Question about handgun lights

A friend of mine has a Surefire X300 on his home defense gun...it's a great light and I probably will pick one up for my P2000, but from what I have learned here, lights keep getting brighter and smaller every day...so my question is, why don't they make a real compact light for handguns? The Surefire takes 2 cr123s as do the Insight and Streamlight (although the Streamlight TLR-3 does take only one, but its is still a bit bulky)....can't they make a single cr123 with a narrower body/head that will work reliably? Is that these lights have to be overbuilt due to the recoil....just wondering...

I think the recoil is an issue. The TRL3 only uses 1 battery. While brighter than 1 battery gun lights of the past - the 2 battery models are still better. The X300 is a fantastic light.

On HK Pro, however, one guy complained that his X300 didn't fit very week on his HK P2000, no matter which key he used. But the TRL 1 and 2 seem to work well on the P2000s.

Streamlight TLR-3 uses a CR2, but it's tiny. OTOH, the Viridian C5L is (nominally) brighter, nearly as small, and has a green laser sight built in.

I think the thing with 2x123 weaponlights is a desire for brighter, better, etc. Until LEDs, 1-cell weaponlights were ... just too dim, really.

Surefire's KX1C is just starting to get there, in terms of one-cell weaponlights.

I'm sure you could make a weaponlight that was powered by a single CR2032...but how long would it run? Probably not more than a second or so.

You wouldn't want your light to fail just as you round a corner to light up the bad guy who has broken into your home now would you?

shipwreck said:

On HK Pro, however, one guy complained that his X300 didn't fit very week on his HK P2000, no matter which key he used. But the TRL 1 and 2 seem to work well on the P2000s.

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I'm a member over there and checked out a thread on the lights...I like the streamlight but someone mentioned the light sits a bit forward and the switches are not as easy to activate...I am going to try the surefire on my P2000, along with my friend's Insight and see which works better for me...

I am contemplating buying an X300 for my Beretta 90-Two. I have a P2000 in 9mm that is my summer carry gun (I usually carry a fullsize Beretta 92FS for concealed carry - but I'm tired of rusting the grip screws in the summer).

I doubt I'd put the X300 on the P2000 - as I don't like weapon lights to stick out that far. They get dirty too fast if you practice with them mounted.

shipwreck said:

I doubt I'd put the X300 on the P2000 - as I don't like weapon lights to stick out that far. They get dirty too fast if you practice with them mounted.

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I have to agree with you...but I was thinking of putting it on as my house gun during the summer since I carry a j-frame pretty much from now until October...and my P2000 is the only rail gun I own...when I got my Kimber TLE II years back I wasn't thinking ahead...should have gotten the rail...

I'm right there with you. I have a Glock 19, its got an accessory rail on it, but I don't care for any of the available Glock mounted lights on the market.

I prev owned a Glocklight - Its not too bad

LOL.....I wonder how many of us here are on HKPro too?

I have the Insight on my USP, it works just fine. Mine is an incan unit. Though it works just fine for my purposes, I do wish it had an led inside.

I've only ever found lights mounted to weapons to be practical on long guns. They make the handgun bulky, mostly holster incompatible, and off balance.

I really prefer the Crimson Trace Laser Grips on the gun, with a flashlight in the offhand. Using the cross-hold method for home defense seems much more practical. The laser requires no switches to activate - you simply squeeze the grip and its on.

In the heat of the moment, every thing you can do to increase your speed is important. Squeezing the grip is one fast move you don't have to think about.

H.

I recently bought the treamlight TRL-2s and I love it. 160 Lumens, Laser, and strobe mode. The beam pattern in perfect, IMO.

FlameOn,

You might want to take a look at the HDS Systems EDC Tactical 170 (link in signature line). The light has been designed to handle recoil, provide multiple levels and can be configured to suit your needs. Use your favorite 1" mount.

If you like your light unattached - so your weapon does not become a flashlight - you might want to take a look at the Tactical Ring accessory.

Henry.

HDS_Systems said:

FlameOn,

You might want to take a look at the HDS Systems EDC Tactical 170 (link in signature line). The light has been designed to handle recoil, provide multiple levels and can be configured to suit your needs. Use your favorite 1" mount.

If you like your light unattached - so your weapon does not become a flashlight - you might want to take a look at the Tactical Ring accessory.

Henry.

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Hmmm...I need to look into this I need a light for my Glock 23 so Henry I will need to just purchase Tactical ring and thats it?

