Weapon light standards

So is there an ANSI or equivalent standard for weapon lights, in terms of shock and impact resistance? If the Mayberry PD needs to order some lights for their guns, is there a federal spec or something that they would quote, to guarantee whatever they buy won't shatter after the first box of ammunition goes through the gun?

Curious,

Bill

Nope, the only two MAJOR companies that are capable of actually testing lights under recoil conditions are Surefire and Streamlight.
Most of the other manufacturers are in countries where weapon ownership isn't allowed. They can do destructive drop testing but that is only an approximation.

Although I prefer Surefire for a white ligt, I would say Insight is a pretty major company as well.

beavo451 said:

Although I prefer Surefire for a white ligt, I would say Insight is a pretty major company as well.

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Forgot about them

Kitchen Panda said:

So is there an ANSI or equivalent standard for weapon lights, in terms of shock and impact resistance? If the Mayberry PD needs to order some lights for their guns, is there a federal spec or something that they would quote, to guarantee whatever they buy won't shatter after the first box of ammunition goes through the gun?

Curious,

Bill

Click to expand...

The closest thing to it is MIL-STD-810....except that this is generic to any equipment, but includes sub-sets, such as ability to withstand gunfire related vibrations and shock, water and mildew resistance, salt resistance, altitude and temperature changes, etc.


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TEEJ said:

The closest thing to it is MIL-STD-810....except that this is generic to any equipment, but includes sub-sets, such as ability to withstand gunfire related vibrations and shock, water and mildew resistance, salt resistance, altitude and temperature changes, etc.

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you need 461 for electronics of any type...some pwm lights without shielding may hose communication headsets
and handheld nav. I know some led systems that will break ANT+ protocol (2.4ghz) within a meter

The MIL 810G is for the case itself, the mechanics of the unit. As in, will the unit hold up, will the led pop off its solder points, etc.

Its fine for weapons systems.

It is not an electronics / emmisions test.

He asked about impact and shock....not about electronics emissions, etc.

I think he just wants to know if the light will fall apart due to recoil, etc.

IE: For use on a weapon...will it stand up to the recoil and shock loads, vibration, etc.


So far, I don't know of a light specific standard, but I do know a lot of guys who shoot with the lights, and who have opinions about what lights hold up, and which don't.

It looks like if the light has things like a spring at both ends of the cell, and other measures to cushion forces, is potted, etc, it is more likely to hold up.

The ones with thin walls, no insulation against the forces and no attempt to lock down the parts inside, etc...fly apart when the rounds go downrange.

Some weapons are not as hard on the parts as others, and some are brutal....but, the really bad lights sometimes can't take one round w/o taking damage.

Is there a standard, testing or information related to using a light to blind and disorient a person?

Are SureFire and Streamlight the only manufacturers that LEOs and military go to for 'tactical lighting', weapon-mounted or otherwise?

I know Pentagon Lights got sued out of existence by SureFire. I really liked their light design with separate IR pod though. What are the characteristics or features that were needed? I know FourSevens wants to market their G5 and X7 Maelstroms for this POU - they even make the switch tape and offset rail clamps for it. Same goes with lights from other Chinese manufacturers.

On this subject, anybody knows about Maglite's Mag-TAC line?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk, please pardon typos.

EMC2 said:

Is there a standard, testing or information related to using a light to blind and disorient a person?

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Using flashlights to blind people is heavily individual, situational, and environmentally independent.

Meek home robber surprised in your kitchen? Winking at him is likely to send him running.
Dangerous intruder in daylight? A tanklight would do, but not much less would blind or disorient him.
A drunk at night? A stock incandescent mag lite is plenty. Maybe a minimag.
An angry person determined to come get you? Not much will stop them. Don't depend on a light to defend you. You can't measure or count on its ability to buy you time.

The cops are using them and they cause severe eye damage

EMC2 said:

Is there a standard, testing or information related to using a light to blind and disorient a person?

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There is: "2 seconds before strobed person gets back into it and comes to kick your *** standard rule."

madecov said:

Nope, the only two MAJOR companies that are capable of actually testing lights under recoil conditions are Surefire and Streamlight.
Most of the other manufacturers are in countries where weapon ownership isn't allowed. They can do destructive drop testing but that is only an approximation.

Click to expand...

And FourSevens the Maelstrom x7 and g5 are weapon lights.

mossyoak said:

And FourSevens the Maelstrom x7 and g5 are weapon lights.

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As i said, MAJOR, Elzetta is another weapon capable light.
Surefire has/had a huge portion of the Military light market sewn up. Streamlight probably had a bit but has most of the LEO market. 4Sevens may do some testing as may Eagletac.

Both the G5/X7 and the G25C2 have nice isolated battery compartments to prevent the battery from ramming the head assembly. All of the other companies are very small in comparison.

madecov said:

As i said, MAJOR, Elzetta is another weapon capable light.
Surefire has/had a huge portion of the Military light market sewn up. Streamlight probably had a bit but has most of the LEO market. 4Sevens may do some testing as may Eagletac.

Both the G5/X7 and the G25C2 have nice isolated battery compartments to prevent the battery from ramming the head assembly. All of the other companies are very small in comparison.

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FYI
a simple bicycle component test bench can introduce forces to anything which are far larger and more G's than any handheld weapon could
so no one 'needs' to use an actual weapon to test those forces.

you could strap a light to a hammer and hit an anvil to test lights.

This very true. Drop tests and other ways to test impact resistance are approximations of recoil. I think that for the average AR atyle weapon most lights can hold up. When you get to 12 gauge and above I think that something designed to actually handle the recoil is a better choice.

It is said that you can't just put ANY flashlight on your rifle because of "battery containment"? What are the characteristics to look for when selecting a light to mount? Is there a way to tell from the inside of the battery tube?

Talking about AR type rifles that don't have a lot of recoil anyway.

Thanks.

The AR isn't that big an issue. I am running the Klarus XT-10 on mine without any issues.
I may change out to the Xtar Tz20 or TZ58
I would make my finak choice based on the actual "mission".
Is it a hunting gun or a duty weapon.

That's kind of my opinion, too. AR type rifles don't have a lot of recoil. . . so I can't imagine even a NON-weapons light would fair okay. If you're talking about an AR-10 type or a 9mm carbine [or .45acp carbine], I would see the need for a dedicated weapons light. Is this something you would agree with?