AR Sponsor
Posted: 1/9/2010 4:39:29 PM EDT
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I have some questions that I hope some of you might be able to help with. I work for a small medium sized Police Deparment where our patrol officers are using a combination of Colt 9MM SMGs and Colt AR-15/ M-16s. I am looking for a tactical weapons light to mount on both M-16s and SMGs with little to no modifications to the weapons or hand guards. Would prefer LED lights, need light to be small enough to still work with current weapon mounts in the squad cars, and would prefer the ability to have a remote pressure switch. Thoughts on what the top three options available to compare would be and why? What are people using out there? what works what doesnt? Any information or assaistance would be greatly appreciated. I am interested in any thoughts any of you have regarding Tactical weapon lights for AR-15/M-16 type rifles. |
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MI light mount:
http://www.midwestindustriesinc.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=category.display&category_id=94 
Then add your choice of light. Any Surefire would work and allow you to add pressure switch, or Streamlight has options as well. I like the Streamlight TRL-1 This should allow for a simple, cost effective lighting system which won't interfere with any existing car mounts. |
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Our Elzetta ZFH1500 Mounts have proven very popular with Law Enforcement Agencies using standard handguards and/or wishing to use vehicle racks.
Our 235-Lumen Elzetta ZFL-M60 LED Lights are available in 12 configurations (pressure switches will further expect our offerrings, becoming available in the next month or so) and are the perfect match for the ZFH1500 Mounts. 
www.ELZETTA.com |
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Quoted:
MI light mount: http://www.midwestindustriesinc.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=category.display&category_id=94 http://www.bravocompanyusa.com/v/vspfiles/photos/MCTAR-01-2T.jpg Then add your choice of light. Any Surefire would work and allow you to add pressure switch, or Streamlight has options as well. I like the Streamlight TRL-1 This should allow for a simple, cost effective lighting system which won't interfere with any existing car mounts. Ive used the mount before and think it's pretty good. Simple. Robust. Cost effective. The nice thing about this setup for patrol officers is that it does not interfere with the hand guards, allowing you to still use most available rifle racks in cruisers. |
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Is this a personal light that you want to add to a Colt carbine or rifle when on your shift? Or are you looking to add a light to every AR type weapon on your dept.?
About how many lights are you going to need? Do you have a maxim price for each light(s)? Are the light(s) going to stay on each gun or are they going to be swaped from weapon to weapon on a daily/weekly basis? Are any of the weapons M16A1? Does the light(s) need to be moveable/adjustable for left and right handed officers? Do you have any rural areas in you partol area that you will need a far reaching light? |
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Thank you for the quick responses.
I had found the Midwest Industries Tactical light Mount in my research so far and I really appreciate the feedback regarding experience with this piece of equipment. To answer some of the specific questions asked, These would be dedicated lights on 4 Colt 9MM SMGs and 3 Colt M-16A1 rifles. The lights would remain attached to the weapon wich normally is stored in a locking weapons mount in each of the patrol cars. I was not given a specific budget for the lights, only told that we need them, and told to resaearch what a few of the best options are so my administration has a few options to look at and choose from. We have a couple officers assigned to each specific squad and the lights and weapons are part of the "issued" equipment for each squad car. You bring up a good point about being able to switch from Right handed shooter to left handed shooter that should be looked at. We do in fact have rural areas that could make having a more powerful light a good idea. What I am especially interested in is experience with specific lights / mounts that would work for our Department's weapons in use for general patrol duty. What works well? What has not? Within the parameters / constraints that I have to work with, what would the top three choices commonly available be? What opinions do any of you have based on your experiences regarding the commonly used weapon lights for AR type rifles? Many thanks for any and all information any of you can provide!!!! |
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I just bought one of those rails last week. The spacing of the screw holes doesn't work for the top front of a MOE handguard, and the screws extend too far into the handguard to mount it on a Bushmaster carbine handguard (screws/nuts push against the gas tube, preventing installation on the top hanguard). |
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All of my lights are mounted above the barrel. I find when the light is mounted parallel or below the barrel the shadow off the barrel can get in the way.
The best thing I have found for mounting tape switches to nonrailed handguards is the rubber innertube of a mountain bike tire. After I cut it into bands I pull it over the front sight and on to the handguards. It holds the pressure pad of the tape switch without turning it on. I use a 2nd band to help hold down any extra cable so it will not get snagged on anything. I tried to use velcro pads but find that the glue on the velcro will just not work well especially in the heat of the summer. 
This Mount is made my Surefire but only works with 1" lights and will not fit on early M16A1 barrels that have the forging flash removed. It also will only mount the light to the right side of the rifle. Price is about $65 
Forging flash removed on barrel on the left. and will not work with front sight mount. 
This barrel mount is also made by Surefire. It work well and can be found for about $20 on gunbroker. They work with Weaver scope ring mounts only. I have found Weaver ring mounts for about $5 each at gun show. The Weaver rings only come in 1" as well. 
The nice thing about ths mount is you can mount the light very close to the front sight tower. 
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MI light mount works very well and can be mounted on any front sight tower. This one is using a Surefire Scout light with push button tailcap. The tail cap will work well with a carbine but its a long reach on a rifle. Is can be remounted to left or right side very fast.
A Surefire Scout light with tape switch will work well with a rifle or carbine and can be mounted left or right side. 
A light with a Weaver ring will also mount on the MI light mount. 
The best light mout is LaRue and they all will work with MI light mout as well. They also come several sizes to fit many light. This Scout light has a LaRue mount on it. I also have a picture of a larue mount without a light in it. They also make a inline flashlight mount but I only have a offset flashlight mount to take pictures of. 
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Lights
The 1" lights are a little heavy but you can get them at a lower price. Because you are using the lights more than just a bump in the night gun I would go with a true weaponlight or one with shock-isolation of the battery. I like the Surefire Classic Weapon lights over the newer Millennium Universal WeaponLights because I can move the light body back in the ring mount so it will not feal so heavy when on the end of a rifle. Or move them forword to make more room to grip the hand guards on a carbine. I also add a Malkoff LED dropin M60 head with fitting ring to give my lights a lot more power than they would with an incandescent or Surefire brand LED head for 1" lights. If you are looking at the Surefire Scout Lights. You can't go wrong with them. They have the mount right on them as well as being very bright without needing any LED upgrade as well as they come with a tail cap as well as a tape switch. Viking Tactics had Surefire make them a light that is just like the Scout light but without the light mount or tape switch. http://www.vikingtactics.com/prod_vtac_lightmount.html You just need to add the light mount you want and add a tape switch and your good to go. You might save some cash if you go with this light. If you call Kevin Hall Bright Flashlights http://www.brightflashlights.com Phone: (352) 732-2156 from 11am-8pm EST (Mon. - Fri. & until 4pm Sat.) He will get you the best price for any light you want or need. Rember SHOT show is this month and Surefire may come out with some new heads or lights. I think they will come out with a 200 lumen Surefire Scout light to go with the 200 lumen E2DL that they have now. Surefire also has a mini scout light that is 110 lumen that is smaller and cheaper than the 120 lumen light they have now. If I had to pick a light and mount for all your guns right now I would go with the Viking Tactics light with tape switch mounted in a LaRue Tactical Inline Flashlight Mount LT-707. A MI light mount on the gun with the tape switch and cable held on by bands cut from a rubber innertube of a mountain bike tire. |
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