Need a Pistol Light

Hi Guys,

I just bought a 1911 .45 auto for personal defense, especially home defense. It has tritium sights and a picatinny rail on the frame.

I am looking for a quick-detachable light, must be LED.

My MO till now has been to use a pistol with a red SureFire A2. I like the red light for dark-adapted vision preservation, and the bright beam is right there. I saw that SureFire has some weaponlights for carbines that have a similar arrangement, red LEDs for navigation, and a primary bright light. For example:

http://www.surefire.com/maxexp/main/co_disp/displ/carfnbr/266/prrfnbr/994

It would be nice to have a similar capability with the pistol.

Right now I am thinking SureFire X200A or B. I hear the X200A has too tight a beam for most uses.

What do you guys think? What would you put on a .45 if it was yours?

Scott

I've have experience with two SL M3 straight halogens with good result on a Glock 23 (40cal) & 19 (9mm). It's quickly added or removed with minimal effort and easy to operate. These were purchased before LEDs were popular.

http://www.officerstore.com/store/category.cfm/cid_1420_weapon_lights/

With a handgun I'm now using a hand held light in either Harries or Caracci style instead of a mounted light. Works better for me. But that's a discussion for a different forum.

I am not real fond of the idea of having to point a loaded weapon at something in order to illuminate it, so the A2 will remain part of the picture. (At least until the Kroma Arrives ) However, I do want the ability to go one-handed for things like doors and phone dialing. I'll have two lights, a flashight on a lanyard and a weapon mounted light.

I'm a little squeamish about the halogen main lamp. Are the M3s proven performers?

Scott

Check out Streamlights new TLR, it's supposed to be very comperable to the SF lights with a pattern between the A and B.

"I'm a little squeamish about the halogen main lamp. Are the M3s proven performers?"

I ran about 300 rounds in the nine and 500 rounds in the .40 with the light attached. These particular rigs spent most of their time in the hot safe unless on the range. They still looked and operated like new when I retired mine. Of course powder residue and spent gas had to be cleaned off.

Retirement was predicated on personal preference, not reliability.

Checked out the SL TLR series after VWTim's brought it up. That's worth investigating. I'd lean toward LED technology as you first mentioned. FWIW

You might find reviews and recommendations on the shooting sports forums.

I did some searching on other forums.

It seems most "hard users" consider the Streamlights to be ok for home defense but not altogether suitable for combat or SWAT use. Some round counts were not very high before failures -- in the high hundreds/low thousands of rounds on 9mms. My gun is a .45.

I like to practice with my equipment, so I don't know about something that might become unreliable after 5000 rounds.

How do the SureFire X200s' beams compare to other flashlights? Is the X200B's beam comparable at all to a SureFire L2 or L4?

Scott

Just a clarification, the Streamlight's you probably saw mention to were their older models of lights. The TLR's came out just after SHOT show, everything I've heard so far has been excellent.

Right, the problem Streamlights were M-series. I havn't seen enough about the new one to get a good impression.

Scott

The X200B's beam is similar to that of the L4.

Al

Thanks for the info on the beam characteristics Al. First good description that I've heard about the "200B". "Imagometrics.com" says the Surefire X200B is the best pistol light of any they have tested. They called it the "benchmark against which all others are measured".

Size15's said:

The X200B's beam is similar to that of the L4.

Al

Click to expand...

oh... so the X200A is the one with TIR right?

-david

Yes, the X200A features a LuxeonIII behind a TIR optic producing a tight, intense beam for cutting through smoke and such.

The X200B features a LuxeonV in a reflector producing a broad beam much like the KL4 bezel does.

It appears the X200A is better suited to more specialist applications including those involving groups of operators.

This photo shows three X200A's and one X200B:


This photo shows an X200B with the optional Trigger Guard Switch

These switch options make a lot of difference apparently.

Al

I would go with the Streamlight tlr1. I compared it to both the Surefire x200 a and b and was very impressed by the nice comination of throw/spill on the Streamlight, as well as the price was like $140 less!

My only issue with all of these is that they are usually too long for most pistols. (stick out past the barrrel)

Size15's said:

The X200B's beam is similar to that of the L4.

Al

Click to expand...

You just named my favorite two surefires. (I have over 24 Surefire units.)

First pick: Surefire X200B

Second Pick: Streamlight TLR-1

The Streamlight does not have a remote switch yet...

Al,

What remote switch is that on your X200?

It is the TG-11 for Glock/Springfield XD40/TRP/Beretta Vertac.

Other options include the "DG" DevGrp switch and the "SL" SlimLine switch.

If your weapon is not a Glock you should download the tatical product 2006 catalog from SureFire.com - it lists all the part codes and has photos of the different switches.

Al,

I'm using the DG switch for my Glocks.
I never have seen that "short" TG-11 before...

Do you like it on the Glock?

Thanks!

I don't have any firearms so I can't comment on that aspect.
The SL "SlimLine" and the DG "DevGrp" switches appear to be established but the TG TriggerGuard switch is relatively new as far as I can tell.

It appears that SureFire have been asked to provide such a switch option additional to the ones it already provides so there must be sufficient difference in how it is used, and sufficient demand.

If you're happy with the DG then stay with it I guess.

Al

I recently spoke with the rep at a local law enforcement supply shop that sells both Surefire and Streamlight. According to him my state's capitol police SWAT team or another response team in the state had been using Surefire X200's and had a lot of failures. They're still using the X200's for the moment but had just tested the Streamlight TLR-1 and 2 and one of their testbed pistols had 12,000 rounds through it with the Streamlight attached and the only damage so far was the pins that lock it on to the rail were getting loose. Now this may be just one light that worked so well and I'll have to ask him about any other examples the next time I see him. In Surefire's defense I think these were early X200's and they were mounted on .357 Sig handguns that have pretty sharp recoil.

I would pick the TLR-1 first as I like the more balanced beam better than the X200's. The reflectored LED has decent throw and pretty good spill from what I could see in the shop. One possible negative I can see is that it may not be regulated as I didn't notice anything saying so on the package but I did not look real close. Of course in a home defense situation I doubt it would be a problem.