Nick

I have the X300 on my M4 carbine and it's turned out to be an excellent choice for that application. Reliability, durability, brightness, beam quality, fit and finish, etc., are all what we've come to expect from Surefire. That's not to say there hasn't been some room left for improvement, however, mostly with regards to the clamping mechanism.

Perhaps in an effort to maintain the low profile of the light, SF designed their clamp to squeeze the Pic rail vertically. IOW, the upper lip of the mount is pulled towards the lower lip of the mount. Getting the light to really feel secure on the rail generally requires snugging up the hex head rail screws a bit after the light is positioned on the weapon. This works well. The tradeoff, though, is that it's now virtually impossible to remove the light using the quick detach feature without once again loosening these screws (a reasonably significant consideration in light of the fact that you can't swap out the X300's batteries while it's mounted on a weapon).

The Streamlights, on the other hand, exert force on the rail transversely, drawing the left and right halves together. This setup may be an advantage in pistol mounted applications where the accessory rails tend to be shorter and often of a non-metallic construction.

haplo said:

I've only ever found lights mounted to weapons to be practical on long guns. They make the handgun bulky, mostly holster incompatible, and off balance.

I really prefer the Crimson Trace Laser Grips on the gun, with a flashlight in the offhand. Using the cross-hold method for home defense seems much more practical. The laser requires no switches to activate - you simply squeeze the grip and its on.

In the heat of the moment, every thing you can do to increase your speed is important. Squeezing the grip is one fast move you don't have to think about.

H.

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I never carry a handgun with the light on it - but I like having 1 on my nightstand pistol. But, admittedly, it's been a little while since I've owned a tac light (I've prev owned a Glock light, and an M3 and an M5 light (the M5 fits a Walther P99).

Right now my carry gun goes in my bedside safe and does double duty. It's very easy to knock the pistol against the metal sides when taking it in and out (it's just a small gunvault) - so I typically only put carry guns in that safe.

Before I had a child, I didn't need the gunvault, but now I do.

As for lasers - I've done the laser thing on handguns. I even tried a lasermax guiderod on my Beretta last year - I just don't care for them anymore.

I do have a laser on my PS90, however - and I kind of like them for rifles.

Fisk-King,

If you have the newer style battery compartment, all you need is the tactical ring. The nice part about the ring is that you can put the ring wherever you need it so that you can accommodate several of the more popular shooting styles. The tactical ring also makes it simple to retain the light when doing clip changes and other maneuvers.

Henry.

FlameOn said:

A friend of mine has a Surefire X300 on his home defense gun...it's a great light and I probably will pick one up for my P2000, but from what I have learned here, lights keep getting brighter and smaller every day...so my question is, why don't they make a real compact light for handguns? The Surefire takes 2 cr123s as do the Insight and Streamlight (although the Streamlight TLR-3 does take only one, but its is still a bit bulky)....can't they make a single cr123 with a narrower body/head that will work reliably? Is that these lights have to be overbuilt due to the recoil....just wondering...

Click to expand...

They're on the way Flame On. It's just taken a while for manufacturers to get out of the two cell mindset and work on their design packaging a bit. I should have me hands on the Viridian C5L fairly soon but I'll speculate that it's going to be limited in throw to some extent when compared to the X300 X400 TRL1 TRL2 and others with larger reflectors or optics. Still, I'm impressed with the prospect of the 1 cell platform combined with a greenie. If it will illuminate well inside of 10-15 yards then I don't think I'll have any complaints.

i'd love to put any light on my ruger p94, but my gun has no rail, older model, i tried few laser sights, but they all :thumbsdow on my gun, stick out, catch on holster, or clothes, and not so easy and quick to turn on, so i feel if emergency comes up, i will not have time to put it on. i removed them all. i train my muscle memory instead, until i either find a light\laser that is slim and useful, or nypd makes a proses of getting purchase authorization easier, any one not from nyc can't even imagine what it takes to get a permission to buy another gun. i don't even bother.

fisk-king said:

Hmmm...I need to look into this I need a light for my Glock 23 so Henry I will need to just purchase Tactical ring and thats it?

Nick

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if you do end up mounting a light on your G23 make you sure you have the newest, most up to date mag springs and followers in your mags, and also replace the recoil spring every 2k rounds or so. the 40 cal glocks can have serious issues with mounted lights. supposedly new springs and followers helps. test fire extensively with your light of choice mounted before you rely on it.