Use and purpose of tactical lights

Curious about the answers.

Click to expand...

Honestly....you need to sign up for a course the includes no/low light training.

I've attended a number of courses that included night shoots for shotgun and handgun. Will be taking a rifle class later this year and it too includes a night shoot. It makes for a long day but well worth the time, IMHO.

Once you get some low/no light training under your belt, you will see (pun intended) just what a good hand-held or weapon mounted tactical light brings to the table.

Newer ones have the aluminum bezel.

Click to expand...

Interesting, wonder if the plastic was melting due to heat from the Xenon lamp?

I don't know. I have an older G2 LED with the plastic Bezel and a newer one with the aluminum bezel. Never had any problems with either of them though.

I used to have a G2 Nitrolon (only sold to upgrade to a 6P) and never had any problems out of it either. I wouldn't buy another Nitrolon, but only because it can't be drilled to accommodate a 18650 Li-Ion rechargeable cell (which can save you a fortune if you use the light frequently).

Ben, what is the story on the SureFire. Looks like a Nitrolon body with a 6P head assembly. Interesting little booger.

Click to expand...

It's a G3 LED, which as RockyMtnTactical pointed out, is a Nitrolon body with an aluminum bezel, and in this case an LED head assembly.

I've had mine for over a year, have used it regularly (including one extended stint directing traffic with it using one of those clip-over plastic cones), and am only on my second set of CR123 batteries, which they now sell at Walmart. The LED gives you over 9 hours of continuous bright runtime on a single set, and it is about as bright as I'd want a light to be; any brighter and I'd be dazzling myself with it indoors.

I have mine in a GG&G ring so I can mount it to a carbine rail for HD, or easily detach it for using it as a handheld light or general purpose flashlight.

Eat some of that 'Tactical Bacon' and you don't need a light to deal with bad things that go bump in the night...you'll be able to see in the dark with your naked eye like you have gen. 5 night vision!

Tactical.....hehehehehe, make a ta-hun of money though!

One point made - if you do buy a tac light, be very sure you can afford the power source.
Buying 123's batts in bulk to feed a high lumen light dents the budget. Modern LED's can run on rechargeable AA's, have more lumen output, and come in machined aluminum cheaper than the old G2. When I found Rayovacs on the hook at Walmart under the price and with higher performance, I got rid of the old G2, just like dumping Maglite when I discovered ARC.

These days you can find a pocket AAA light with the same performance as a 2 batt 123 G2. Note carefully Surefire and others now sell these integrated into vertical front grips with a laser, which is a big indicator quad rail handguards are really just expensive scope mounts and way overkill.

Pistol: keep it clean and simple with a good flashlight handy to use in conjunction with it. That way you can use one independently of the other.
Rifle/Scattergun: Attach said light to forestock, complete with remote switch, aligned with the bore for CQ aiming and target identification.

Click to expand...

That's my HD setup exactly, except that I only have a rear push-button on the light mounted to the SG barrel.

To the OP, I found after much discussion here that mounting a tactical light to the shotgun was a good idea and purchased a strong model (up to 300 lumens). In broad daylight at home I tried taking a look at it and was completely blinded. The "tactical" sense of this kind of flashlight is both a function of its small size, use as a striking weapon (especially with a crenelated visor), but especially for the intense and painfully bright light it emits.

No matter what, you have to be certain of your target before shooting. The tactical light almost guarantees the target will have to avert his head and look away, probably raising a hand in defense.

Bought 3 of these already...under $30 each

Rayovac ROUGHNECK, LED, Hi setting 200 Lumens, Low setting 70 Lumens, Strobe, Aluminum body with sharp bezels on both ends, goes from flood to spot, uses 3 AAA batteries, 6 hrs on low, 2 hrs on hi, 8 hrs on strobe.

I would not bet my life on a $30 flashlight. Buy a quality U.S. Made light and be confident that it will work when you need it.

those pictures are bs. stand in a dark room and see what a bright flashlight looks like. you cant see whats behind it. especially if its pointed at your eyes. bright lights on weapons are a good thing. they offer a lot of advantages for a small amount weight with proper training and practice.

benEzra said:

FWIW, the "tactical bacon" was a joke by CMMG, and was purchased on that basis.

