Weapon mount light help

[Harrylee]

Most of the time I carry my Xdm compact 45 and I always put that in my bed stand and it has a rail to mount a light. Now for along time I have been looking at weapon mount lights and one particular, the Streamlight TLR-2 that has 300 lumen with a laser that’s pretty bright, now I see they have a TLR-2HL with 630 lumen and laser. Since I don’t have much in rail guns I can use this both ways carry by day slip the light for night. As I look at where anyone may come to my house we have very low light at night. So I would like on some help on weapon mount lights from you guys, think I’m on the right track but I’ll throw it out there for everyone's views

[Bawanna]

I have a Surefire X300, no laser just a mighty bright light. I keep it on a Glock in a bookcase/nightstand in easy reach.

I have two hand held flashlights on the chair so if I forget the Glock and grab my Cbob I still have the light.

A weapon light can be a tricky thing. Searching is best with a handheld light in case you find somebody you don't want to shoot.

A weapon light is a very good thing if you've found a bad guy and he don't deserve to be shot YET, but he might any second. This frees up your off hand to signal wife, use the phone, whatever.

I like a light mounted gun along with a hand held, best of both worlds.

[chrish]

I personally found the 200-300 lumen lights, weapon mounted or hand held to be TOO bright for use indoors. Reflected light jacked up my vision coming on from total darkness. I've dropped back to just over 100 lumens w/ the TLR-3 and couldn't be happier. I think for home use, it's about perfect, affordable, plenty of brightness for the average indoor use. Outdoors, you might well have more use for a 200, 300 lumen, or more. But not indoors. Just my 2 cents.

[CB3]

IMO, coordinating the movement of operations/switches and a trigger within centimeters of each other on a gun, in the dark, jacked up on adrenaline, is the last thing I want to do.

A handheld light off the gun has many more uses, as well as the same uses as a gun mounted light. Stuff hanging off a pistol does not make it easier to manipulate, IMO. A light on a gun has more liabilities than abilities.

I know it is all the rage now, but that doesn't mean it is really necessary. A simple lanyard on the handheld allows it to be dropped out of the way to free up the off hand while retaining the light for use again.

[jocko]

I have a Surefire X300, no laser just a mighty bright light. I keep it on a Glock in a bookcase/nightstand in easy reach.

I have two hand held flashlights on the chair so if I forget the Glock and grab my Cbob I still have the light.

A weapon light can be a tricky thing. Searching is best with a handheld light in case you find somebody you don't want to shoot.

A weapon light is a very good thing if you've found a bad guy and he don't deserve to be shot YET, but he might any second. This frees up your off hand to signal wife, use the phone, whatever.

I like a light mounted gun along with a hand held, best of both worlds.

had that happen with my first wife, I had to signal her to get out of that fokkers bed, so I could shoot him and not her, as I knew she had not done my laundry this week, so I seen a need for her to "live". Just sayin:blah:

[BEARDOG]

Streamlight makes good lights. I think you would be very happy with one.
I have a Streamlight TLR-1 (120 lumens) on my XDM 40 as my go to HD pistol. Easy to attach and detach, and the toggle switch is perfectly placed for me.
Also I have Streamlight Polytac's mounted on my HD shotgun and AR.
All of them are very well made, tough, and plenty bright enough light for defensive use.

[Harrylee]

Thanks guys for your input I know some say liability issues but as I can see if someone is in your home you need all the advantage you can get, for me that is quit simple it’s only my wife and me in the house all others are intruders. I would rather have both hands on the weapon by choice Now this brings up another point is how many lumen for in door use I like the laser in the light. In the Streamlight I’m seeing the TLR-4 with 125 lumen and the TLR-2 with 300 lumen and I don’t know if 300 to much light if nothing else it would blind who ever is in your home but does that also blind you? I wish they had a grip button that would fit my gun but they don’t I see they have it for the Glock not the XDM compact. Hey everyone have a great Thanksgiving :hungry:

[chrish]

I see both sides of the mounted vs handheld light. I opted for the mounted, but that's just me. I can see how either has potential issues. I went mounted light b/c I don't want to be fumbling for both in the middle of the night when I'm already disoriented. I practice practice practice w/ the switch on the mounted, just like I do for everything else, so having a switch (TLR-3) and the trigger do not concern me so much.

On the amount of light question. If you keep your weapon pointed down, as you should, as you move around...then 300 lumens isn't all that big of a deal. My problem was when I raised it to a target. Against a white or light colored wall, or God forbid a mirror or reflective surface, you betcha that 300 lumens is gonna jack you up. 125 (or 110 in the TLR3) is pretty stinking bright.

