Gone in a flash...

We live quite a ways out from the nearest city and it always amazes me how dark it can get when there isn't much ambient light around like you'd find in town.  Over the years, I've known a lot of folks... even a few in law enforcement, the military, and competition shooters... that have shot for many years and yet have never fired a gun in the dark like a basement without lights or the darkness of a moonless night. 

No matter how good you think you are, how awesome those tritium sights are you've watched as you've shot or dry-fired a thousand times, or how bright that weapon light is... when you shoot in the dark, you need to be ready for the muzzle flash created by your guns and the brief re-adjustment you'll need because of it.

Now in the photos I've taken to illustrate my point, you'll see that with regular, off-the-shelf factory ammunition... handguns like the Ruger LCR revolver firing 130 grain .38 Special +P's and the Ruger SR9 semi-auto pistol with a Streamlight TLR-1s mounted on the rail firing 124 grain 9mm +P's can give you a pretty good muzzle flash just a couple of feet in front of your face.

Use of a flashlight or weapon light might mitigate some of the adjustment needed, but that's assuming you have it on constantly... which often I don't.  I tend to turn it on as needed, especially if I don't want to give away my location or position.... and in the dark of the night, you'll probably not see your hands and firearm like you do in these photos as you won't have a camera with a flash unit lighting things up.

A couple of shots fired in a row can leave your field of vision dark with a few spots as your eyes momentarily adjust.  We're fortunate with our own shooting range out back to be able to occasionally... if not regularly... practice shooting in low-light, dark, or even pitch-black conditions.

You'll also find that different firearms and ammunition combinations produce different amounts of muzzle flash, and a flash-hider or flash suppressor on a gun... like the Ruger SR-556c above... can greatly reduce the muzzle flash. You can see just a hint of the glow from the burning powder about three inches out from the muzzle and a few spots venting through the flash hider/suppressor.

If you want to practice in the dark or experience the actual muzzle flash from your firearms, you might check with a local range and see if they have a time or the willingness to allow time to be scheduled to practice shooting in low-light or dark conditions.  I know some indoor ranges have low-light scenarios set up for IDPA, three-gun, and other competitions.  Just remember... always be sure of your target and what is beyond it... especially in low-light or dark conditions.

Finally, on a side note... if you've ever wondered about or been a student of mine and heard my instruction about watching your thumb placement, especially for folks with big hands and short, snubby revolvers... you can see the gases escaping in the tiny gap between the front of the cylinder and the breech end of the barrel.  You don't want your thumb covering that area.

So if you haven't practiced in the dark lately... or ever... you might want to plan ahead and give it a try... otherwise when things go bump in the night and nocturnal predators are threatening... if you're not ready...

You're night vision... or you... could be... Gone in a flash...