Pistol shooting with a Maglite

[black bear]

Pistol Shooting with a Maglite

The need for this post that talks about pistol shooting (in a tactical way) using a Maglite was born out of an E-mail question from one of my customers that wanted to install a “tactical” (tail switch) in one of the Mega Maglites I built.

Most of you know me as the builder of the rechargeable flashlights, the MAG 951 (a Maglite 3 “D” outputting 951 lumens) and the smaller brother the black bear 678 (a Maglite 2 “D” 10 inches long, outputting 678 lumens)

I started night shooting with flashlights more than 40 years ago. In those days, the classic position was over the left shoulder with the left hand and shooting with the right, or the extended arm to the side to confuse the adversary about your position.

At least thirty years ago we started using crossed wrists (the back of the hands against each other) when handling the new powerful Kel-Lites with the (at the time) new krypton Super Star bulbs ($10 per bulb at that time).

Then, soon enough, we changed to the Maglite, and the 3 “D” was a favorite.

The tactical switch introduced by the Surefire 6P (police) in 1989 was and still is a great idea (a switch in the back of the light).

Smaller Surefire flashlights and those wonderful 123 batteries and Surefire lamps for the 9P and C-3, made possible the throwing of 200 lumens out of a belt light, ideal for blinding your opponent before shooting them!!!

Yet out there, there is the need for more lumens; witness the success of the Surefire M-6 that with the 500 lumens lamp consumes six 123 batteries every 20 minutes.
My own M-6 is serial number 8,000. So guessing the need for more power in a rechargeable affordable flashlight I started production of my MAG 951 lumens and the black bear 678 lumens.

And now I have discovered that many things learned so long ago, have been forgotten or never learned by many shooters!!!

I realized that many people were using the wrong position of hand in the flashlight and were using the wrong finger to activate the light.
Here thru these pictures I intent to make it clear how to use the Maglite in the crossed wrist position (back of hands pressing together)

In this one, note how the barrel of the flashlight is supported by the forearm

You can see that the longer barrel of the Maglite 3 “D” is resting naturally in the forearm.

I have used a silver flashlight (instead of black) because it shows the position of the switch better; my index finger is elevated in the picture so you can see that it falls naturally on the switch.

I apologize for the bad pictures and bad angles, it is the best I can do with the equipment and skills I have.

This position of grabbing the head is also a natural when you use the flashlight as a club.
You don’t club somebody over the head with the relatively light flashlight head but with the heavier barrel part (where the batteries are).

My finger is inside the trigger guard of the pistol, so not to confuse more an already cluttered picture, please refrain to make any commentaries about that.
The black bear 678 lumens and the MAG 951 II (951 lumens)

People of the old school will recognize what I am talking about here, and the new guys will say, “Oh!! That was the way that it was done!!!”

And many will ask why to come back to the Maglite when the Surefire M-6 is available.
If you can afford to feed a Surefire M-6 or if the agency you work for does it for you, I don’t have any beef with that.
My MAG 951 lumens light is geared for those people that can’t afford to use a Surefire M-6.
Heck, I have one, but I can not afford to use it!!!! Running the light for 500 hours will cost me over $5,000.00 in 123’s batteries.

My MAG 951 can run 500 hours in the rechargeable batteries, before needing another $24.00 new pack of rechargeables.

Hopefully this post will help to clarify how the Maglite is still used in the tactical position.

Best regards,
Black bear

 

[Matt G]

Well, since we're discussing tactics,

the standard method for the last decade or so (as I learned it in academy 11 years ago) for employing the Harries Technique is to use the middle finger on the flashlight switch, so as to avoid sympathetic twitch in the the trigger finger of the pistol, which could be A Bad Thing.

 

[GRB]

Black bear,

Over the years, I have learned and taught many ways to hold a light while shooting. Crossed wrist hold of a flashlight is ok but, there are other methods just as good if not better. Many now advocate using the thumb to turn on a flashlight that has a side of the tube button like the bigger mag lights, and to never use the index finger to do so. This can be done using the cross wrist hold but there is a safer hold than crossed wrists. This means holding the light under the pistol hand for support, or along side the pistol hand (same side as the flashlight holding hand so as not to cross their wrists). What this does is avoids your flashlight hand from crossing in front of your own pistol if you have the light out front first then draw. This can also be the case if you need to retract the pistol in a retention move. If you pull it back in order to do a retention move with crossed wrists there is a good chance the flashlight holding hand winds up in front of the muzzle. Another reason to avoid the cross wrist hold can be easily seen in the pics you provided. The muzzle and beam of light do not align easily. You need to twist unnaturally to align them using that hold. It is more comfortable and more of a natural hold and an easier alignment to hold the flashlight hand under or along the weak hand side of the pistol, fingers/palm wrapped around the bottom of the tube and thumb atop the tube or off at 45 to 90 degree angle from the top (this as opposed to what is seen in the pics where the thumb is at the bottom and fingers are wrapped around the top). The pistol can be supported by both hands while doing this. If you do insist on crossed wrist, then the light is better held with thumb near top or side and fingers/palm around bottom of tube. I realize one of the reasons to hold the pistol as shown was because the light could easily be brought into play as a club if need be; however, the chances of putting one into your own hand outweigh this advantage because again, if you lash out with the light in a clubbing motion, the flashlight hand crosses the muzzle in the heat of battle - not good if it can be avoided. Old methods often are good but can have their flaws too and the newer methods are born out of them.