Click to expand...

Please see below.

Tactical Ninja said:

I don't know if you noticed, but that's what is called, in layman's terms, a "joke."

Click to expand...

I don't know if you noticed there sherlock, but so was the post.

Sans the part where CMMG received orders, because you can and they have:

http://cmmginc.secure-mall.com/shop/?cat=172

US Made? Rayovac is a US company, isn't it? They're owned by Spectrum based out of Atlanta, GA.

In any event, the Roughnecks are not weapon mount lights. I have Streamlight TLR-1 & 2 on my defensive weapons. These lights are supplements/backups to my weapon light/lasers.

With that said, I do plan on mounting on one a .357 mag or 12 ga just to see if it can handle a couple hundred shots of heavy recoil.

sonrider657
I would not bet my life on a $30 flashlight. Buy a quality U.S. Made light and be confident that it will work when you need it.

Click to expand...

No prizes given for "Best snark of the day".

my post is not about mounting light on a rifle just TFL use for me

Hello friends and neighbors //I keep both mine on pulse, if no threat I switch to beam and give a quick sorry. If it is a threat I have an immediate edge.

A strong Tactical light can get hot to hand carry for extended periods.

I have one mounted on my HD shotgun, bubba'd with bicycle inner tube attached to the mag extention tube. I can easily reach the rear push button with my forehand.

I also wear a swivel pouch left side with the Tactical flashlight positioned beam foward. I prefer this when using a handgun and practice with it on pulse anytime I am alone at the range.
Just shut off as many lights as possible and shoot targets 25 feet on in, till someone comes.

One thing I realised when using a strong flashlight is the tendency for the person beamed to cover their eyes/face or turn away quickly. This makes quick, certain identification difficult and IMHO should be practiced.

In the first moment of flashlight pulse I'd access the threat by looking at their hands and saying show me your hands. If they do anything else or have already shown hostile intent the situation dictates the response.

the Roughnecks are not weapon mount lights.

Click to expand...

I wish someone would have told me that before I mounted one of those Rayovac RNT3AAA-B's on the VZ-58 I have been fooling with!

I have a TLR-1s on one side and the Roughneck on the other! hehehe not hurting for light here!

The Rayovac Roughneck p/n RNT3AAA-B is one good deal for a lesser expensive, high intensity, if 200 Lumen is high intensity to you, light. We sell these, so one followed me home.

Another excellent 200/220 Lumen hand held flashlight that will offer longer run time than the AAA battery models, albeit at the cost of a larger bodied light, is the Husky brand 2D Hi-Lux LED that home Depot is carrying, they're around $25.

I have a Streamlight Polytac with the C4 LED. It was around $35. When I first got it, I was walking around my house at night with it on. I turned past my bathroom, and while turning, the light hit a mirror right back into my eyes. It was seriously painful, and blinding for a few seconds. I wouldn't want to be on the business end of that for very long.

The Polytac is built really solid, and it casts an amazing amount of light.

My use involves pistol in main hand, flashlight in offhand. I don't have a rail on my weapon because I use an S&W Model 19 .357 for home defense (with Speer Gold Dot .38's). I like the option of my light being separate from my weapon, though if I end up going the Glock route for home defense, I'll likely buy a Streamlight TLR-1 or TLR-2 to go on the rail.

I wouldn't want to start shooting at anything in my house before identifying what was going on.

The Polytac sold me on Streamlight. I also have one of their Nano lights on my keychain - amazingly bright for such a little thing!

I think instead of opting for wandering around with a flashlight in our home though, after our wedding, my fiancee and I are going to install X10 modules around our home to have a master "All On" remote at bedside. This will effectively turn on all desired lights around our home instantaneously, hopefully freaking out any potential intruder and making them get out. It would also be a handy way to make sure all lights are off before going to sleep.

Have you shot with it? How does it handle the recoil??? I think they're one of the best deals around right now...

Uncle Mike
Quote:
the Roughnecks are not weapon mount lights.
I wish someone would have told me that before I mounted one of those Rayovac RNT3AAA-B's on the VZ-58 I have been fooling with!