Again, you can make both arguments. 300 lumens will blind the person it hits, which if its a home intruder, great. If it's you, not so great. I don't rely on my light to blind, I need it to illuminate a room so I can identify my target and my firearm will then do what is needed. 100+ lumens is more than adequate to identify your target.

[nimdabew]

For what it is worth, do all the WML manipulation with your support thumb, NOT YOUR TRIGGER FINGER. This separates the two hands from possibly doing the wrong thing; your trigger finger is used for the trigger only. Support hand can do manipulations. This is why I like the Surefire x300's. They have a momentary on mode by pressing on the back of the switch instead of manipulating up or down and it lets you concentrate on other things. Best advice though, have both, but be prepared to drop the handheld light if you need to engage.

Above all else, be safe and take a class on proper light technique because it is much harder than you can imagine. A WML is a force multiplier, but it isn't a magic beam weapon like anti gunners think guns all are.

[b4uqzme]

^^^^^. Makes sense to have both and train with both. I mounted a Nebo HP190 on my nightstand gun and keep a handheld light in there too. FYI. The Nebo is pretty nice for a fraction of the $$$ for a Streamlight.

[garyb]

I can see advantages to using both hand held and gun mounted. In the training I received, we used both and maybe using both hand held AND gun mounted together is the way to go as Bawanna expressed....having both options at your disposal could be good, providing you are trained well in the use of those options under stress.

For what it is worth, I use an inexpensive NEBO hand held flashlight with a push button on one end and serrated edges on the other end. I use this because I have a laser on my PM and no rails. It was my decision to use hand held based on the training I received with my PM. Use of hand held provides me excellent selection (on/off) control AND affords me the hand held to use as a hand to hand weapon. NEBO has serrated edges on the light end.

I agree with nimdabew, in that training with whatever you use is the most important consideration to making this decision. Get some training with night tactics and base your selections on that. In this case, there may be no right or wrong answers to hand held vs gun mounted...but the answer may lie in the training you receive and how you practice that training. The training will reveal issues like brightness options, hand held considerations, gun mounted considerations, etc... Finally, I suggest that you try out some devices before you purchase them. I found that the inexpensive NEBO flashlight will do the job for me and has only been used as a flashlight....so it has had some value in the home at minimal expense. A gun mounted light would just sit there in my drawer. My point is NOT that expense is the issue, but simply that the inexpensive, good functioning flashlight has been a utilized choice for me, but has not been used for SD. Personal choice here.

[muggsy]

I don't believe in looking for trouble. There is nothing in my home that I can live without. I barricade myself in my room and dial 911. If the BG attempts to go into my bedroom my light is in my left hand and my gun is in my right. Woe be it to the SOB who tries to breach that door. He hasn't long to live.

[garyb]

I don't believe in looking for trouble. There is nothing in my home that I can live without. I barricade myself in my room and dial 911. If the BG attempts to go into my bedroom my light is in my left hand and my gun is in my right. Woe be it to the SOB who tries to breach that door. He hasn't long to live.

Good points and good advice Muggsy. Here in NY, even if the BG breached your home and then bedroom door (where you were barricaded in), unless he is armed and threatening your life, you still can not shoot him and successfully claim it was in self defense. He had no weapon and did you no physical harm. You've just shot an unarmed man who came into your home (albeit illegally) to ask for a peanut butter sandwich and was willing to leave without harming anyone once he was fed. It's just how the crazy laws work here. I don't like the law and agree with you that once he made his move toward me, I should have the right to defend that threat. However, that being said, barricading one's self in a back or bed room and calling 911 is a great move. Each state has different legal positions on the notion that you can then shoot the guy. Subtle technicalities of varying State laws must be considered and note that I previously bolded "here in NY". Where Muggsy lives it sounds like the law may be different (better).

[chrish]

Where I live, I'm not subject to the stupidity of a law like that. If I lived somewhere like that, wouldn't care WHAT my ties were, I'd leave, post haste.

But I still opt for muggsy's course of action once I have gotten all family members in one place. But, if family hasn't been located, you can bet I'm going looking for trouble before 911 can arrive. If you are in MOST people's shoes, you better have more than 1 plan.

[garyb]

If I lived somewhere like that, wouldn't care WHAT my ties were, I'd leave, post haste.


No State is perfect. Hard to believe anyone would leave a State for a stupid law. For that matter, better check the Federal laws....lots of stupidity could cause you to leave the country. Just look at the President.....Hmmmmm. Better check the books cause there are more than one stupid law in every state and certainly in this country. Just saying.