One extremely important aspect of using a flashlight is to make sure the switch on the light can be turned on by light pressure, so that when the thumb or finger is removed, thereby removing the pressure, the light goes out. In other words you should not use a light requiring you to click the light on and click it off. This is because if you drop the light that is 'clicked on' it stays on and as it rolls around on the floor it may well illuminate you more than it does the bad guy. That would be very bad indeed. Mag lights can be clicked on but, they also can be pressured on without clicking the button. Mini mag lights that do not have an added end cap switch, need to be turned on by a twist, regular flashlights that have a push button positive stop switch need to be pushed forward and clicked to illuminate. If you drop them watch out that you are not lit up. (Some do have a small pressure button atop the switch to avoid having to click it on, these are better than ones that requires a click type button that needs to be locked forward by the click to work).

All the best,
Glenn B

 

[black bear]

Glenn,
Thanks for you comments and bringing your expertise to the thread.
I am sure many new (and old shooters) can profit from your explanations.

Will be nice if you can post some pictures of the techniques you suggest, as many people still use the regular Maglite and some of my customers will like to know more about how to use one with the gun.

As you point out it is not easy to line up barrel and light, when it happens with a regular Maglite 3 D (with the tight focus and very low side spill) it can be critical for good shooting.

However, if you are using one of my MAG 951 or B.B. 678 lumens flashlights (The MAG 951 is made in the Maglite 3 D body and the B.B. 678 is made in the 2 D body) It will not be an issue at all.
The only consideration is that your head will be behind the light (if your value your eye sight)

WHY ??

I think this two pictures will be self explanatory,
The first picture is the beam of a regular Maglite 3 "D" in my basement (39 lumens)

Regular Maglite 3 D (39 lumens)

Beamshot with the MAG 951 (951 lumens) (same place)

The runtime of the MAG 951 and the B.B. 678 is 30 minutes, the power is provided by 9 high current Nimhs batteries
(not customer grade batteries but batteries used in Rc racing and power tools)

The problem with all flashlights using regular alkalines batteries is that they can not sustain the same output for long.
Putting 3 fresh high quality Duracell or Energizer batteries into a regular Maglite 3 D will be rewarded by a nice light of 39 lumens, just for about seven minutes when the output will be 75 % after one hour the output will be 50 % (or only 20 lumens) and declaining rapidily.

For a visual aid of what I am talking here, see this chart:

For more information about the new Megalights see this thread:
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=125447&page=3

Thanks to all
Best regards
black bear

 

[GRB]

Balck Bear,

It certainly does look like your modified lights are plenty bright, and that is a good thing for use in the field. It is especially good as a tactical advantage in that if the bad guy is looking your way whewn you turn it on, he will be somewhat blinded or should I say his night vision will be lost for at least a few seconds. A good light is an important LEO or home defense tool. The mag light, in the right size, can also be used as a defensive weapon if all else fails.

If I can get someone to take some pics of me holding a light as I descried, I will send them to you in an email.

All the best,
Glenn B

 

[Ol' Badger]

What Cal. Mag Light?

 

[Guns_and_Labs]

the standard method for the last decade or so (as I learned it in academy 11 years ago) for employing the Harries Technique is to use the middle finger on the flashlight switch, so as to avoid sympathetic twitch in the the trigger finger of the pistol, which could be A Bad Thing

I also found that using my middle finger somehow made it easier to align the beam with the muzzle.

This means holding the light under the pistol hand for support, or along side the pistol hand (same side as the flashlight holding hand so as not to cross their wrists). What this does is avoids your flashlight hand from crossing in front of your own pistol if you have the light out front first then draw.

I tried that, once, at the range when I first read about it. With the Surefire, it worked ok. With the maglite, my slide whacked the flashlight. Not good. I also couldn't hit the target. Even worse.

 

[silverlance]

Have 951, love it, use it in cross hold

although -

if you plan to use crossholds, practice it in your house. Pick a nice quiet night, preferrably with no one at home, and with your gun (i practice loaded but not chambered, am EXTREMELY careful, and I don't get carried away and start diving behind sofas, etc, just practice walking to my defensive position and then step 1 of my HD plan... you may choose to practice totally unloaded, but weight should always be considered.. i know this is potentially dangerous, so again don't do what I do, just telling you how I do it) make the 30 second walk.

you will discover quickly that if you don't have nice muscles you will fatigue quickly. if anyone has suggestions on working out the wrist muscles please post - i work out a decent amount but even so i know i can't maintain the cross hold for far too long.