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Posted: 1/24/2003 1:01:04 AM EDT
| I just bought two new Surefire lights for work. I bought an M101 for my Glock 21 at work and a P101 for my wife's Glock 21 at work. When I was talking with our Firearms Coordinator (Our head firearms instructor), he told me that we could not carry them. He said Glock told him at their Advanced Armorer Course that using a Surefire light on a Glock would void the Glock warranty. He said Glock only recommends the Streamlight M3 or M6 lights. I have several Surefire lights and like them much better than the Streamlights. Can anyone comment on this? |
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That was before SureFire had an trigger guard rail mount to support the P101. My understanding is that SureFire had to make these rail mounts for guns with rails which flex too much. Classic Handgun WeaponLights like the 645AR don't have any issues, nor to current P111 or M111 as long as you use the trigger guard rail mount. I found the following posted on GlockTalk: "[i]Also, when I spoke with Surefire, they stated that ya gotta use the mounting kit with rails that they supply to avoid that jams that is caused when mounting the light directly to the Glock accessory rails. They said that when the light was mounted using the Glock rails, it stiffened up the frame so the slide would speed up and the mags didn't feed the bullet right and caused the jams. But when I finally do order my light I plan on putting extra power springs in the mags and putting in a heavier recoil spring and see if that works with the light mounted to the frame. I'm just not a fan of hooking something up to the trigger guard like Surefire's mounting kit does so hopin it will work this way.[/i]" He's got a point, while there are growing numbers of handguns designed to support SureFire WeaponLights, the use of trigger guard mounted rails causes issues with regards to holsters if you don't want to have the light attached to the gun all the time but need to be able to attach it in seconds. Streamlight M-3's have versions with adapter rails too for some guns. A handgun weapon-mounted light has limitations and should never replace the need for a quality flashlight like the SureFire M2 or G2Z etc. Al |
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IIRC, Surefire's 2002 catalog showed only "surefire rail" mounted lights for Glocks. Mid 2002, Surefire's web site showed the same thing. Now surefire's website shows models that mount to the integral rails. So it appears they either have a newer model, or have reintroduced the rail mount |
| I talked to a L.E. Glock rep and he explained why Glocks had so many problems with Surefire lights. With the light mounted, the Glock frame became rigid and caused the slide to cycle faster. Without the light, the frame flexed and caused friction which slowed down the slide. He said extra power magazine springs (more coils) solved the problem. |
| Well, it turns out that it doesn't matter after all. I received my Surefire lights and they won't lock in place on the Glocks unless you use the adaptor that attached to the trigger guard. If you use the adaptor, the gun won't fit in a regular holster. I guess I'm going to have to send them both back and get some Streamlight M3s. I'm disappointed because I like the quality of the Surefires better.[:(] |
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I was told by a friend to stay away from the new Glock lights. He said they are very cheaply made. He said his dep't had some for testing and they would occasionally fly off the gun during shooting. That does not sound good. Excuse me, Mr. Bad Man, could you please pick up that light and hand it back to me so I can shoot you or could you just go ahead and point it at yourself so I can see you? I did talk to SureFire today and they said they will be coming out with a new P004 light that will fit on the Glock rails without the trigger-guard attachment. They said the P101 can be modified to fit but I'm not sure if I want to Dremel on a light that costs that much. SureFire said the same thing as posted above. Their light causes the Glock frame to be stiffer and the slide cycles faster. Because of this, the magazine can't push the bullets into the chamber fast enough and it causes malfunctions. They said it doesn't cause any malfunctions if you use the trigger-guard attachment but then it won't fit in a regular duty holster. |
| EPD1102, from what I understand, surefire makes 2 versions for the Glock. The one which you have that requires a frame/rail adapter, and the older model that mounts to the frame directly. I believe they discontinued the older model due to the reliablilty problems I mentioned above. However, like I said, if you can get your hands on the older one and higher power mag springs, your problems should be solved. |
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NoKarma, I have not been able to find a holster that will fit a Glock 21 with a SureFire light attached. Safariland and several others nake holsters that fit with a Streamlight M3 attached but they won't work with the SureFire lights. I have not seen anyone that makes a level III holster for a gun with a light attached. We currently issue the Safariland level III holsters to our officers. |
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To tell you the truth I have not dealt with duty holster much. I am sure that some one will make one for you but it may not be department approved. I stopped buying holsters off the rack a long time ago. But I do have a inside the waistband bladetech holster made for a glock 22 with old style 3 volt light. If you are willing to pay and wait for it you can get just about anything. NoKarma |
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