Rail Tac Light on Your Carry Piece?

[snatchel]

I have been mulling over the idea of mounting a tac light to my EDC for about a month now. I have a great little tactical flashlight that I can easily use in my weak hand while handling the gun in my strong hand--but I really wanted to look into the possibility of buying something that mounted on the rail. I had narrowed my choices down to the TLR-1s, a couple of Nebo lights, and the TLR-3. I ended up going with the TLR-3 because it is quite a bit smaller than it's counterparts. It has the momentary on/off option as well as a constant on/off option. It does lack a strobe feature, but that was not a deal breaker for me.

Bought it, brought it home, mounted it in about 1 minute. The downside is that because it's made for a subcompact gun, the light doesn't slip all the way up to the trigger guard. This is more of a cosmetic issue for me, so not a big deal. I have read in numerous posts/reviews that the distance between trigger guard & activation switch makes it difficult for some to activate the light. I can see how that could be a problem, but even with my relatively small hands I had no issues using it.

All in all I am happy with my little TLR-3. I ordered a holster from JM Custom Kydex to accomodate this beast in an OWB fashion, so until then I am using one of my appendix holsters that happened to fit around the light. I'll link a very brief youtube video below of me drawing/shooting this afternoon. I ran a few magazines through the gun with the light attached--maybe 100 rounds, to ensure that the light functioned while firing, as well as to ensure that it didn't loosen up and fall off.

So far, so good. I'll update should anything change...





[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=ASeysB44P5E[/youtube]

[MoJo]

Personally, I do not like a light mounted on a handgun. There is something about pointing a loaded gun at something you just want to look at that just is not right.

A light on a long gun is necessary because you can not operate a rifle or shotgun one handed like a pistol. I would still use a handheld light to search with when armed with a long gun. The weapon mounted light is for target illumination/ID before shooting.

[JMPJr]

So many thoughts!

First, thanks for all the pics and the video. Once you get the JM Kydex, I'd love additional photos of how that looks both exposed and concealed, if you wouldn't mind.

Secondly, I'm not a photo expert, but even I can appreciate the great job with yours. In particular I like your staging. What camera and settings did you use?

What's going on with your grip? Stipling? Tape? It looks good!

I like the idea of a light on my carry but I don't have one. I also don't carry a flashlight generally speaking. The odds of "something" happening obviously go up at nighttime so it makes sense. The trouble for me is just the size, and/or another item to carry. I have no difficulty carrying my gun (I've never even found that I need to "dress around" it, but that may be because I have several different primary choices with various styles of carry) but rarely bring extra mags or speed loaders. I've put nightsites on the two semi-autos that I carry and two have lasers (one guide-rod and one grip). As I'm sitting here thinking about it, in a dark situation I can't imagine shooting very far anyway but I can tell I'm merely trying to justify not having a light at all times. I'm a flashlight junkie to begin with... you're going to keep me up tonight, thanks. =)

In the video, where are you shooting?

[tiviti]

What's going on with your grip? Stipling? Tape? It looks good!

It looks to me like Talon grips.

http://www.talongungrips.com/Talon-Grip ... -Glock.htm

[carlson1]

They are Talon grips. I like the rubber Talon grips.

I have a tac light on my Glock beside my bed. I do not like the bulky carry for and EDC. I have a small hand held streamlight that clips on just like a knife in your pocket and do carry that with me.

[Jumping Frog]

Personally, I do not like a light mounted on a handgun. There is something about pointing a loaded gun at something you just want to look at that just is not right.

With proper technique, you can illuminate what you need to see without point the muzzle at it. There is a lot of "side spill" on the lighting.

[C-dub]

I have a tac light on my Glock beside my bed.

Same here. Also on my rifle and that one does have a strobe.

I have thought about having a light on my EDC, but it's so bulky and holsters are difficult to find.

[carlson1]

I forgot I also have a ligh on my shotgun and AR.

[Salty1]

I do not quite understand the desire to have a light on a concealed carry gun, from my perspective I do not want to show somebody where I am by turning on a light and giving them a tactical advantage. If somebody ever lit me up with a flashlight attached to a gun thinking I was a threat because we were both walking someplace at the same time late at night they would have a serious problem, the least would be I would insist on charges being filed against them for deadly conduct for pointing a gun at me, the worst case is that there would be a shootout because of their ignorance, people who have lights on their carry guns should think long and hard on exactly what situation would make it acceptable to use a firearm as a flashlight........ If one drops their keys in a dark parking lot would they use their "flashlight" to help locate them? Would this use be considered acceptable to everybody?

From my perspective a hand held light would be more of an advantage as it can be held far away from the body, not giving away ones actual position and could aslo be used as a defensive tool if necessary without interducing deadly force into the equation. Maybe I am old school but I feel that retreat and seek cover are the first steps and darkness is my friend, if somebody is going to attempt to do me harm they will come under my terms as much as possible, showing them where I am gives them equal footing if not an advantage. I do not even have lights on my home defense firearms, I know my way around the house in pure darkness, anybody entering will not, no need for me to tell them what direction I will be approaching from. I would prefer to flick a wall switch and step back into semi darkness.

I am very interested in others opinions on this subject and have hopefully laid out a few concepts that are worthy of a discussion....

[carlson1]

I hope you have night vision if not you will not know 100% what or your target is. That is only one of about 10 proems you will have for not having your tools that you need to win a fight.

To each his own. We must determine in our mind now what we are going to do.

[snatchel]

Okidokie. Q & A...

