So what's the best pistol mounted light these days?

Hawkeye · Nov 24, 2015

Thanks for pointing that out.

Of course, since I started this thread I put giant sidewall bubbles in two tires on the ramp from 695 to 43 (watch out in the right lane as you approach the first expansion joint - there is a HUGE and sharp pothole in the left half of that lane) so the budget status has changed a bit this month.

Might have to try and squeeze that one in though.

DaemonAssassin · Nov 24, 2015

Streamlight TLR1-s

rbird7282 · Nov 24, 2015

Just bought a Streamlight TLR3 for about $75 and it will work just fine

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

slybarman · Nov 24, 2015

I have the TLR-3 as well. The instructors at CMCT were down on the TLR-3 because the rail mount is plastic and they have seen quite a few break.

Sent from my note 4 using Tapatalk.

Tactics · Nov 24, 2015

slybarman said:
I have the TLR-3 as well. The instructors at CMCT were down on the TLR-3 because the rail mount is plastic and they have seen quite a few break. Sent from my note 4 using Tapatalk.

I actually broke a tlr3 by using the wrong "adapter". Meaning I attached it to a pistol it wasn't meant for and it cracked the plastic mount. It was 100 percent my fault. I ran a tlr3 at CMCT Low Light and it did great. Finding a holster was a pain, but overall it does a great job. I prefer the tlr1, but the tlr 3 is smaller for ccw. As Sly already knows, there is no perfect tool!

smokey · Nov 25, 2015

Lucca1 said:
If anyone is looking for a TRL-1 HL, Amazon has it for $99 shipped.

http://www.amazon.com/b/ref=amb_lin...d_t=201&pf_rd_p=2281976102&pf_rd_i=B00B8Q31UQ

that's a pretty awesome deal, but keep in mind there's a tradeoff moving from the tlr1 up to the tlr1 hl. You double the lumens, but you also half the battery life. With the 300 lumen plain tlr1, you get 2.5 hours out of a pair of batteries, but you only get 1.25 hours out of the HL. It may be that you don't use the light that often, and feel comfortable just checking batteries every once in a while and swapping them out as needed....but if you use the light more often, and for more prolonged periods, then the 300 lumen light may be better for you.

http://www.lapolicegear.com/streamlight-tlr1s-weaponlight.html

Tactics · Nov 25, 2015

Just to echo what's been said before.. More lumens isn't always better. Especially if you splash your light off the wall, TV, mirror or door frame and blind yourself while trying to find a bump in the night.

Lucca1 · Nov 25, 2015

smokey0118 said:
that's a pretty awesome deal, but keep in mind there's a tradeoff moving from the tlr1 up to the tlr1 hl. You double the lumens, but you also half the battery life. With the 300 lumen plain tlr1, you get 2.5 hours out of a pair of batteries, but you only get 1.25 hours out of the HL. It may be that you don't use the light that often, and feel comfortable just checking batteries every once in a while and swapping them out as needed....but if you use the light more often, and for more prolonged periods, then the 300 lumen light may be better for you.

http://www.lapolicegear.com/streamlight-tlr1s-weaponlight.html

Tactics said:
Just to echo what's been said before.. More lumens isn't always better. Especially if you splash your light off the wall, TV, mirror or door frame and blind yourself while trying to find a bump in the night.

Thank you both for your feedback. Very valid points. I contemplated the purchase due to the battery life/ higher lumen tradeoff but plan on keeping two sets of batteries to swap out after range trips. I hadn't considered the splash issue. I will need to test this before deciding to keep it. I'm still not sold on the idea of mounting a light to my pistol but I figured for $99 and free returns, I'd give it a try.

vgplayer · Dec 8, 2015

Have to add to cart for price change.

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/637859/surefire-x300-ultra-weaponlight-led-with-2-cr123a-batteries-aluminum-black X300 600 lumen $214.99

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/579416/surefire-xc1-compact-pistol-light-led-with-1-aaa-battery-aluminum-black XC-1 $229.99

Cold Steel · Dec 12, 2015

RoadDawg said:
I know I'll get flamed for this but...I've never believed in "gun lights" for pistols.

