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Posted: 4/11/2005 3:43:02 PM EDT
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What are the benefits/cons of each style light. What do you prefer. I've never shot a gun with a vertical grip like that near the forend. Is it more/less tactically sound, or as with most accessories, is it a preferential thing? Thanks |
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I just bought a Surefire M500A and I really like it. It fits my needs and I especially like the two low output LED Navigation Lights with their own momentary activation pad. If I only had one M4 then I might have gone with something that was more easily removable however, one of my Bushmasters are setup for a home defense weapon and this unit fits that task very well. |
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The Surefire M500A is a great weaponlight and my current favorite, but bear these four things in mind: 1) No freefloat. Personally, I have zero desire to freefloat a 200 meter defensive carbine, but some people feel differently. 2) Remove the second (inner set) heatshields for fullauto use. The M500A has dual heatshields (like Colt M4 heatshields). Unlike the Colt M4 however the inner shields are solid and have no ventilation holes. If this forend is going on a fullauto weapon then removing the inner shields will allow for better barrel cooling. 3) Vertical foregrip mounting options are extremely limited. Personally I don't care for VFGs, but if you do there are better choices in a weaponlight. You can mount a small rail to the bottom of the M500A for VFG mounting, but doing so will make the switches very awkward to reach. 4) Colt side sling mount not usable. The nav LEDs get in the way of a Colt side sling mount. See pic:    I can't comment on the M900 series since I don't own one. |
CJan, What kind of sling do you use for your rifle if any? Just wondering what can be used that won't get in the way. |
What did you wrap around the vert. grip? Do you have the laser's switch on it as well? A 900 came with my RRA. Great product. http://tinypic.com/2mbcde |
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One real obvious thing that I didn't see mentioned is that if you have a rail system and the 900 series light, you can choose whether or not you want to have the light on the rifle at any given time. Another obvious thing is that with the 500 series light, you lose the ability to have a rail system: if that is important to you. With the 900 series light, you have a rail system AND a light. Personally, I think the 900 series light looks better, but again, that doesn't matter to a lot of people. I have owned both set-ups. When I went to Gunsite to take Basic Carbine, I had the 500 series light. Two things caused me to change. First of all after talking to the people who had been there done that I thought I might like to try a vertical foregrip. I could have mounted a piece of rail on the bottom of my handguards but I consider this to be less than optimal (just a personal decision). Second, after spending five days from dawn to dusk with a carbine in my hands I really wanted the lightest possible carbine and if I could take the light off during the day, then I wanted to take the light off during the day. Maybe this is all pschological, the difference in weight can't be much: I don't know what the difference is between a light with the head and battery removed and a regular handguard. I don't know the difference in weight between a 900 series light and a regular foregrip, but it seemed to make a difference for me. Basically I guess it comes down to options: you get more with the 900 series light. |
| I used to have a M500 mounted for a short time but found it did add some considerable weight to the rifle. Since I prefer a magwell hold vs. a vertical grip, I just mounted a small weaver rail to the handguards and mounted a SF 6P. It's a lightweight alternative. |
That's true. However, with the M900 if you remove the light you also lose your VFG, so you would need either a second VFG, or you would have to hold onto a rail or magwell. For the times that I don't want the extra weight onboard I simply remove the M500 bezel and battery carrier. I then replace them with the cap that Surefire includes with the light. The bezel and batteries make up most of the weight, so when they're removed the forend only weighs a couple of ounces over stock. |
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Yes, I had a second vertical foregrip. I did this for a couple reasons: one was simply to protect the light. Don't get me wrong, I think the light probably doesn't need protection, but I didn't see any reason to risk damage when I didn't need the light to begin with. Second, was weight. Again, I didn't need the light, so why lift it. Keep in mind that I am talking about a formal training environment. This is different from shooting at the range or plinking out on the back 40 because you have to go along with the program. When your arms get tired, you can't just stop and take a break or put your rifle on the tailgate of your pickup. Weight becomes a big issue. In the mythical SHTF senario, I would certainly leave the light on the gun at all times. I don't want to carry two foregrips and you never know when you might need a light. I also mentioned in my post that I removed the had and batteries from my 500 series light to decrease weight. I also mentioned that I doubt if the light is much heavier than a standard handguard but it is probably just a psychological thing for me. One other little note: in that basic carbine class, the rangemaster was Bill Murphy who is also a factory rep for Surefire. He told me that all the pictures of the 500 series light have it mounted wrong (with the light on the top handguard and off to the right side of the gun). He says the correct way to mount the light is just the opposite, so the light is on the left bottom side. His reason was because the smoke from firing drifts from left to right and somewhat obscures the light if the light is on the top left. I changed mine around, but I have never shot mine enough with the light to say if it matters or not. |
Roger that. During one of my advanced carbine classes last year I removed the bezel and battery carrier for the sake of weight as well. It certainly does make a difference after you've had your weapon up for several hours. I'm not sure I follow him on his mounting methods, but to each his own I suppose 
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"The only reason I can see for mounting the M500 upside down like that would be for lefthanders. Why would smoke only drift left to right?" I don't know. I am just passing on something that was told to me. First of all, I think the main point is that the smoke obsures the light beam. Not that the smoke follows some rule in how it floats on air currents. Maybe because the smoke is hot, it rises and since the flashlight is mounted higher than the barrel............. Maybe it is because of the flash suppressors they use (Colt 11.5" barrels). Whatever. Sometimes, I hear stuff that doesn't really make sense to me, but I consider the source and just go along with it because I trust the guy that told me. In this case, we have a guy that is a long time Gunsite instructor and now a rangemaster. He works full time as a SWAT officer on a Southern California PD. He is a factory rep. for the product being discussed. So, I chose to believe him. Nothing personal, but I tend to believe guys like this rather than people I don't know on the internet. |
Excellent!  Either way you'll get a quality rig. One thing I noticed about my most recent weaponlight purchase (about 5 months ago) is that Surefire shipped mine with a crennelated strike bezel. It was a very pleasant surprise  |
I too drink the Kool-aid, I got a 6721.
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Bill Murphy mounts it upside down because as the smoke rises, it obscures the beam from the light if mounted above the barrel. Think of it like turning on your high beams in the fog. You can't see through, plus it blinds you. Mounting the light on the bottom is like having fog lights. Hope this helps. Also, I believe Bill is the head low light tactics instructor for Surefire.... along with being a Gunsite rangemaster and two striper with Huntington Beach PD. |
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so, why the strike bezel on a weapon light? not trying to stir the shit pot, but doesnt make sense to me when one is more than likely not going to strike with it, would seem like an awkward strike when trying to clear the muzzle. now a dieter CQD is another story... |
My guess is to save money. It'll cost less to make on type of bezel for the Millenium series lights. |
That's my guess too-it makes sense for a lot of reasons. My most recent M500 had the strike bezel, but the M500 I purchased a year or so ago didn't have it. My Father actually gave me a strike bezel as a gift, and I installed it on my older M500 as a joke. I called it my postban compliant bayonet
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