Posted: 10/19/2009 10:09:42 AM EDT
|
So I am not a goob who bolts tons of flashlights or crap to his rifle. But some circumstances recently have motivated me to find a good weapons mounted light. I currently have tons of flashlights of different makes and models but none are weapons lights. I was really just thinking of buying a TRL-1 and calling it good. Does anyone have any advice on why I shouldn't use that. These seem to weigh very little and are easy to take on and off a rifle. I really don't want to bolt a full size flashlight to my gun. My budget is about $250. This would mostly be used under 25 yards if that makes a difference.
PS this is not something I am going to keep the gun 24/7, its more that I would like to have the option of adding it on. If this is also a stupid notion please chime in as well. I am sure polytech will have an opinion. Thanks for your input. |
|
In my opinion. YMMV
The TLR-1 is clearly THE best thing going in terms of a weapon light. Sub $100 often...even locally at OMB. Super bright, super light Built in mount if you wanna use em on something else. All that said, I have a couple...I see a third soon. I have a few decent surefire options, but these are winning me over. Edit: Look http://www.ombexpress.com/c_0/p_FL229.aspx?source=153INEM0 $85! BUY! Last one I got there was $99. Well worth the $99 anyway 
|
|
Surefire G2 with a "LED" conversion head works great. I just got a VLTOR MOUNT, and it easy to put on, and take off. The Surefire with the LED conversion is bright, and you don't have to worry about the bulb going out. It's got a really nice, bright, white light with plenty of spill. I got the conversion head from TNVC, and am very happy with it. The batteries last a lot longer than they would with a regular bulb. You should be able to get into this setup for less than $200.
The TLR is a great light, and it would be a great choice. I just like the versatility that the Surefire setup gives me. I have one of the TLR variants on my Sig P220 SAO, and I love it there. I use to have it mounted on my SBR. DBAR |
I like my TLR-1 lights. 
BUT, here's my take on weapon-mounted lights. They're GREAT for bedstand "house" guns, and my G21, as seen above at the bottom, wears one full-time. But for CCW purposes, NOBODY carries one in an IWB holster. They're just too bulky. In fact, GFL finding an IWB to fit a lighted pistol, and if you do find one, GFL wearing it with any comfort. There are however many decent Outside the Waist Band belt holsters made to hold a pistol with a mounted light. I have a Safariland to fit a G17/22 with a light and it is a very nice holster that will conceal under a coat. But fuggeddaboutit in the summer. For those times I recommend to carry a separate good light. If you already have a Surefire 6v light I HIGHLY recommend a Malkoff Devices drop-in HIGH power LED replacement bulb assembly. These are quality, American-made, heavy-duty, warranteed units that will absolutely blow away those imported crap LED bulb assemblies that sell for $20. If you don't already own a SF flashlight, get one of the Malkoff "build it yourself" mag bodies + a M60 bulb for about $85 total. I own 4 of the Malkfof bulbs in different lumen ratings and beam patterns. They are AMAZING and unequalled by anything that the common guy can afford to buy.
|
| Eric I might of not been clear enough, I agree with your sentiment about pistol mounted lights. Especially your sentiment about CCW and lights. My main concern is a light to mount on my AR-15. After working indoor with one in a low light area it made it quickly apparent that trying to hold a light while entering a room is stupid. Maybe at that point you should be using your pistol anyway but I digress |
|
I got one of these. Best money I ever spent on a flashlight.
http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=2&f=325&t=175332 Currently lives on my AK. ETA: the only reason I didn't get the TLR-1 is that after an extra tailcap with remote switch and mount, it would have been about $200, compared to the Primary Arms that cost $100 with an integral mount and included extra tailcap with remote switch. If you can mount it on your rifle without needing a remote switch, a TLR-1 is a great buy. My sling mount gets on the way of mounting the light on the left side of the handguard. |
I love the TLR-1...I have two of them on (2) of my AR's and two of them on (2) of my handguns, fulltime... I do not use a tail switch on any of them because it is something that can easily be activated (or tore off) in a tense situation. On my AR's I can activate them momentarily with a knuckle/finger on my left hand as it is on the forearm and my thumb on the support hand with the handgun...I'm a rightie.