Yep, before they had rail-mounted lights, you were always taught the 2-handed approach. But you forget one crucial element. This is Maryland, and they have tough handgun laws here. So your chances of running into someone with a gun is almost nil because it would be against the law. Thus, one would have nothing to lose by having such a pistol with a rail-mounted light.

So there are advantages to living in a gun restrictive state. Now in Virginia, where they have lax gun laws, it's a lot easier to get and carry guns. So your chances of running into an armed and dangerous criminal in Virginia and other states with lax gun laws are much greater outside this state.

As for good lights, I recommend Nitecore, Klarus and Olight. The ones with the largest bezels tend more towards throw, but the smaller, lighter ones have better flood, or spill.

Dogabutila · Dec 12, 2015

x300 series honestly. Surefires are expensive but they are worth it.

Racer Doug14 · Dec 12, 2015

I got this Protect at wallymart.

Racer Doug14 · Dec 12, 2015

The protec does the job and was cheap. Only problem would be getting a holster for it. You can get them on amazon too. Fits my 229 also.

vgplayer · Dec 12, 2015

Cold Steel said:
Yep, before they had rail-mounted lights, you were always taught the 2-handed approach. But you forget one crucial element. This is Maryland, and they have tough handgun laws here. So your chances of running into someone with a gun is almost nil because it would be against the law. Thus, one would have nothing to lose by having such a pistol with a rail-mounted light.

So there are advantages to living in a gun restrictive state. Now in Virginia, where they have lax gun laws, it's a lot easier to get and carry guns. So your chances of running into an armed and dangerous criminal in Virginia and other states with lax gun laws are much greater outside this state.

As for good lights, I recommend Nitecore, Klarus and Olight. The ones with the largest bezels tend more towards throw, but the smaller, lighter ones have better flood, or spill.

I am not sure what to say about this post.

RoadDawg · Dec 13, 2015

vgplayer said:
Cold Steel said:

Yep, before they had rail-mounted lights, you were always taught the 2-handed approach. But you forget one crucial element. This is Maryland, and they have tough handgun laws here. So your chances of running into someone with a gun is almost nil because it would be against the law. Thus, one would have nothing to lose by having such a pistol with a rail-mounted light.

So there are advantages to living in a gun restrictive state. Now in Virginia, where they have lax gun laws, it's a lot easier to get and carry guns. So your chances of running into an armed and dangerous criminal in Virginia and other states with lax gun laws are much greater outside this state.

As for good lights, I recommend Nitecore, Klarus and Olight. The ones with the largest bezels tend more towards throw, but the smaller, lighter ones have better flood, or spill.

Click to expand...

I am not sure what to say about this post.

Welcome to the world of :sarcasm:

smokey · Jun 19, 2017

A new development to toss in here, Olight's pistol lights.
https://www.amazon.com/Olight-Valky...rd_wg=KKLAi&psc=1&refRID=RCGBDWEXM94QEYETXEC4

1,200 lumens should be pretty great at giving you some control over someone if you place that hotspot on their face. It should also fill a room nicely with umbrella or baseboard lighting techniques.

smokey · Jun 25, 2017

https://www.amazon.com/Streamlight-...rd_wg=OXNjt&psc=1&refRID=6CX3XJWT47S505MKD30Y
TLR1 HL prices are falling again. Not sure why, but amazon prices have been rising and falling almost hourly for the past couple weeks. The past cycle, this light went for $93 before the price jumped back up to $124. It looks like it's fallen from $112 to $108 since this morning, so if you time it correctly you can pickup a TLR1 HL for about $95 before too long. That's a pretty solid deal for an 80 lumen light with a track record of durability and lots of holster options.

smokey · Jun 25, 2017

smokey0118 said:
A new development to toss in here, Olight's pistol lights.
https://www.amazon.com/Olight-Valky...rd_wg=KKLAi&psc=1&refRID=RCGBDWEXM94QEYETXEC4

View attachment 207548

View attachment 207549

1,200 lumens should be pretty great at giving you some control over someone if you place that hotspot on their face. It should also fill a room nicely with umbrella or baseboard lighting techniques.