I don't take it personally what you are trying to say, because I realize what I am dealing with here in upstate NY. There are a lot of states that I would not consider living in either, so I know what you are saying Chrish. Lots of people would not live in NY because the State has an association with NYC. Upstate is Beautiful country....and I have my dream property. More than ties here. Great hunting here. Lots of shooting ranges here. Not one...not even ten stupid laws will cause me to leave.

[chrish]

No State is perfect. Hard to believe anyone would leave a State for a stupid law. For that matter, better check the Federal laws....lots of stupidity could cause you to leave the country. Just look at the President.....Hmmmmm. Better check the books cause there are more than one stupid law in every state and certainly in this country. Just saying.

I don't take it personally what you are trying to say, because I realize what I am dealing with here in upstate NY. There are a lot of states that I would not consider living in either, so I know what you are saying Chrish. Lots of people would not live in NY because the State has an association with NYC. Upstate is Beautiful country....and I have my dream property. More than ties here. Great hunting here. Lots of shooting ranges here. Not one...not even ten stupid laws will cause me to leave.

Yea, I get your drift. Meant no offense by the comment. Just what I'd do if that happened here. While we don't have very restrictive gun laws (or self defense laws) here, Virginia is turning 'blue' by popular vote tallies. That means we put democrats in the Presidency and Senate and occasionally the governorship. But thankfully, our state government bodies are still run and will remain run by the GOP, albeit it largely RINOs these days that pander come election time to the more conservative folk. Somehow they manage to keep the state conservative and still engage in largely democrat socialist activities on the national stage. Says a lot about the intelligence of the conservative voting block here (haha). But even with that, I'm getting close to jettin' from this blue stink-hole and moving further south or midwest. I'll miss the old Commonwealth, but when I do, I won't look back, not for a second. The door will most certainly NOT hit me on the way out.

[Harrylee]

So today I ordered a TLR-4 and hope it what I am looking for, I will have to see if this does what I want for my living conditions.We in Pa have castle doctrine and stand your ground laws as it should be. Wish all the states whould go along with that. In this thread I was just looking for a good light for my gun so if someone ever came in the house ( with all doors locked) then they are the attackers. Bawanna did look your surefire x300 up that thing puts out 500 lumen that is one he!! of a bright light make sure you don't shine that in a mirror. Here is a little tidbit I found. For all that have chimed in thanks, I don't like all the politics just know what should be right if you or your loved one are attacked. We are here to learn from each other and if something goes bump in the night and your not sure what is is you are likely to see what it is

http://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/LI/LI/CT/HTM/18/00.005.005.000..HTM

[Harrylee]

So today I got my tlr-4 that everyone said it should be a good light. Played around with for awhile, it was a cloudy day around these parts but still had some day light. Got the laser some what dialed in, I wasn’t really impressed with the light output at first but it became night came into the house and got the tlr- 4 Not mounted to the gun and WOW the little light came to life. When I first started looking I thought the tlr-2 was what I wanted but see that would have too much light. So I’m happy with what I bought and thanks for the input May just have to take it to the range tomorrow just to check it out. Thanks guys you did me right

[chrish]

Congrats. Good choice. I love my TLR-3. The 4 didn't exist when I got mine. Looks like you have 15 more lumens than me. My TLR-3 is 110, but looks like the new TLR-3 is 125 like yours. For home use, I think the just over 100+ lumens is the sweet spot. Anything higher is blinding.


If ya need to blast 100+ yards outdoors, just get you a kick butt handheld and a Viking mount...or just hand hold w/ the TLR-4 onboard.

Enjoy!

[Harrylee]

Ok so I just had to see what this tlr-4 was like. I usually have my gun next to the bed so last night I mounted the tlr-4 on the gun and left the camber empty with full mag so I could see how well this worked. The wife is out the door by 5:30 am I got up around 5:45 still pitch black out so with eyes still in the dark I got the gun pointed to the back corner of the bed room roughly 24 feet MAN that light was almost blinding, now my eyes where not adjusted to light yet but just wanted to see for my self. So that was that little test over later in the morning took a ride to the range. Thought I had the laser pretty close left it where is was, got to the range remounted tlr-4 and using the laser only at 7 yards I was impressed so I ran it to 10 yard once again just using laser still impressed now out to 15 just couldn’t do anything wrong. So over all testing was very good. So pulled off the light and went back to iron sight for the last of my ammo. A very good investment for low to no light conditions. The tlr-4 is the right tool for inside all thumbs up for Streamlight