# Pistol lights?



## mp4094 (Feb 3, 2008)

I've never been a big fan of lights till I got one--don't knock it till you try it kind of thing. I bought an insight x2 with laser for my xd9 subcompact. I'm very impressed with this little light and this gun is now in my night stand drawer. That being said, I'm a glock fan and have a few. I'm looking for a light/laser to snap on my glock 34/glock 19. I was looking at the streamlight TLR-2. I would like to stay in the $250-300 range. 

Anybody have this particular model or something better you might recommend? My x2 is rated at 40 lumens and works very well. I can't wait to see how well a full size pistol light performs. 

Also, I'm looking for a simple kydex holster to fit my xd with light. I think I found one but they always list the 4 and 5 inch pistols and never the subcompact. I think the sub fits these models but I'm not sure. By simple kydex I mean basic retention--no strap over top of pistol with belt loop, not paddle.


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## propellerhead (May 19, 2006)

Bladetech has them.


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## Charlie (May 13, 2006)

Have you considered the light/laser combo made by Glock? I had the light only on a G20 and it worked great. Not sure of the lumens, candlepower, etc. but it was as bright as any I've ever had, maybe brighter. Best thing about it was that it matched the gun and was about 2/3 the price of all the rest and did at least as good a job. :smt023


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## Ram Rod (Jan 16, 2008)

I have an M3 and an M6. Couldn't be without them. The M3 is on the AR15 and the M6 goes on any of the Glocks or the SIG!
http://personalsecurityzone.com/cgi.../PSZ/?Template=ProdDetail.htm&ProductID=12805


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## Charlie (May 13, 2006)

Just found some ads for the Glock Tactical Light (rated at 60 lumens). So far the best deal is $85. I just googled "Glock Tactical Light".


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## Spartan (Jan 1, 2007)

I have a TLR-2 on my XD 45 and a TLR-1 for my Glocks/ M40-A1/ hopefully my USPc when I get an adaptor/ whatever. I got my TLR-2 from botach for $200 with 20 free batteries and the TRL-1 from botach for $85! They have great deals if you can find them on sale; I've never seen them for cheaper. 

I don't know all of the specs but they're very nice and very well built. The laser holds true and they are very bright. I think they come with a lifetime warranty, too.


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## submoa (Dec 16, 2007)

Does anyone with a rail light on their gun carry with the light attached?


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## propellerhead (May 19, 2006)

submoa said:


> Does anyone with a rail light on their gun carry with the light attached?


I haven't heard of anyone do so. For one it's harder to conceal. Second, I don't see myself walking around in darkness to need a gun mounted light. I hope no one plans on using their gun light to find their car keys they just dropped on the sidewalk.


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## Mike Barham (Mar 30, 2006)

propellerhead said:


> I haven't heard of anyone do so. For one it's harder to conceal. Second, I don't see myself walking around in darkness to need a gun mounted light. I hope no one plans on using their gun light to find their car keys they just dropped on the sidewalk.


Sounds funny, but at least one police agency had to have their guys take their weaponlights off their pistols because the cops were using the weaponlights MOUNTED ON THE GUNS to look at documents during routine traffic stops.


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## Charlie (May 13, 2006)

Mike Barham said:


> Sounds funny, but at least one police agency had to have their guys take their weaponlights off their pistols because the cops were using the weaponlights MOUNTED ON THE GUNS to look at documents during routine traffic stops.


Probably helped with any compliance issues during the stop! Kinda' like cop gives directions for a suspect to do something and when he hesitates, cop starts puttin' his gloves on! :anim_lol::anim_lol:


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## skyfire (May 6, 2008)

when i'd need to use my pistol in my nightstand, it would most likely be at night, and for that reason i have night sights, your eyes are already adjusted to the dark because you've been sleeping, so they walk into your room, pop they're dead. you switch on your rail light on the other hand, and they know exactly where you are, so you don't want to miss, or you want to move immediately after shooting. but this being said, i suppose muzzle flash would give away your location just as well as the light lol hrmmm conundrom:watching:


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## submoa (Dec 16, 2007)

skyfire said:


> your eyes are already adjusted to the dark because you've been sleeping, so they walk into your room, pop they're dead.


So much for the kids having a bad dream...


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## Teuthis (Apr 9, 2008)

I do not want any light in front of my face or lined up with my body in a firefight. I want the cloak of darkness and my night sights. 

It is true that one cannot fire indiscriminately in the dark, for fear of hitting one's own. But there is a point at which one knows who the target is not ,and can fire with certainty at an enemy. One possibly huge, tactical advantage then is having the first shot from the dark and then moving laterally for the next shot; still in darkness. That of course is just one scenario, but it is one I would want to be in contol of as an armed civilian in a firefight.


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## Mike Barham (Mar 30, 2006)

Gun-mounted lights just don't seem to draw the amount of fire in real-life that they do on the intrawebs.

Leaving aside the mall ninjas and chairborne rangers who populate the 'net, who also love weaponlights, practically every real-life secret squirrel "operator" has a light on his weapon. These guys go in harm's way with regularity. If weaponlights really caused instant death in a firefight because they are bullet magnets, these guys just wouldn't use them.

The guys in my unit's second platoon Delta Company kicked in hundreds of doors in their year in Afghanistan, and killed well over 100 enemy combatants. _Every single one of them had a Surefire on his M4._ Every single one of them came back alive.

The old "they'll shoot at the light" theory just doesn't seem to hold up in real fights.


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## gmaske (Jan 7, 2008)

Mike
Your point about the light on the gun is good but what I see is they are the hunter not the hunted. If I were the hunted I wouldn't want the light. This plays in to the home invasion thing. The BG is creeping in to your bed chamber hoping to find you sound asleep so he can snag your wallet and watch while you sleep if you're lucky. If I know he's coming he will see a light alright! The flash of a 45! There are only two people in my house that belong there after the lights go out. Me and that wonderful lady that has put up with all my crap for 30+ years. There is enough light even on a moonless night to tell who is who in my bedroom.