|
|
Quoted:
So I am not a goob who bolts tons of flashlights or crap to his rifle. But some circumstances recently have motivated me to find a good weapons mounted light. I currently have tons of flashlights of different makes and models but none are weapons lights. I was really just thinking of buying a TRL-1 and calling it good. Does anyone have any advice on why I shouldn't use that. These seem to weigh very little and are easy to take on and off a rifle. I really don't want to bolt a full size flashlight to my gun. My budget is about $250. This would mostly be used under 25 yards if that makes a difference. PS this is not something I am going to keep the gun 24/7, its more that I would like to have the option of adding it on. If this is also a stupid notion please chime in as well. I am sure polytech will have an opinion. Thanks for your input. have you put a light on your AR yet |
|
Take a DVC class and you'll quickly learn that on a serious "go to" weapon, a mounted light is a necessity, not a luxury. They'll let you run in total darkness first, so everyone can get a good laugh at the resultant cross-firing and failures to engage from less than 15 yards away. Then they'll show you how to do it with a handheld light–– running a carbine with a hand-held is kinda goofy to begin with, but then when you have to do an emergency reload or a failure drill, it quickly goes from "lolz this is goofy" to "ok this is a great way to get killed". Then you'll do it with a weapons mounted light, and compared to doing it the other ways it'll be so easy its almost like cheating. Now you can do drills like briefly illuminate to I.D., move, illuminate and fire, move again, illuminate and fire, move again while reloading, illumnate, move, etc., and actually shoot a good group on YOUR target while promptly dealing with issues like reloading or jams (which are hard enough to fix in the daytime, nevermind at night when you are trying to brace a handheld light in front of the mag well and all of a sudden you need that hand NOW).
The night fighting portion of the DVC class is worth the cost of the entire class. Its worth its weight in gold. The guy shooting to the left of me brought a lightweight KISS carbine with no way to mount a light, and had no choice but to run the entire night fighting section with his handheld. He took twice as long as I did to complete drills (and I had an epic bad day if you recall) and his group sizes were embarrassing even at less than 15 yards. Its kinda hard to aim a spotlight with your left hand (by looking at where the light is going) while simultaneously aiming and firing a rifle with mostly your right hand (while looking through your black iron sights on your KISS "who needs a red dot?" carbine). To do it right you would need two sets of eyes and two sets of hands, and probably two brains. Predictably, shooting fundamentals like stance, sight picture, and trigger control went all to hell with all that shit to think of, and the results showed. Triad Tactical, on my right, who of course ran some sort of super expensive Surefire setup on his Noveske with the S&B Short Dot optic, shot rapid fire groups smaller than my fist in the pitch black night, and then would stand around for a bit and watch the rest of us complete the drill. He had his rifle set up correctly and he knew his setup and had practiced it. In a real firefight he would have easily killed us all while we bumbled around. |
|
Quoted:
So I am not a goob who bolts tons of flashlights or crap to his rifle. But some circumstances recently have motivated me to find a good weapons mounted light. I currently have tons of flashlights of different makes and models but none are weapons lights. I was really just thinking of buying a TRL-1 and calling it good. Does anyone have any advice on why I shouldn't use that. These seem to weigh very little and are easy to take on and off a rifle. I really don't want to bolt a full size flashlight to my gun. My budget is about $250. This would mostly be used under 25 yards if that makes a difference. PS this is not something I am going to keep the gun 24/7, its more that I would like to have the option of adding it on. If this is also a stupid notion please chime in as well. I am sure polytech will have an opinion. Thanks for your input. So what are you going to do? Throw the light on with all that spare time you're gonna have when you have to go to a rifle? If a rifle needs a light it, it needs to live on the rifle. I'd go with something LED, 2cell, say a surefire scout or a streamlight. And call me crazy, I just can't buy one of the asian import copies for my fighting rifle, just don't trust it. That's all for now... PTK |
|
Quoted:
Eric I might of not been clear enough, I agree with your sentiment about pistol mounted lights. Especially your sentiment about CCW and lights. My main concern is a light to mount on my AR-15. After working indoor with one in a low light area it made it quickly apparent that trying to hold a light while entering a room is stupid. Maybe at that point you should be using your pistol anyway but I digress Sorry, I completely missed the word "rifle" in your post. 