Click to expand...

I have issues with a weapons mounted light. First off you have to aim your weapon at the suspected intruder in order to identify friend or foe. Secondly it's pretty obvious that the light being shined is coming from none other than the object of the bad guys attention so you give away your position. I'm sure there are fans of weapons mounted lights, I'm just not one of them. I find using a hand held light with my pistol to be more practical for me. Were I military searching dark close quarters, or an officer of the law in a similar situation I might feel different about it all. I'm not. Rather than a weapons mounted light I depend on two rather territorial dogs that hate being pestered after lights out... or any other time for that matter. It actually would be easy to set up a motion sensitive detector to trigger high intensity strobes that would disorient an intruder in one or more rooms and buy you some time to gather your senses.

First off you have to aim your weapon at the suspected intruder in order to identify friend or foe.

Click to expand...

Actually, you don't. Most of the lights out there are powerful enough that you can identify and visually check someone's hands with the rifle at low ready. Even an old 65 lumen Surefire G2 can do that, so I know some of the higher output LED rigs can.

Secondly it's pretty obvious that the light being shined is coming from none other than the object of the bad guys attention so you give away your position.

Click to expand...

A weapon mounted light is like a piano (or a firearm for that matter). Just having one doesn't mean you can play music. If you don't have the training to go with the light, then it may be a problem for you. If you have the training, you should have a good idea of where it is appropriate to use a light and where it isn't.

However, while you can make music without a piano, you can't very well make light without a flashlight and if you are using a two-handed firearm, then the flashlight works a lot better mounted to the weapon.

I read a most excellent article recently in one of the gunrags; I usually mostly felt the way you do as well-- until I read this article. To sum up, depending on what you want to do, or what may need to be accomplished, each tool you add to your weapon, allows you to do things you otherwise could not, and especially not of someone you are coming up against. And after adding lights, lasers, pointers, illuminators, etc., a good light, and if only adding one tool, is about the best thing you can add to your rig.

Have you shot with it? How does it handle the recoil??? I think they're one of the best deals around right now...

Click to expand...

No I haven't. You know how it is, too much to do, not enough time for rehab sessions at he range!

I'll let you know as soon as I shoot this one, still waiting on a couple items to strap onto the rifle.

For a flashlight I can count on Ive tested several, Ive found some imported taclights that just cant be broken and define the word bright.
For my gas piston carbine I have a small light Ive put together and updated a few times with now the most powerful LED (XPG-R5 LED) that 2/cr123 batteries or one 18650 battery can power, its low setting is brighter than any normal flashlight, its medium setting is as bright as any top end surefire Ive ever seen, and its high setting is just amazing (320 lumens), it has a 320 lumen strobe, and one useless setting SOS.
For a handheld flashlight that takes either 4/cr123 batteries or 2 18650s I have 2, one is 900 lumens, but is an older LED and it gets warm, as well burns through batteries much faster. The newest is a 1250 lumen monster that uses the same 18650 batteries as the 900 lumen light, only it last so much longer, the LED is far more efficient.
I guarantee anyone who goes from darkness to either of these lights shining in their face wont be able to see or see straight for several minutes, or longer. In fact the 1250 lumen light is more than painful when shined at you, even at a long distance, its every bit as bright as some of the best spotlights made, also has the 5 settings programmed into it.
This is the 320 lumen light from across my garage in the dark(no other light source at all), the camera does not do it justice, in fact in person its almost twice as bright, but it gives you an idea of what it can do.

This is at 2 car lengths, again the light is alot brighter in person rather than on camera.

In the dark with no other source of light from a few hundred feet away on a night that has a good myst in the air, in person the entire yard is lit up, the dog house is lit up like daylight, but the camera takes away much of the light.

Ill try to get shots of the 1250 lumen light sometime, it lights up the tree far beyond the doghouse entirely with a solid beam, also lights up a few hundred meters across the field behind the tree if shined beside it.
Neither of these are near as bright as the HID lights on my 4-wheel-drives bumper, but then again they are 3200-3400 lumens each (different purpose, also HIDs need to warm up to full brightness for a few minutes).