I'm new so take it easy on me.

I want to mount a very bright light on my AR-15 for night hunting. I starting looking around and quickly became swamped with info.

Here is what I need it to do...

1. Be mountable on a AR, I think that limits us to a 1"(25.4mm) or 30mm tube.

2. Throw a bright beam of light as far as possible.

3. Hold up to a reasonable amount of recoil.

4. Long battery life is a plus, but only need about 60-90 minutes.

5. Lightweight is a plus, but I realize this isnt happening in 2 oz.


The jetbeam rrt-1 raptor (claiming a 500yd throw?) has caught my eye, but I honestly know nothing about flashlights(I didn't even realize that untill a couple hours ago).

So what do yall recommend?

Surefire 6P host with a Malkoff M60 drop in, with a tape switch. Most durable solution.

I say the Olight M20 warrior premium. I have it mounted on my AR and a tape switch. It throws very nicely. I had it with me off the Rigel the other night watching a night Easter egg hunt for the local Jaycees and everyone was in and out of the woods surounding a football field and I was able to see clearly the full length of the field plus another 100 yds or so. It is one of my favorite lights. My set up cost me about $120.

Make sure it's legal to hunt at night. Many places it is very illegal to do so.

All legal here, will have depredation permits so no problems with that. It seems light is the most cost effective to see at night. I was thinking about getting some good optics, but get pricey fast. Good quality lights seem to be going for a couple hundred bucks, scopes good enough to see with half a moon start at $1000.

Howdy hossdaniels and welcome to CPF,
Yes, you will find a LOT of information here and many good ideas for a flashlight . First, don't be in a hurry. Plan to spend a week or so (at the very least) looking around and reading before you even consider making a decision.

I would suggest that you start by reading the CPF welcome Mat:
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/172991

There are links to many topics about flashlights that you will find helpful in learning our "lingo".

Next, I would start thinking about how you want to power your new light, for instance you might want to consider using rechargeable cells, so it's important that you begin to get an understanding of which batteries might work best for your situation. Here are a couple of good resources to get you started thinking along those lines:
http://batteryuniversity.com/
https://www.candlepowerforums.com/threads/201375

As if that weren't enough reading, ha, I would suggest that you start reading some reviews of current flashlights. We have some excellent reviewers here at CPF and their reviews can be found in the "Flashlight Reviews" section:
http://candlepowerforums.com/vb/forumdisplay.php?f=19

Here are two more excellent flashlight review sites:
http://www.light-reviews.com/
http://www.cpfreviews.com/

So, that should be enough to get you started. I'm sure more folks will chime in with specific suggestions. Have fun!

Thanks, wanted a quick answer only to find more questions, the story of my life:thinking:.

So smooth reflectors are better for more light farther out right?

Hello and welcome to CPF. I am liking the 6P with Malkoff.

hossdaniels said:

I want to mount a very bright light on my AR-15 for night hunting. I starting looking around and quickly became swamped with info.

Here is what I need it to do...

1. Be mountable on a AR, I think that limits us to a 1"(25.4mm) or 30mm tube.

2. Throw a bright beam of light as far as possible.

3. Hold up to a reasonable amount of recoil.

4. Long battery life is a plus, but only need about 60-90 minutes.

5. Lightweight is a plus, but I realize this isnt happening in 2 oz.


The jetbeam rrt-1 raptor (claiming a 500yd throw?) has caught my eye, but I honestly know nothing about flashlights(I didn't even realize that untill a couple hours ago).

So what do yall recommend?

Click to expand...

I keep a Fenix TK11 on a Bushmaster and am very pleased with it.

I'll take it easy on ya, especially if you're wielding that AR-15 in my direction. Have yet to mount any light on a gun so I can't help ya there but welcome just the same!

What ranges are you expecting to be shooting at. 250 yards is going to be the practical limit for most convention LED lights in conjection with a very high quality day light optic.

What types of animals will you be hunting, or more specifically what size are they? Smaller targets are going require you to be at shorter range and or more light will be necessary. Larger targets can be shot at longer ranges or at the same range with less light?

How will the targets be located and identified? Will you be using a light amplification viewer to locate, a day light optic to locate, or will the scope itself in conjunction with the light be used to locate and identify?

For serious night hunters a good quality GenII+ NV scope is nearly impossible beat compared to a day light optic and a flashlight. It it was me and I was going to spend a $1000+ already on just the scope, I'd spend the extra and go with a NV scope like the usnv441.

If that's just not an option and you're just looking for a way to make your daylight set-up usable at night time then any rail mountable option compatable with 25 or 30mm rings should suffice. Have a look at the current throw lights like the Tiablo A9 and A10, the DBS, the Spear, and as you mentioned, the Raptor looks promising. I'm on the pre-order list for that light so I'll post a review of it when it arrives in a few weeks. I took issue with the 500 yard claims of the Jetbeam as is just not realistic in a practical sense whatsoever. I've shot at 600 yards with the most powerful HID lights and they're just enough lumens and throw to get by and nothing more. That's also on light tan targets which were static. If you throw darkly colored moving animals into the mix it would be very difficult to get the first round hits required in hunting and that's with HID. You'll need to cut the distance to about 1/3 that with LED. Still, being able to see and shoot something at 150+ yards in the otherwise pitch black would be impossible so from that standpoint current LEDs are impressive.

I figured 500 yards would be a bit much, and I would be quite happy with true 250 yd illumination. Deer and coyotes are the intended game, and a I have a decent $500 sightron SIIB scope mounted already. The scope only gets me to about 45 minutes after sundown, unless there are clear skies and a 2/3+ moon. I was thinking of using a weapon mounted light in conjunction with spotlight to locate the animals in open soybean fields. I was thinking it would be easier to locate with the spotlight and shoot with the flashlight if it was possible.

Okay here is the quick and easy yet perfect set up for what you asked for. Solarforce L2 host, with 1 short extension tube. You can get the tape switch if you want momentary on/off action. The Dereelight 1SM R2 pill with smooth reflector will give you good throw. Its 209 lumens out the front or more even without AR coated glass in the bezel but since its a small spot will far outthrow the Malkoff M60 which is an otherwise great all around light source (I have several). If you want multimode because you may want to just use it as a flashlight than the Dereelight 3SM R2 pill will give you 3 power levels. You run that off of 2 X17500 rechargeable batteries using a WF139 charger or you can run 3 RCR123 (not recommended for lousy run times) or 3 CR123 primaries, (good run time but not cost effective since they aren't rechargeable). But you will have all those battery options open to you. The beam is very good. Will fit into any 1 inch mounting system that goes on a rail on the AR and you are in FAT city (if you see my first wife there though, bring more ammo :devil.

If you bang up and damage your Solarforce host you don't care because you can get replacement hosts and parts cheap. Everything except the Dereelight pill is available at Lighthound.com. "Flashcrazy" can sell you the Dereelight pills and reflectors in the marketplace here on CPF.

Its modular, you can add to it later. Have multiple accessories or light modules for other purposes. Take the extension tube off and run it with 2 RCR batteries or 2 CR123 primaries. Have other Malkoff modules for other lighting purposes and drop them in the same host at will.

I have put this very system on to friends AR's some with Malkoff's, some with conventional reflectorized type LED assemblies such as the Dereelights with no complaints. If you break the tape switch its like a whopping $8 to replace. You can have the whole thing in priority mail in 3 days if you do the order right.