MArooned Product Review: Crimson Trace Laser Sight Grips, Redux

I mentioned having Crimson Trace Laser Sight grips for the Colt 1991A1 Compact as well as the Sig P226 and Smith & Wesson J-frame, but that I hadn't had a chance to put the Colt through its paces at the time of the first review. Over the long weekend I had a chance to hit the range and put a few more rounds through the Colt with the Crimson Trace Grips installed. Here's my impression of the CT grips on the Officer's model 1911.

Installation. Again, one of the significant advantages of the Crimson Trace Laser Sight grips is the simple installation. Step 1. Remove old grips. Step 2. Insert batteries into CT grips. Step 3. Install CT grips on handgun. If you can swap out grips on a handgun, you can install Crimson Trace Laser sight grips. I think it took maybe five minutes to install the grips on the Colt, and four of those minutes were spent locating the right allen wrench for the grip screws...

Activation. The Colt was, for me, the most intuitive Laser Sight grip. The P226 grip was just a fraction off for my grip and took effort to re-adjust when picking the gun back up - not a fault of the Crimson Trace Laser Sight grips, just how my hand interacted with the control on the P226 grips. The Smith & Wesson J-frame Laser Sight Grip was fine, but because of the small, two-fingered grip inherent to the small-framed revolver, what's considered a "normal" grip really doesn't apply.

The Colt was all different - it was just plain perfect. Pick it up, squeeze the grip naturally to engage the grip safety, *poof*, on comes the laser. Left- or right hand, it didn't matter - every single time I picked up the Colt, the laser turned on. Left-handed actually works a hair better because the trigger finger doesn't impinge the laser beam when indexed along the frame.

Shooting. Here, a picture is worth 1,000 words:

Respectable

That's two magazines at 25 feet shot rapid-fire, magazine change performed as rapidly as possible. 10 out of 14 shots can be covered by my fist. For a defensive handgun shot by an inexpert shooter, that's pretty decent - and it would be better still if I could hold the $%^*ing thing still. One of the things I noticed with the laser sight in general is that it is not a panacea for poor shooting form - if you have trouble keeping the front sight on target, you're going to have trouble keeping the laser dot on target, too. That's not a fault of the CT grips, but of the shooter...

I'll make no qualms about it - the Crimson Trace Laser Sight grips on my Colt are my favorite of the three CT grips. The activation was second nature; there was minimal correction needed on the point of aim; and the laser sight itself lent to competent, confident rapid-fire shooting owing to the fast target acquisition made possible by the laser sight.

Crimson Trace Laser Sight grips - an excellent addition to any defensive firearm.

That is all.