I was talking to Patrick Harlan over at Crimson Trace due to a comment left here the other day from Homer
And, Robb, thanks for you and the other bloggers at Summer Camp. After reading all your reports I bought a couple Crimson Trace grips, one for my 1911 and one for my student CZ75. It's taking some time to learn, but with the laser as a learning tool I'm teaching myself to get the muzzle on target right out of the holster. Now I need to get one for the USP in the shoulder rig.
While I'm sure Crimson Trace's bottom line hasn't double due to my hawking their products, it's nice to know that for all they did for us at the Para USA Blackwater event that we're able to return the favor.
Now, let me make one thing perfectly clear. I am not hawking their wares because they pay me nor because I won a grip as well as purchased one with my Para TAC-S, but I honestly have discovered that a laser is an invaluable learning tool for shooting, and so far the quality of the Crimson Trace line has been top notch.
I've bugged Patrick on several things and he has been extremely helpful in answering my questions and I wanted to share a few things he's told me because with as much effort as he's put into his responses, I figured a little exposure wouldn't hurt. When a company takes care of you this well, you do what you can to help give back.
I had several questions -
My first question was miswritten. I meant to say "so that A guide rod based...", not "the" since LaserMax makes a guide rod system and I was wondering if they were going to as well. The reason I've not even considered a guide rod replacement is because it requires that you actually activate the laser via switch each time you want to use it. With the Crimson Trace product line, a positive grip is all that's necessary.
Patrick responds with
Hi Robb, Thanks for passing that along. We have an NRA Trainers discount program and it’s amazing the wide variety of skill and knowledge levels we deal with through that. But wherever they’re at, training has been one of our most consistent and successful messages. To answer your questions… We don’t make a guide-rod laser, so we aren’t working on an activation scheme for them. It’s an idea we used to be competitively opposed with, but now more importantly our engineers have strongly advised we not pursue such a system because it would require replacing functional parts of a gun. In being a retro-fit based company, one of our biggest philosophies is to avoid requiring users to replace parts of their gun. It’s hard to say we can make a better guide rod, and still have room to jam a bunch of electronics and a diode in there. I don’t want to bash Lasermax because their product works for plenty of people, but we’ve read so many stories of broken plastic guide rods that we’d have to see something revolutionary before we’d take another look at such a system. We don’t offer a system for the AR other than the 2 you see on our website. Going forward with any updated options for the AR, we would probably pursue a fore-grip or front-rail attached laser because that’s what we’ve seen the guys in the desert using. Whatever we do, it will have to be instinctively activated, easy to install, and able to take a pounding. Having to wrap something up the side of the receiver proved to be tricky on the LG-525, and with such a wide variety of top-mount sighting systems it’s probably best we stay out on the front end of the gun for maximum compatibility. At any rate, I’ll keep it in my head that you’re interested and I’ll let you know more when I know more. We bring up the shotgun idea every year, and it gets brushed aside for all kinds of dumb reasons. One of the biggest issues is that there are so many shotguns out there with no consistent way to mount a laser on them to our standards of repeatable accuracy over many cycles. When I talk with gun people about a good entry level home defense shotgun, the answer is always one of two models: the 870 and the Mossberg 500, so in theory we should be able to come up with one or two solutions for those and call it good. But in fact, our customers tend to have a much wider selection of shotguns at home, and the numbers just haven’t reached a critical mass yet. I’m going to push hard this year for at least one shotgun model in 2009, but nothing yet I’m sorry to say. I hope that helps. As we have new products come to market, I’ll be sure to keep you informed. Thanks for your support and for not being afraid to bug me with questions. It helps me stay in tune with what people want.
Hi Robb,
Thanks for passing that along. We have an NRA Trainers discount program and it’s amazing the wide variety of skill and knowledge levels we deal with through that. But wherever they’re at, training has been one of our most consistent and successful messages.
To answer your questions…
I hope that helps. As we have new products come to market, I’ll be sure to keep you informed. Thanks for your support and for not being afraid to bug me with questions. It helps me stay in tune with what people want.
You gotta give Patrick props for not bashing the competition. I admit, I had heard of the guide rod system not being as strong as the original, and that makes a lot of sense. It's also good to see a company realize its strength, in Crimson's case, the philosophy of only being a retrofit system, and stick with what works instead of trying to be everything to everybody.
The AR system is a little tricky, I admit. I can't use it since I have a flattop receiver. I don't particularly want a fore grip, but I do have plans to eventually get new handguards that have rails on them. A laser would be one of the few items I'd hang off of them. I'm not into the Swiss Army knife treatment a lot of people are into with the AR platform, but a nice light and laser would be primo and all I'd need.
Finally, I understand CTC's insistence on maintaining a product line that can basically snap onto an existing platform and be totally reliable, but the Mossberg 500 and Remington 870 SCREAM for light amplification through stimulated emissions of radiation. I would snap one up in a New York minute for the Mossy as my wife would benefit from seeing exactly where she's aiming it should the need arise. It's a myth you don't have to aim a shotgun, and something as simple as a bright red dot is all someone would need to ensure their shot goes right where they want it.
So have at 'em Patrick. Make 'em listen to you on the shotties this year. And thanks again for answering my questions.
If you are in the market for a laser for your pistol, I cannot recommend enough Crimson Trace. High quality product and top notch support.