The “baby” Glock was born of necessity–of a sort–and was a brilliant way to thumb gun owner’s noses at the Clinton Administration.  It was the Brady Bill with its included ban on magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds that gave birth to the Glock 26 (a more detailed article on the weapon is available here), which in turn caused other manufacturers to follow Glock’s example.  Limited to ten rounds, why not make a quality, more concealable, handgun scaled down for ten round capacity?

Magazine size limits, of course, did nothing at all to improve firearm safety, nor did they assist in any way in stopping crime.  The Brady Bill’s primary success was in running Democrats out of office, and when the law was due to sunset after a decade of accomplishing nothing but annoying the law abiding, even Democrats wouldn’t touch it with a ten round magazine.

The Glock 26 and its cousins in other calibers, however, have continued to be popular to this day.  Reliable, accurate, with substantial magazine capacity for their size, the baby Glocks are, in many ways, ideal concealment handguns.  But because they have no accessory rails, adding accessories–particularly laser sights–has always been somewhat difficult.

My first try at a laser sight for the Glock 26 was what eventually became Crimson Trace’s model LG-852.  The laser unit provided a bright, easily seen dot, it was easy to adjust and kept its zero, and was reasonably rugged, though it did increase the width of the Glock grip somewhat.  I had only two arguments with the design.  The laser unit, mounted on the right hand side of the weapon, protruded into the path of the slide.  When using a proper off-hand grip to cycle the slide, it was all too easy to whack the sight with the fingers.  It was able to deal with this by simply slightly adjusting my grip, but still, it was an annoyance.

The other problem caused me to eventually abandon the sight for something else.  The entire laser unit was attached to the Glock frame via a long pin that replaced a Glock pin.  For more than a year, this arrangement worked, but eventually, the pin wore the plastic of the laser unit, and merely gripping the weapon/laser would cause the windage of the laser to noticeably shift.

I eventually replaced that unit with a Laserlyte rear sight laser, which is a brilliant idea.  Unfortunately, that too eventually turned out to be less than completely workable, but that’s a story for another time.

Christmas this year brought with it two Crimson Trace LG-436 lasers for my wife and my Glock 26s.  This right side view illustrates the quality and fit of the unit, which is exceptional.

This left side view illustrates the clean lines, with nothing to hang up on holster or clothing.  To some, the unit might look a little square and less than graceful, but that’s a common comment about Glocks in general, and it’s hard to argue with what works.

The unit consists of two parts that clamp onto the trigger guard of the handgun.  The engineering of the unit is apparent here as the parts fit very snugly and flow well with the lines of the Glock.  This illustration from the instructions shows how the two parts–and the battery–fit together.

If there is a flaw in the design it is that the left side of the unit must be removed to change batteries.  Even though the right side fits very snugly and does not appear to move, it’s hard to imagine that there will not be at least a little loss of zero when things are screwed back together.  I suspect, however, that any deviation will be small indeed and adjusting windage and elevation on this sight is easy.  The two screws that clamp the unit together fit perfectly and feel substantial despite their relatively small size.  The allen wrench that attaches them is not as small as many included with firearm lasers, and is easy to use without encouraging over-tightening.

A well-considered feature is a master on-off switch that allows using the iron sights of the weapon without activating the laser.  It’s hidden beneath a Crimson Trace  logo on the right hand side of the unit.

Press the logo for less than two seconds and the laser is turned on, or off.  It is not necessary to turn it off to preserve battery power as the unit does not draw power from the battery unless the laser activation switch, which is beneath the second finger on the front strap of the weapon, is activated.  Relaxing the pressure of the second finger deactivates the laser, so there is no need for a “time-out” device common on other designs.  Crimson Trace claims a five-hour run time for the battery, and offers free lifetime replacement of batteries, limited to one per weapon per year.  It would be a good idea to sign up for that program and take them up on their offer every year.  Regularly replacing the battery will ensure that it will never fail at an inopportune time.

My experience with a variety of laser sights has been that even after two years, their batteries still have plenty of power.  However, I am not a heavy user of the units, even with my daily carry gun, using them only for regular training, and daily function checks.

I found the laser switch to work perfectly for me and was able to manipulate it with minute changes in finger pressure.  My wife took a little longer to become comfortable with it, but I’m talking about minutes rather than seconds.

CT claims to have sighted in the laser unit at 50 feet, but I found it necessary to slightly adjust the windage of both laser units.  Adjustments were positive.  There was no “mushy” feel to the mechanisms, and a slight turn of the allen wrench produced immediate and proportionate movement on the target.  Both windage and elevation screws felt identical and produced identical movement of the laser.  Once set, the laser did not shift.

The red dot is relatively large and easily seen in bright daylight out to about 20 yards, particularly on lighter colored targets.  Darker targets may reduce visible range to varying degrees.  In darker conditions, such as indoors, dusk or night, the laser dot is visible to substantially greater distances.  While 20 yards may not seem like a great distance, the overwhelming majority of gunfights take place at seven yards and less–most much less.  At those distances, the dot is virtually impossible to miss against any background.

Why a laser sight?  At my advanced age, my eyesight is no longer quite as perfect as it once was.  I can still see and use “iron” sights very well, but the front sight is not as razor sharp as it once was.  There is no question that laser sights allow any shooter to be not only faster, but potentially more accurate.  They also allow one to keep both eyes open and to see not only more of the target, but more of everything.  In the event one must use their carry handgun to save their life or the life of another, there should be no question that they want every possible advantage, and the idea of a “fair fight” should be banished from their mind.  The fastest and most efficient way to put rounds on target to stop the threat should be the only thing that matters.  Laser sights contribute mightily to that goal.

But what happens if the battery dies–which will, of course, happen when it’s most needed–or what happens if the unit fails for any other reason?  Just transition back to the iron sights.  That’s why they’re there.  Particularly in daylight, one will need to use them for targets much beyond 20 yards anyway.

Because the laser emitter is positioned just below the muzzle, it’s a certainty that powder will eventually foul the emitter window.  This is easily cleaned up with Q-tips or the Q-tip like swabs provided with the sight.  I noticed no degradation in laser performance after firing more than 50 rounds, and it was not necessary to clean the emitter window.

My LG-436 cost $229.00 via Amazon.com, which is $50.00 less than CT’s web site retail price.  While this is in the upper range of quality laser sights, the unit fits perfectly, mounts solidly, and works very well indeed.  A good quality laser sight will help anyone to be a better, faster shooter.  When properly adjusted, wherever the dot appears, that’s where the bullet will strike.  Some manufacturers are even including lasers in their designs, such as Smith and Wesson with their popular Bodyguard .380 (an in-depth article on that handgun is available here).

In laser sights, as in much else, you do get what you pay for, and for baby Glocks, this line of sight by Crimson Trace is state of the art.

Mike’s Home blog is Stately McDaniel Manor.