WOW--- LG 405 review - Crimson Trace Forums

Well, with my thanks to the people at Crimson Trace, I have been able to take the newest of there breed of lasers for a test drive. The new weapon system, LG-405, made for the Smith and Wesson J Frame Revolver arrived in at my door with all the normal accessories.
   I opened up the package to find plenty of Crimson Trace literature, complete with all the press releases of there latest products. There was a box containing the weapon laser, complete with the normal fleece type hanker chief, sighting tools, special lint q-tips for cleaning the laser aperture lens, and the stickers as well.
   I gave a quick read through on the instruction manual and brought out my trusty, ever present back up weapon, my J-frame S&W 340. Installation was very simple, as would be expected. The made sure several times both physically and visually that my weapon was unloaded and then removed my stock Hogue Bantam grips from the gun. With the grips removed I took the laser unit out of the box. I installed the two flat disc batteries in the unit as instructed and then fitted the grip around the frame of my weapon. The grip is one piece and simply wraps around the back strap of the weapon. Once wrapped the grip then is held together by two supplied screws through the grip. With the grip secured to the weapon I checked the fit and then did a crude weapon sighting against the distanced walls in the house. (Please note that I checked the status of the weapon to ensure it was unloaded before each stage). I am a firm believer of CQB shooting and I quickly changed the factory sighting of the weapon from 50’ to a much more reasonable 15-20’. I sighted the weapons iron sights and lined up the laser until the two were matched up per the instructions, this only took me a few minutes. In fact from opening up the box until sighted in only took me a total of 10 min. (minus of course the minute of so of teasing the family cat that was at my feet the whole time)
I use my 340 as my back up on duty and as my main carry weapon off-duty and love the lightweight frame and ability to shoot .357’s. My biggest issue with my S&W Scandium framed 5-shot is that the recoil after a few cylinders is a bit painful and leads to less and less range time. The biggest attribute of the weapon is also its biggest drawback. The gun has the tendency to bite hard in to the webbing in the hand when spending range time. There really hasn’t been a solution to this problem yet, especially in the form of a grip. Most grips have addressed more the finger placement and grip swell but left the frame back strap exposed thus keeping some unwanted heat in your hands. That is the absolute first thing that I noticed when I first viewed this grip. It differs from the other two grips which are currently offered by Crimson Trace. The first of these grips is just a polymer standard boot grip with the proprietary laser mounted on it. The second more popular offering from Crimson Trace is there over mold rubber grip which has the same laser incorporated in to the grip but also offers a padded back strap and the addition of a third finger mold to allow more positive purchase on the gun especially for longer range times.
   The LG-405 grip features an over mold area in the upper back strap area that is softer rubber and has airspace built in to it. This serves as a shock absorber to the webbing in that the rubber gives during recoil and helps absorb the shock and abuse to your hand during firing. The front strap of the grip has also been beefed up with more of the softer rubber to give a very firm grip. What is even better is that the whole grip length has not been increased so the bottom of the grip is still the same length as a normal boot grip. This is a major advantage to users who pocket carry and appreciate the shorter grip depth. I am not very large framed and carry my BUG gun on duty in my BDU thigh pocket and off duty in my front off hand pants pocket. There for the reduced grip size allows deeper concealment.
   The activation button for the laser is located in the front strap of the grip. It falls naturally into the finger swell when griping the gun and is easily activated when using a combat grip. I found with a little practice that I was able to instinctively turn the laser on or off with just a little relaxation in my grip without reducing my combat grip at all. I have always shot my back up weapon off hand and found absolutely no interference with the laser when in a full shooting grip. Right handed users might have to modify there combat grip and finger placement to ensure full laser application.
   After a week or so I was able to take some serious range time to put the LG-405 through its paces. I am a dedicated snubbie fan and was anxious to test the grip and its purported 30% reduction in recoil. I headed out to the range and stacked up some ammo boxes.    For work we are required to carry only .38 125 grain +P ammo, but for range time I amped the ammo up to 158 gr TMJ .38 +P. I figured this might be a good test of the recoil reduction grip as well as how well the gun followed up shots with the laser.
   I setup some test targets and sent them down range to 20’ first, which is my major range time distance. I fired my first string of shots down range and found them to be SPOT on, producing just a ragged 2” hole in the target. I was fairly impressed and set about different range scenarios. I found the laser to be very bright and easy to acquire quickly on target. Follow up shots were made without very much effort and as long as I did my part in not jerking the firearm, shot placement stayed right on the bright red dot. I moved targets in and out from 5’ all the way out to 50’ with very pleasing results from the laser unit. The grip did most certainly reduce the recoil and brought it down into the range of my 642 shooting the same ammo. I was able to easily fire 150 rounds before I began to have some hand shake and recoil flinch. The laser zero stayed set without any further adjustment.
   I carried the firearm both on and off duty with a few more range times set up in between. The unit was flawless without as much as the slightest problem. The only issue I noticed after 3 weeks carry was that I needed to use the q-tips to clean the lens after so much pocket time there was an accumulation of lint on the lens. It did not affect the lens in any way other than when on target there seemed to be a slight bit of diffusion of the beam spot from the lint. This was only noticeable since I was trying to be as critical as possible. The grip is a definite innovation and I have been very happy with it.
   I spent a bunch of range time with the CT grip and see how it would benefit Firearms instructors and students as well, the beam allows very quick visualization where your point of aim is. Further the grip allows quick target acquisition from the most unconventional shooting positions, like on your back or side as well as target acquisition before the gun has had time to travel up to your sight line. This could very well save you the precious time needed to survive a firefight as well as win the fight. Like all firearms training you must learn to shoot without the laser as well as with it. In this CT has installed a master switch on the bottom of the grip which allows it to be turned off. This gives you the option of shooting just with iron sights to ensure that you aren’t totally relying on the laser.
   During my range time I never had any malfunctions with the unit at all. I was interested in using the laser and seeing how it performed on the range. We have a positive pressure air system in our range and I never was able to get enough smoke from firing to see the visible laser trail. I only was able to see the laser on target and briefly see the laser trail between shots. The grip in and of itself is worthy of purchase. I wish that more companies would figure this out, but with the addition of the laser it makes a truly formidable weapon system.
   I now have to finish typing my request to CT so I don’t even have to take the unit off my back up gun, a purchase that is definitely worth the money. Hats off to the CT group for another fine product…..special thanks to Travis as well.

I wish I could post some photos of my range time and the grips on my 340, but let me tell you it was truly a joy to use.

Marc