[Buffalobob]

Couple of points that I considered that pertain to the larger lasers that mount below the barrel.

1. Home defense occurs very seldom. So after the pistol has been there for 5 years or so will the batteries still be good. I am not the kind of person who goes around the house every spring daylight savings time changing the smoke alarm batteries nor would I be inclined to periodically check the laser batteries.

2. There are red lasers and green lasers and one of them requires more power from the batteries than the other. The batteries used in lasers are designed for high output not long duration.

3. In the same line of reasoning as #1, many of the lasers have multiple setting on the switch and and so I would have to remember instantly upon awakening exactly how the switch setting worked.

4. I live in a large city and there is a street light as well as our porch light always on at night so it is never so dark you cannot see the target. That is not to say the target won't see you first, but with a laser you are guaranteed the target sees you first. I keep a flash light in the same drawer as the gun if there is a need for it.

5. For the extended months that I camp out, I always have lots of handheld and head mounted lights handy. One night I got into a shooting match with a skunk who just would not stay run off from the food. I held the flashlight in my left hand and fired three full power rounds from the S&W460 with my right hand and I think the third round put bullet fragments into him as he never returned. The S&W just has regular sights and they were adequate with a flashlight. Some people will tell you that muzzle flash will blind you but even with a muzzle brake, I could see just fine as long as I had the flashlight on. Different story, but an interesting point- Two years ago in Utah I got caught about four miles from camp in a rainstorm and had to walk back in in the dark down an old cattle trail. I had three lights with me and one just outright got a bad connection and failed, a second ran low on battery power and I had to go to the third light. Morale of the story is that if you are depending on something that can fail you should depend upon it to fail and plan accordingly.

6. Some of the tritium sights are really good target sights so even if you get a laser they still are there as a really first class falisafe backup system.