Equipment Rails- gun mounted lights etc

[Dot_mdb]

I mostly shoot revolvers. I own some semis but none of them have equipment rails. I have some questions.

What besides a flashlight can get attached to the rail?

What are the tactics for using a gun with a flashlight attached?

Are guns carried with flashlight attached in a special holster or is the gun drawn and then the light attached if needed?

Where is the switch located for turning the light on and off when mounted on the gun?

Bill

 

[sturmruger]

My thoughts

I do have a carry permit for the State of MN. In most cases I am not in poorly lit areas so having my WML with me would not be a distinct advantage. I have never spent the money for a holster that will accommodate my M6 WML. I think it would be way too bulky to carry at any time but in the dead of winter.

I tend to keep my light mounted to my home defense gun. If there is someone in the house I will be trying to stay in the dark and not notify him of my location until the situation warrants me hitting him with the light. My M6 also has an integral laser which in the middle of the night will be nice to have. When I train with the laser I usually aim the gun like I normally would. It is nice because right over the top of my front sight is the red dot. It is a very useful tool to help aim.

There is a lot of discussion about WMLs the biggest concern is that when you have a flashlight the instinctive thing to do is point the light directly at what you are looking at. The problem is this is not the safest way to do things. You are pointing a loaded gun at something you might not be willing to shoot just yet. I personally think that the S will be hitting the fan pretty good if I have my HD gun out, and a few safety infractions will just have to be tolerated.

Here is a pic of my WML:

 

[sendec]

Typically the only other things that would be mounted on the rail of a handgun would be lasers or other types of target illuminators that are NVG compatible.

Tactics exceed the scope of a post, but in a nutshell the coax light is used to confirm the identity of a target and verify sight alignment. In my opinion "flashlight" is a misnomer - the coax light is not used for searching or illumination, except potentially in military scenarios where the ROEs differ from LE or defensive use. Search and illumination should be handled by a handheld light or by making a concious decision to violate safety protocols, which as of yet I am unwilling to do. Defensive use of light requires that it be used as little as possible and that movement follow use - do not remain where the light was used from.

Switches and holsters vary widely. IMHO the best setups are hardmounted lights and dedicated holsters, which can be cumbersome and expensive. The trend of mounting and dismounting the light as needed has what I believe to be serious flaws in that it makes drawing and reholstering overly complicated. Reholstering must be done one-handed, which it cannot with the detachable light mounted. Ideally a properly mounted switch allows the light to be operated without compromising or adjusting the one-hand master grip. Typically these are mounted to the frontstrap.

 

[Don Gwinn]

Bladetech makes holsters that work equally well with the lights mounted or unmounted, but they're tactical holsters--no concealment, and they can't be readily adapted to it.

http://www.tacticalholsters.com

Others have gone the route of trying to mold a kydex holster around the weapon and one particular light. I don't think that would work as well from a functional standpoint (the Bladetech version uses a barrel plug and retainer to hold the firearm, with the light out in the open, so no interference with the light is possible and the holster works with any mounted device regardless of size and shape) but if someone insisted on trying to conceal a pistol with a WML I guess that's what they'd need.

 

[CZ52GUY]

Actually...

...with the right concealment garment and the right piece (e.g. G19/G23), you MIGHT be able to carry with this from Blade-Tech:

http://www.blade-tech.com/frontend?command=ProductMatrix&iProductId=5864&iSectionId=4332

Safe shooting,

CZ52'

 

[Denny Hansen]

Sidearmor make a great holster for the Kimber TLE/RL that will accept SureFire's X200. I like an IWB, but the Sidearmor holster is concealable with most outer garments.

A white light is probably the only thing you'd want to put on the rail, but if you really feel the need you can use your imagination.

Denny