In that case, the aforementioned Malkoff bulb/light in whatever mount works for you & your rifle.
|
|
Quoted:
Take a DVC class and you'll quickly learn that on a serious "go to" weapon, a mounted light is a necessity, not a luxury. They'll let you run in total darkness first, so everyone can get a good laugh at the resultant cross-firing and failures to engage from less than 15 yards away. Then they'll show you how to do it with a handheld light–– running a carbine with a hand-held is kinda goofy to begin with, but then when you have to do an emergency reload or a failure drill, it quickly goes from "lolz this is goofy" to "ok this is a great way to get killed". Then you'll do it with a weapons mounted light, and compared to doing it the other ways it'll be so easy its almost like cheating. Now you can do drills like briefly illuminate to I.D., move, illuminate and fire, move again, illuminate and fire, move again while reloading, illumnate, move, etc., and actually shoot a good group on YOUR target while promptly dealing with issues like reloading or jams (which are hard enough to fix in the daytime, nevermind at night when you are trying to brace a handheld light in front of the mag well and all of a sudden you need that hand NOW). The night fighting portion of the DVC class is worth the cost of the entire class. Its worth its weight in gold. The guy shooting to the left of me brought a lightweight KISS carbine with no way to mount a light, and had no choice but to run the entire night fighting section with his handheld. He took twice as long as I did to complete drills (and I had an epic bad day if you recall) and his group sizes were embarrassing even at less than 15 yards. Its kinda hard to aim a spotlight with your left hand (by looking at where the light is going) while simultaneously aiming and firing a rifle with mostly your right hand (while looking through your black iron sights on your KISS "who needs a red dot?" carbine). To do it right you would need two sets of eyes and two sets of hands, and probably two brains. Predictably, shooting fundamentals like stance, sight picture, and trigger control went all to hell with all that shit to think of, and the results showed. Triad Tactical, on my right, who of course ran some sort of super expensive Surefire setup on his Noveske with the S&B Short Dot optic, shot rapid fire groups smaller than my fist in the pitch black night, and then would stand around for a bit and watch the rest of us complete the drill. He had his rifle set up correctly and he knew his setup and had practiced it. In a real firefight he would have easily killed us all while we bumbled around. Plus one-freakin'-gazillion! |
| The TLR1 is great, I have one on my AR. I only have a few, small, complaints. Its almost too bright in my tiny apartment. It doesnt have a lockout switch (the tape switch probably wont acidentally get activated but the paddle switch can be). You need a tool (coin or similar) to loosen or tighten the latch and remove the bateries. Overall those small gripes don't add up to much. For the price it's hard to beat. |
|
Quoted:
Surefire G2 with a "LED" conversion head works great. I just got a VLTOR MOUNT, and it easy to put on, and take off. The Surefire with the LED conversion is bright, and you don't have to worry about the bulb going out. It's got a really nice, bright, white light with plenty of spill. I got the conversion head from TNVC, and am very happy with it. The batteries last a lot longer than they would with a regular bulb. You should be able to get into this setup for less than $200. The TLR is a great light, and it would be a great choice. I just like the versatility that the Surefire setup gives me. I have one of the TLR variants on my Sig P220 SAO, and I love it there. I use to have it mounted on my SBR. DBAR I went with the G2, LED conversion, VLTOR mount, and tail cap clicky thing and had less than $200 invested and I'm VERY happy with it. |