For those of you looking of a "good enough" cheap handgun accessory rail mounted light, here is the lowdown on the QD FLASHLYTE. It currently retails for about $65 from Midway, Cabela's, Sportsman's Guide, etc.
Upon receiving it, my first impression was that the unit was a little chincy looking and would barely justify the price (if it worked). My impression was half right. The flashlight portion is cheap, and the set screws that hold it in place will put considerable "dents" when you install the light into the holder. The holder, on the other hand looks to be an effective, inexpensive quick detachable mount. It appears to be durable enough for stand up to house duty, at the very least, and feels like it could take a couple of knocks and still function well. It attaches firmly to the handgun, and does not rattle, or mar the weapon.
After installation, the light failed immediately under function testing. I spent about a half of an hour, tearing through the thing befor I found the culprit. The O-Ring that holds the lamp reflector in place was not properly seated, and the outer edge of the lamp reflector was not large enough to hold itself in the flashlight housing, creating intermitent contact. I fixed it by folding aluminum foil over the outer edge, all the way around, to serve as a "gasket", and then once the reflector was in place, I trimmed off the foil inside of the reflector.
Once I got everything working to my satisfaction, I took the light/handgun around my darkened house to test it's effectivness. I'll say first, that it BARELY does the job. The light uses a single LED and four LR44 button batteries. I would say it's illumination is about the same as my little Princeton Tec Attitude flashlight, which is a small 3 LED four AA pocket light. Not much light, I'll admit, yet I can see across the longest open space in my house, about 22 paces. While the light isn't stunningly bright, it is difficult to look at:
I certainly wouldn't recommend this light for any kind of police, military, or guard use, but for simple home use, it might suffice. I also wouldn't recommend using it with any weapon that has a large flash signature. I will be checking soon to see if any off the shelf flashlights will fit this holder, as a little more light would be welcome, and the holder impressed me.
I hope this helps anyone looking at this device.
Upon receiving it, my first impression was that the unit was a little chincy looking and would barely justify the price (if it worked). My impression was half right. The flashlight portion is cheap, and the set screws that hold it in place will put considerable "dents" when you install the light into the holder. The holder, on the other hand looks to be an effective, inexpensive quick detachable mount. It appears to be durable enough for stand up to house duty, at the very least, and feels like it could take a couple of knocks and still function well. It attaches firmly to the handgun, and does not rattle, or mar the weapon.
After installation, the light failed immediately under function testing. I spent about a half of an hour, tearing through the thing befor I found the culprit. The O-Ring that holds the lamp reflector in place was not properly seated, and the outer edge of the lamp reflector was not large enough to hold itself in the flashlight housing, creating intermitent contact. I fixed it by folding aluminum foil over the outer edge, all the way around, to serve as a "gasket", and then once the reflector was in place, I trimmed off the foil inside of the reflector.
Once I got everything working to my satisfaction, I took the light/handgun around my darkened house to test it's effectivness. I'll say first, that it BARELY does the job. The light uses a single LED and four LR44 button batteries. I would say it's illumination is about the same as my little Princeton Tec Attitude flashlight, which is a small 3 LED four AA pocket light. Not much light, I'll admit, yet I can see across the longest open space in my house, about 22 paces. While the light isn't stunningly bright, it is difficult to look at:
I certainly wouldn't recommend this light for any kind of police, military, or guard use, but for simple home use, it might suffice. I also wouldn't recommend using it with any weapon that has a large flash signature. I will be checking soon to see if any off the shelf flashlights will fit this holder, as a little more light would be welcome, and the holder impressed me.
I hope this helps anyone looking at this device.
