Looking at a night shoot class.  Movement while shooting, etc.   Is there anything to know about using an AR with an Aimpoint H-1 in such conditions?

Not really.

You may adjust your brightness some to jive with your whitelight

It's not really that different. The only difference I've ever noticed was that I had to be a bit more intentional with my steps--more so, if you also do it with night vision.

Thanks.  Now to see if the class happens down the road.

This is all without NV so please take that into

Open both eyes if you can.  I find it easier to shoot low light with both eyes open and a red dot.

If you can use a light, have a weapon mounted light (if it is handgun and rifle mounted lights on both; with appropriate holsters), and a handheld light.  Extra batteries for both.  Years ago extra bulbs were a must also, but with LED bulbs not so much.  Note IMO an appropriate holster for a handgun with a light is one that the weapon and light go into as a unit; none of this take it out put the light one, take the light off put it away.

Make sure your weapons mounted lights are properly installed.  Those things fall off at the worst time.

Bring a headlamp with red bulb that is easy to turn on/off; having one that goes from bright, super bright, disco mode...well you are doing a disservice to everyone.  This will be helpful if you are taping targets.  Standing at arms length next to a large paper target then someone turns on their 87 trillion candle power light...grrr everyone get blinded.

Be able to find all of the controls on your weapon.  You can dry practice this with your eyes closed.  Can you feel/reach the controls?  Are any similar or close to each other?

Classes with night shooting components are few and far-between, which is due to range restrictions more than anything else.  Many ranges are not allowed to operate after a certain time due to local noise ordinances, or out of consideration for the neighbors if the range isn’t out in the middle of nowhere.  The training group I work with can run about 2 courses with night components per summer without pissing off the neighbors.  When it comes to night components we have to choose our training sparingly, so we run one in-house course, and host one national level instructor (in addition normal daytime-only courses).  Training done on inside ranges is great because you can do lowlight in the middle of the day, but shooting rifles inside without suppressors is terrible in so many ways, which is why it’s uncommon to see rifle courses being held at indoor ranges.  

If you’ve never shot in low light under professional guidance, going to a course by a quality training group will really give you a good experience.  The thing to remember is that you are there to learn, and not to bring knowledge in to show how good you are or how you’re not a novice, or whatever.  If you don’t know much about using a rifle in lowlight, a training course with lowlight component is a great thing to take.  What you should be focused on most are equipment concerns.  The advice right above this post is excellent and very sound.  The thing I would stress above all else is the importance of having a good WML (weapon mounted light).  Fighting with a rifle at night mandates a WML.


Here are a couple WML thoughts based on my experience:

Quality WMLs are mandatory.  The WML needs to withstand recoil and abuse, adverse conditions, and have electronics that work reliably.  The biggest enemy to electronics is heat, and the light you use must have a proper heat sink to allow the dissipation of the heat so the electronics don’t burn out.  The higher the light output, the higher the heat and the greater the need for proper engineering.  Cheap Chinese high-output lights are notorious for burning out.  

SureFire, Modlight and Cloud Defensive are the best WML companies on the market, and by a WIDE margin.  Nobody else comes close to their quality and design.  A distant 4th is Streamlight, and then after that it’s whatever you want it to be.  There are a ton of reasons for this, but it comes down to engineering and quality of design.

Quality mounts are key.  Degrease all mounting screws and apply threadlocker (Vibratite VC-3, Loctite blue, Permatex blue).  Use a waterproof paint pen to witness mark screw heads.

Pistol lights work much better than they used to at ranges out to 100yds, but this is because they’re now putting out 1000 lumens.  Understand that pistol WMLs use a flood pattern, while rifle-mounted lights like the SureFire M600 or Cloud Defensive OWL have a spotlight reflector that is designed for better target illumination and PID at longer ranges.  Equip accordingly.  

Thank you for the info.