This thing's pretty awesome so far. The reflector is definitely set up more for a flood pattern, being relatively shallow and small. It's got a large, but well defined hot spot, and a very large corona with undefined exterior edges. By large, I mean that at 25 feet, the hot spot is roughly 6' across. It definitely throws lots of light though, so baseboard or umbrella lighting fills all the dark corners of a room nicely. I'll add some beam shots when it gets a bit more dark.

The clamping system is cool. It's basically just a QR lever like optics use on ARs. It's quick and locks up tight. The controls are okay, but not fantastic. You can press from the side or the rear on the left or right. One press is constant on, if you press and hold for a second it becomes momentary on, and if you press left and right together, it strobes. The buttons don't wrap around the trigger guard(like the levers on a tlr1), so it's a bit longer reach and rules out the trigger finger for many. I always use my support thumb to work a pistol light so.. meh. I would like the buttons to extend further back for easier 1 handed use though.

For rifles....Because the lens is smaller than the tlr lights, it has an overall lower profile. I found that at 12 o'clock on the rail, my tlr1 basically covers the bottom 1/3 of my mkar sight picture. The pl2 is barely noticeable. It allowed me to mount it further forward on the top rail.

It seems to be well built and gas a sturdy feel it, but well see how it holds up. My tlr1 lost one battery cap that cracked at the pivot pin and has started to intermittently turn itself off under recoil... sooo... we'll see how this does.

It fits in my persec kydex holster made for my m&p45 with a tlr1s, but doesn't have the click-in retention feel to it. Something tight might require working with a holster maker and getting something custom.

smokey · Jun 26, 2017

Yup, the large hotspot and lumens make umbrella lighting pretty effective. I also grew to like the controls for momentary. If you just quickly press the button, it locks the light on, but if you hold it for any longer than about a 1/3 a second, it switches over to momentary. I thought it'd be annoying if you wanted to use the momentary function, but in practice the timing works out pretty nice. It's quick enough to allow you to scan and then let go of the button to have it turn back off. One handed is still a bit of a reach for me, but it's doable if I tighten my grip at my middle finger and push forward with my trigger finger. I still think that strobe in general is stupid, so I don't mind that it's difficult to engage(by pressing the button on the left and right simultaneously. It's easiest to just reach under and pinch with your index and thumb by rolling the gun in a similar manner to if you do a press check from the front of the slide.

Benjamin · Jun 26, 2017

Just to throw my hat in the ring, you can't go wrong with Surefire or Streamlight. The more lumens the better. I played around a bit with Inforce, but you're only getting 200 lumens, 400 with their newest models, vs the 600-800 that Surefire and Streamlight can bring. You also need to look into the candela, not everything is to be gained from lumens. You need that light to be focused so your light can stretch some distance, as well as controlling what your enemy can see.

On a side note anyone saying there is such as thing as too many lumens needs to take a step back and think for a minute. You are complaining about an issue with your hardware when they problem with your lack of training. The Sage videos that were linked are incredible resources, he even says in the videos if you blind yourself with your light, that is your fault for being an idiot. You should know where mirrors/reflective surfaces in your house lie, you should be utilizing the light properly so that you don't have to worry about blinding yourself.

Lastly, weapon mounted lights are an incredible tool that are abused and neglected constantly. The argument against is usually by someone that has not taken the time to educate themselves with new lights and advanced techniques. If you think the bad guy can see your light to shoot at you then I suggest trying something out. Find a Surefire or Streamlight and have a friend aim that at your face, obviously not mounted to the gun, in the dark. I promise you won't be able to see anything to shoot at. That's what people forget, you can use the light to control what your enemy sees, why would you not want to have complete control???

I forgot to add the Thyrm Switchback is $20 and an incredible tool to utilize for your edc light. Just because we live in Maryland doesn't mean we shouldn't be prepared. It gets dark out there every day.

So what's the best pistol mounted light these days?

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