwell, bathroom or living room while behind cover, around a corner or on his or her belly. The LaserPro target laser is rechargeable, and the weapon-mounted laser runs on button cells, so operational costs are essentially non-existent.
Shooting skills are perishable. Opportunities to engage moving targets with live ammunition are almost non-existent, yet most every practical defensive exchange will involve movement on the part of both the defender and the assailant. The PistoLaser Motion Shooter from the Robert Louis Company facilitates safe and economical training on sight usage against mobile targets, all within the confines of the home. So long as the operator realizes the necessary limitations on the system and has appropriate expectations regarding the physiology to be trained, the PistoLaser Motion Shooter is a proper tool. Fifteen minutes on the system three times a week will keep your eye-hand coordination sharp without any cost, mess or inconvenience.
For more information, visit http://www.pistolaser.com or call 800-979-9156.
