Alternatives to surefire forend on a mossberg 500?

[17_longslider]

I am interested in mounting a light on my mossberg 500. The surefire foreend seems to be the way to go. However, the light on that forend is as far as I can tell a 6p with the shock isolated bezel? Are there good alternatives to this forend or a way to add the light with negligable impact on handling?


Ben

 

[Andrew Wyatt]

no, there's not. get the surefire. be happy.

 

[Cazach]

1. Buy a tacstar shotgun light kit for $30. Throw away the tacstar light and keep the mount (and possibly the pressure switch.) This mounts to mag tube and can be positioned on either side or underneath.

2. Buy a surefire 6P or G2. These may require spacers to make the light tube fit into the mount. ($30-60)

3. Buy a surefire pressure switch for the above ($40) Or (if you are electrically inclined) make the tacstar one work = $0

4. Put it all together for $60-$130.

5. Take the bulb element out of the light when practicing. (I do this even with the shock isolated Surefire lights)

I have done this on 3-4 different setups with good results. The only exception is I found one Surefire light on Ebay that came off an AR. Got that for $50 and used the above mounting system.

I like the forend on my 500, and that is the main reason I didn't want to switch it out. Controls are exactly where I want them (left handed) and there is no noticeable change to the weight or handling of the gun.

 

[Tomac]

I've got the TacStar Weapons Light (newer version) on both my Saiga-12s and so far haven't had any problems. Price is right as well (about $80 from MidwayUSA).
Tomac

 

[STORMIN29]

light

I bought a light bracket that mounts on the magazine tube of my Maverick 88 for about $12.00. I had to use a dremel to open it up a little and clamped on my G2. Mounted close enough to the pump handle that when I loaded a round I could easily turn on the light with the push button or twist on the light switch with my hand on the pump. It has taken several hundred rounds of abuse so far. Make sure your batteries are always new as you wouldn't want them to run low in a bad situation.

 

[Andrew Wyatt]

for the record, surefire G2s and 6p's are not designed for the recoil of a shotgun. only a non polymer flashlight with a battery stop and shock isolated bezel will continute to function for more than a magazine of 12 gauge ammunition.

in addition, mounting the light to the magazine tube on a pump shotgun puts the light in the wrong location for operation, and it means that the hand is not near the light when the pump is in the rearmost position. a tape switch on a cord is not a solution, as the cord will get caught in the pump assembly.


The surefire is the only way to fly for shotguns, as it has a battery stop, shock isolated bezel, and mounts on the forend.

 

[Cazach]

Andrew, I beg to differ with your comments. While I agree that the shock isolated, weapon specific light is optimum, I have used the G2's and 6P's with great success.

Further, the mag tube mounted light is perfect for me and places the controls, exactly where I want them. As far as the tape switch on a cord, I have yet to have one get caught up in the pump action during 100's of rounds of action. I have shot with the Surefire forend and just don't like the feel of it. The setup above works better for me.

Just my. $02. YMMV.

 

[Black Snowman]

I already have an Streamlight M3 so I'm just getting the mounting clamp for $15 and swapping it between my other guns.

 

[Andrew Wyatt]

Cazach: you seem to be the exception, then. as a rule, surefires without the battery stop and shock isolated bezel tend to break their lamp within a magazine.