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## Mike Barham (Mar 30, 2006)

I'd like to take a poll to see how many people commenting here have actually taken training (or have real-world experience) that involved night shooting and target ID. If your house always has enough ambient light to ID your target, great. You don't need a weaponlight. My house is not so well-illuminated, and so I keep Surefire next to my Glock (I don't have a weaponlight, but I shoot from Harries).

You don't leave the light on, anyway. You wait until you have an idea where the target is, then light him up briefly. A sub-one-second blast of light will give you ample time to ID the target as friend or foe. With a powerful white light, it may also momentarily stun him or make him turn away. This is all to the good.

Anyway, my general opinion is that incoming fire is incoming fire. It doesn't matter if you're going forward or locked in a static position, as long as you know how to work the light to your best advantage. Absent training, however, most people have no idea how to use a light in a "tactical" manner.


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## Spartan (Jan 1, 2007)

When I sleep, my room is pitch black... literally. I get woken up by light, so the blinds are closed and there is a bed sheet over them. Can't see my hand infront of my face.

Besides, when I go shooting with my friend at his dad's friend's farm - especially in the winter when it gets dark at 5:00 - it's nice to have in low light situations without having to worry about holding a flashlight.

Put it on the gun, if you don't want to or don't need to use it... don't; if you want it, it's there.


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## gmaske (Jan 7, 2008)

Mike Barham said:


> I'd like to take a poll to see how many people commenting here have actually taken training (or have real-world experience) that involved night shooting and target ID. If your house always has enough ambient light to ID your target, great. You don't need a weaponlight. My house is not so well-illuminated, and so I keep Surefire next to my Glock (I don't have a weaponlight, but I shoot from Harries).
> 
> You don't leave the light on, anyway. You wait until you have an idea where the target is, then light him up briefly. A sub-one-second blast of light will give you ample time to ID the target as friend or foe. With a powerful white light, it may also momentarily stun him or make him turn away. This is all to the good.
> 
> Anyway, my general opinion is that incoming fire is incoming fire. It doesn't matter if you're going forward or locked in a static position, as long as you know how to work the light to your best advantage. Absent training, however, most people have no idea how to use a light in a "tactical" manner.


Ahhhhh! Enlightenment for Grasshopper! That makes sense! I do keep a light on the headboard right next to my "lead lobber". Total darkness does require a bit of lumins which, short of a power outage or burnt out bulb, isn't a problem for me. I have to keep a night light so I don't step on the (deaf) dog on the way to "The Throne". On a good night that's only one trip around 1:30 or so.
Everytime this subject comes up I have this picture of some joe wandering around his house with the light blazing away like a lighthouse beacon.


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## mp4094 (Feb 3, 2008)

Hard to believe my thread has gone from advice on what to buy to whether or not a weapon light is viable. Actually, it's not that hard to believe. 

I think it's important to remember that most of us in the civilian world will never have to rely on weapon lights in a life or death situation and if we have to, bad guys usually don't break into a house armed---it adds more time on their sentence if they are caught. So chances are you will not have to worry about a BG knowing exactly where you are in the room. 

In the unlikely event your BG is armed, I want to be able to ID my target and the deer in the headlight effect my light will likely have on a BG is an added bonus.


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## Mike Barham (Mar 30, 2006)

Uhhh, yeah. Tough to determine if he's armed if you can't clearly see him.


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## fivehourfrenzy (Aug 12, 2007)

Mike Barham said:


> You don't leave the light on, anyway. You wait until you have an idea where the target is, then light him up briefly. A sub-one-second blast of light will give you ample time to ID the target as friend or foe. With a powerful white light, it may also momentarily stun him or make him turn away. This is all to the good.


+1. A mere 50-60 lumens will blind someone whose eyes have adjusted to the dark.


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## Dredd (Feb 22, 2008)

skyfire said:


> when i'd need to use my pistol in my nightstand, it would most likely be at night, and for that reason i have night sights, your eyes are already adjusted to the dark because you've been sleeping, so they walk into your room, pop they're dead. you switch on your rail light on the other hand, and they know exactly where you are, so you don't want to miss, or you want to move immediately after shooting. but this being said, i suppose muzzle flash would give away your location just as well as the light lol hrmmm conundrom:watching:


Well, you're not going to poke around the house with the light on. It's ment for momentary blips (.5 sec only) in order to determine what is in that corner and then you move on. It's mostly for sweeping room to room which you probably shouldn't be doing in your home where people may wake up and startle you. Hate to see you blip the light and see someone and go "Oh crap BANG" and it's the wife there :smt022


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## oldscot3 (Jan 4, 2008)

I bought the TLR-2 because it holds two batteries and therefore has a longer continuous use time than some of its competitors. The trade off is its longer than some of its competitors and may not be the best choice for a compact pistol. 

As to the debate about whether you should even put a light on a pistol, consider this...

Some of us ******** in Texas shoot varmints other than the two-legged variety far more often than house breakers. A possum or skunk in the garbage, a **** in your fruit trees, a coyote or fox are more likely to to show up at night. 

The current crop of lights or light/laser combo are great for shotguns, 22 rifles, carbines like AKs or ARs as well as pistols.

Keep an open mind boys, we don't all live in the city and participate in blazing gun battles with crackhead burglers and carjackers.


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## mp4094 (Feb 3, 2008)

Great post oldscot3. That's the kind of feedback I'm looking for. Personal experience with the different models of pistol lights----not the pros and cons of using one. :smt023


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