Light mounted on pistol Y/N

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I'd had my dogs watch him up close and personal and when he was helped up by the deputy the floor was wet. Imagine that!!

:lol: NOW THAT'S funny!!! I would probably piss myself too with two dogs and a load gun (assumably) pointed at me and a guy screaming "get on the ground" thinking the whole time, "This guy's going to blow my nugget off and if he don't this dog's going to rip off me leg and have it as his new chew toy!
 
For HD, I have small lights on throughout the house along with an alarm. Eyes are adjusted to low light when you wake up already and for aiming purposes there are nightsights. Also, I prefer the look of a 1911 w/out a rail or a light for that matter.
 
i find the insight m6 on my firearms an invaluable tool for reasons that have already been stated.get a ten dollar training gun with a rail and attach a borrowed light on it. have a friend hide while you search for him,then trade places,try it with constant light then flicking it.you can see in places without exposing yourself(like closets)because of the shadow cast.
 
I used to be in the light off the gun crowd. A few weeks ago the alarm in my shop went of at about 2:00 AM. The shop is a separate building about 100' from the house.

Up I went, gun in one hand, light in the other. Now I had to get the shop unlocked, open the door, shut off the alarm, all while looking about for bad guys. There was a lot of shuffling stuff around, trying not to tangle up the hand with the gun in it, and a lot of time wasted.

Now I have a Streamlight on the end of my gun, which compliments the Crimson Trace nicely. I agree with the other posters who have written that the light/gun does not need to be pointed directly at whatever I am looking at, and besides that, my finger is never on the trigger until I am ready to shoot.

As far as those who say that the light highlights me and makes me an easier target, I am already out in the open to some degree just by virtue of moving about. So unless I am going to cringe behind the couch and hope the bad guys go away without hurting me, I am going to be taking some sort of risk. At least this way I can see what I am looking at, and I have a free hand for whatever I might need it for.
 
I personally like the idea of having the ability to illuminate the threat to verify it is in fact a threat. If I did that while holding the flashlight in the other hand, I could not dial 911. I like having the free hand to do things other than holding the flashlight.

Here's mine:
XD45wLIGHT2.jpg
 
OK, get a flashlight in one hand, gun in the other. Do the Modified Weaver or FBI technique. Great.

Now, try and open a door.

Light on gun = good idea.
 
As has been mentioned...

I found out the hard way that it is really hard to hold the gun, light and phone all at the same time.

I have a mounted light now.
 
I have one on my G19. Pretty much my beater/truck gun. Since some of the posters are using rule 2 for a reason not have a weaponlight, I'll use rule 4 as a reason to have one.
 
I see some advantage in having both. Use a handheld light to identify your surroundings and the threat posed by anything you come across. If you discover a threat, someone who needs to be cuffed for example, drop the weak hand light, now using the weapon mounted light, and your left hand is now free.
 
I don't mean to straddle the fence, but I'm a little bit country & a little bit rock & roll...but I'm completely Old School, too.
I use both.
The handheld light is held high and away from my body, see real old school. But, there are doors to open, locks to deal with and other things that require the handheld be tucked in a pocket and, if needed the gun-mounted light is used. I would prefer to use the gun-mounted light to illuminate, blind & ID.
 
Since some of the posters are using rule 2 for a reason not have a weaponlight, I'll use rule 4 as a reason to have one.

I dislike being "DUH!!" but can someone tell me what the rules are and how many. I didn't get this and I really feel stupid now. Please help and explain.
 
Big no to weapon mounted lights. They take away all your versatility. Provide a target and leave your sights in the dark...

Proper police technique for holding a flashlight should be to hold it in the off-hand out away from the body. That way is someone shoots at the light the worst they can do is injure your non-shooting hand. If the light is mounted on the weapon it is either a head shot or an upper body shot.

Surprised it has not been mentioned (or I missed it) but the Harries Technique provides stability for the firearm and also illuminates your sights. You can go from holding the flashlight two feet to your left to Harries faster than you can draw your weapon. I'd link to some Harries Technique sights, but a google search will give you about a 1,000. SureFire's is excellent.

