I know there are a bunch of gun nuts... er... enthusiasts on here so I'm hoping you can help me out. I have a Taurus PT92 (9mm semi-auto pistol) and I can't aim worth a damn. I have it for home protection. I was hoping a laser sight would help, but a guy at the gun shop said they aren't that accurate. Here's the one I'm looking at:

http://www.lasermax.com/product.php?id=147

I like it because it's internal so there's no bulky junk hangin' off the gun. I'm only concerned about relatively close range (since my house isn't that big). Even if they aren't 100% accurate, I figure it'll still help me given I can't even hit the target at 25 yards. I don't want to spend $400 on the thing if it doesn't work, though.

Thanks in advance.

 

Before you drop loot on a mechanical aid that will only allow you to point out where your shots are going wrong, find someone who can coach you on your technique. You NEED to learn the basics of firing a weapon.

Breathing
Trigger squeeze
Stance & hold

Work on THOSE, FIRST, then think about the laser. Here's why:

If your technique sucks all a laser sight will do is prove what you already know, you shoot for ****.

Talk with the guys at your local range. Ask one of them to take you through some dry-fire dime-washer drills, or some similar practice, to steady your hold and develop a smooth trigger-pull.

Then...

Work your way through a few thousand rounds, over time, and you will see that it's all about your technique, not gadgets.

 

yeah dudes right time at the range is the best thing you can do instead of investing in a 400 doller lazer join a local rod and gun club and get some range time in youll be suprised in how much you learn by fellow gun owners... but sometimes lazer sights work.. they did for me in iraq but this is neither here nor there

 

By the time you got to Iraq you had learned HOW to shoot. The laser didn't help your technique. If you yank or jerk the trigger a laser isn't gonna help that. If your breathing won't let you steady your hold a laser won't help with that.

OP, it's not as if the bullet's gonna "follow" the laser. You need high-end munitions for that, and you can't afford a few hundred G's/round. ALL a laser will do, for you, until yo better your technique, as I said, is illuminate, literally, how much you suck at aiming.

Same as $2500.00 worth of gear won't make you a Quarterback, or a world-class, downhill, Super-G skier, or sitting in an F1 car allow you to challenge Lewis for a grillion-dollar racing contract.

You GOTTA learn the basics, FIRST!!!
THEN, you GOTTA practice them hundreds of times.
If you're looking for help you obviously were not blessed with natural shooting talent.
There ain't no short-cuts, in life.

Learn that, now, or be prepared to spend your life spending LOTS of money not quite getting "it."

 

if your going to spend money spend it on practice. next spend it on more practice, then spend it on a light. if you hear a bump in the nigh its better to light up your target with a light because you will temporarily blind them and you can also acquire and determine if they are a threat. a laser wont help in the dark of night, they don't illuminate anything. that being said i have looked at getting the same thing for my Sig.

 

Best home defense weapon is a pump shotgun like a Mossberg 500. A lot more cleanup than a single shot, but low light sleepy vision aiming is almost idiot-proof. And you don't have to worry about wall penetration into another house. Point in the general direction, pump, and pull the trigger. If the muzzle flash doesn't blind you and the bad guy, repeat until he stops moving.

 

Best advice right there, I meet a guy who trains guys at Blackwater and he started giving me pointers and my accuracy went way up.

And PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE.

I conceal carry, and one of the things I've been practicing lately is draw and fire. I want to be able to draw my weapon and hit the target as quickly as possible in a life threatening situation.

 

All good advise, and appreciated. However it still doesn't answer the question as to the accuracy of the laser sight itself. I wonder because the mechanism is situated in a part of the gun that moves around. I assume it replaces the post that the spring goes over, which must move around a bit, and that would throw off the direction.

 

It does replace the spring retainer under the barrel however to my knowledge it does not move enough to seriously affect performance. As far as I know some of the most popular laser sights are from Crimson Trace: http://www.crimsontrace.com/ Their sights go in the grip of the pistol, not under the barrel.

 

I took apart both of my guns and the guide rod doenst have much room to move once the slide is on the frame. it runs parallel to the barrel so it will be accurate at some point in the bullets path. there is no adjustment on the laser so if its off you cant really do anything about it.