Salty-- I understand where you are coming from, but I do have a dedicated hand-held flashlight that goes into my bag. At night/evenings/dark places it goes into my back right pocket. Here ya go:



You are right in the fact that you shouldn't rely on your rail-light for illumination purposes. The hand held light is much better for that. ON the other hand, if the situation allows for the gun to be drawn--I have no problem using the rail light for illumination purposes. Like Jumping Frog said, there is enough spill over from 130 lumens to light up a room without pointing the gun directly at anything.

Now, as far as the light making you a target. There is a momentary on/off switch on this light that is built in for that reason. I forget what the technique is called, but you don't leave the light in an "on" position indefinitely. The technique has you use it in 1 second bursts. Someone will be along to link it--but it is the same thing that was taught to me for CQB in low light, house-to-house, and vessel searches.

Here is the short, non tactical version:

Let's say you are clearing your own house. You know the layout of it, right. What you do not know, if it is completely dark, is where the intruder is. You use the darkness cover as you navigate your house, utilizing the light in short, 1 second bursts to illuminate areas of question. The light does not stay on. You should be able to use the light during those 1 second bursts to identify a target and engage--without having the light on--based on the 1 second burst you put out in identification. It takes a little practice as it an be disorientating for you as well--but it is effective.

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=CMyLyzgeAi0[/youtube]

If you go to the 6:30 minute mark, you can see sort of how it works. The instructor, Travis Haley, is ex Recon. He teaches the same technique I learned during my training.

In short, a rail light should NOT take the place of a handheld light, you are right. The rail light simply provides another option.

JMPJr- The other guys were right. It's a Talon Rubber Grip. Basically a thin adhesive sheet of rubber texture fitted for your particular handgun that you just wrap around your handgun grip. I've said it before, and I'll say it again--the best $15 I have ever spent. I have them on all my carry guns, and I can't recommend them enough to anyone who is looking for a better grip option. I have a better review here:

http://texaschlforum.com/viewtopic.php? ... ps#p691536" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I am not a photographer. LoL. I took these pics with my iPhone 5, no special features, no settings. I just used the backdrop and shadows created by natural light to take them.

[snatchel]

Oh yeah--

"If the first rule of a gun fight is to bring a gun, the first rule of a low light gunfight is to bring a flashlight.. And popcorn"--Chief Lloyd.

[The Annoyed Man]

I have a TLR-1s mounted on my full-sized M&P45 for a "night stand" gun. I also have an MX3 weapon light mounted on my AR15, which leans in a corner of the bedroom next to my bed, unloaded, magazine removed. I ALSO have a little QuarkX1232 flashlight which goes with me everywhere I go, day or night.

Both the Quark and the TLR-1s have a strobe. The Quark also has about 6 or 8 other useful settings, including a "moonlight" setting for very dim light plus about 4 or 5 other brightness settings, an "SOS" setting, a flashing beacon setting, as well as a 360 lumen tactical setting for melting eyeballs with. I love that little light, and it only cost $69.95. I never leave the house without it.

The TSR-1s puts out 160 lumen, and the Insight M3X puts out "125+" lumen. The MX3 has no strobe or other settings.

If I want, I can mount the TLR-1s on my XDm as well, but I don't. I just leave it where it is. As far as brightness, 160 lumen is plenty bright for inside my house. I don't have to cast a beam very far; and I appreciate the strobe setting because if I do have to point my gun at someone with the light switched on, I want as much "shock and awe" on my side as possible. Likewise, the 125 lumen on my carbine is plenty enough light to illuminate a potential target at the ranges at which I'm likely to use it in the dark. I have the remote switch pad for it, so I can flick it on and off as needed without shifting my grip on the carbine.

Tactically, inside my home I have all the advantages. I have an alarm system which I use religiously, and I have a dog that has a special fondness for the hindparts of burglars. I know the layout. I know what is cover and what is concealment. I know where all the exit/entrypoints are. If I am searching the inside of my home in the dark with a pistol/carbine in my hands, I am both able to navigate in the dark AND well past the point of caring whether my muzzle is covering whatever my lightbeam is revealing. So I don't really worry about that aspect.

As for being out and about, I generally think that a handheld tactical light has an advantage over a weapon-mounted light. For one thing, I shoot very nearly as well one-handed as two-handed, so it makes little difference to me if I am holding the light up alongside the pistol (near my body centerline, which makes me a target), or holding it away from my body at the end of an outstretched arm (away from my body, making the light a target). This gives me options that I don't have with a weapon mounted light. For another thing, there are lots of conceivable situations where I might need a feature included in my Quark light but where having to dismount it from a gun to use it would make that impractical. For instance, I have used my Quark light at church, during daytime, to illuminate a corner of the stage wings so that I could find something in the darkness......which would be awkward to say the least if I had to draw my weapon to do that. If I were in a situation away from home where a weapon mounted light were a real necessity, I'd leave the pistol holstered and carry the carbine.


(EDITED TO CORRECT A SPELLING ERROR....)

[texasmusic]

Salty:

Having one of these lights pointed at your eyes is the furthest thing from a tactical advandage. It is blinding and disorienting; especially with a strobe.

[Beiruty]

laser light is magnifying factor for the potential of your pistol at night. I like the laser even more, since you can see the dot where you would like to shoot from behind cover. for gun control, 2 hands are better than one. and if you draw your weapon, then I hope you are justified in its use.

You carry a small flashlight 1AA, 50 lunens, or 3 AAA, 600 lumens as your night requires and that is for scouting purposes at night.