As for carrying more stuff on your belt, you can't work with just a weapon-mounted light. Unless you want to approach a soccer mom with gun drawn for an illegal lane change. A SureFire on the belt is nothing.

Further, a weapon-mounted light is just one more thing to go wrong. And things that can go wrong do so at the worst possible moment.

And, if you can't cuff, use your cell phone or radio in the dark, you need more training and practice.
 
I put a TLR-1 on my HD gun because I cant see in the dark.

My buddy is a San Diego Sherriff Deputy and they issue a Glock 23 and TLR-1 for the rank and file officers. They dont use the Glock w/ light as a general purpose flashlight.. they have a flashlight for that.
 
I don't like weapon mounted lights or lasers. I always trained to use one hand for weapon and one for light. I am also not a huge fan of Glocks. That being said my SHTF gun is a G35 with a light mounted. Reason being is if the SHTF I know the Glock enough to load unload and fire it in complete darkness. Also training for urban combat only goes so far when you don't have a team helping you kick in doors and such. Therefore in all likelyhood if I had to run around (or God forbid out) of my house in my boxer shorts in complete darkness I trust the G35 with light mounted to be effective and simple to use. I also live only with my wife and dog so sweeping my house with my muzzle while my better half stays in the bedroom is not an issue. Different strokes are not just for different folks, but also different situations.
 
In a combat skills course i went through for the navy seabees we had to shoot at night with our surefire light in one hand and still shoot with two hands on the gun. one of the black water instructers had a special grip on his . i wouldnt put a light on my handgun. what if you need a light and not a gun at the time
 
I vote "NO" to lights on guns.

It's a real bad idea:
Some day, some where, you will eventually point your weapon at an innocent while "spot lighting" them....always a bad practice.
And you will give away your own position to potential bad guys as well.
 
I've already replied in this thread that I LIKE my gun mounted light. I like having one hand free. I see lots of people writing in to say no, no, no, never a light on the gun, for all sorts of reasons. Does it occur to any of you that these lights come off the gun fast and easy for hand held use if the situation warrants it? So no, we do not have to go around pointing guns at things we don't want to shoot - unless we want to of course! :evil: On the other hand, unless I bring my roll of tape with me, a regular hand held light is NOT going to be strapped onto my gun any way at all.

And you will give away your own position to potential bad guys as well.

And a hand held light won't? Keep in mind, if there are bad guys obviously around, or you are afrtaid of giving yourself away, any light that is hand held, on the gun, strapped to your noggin, is going to give you away to a certain extent. Just because you have the light doesn't mean you need to use it!
 
what if you need a light and not a gun at the time

That's why you shouldn't just have one light.

Anyways try doing a low light course and give it a try. There is a very good chance that you will become a convert to weapon mounted lights, in particular on long guns.

Anyways there are those worried about rule two violations, guess what until you illuminate the target they are a threat. That's why you see police point their pistols at people until they are sure that they aren't a threat.

What happens when you light up the target and they turn out to be a threat and start firing? Do you want to be in a gun fight with only one hand on the gun?
 
I carry a weapon light on my duty belt. I usually only put it on my glock when I am making entry into a building at night, but i only use it when i absolutely have to. My idea on it is that if someone is trying to hurt/kill you, they are going to be able to locate your position from your light, and from there, if they are armed, they can assume that you are behind your light.
 
Absolutely Yes!

Particularly on a bedside gun! :uhoh:

A SureFire X200B or X300 will flash-light an entire room if you skip the beam off of the ceiling. ID your intruder then--and by that I mean, if it ain't the wife or the dog, it don't belong there! :mad:

Your free hand can be dialing 911 or opening a door... :scrutiny:

I'm also a big fan of night sights and laser designators. All these things have a use and a place on a weapons platform. But do some practice or better yet, get training! ;)

--Ray
 
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