Does your SD long gun have a light?

[AKElroy]

My Winnie defender has a TLR2 laser/light combo attached. I need to confirm the target in a house full of kids; I feel that priority outweighs the tactical dissadvantage the light provides as far as ID'ing my position.

That, and it's good medicine for blasting coon's out of the trees @ night.

 

[Rexster]

For quite a number of years, my duty/SD/HD shotguns ran Surefire forends with the built-in lights. (I own my duty weapons.) My wife's 870 still has one on it. I later moved to a GG&G forend, which has a short piece of rail, upon which an X200 is sometimes perched. I am now transitioning to an AR15 for duty/SD/HD, and it will have at least an X200 on it, probably something more substantial later. I still consider my Surefire LX2 Lumamax to be my primary light for many things, including searching, but at the moment it is needed, nothing beats a light mounted on the long weapon. Even if found justified or otherwise legally excusable, shooting an unintended person is not something I want burdening my mind.

FWIW, I have worked for a big-city PD for 27 years now, and counting, with 26 of those years on night shift patrol. I have "cleared" MANY houses and other buildings, which could be considered successful "home invasion" scenarios. I don't work for Surefire, nor profit from their sales. I have trusted their products for years, ever since the 6P and 9P were their main notable products. (OTOH, I seem jinxed regarding Streamlight products, though I am aware that others love their products.) I don't drink all of the Surefire "kool-aid" regarding low-light fighting, but most of it is valid.

If nothing else, at times there is enough light for me to see him as a reasonable, probable threat, and him to see me, but not enough light for us to ID each other, that is when a weapon-mounted light beats a hand-held.

 

[jimjc]

I don` t have a light on my guns. First, I have dogs in my house, noone ever can get into or even near my house without my dogs knowing and barking. Second, when I built the house I wired it so that I have electrical switches in the master bedroom to turn on/off lights throughout the house, in a emergency. Thirdly, I have a safe door to our master bedroom. I guess this is to much info just to tell why I don`t have a lights on my guns. Theres more but I won`t bore you wth the details.

 

[Rexster]

BTW, the wrist lanyard that comes with certain Surefire lights is a very valuable asset. When I have used shotguns without a mounted light, the lanyard is particularly valuable. It does have a breakaway feature, for safety if snagged or grabbed.

 

[therewolf]

So, you release your grip on your LR/shotgun to activate/deactivate the light?

I can't help thinking Murphy's law here. The BG isn't going to wait till it's

convenient for you to shoot him, more than likely, he's going to make his move

at the exact same time your grip is relaxed, and you have to reposition slightly,

and re-grip your weapon to fire? Hey, you're the one taking that risk.

Indoors seems a poor place to try to maneuver a rifle/or shotgun.

Just my opinion.(or maybe not)

 

[Six]

I thought that was answered earlier?

Unless your setup is needlessly complicated, you don't need to move your hand at all.

On my SG, my thumb is right by the switch. I simply squeeze my thumb to turn it on.

 

[CraigC]

So, to turn on a "tactical" light, or turn it off, you have to let go of the rifle/shotgun with one hand, reach up, push a button, grab the gun again, then to switch it off you have to do the same, or hold it on?

So, you release your grip on your LR/shotgun to activate/deactivate the light?

I can't help thinking Murphy's law here. The BG isn't going to wait till it's

convenient for you to shoot him, more than likely, he's going to make his move

at the exact same time your grip is relaxed, and you have to reposition slightly,

and re-grip your weapon to fire? Hey, you're the one taking that risk.

Indoors seems a poor place to try to maneuver a rifle/or shotgun.

Just my opinion.(or maybe not)

A little information goes a long way. I use lights on rifles. Those rifles are equipped with vertical foregrips. The lights are positioned so that I can manipulate the tailswitch with my left thumb. It does not move from the grip, I do not have to move anything but my thumb to operate the light. Again, only the thumb. Total control.

 

[waterhouse]

So, you release your grip on your LR/shotgun to activate/deactivate the light?

Again, no. Did you watch the video? There is no releasing of your grip.

I can't help thinking Murphy's law here. The BG isn't going to wait till it's
convenient for you to shoot him, more than likely, he's going to make his move
at the exact same time your grip is relaxed, and you have to reposition slightly,
and re-grip your weapon to fire?

Once again, the grip isn't relaxed, and you don't have to re-grip your weapon to fire. Saying the bad guy is going to make a move when he sees my thumb press the tailcap of my flashlight is like saying he is going to make his move when he sees my trigger finger move. In fact, the thumb movement to turn on the light is much less that the movement that a trigger finger makes to pull the trigger.

Hey, you're the one taking that risk.

Which risk? If I'm dealing with a Remo Williams ninja that can hear the tendons in my thumb getting ready to press a button, I guess I'm already dead anyway. One risk I'm not taking is shooting something without identifying it. Just to be clear, once again, the shooting grip is never released. The hand isn't moving any more than your shooting hand moves when you pull a trigger.

Indoors seems a poor place to try to maneuver a rifle/or shotgun.

Which is an entirely different thread than whether a HD long gun should have a light.