ways to make a shotgun "night-functional".

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Thanks to those with insightful suggestions. I'm pretty decent with a shotgun during the day, at night it's a whole different ballgame. I want my shotgun equipped with a dedicated light setup for low light in the house. Better safe than sorry. I have poor night vision as it is. The points about using the light improperly and making yourself a target are very real, which is why I want an optimal setup that'll respond quickly and reliably as well as hold up to abusive recoil as it's a shotgun, let's face it. I don't necessarily NEED a pressure switch as my hands and fingers are b ig and long and can probably get to where they need to be fast enough, especially after practice.

Does anyone know of any other dedicated forends besides the Surefire?
 
I bought a $17, 75 lumen, LED 'camping' light that looks amazingly like a certain high-dollar tac fu weapons light, and I have duct taped it to the mag extension on my 870TALO where I can pop it on and off with my thumb.

Works like a charm. :)

Zombies beware! :D
 
Why not just accept the fact that zombies are not going to attack you in the night? Quit watching stupid movies and TV and accept that the crap is fictional.
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News Flash: Sometimes people do actually break-in at night pal. BTW what is with all of the lame zombie references in these SG threads:confused:, get over it already.
 
I think that it's hard to beat a flashlight mounted on the mag tube and an electronic sight for aiming at night, or in the day time for that matter.
 
I bought the Streamlight adaptor for the Rem 870, it attaches under the mag tube cap. I used a scope ring to mount up a Surefire M4 light. This thing has the optional 325 lumen element, it is so blinding I dont expect to have to fire the 870. Anyone coming down my hallway will be "blind as a bat" and not able to do much. They will be lucky to stumble out of the house. I have never fired the 870 (with light) so I dont know how well this will work. I am aware of the locking ball issue with the mag cap, I am not yet ready to trust this set-up.
 
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the carrots wouldnt hurt...


main issue though is the dimensions of the thick 590a1 barrel combined with the MAX 100 extension. Is Candewman around? Maybe MAX100 can chime in with what he thinks will work. I want something durable as hell that'll hopefully reinforce the barrel and extension together and hold a light steady during intense shotgun recoil. Anyone have an email address? the one on his site seems to be full.

Which lights WILL stand up to the recoil, period? 3" magnums even, just to be safe.
 
I fixed the email situation. There might be a BMT clamp for the 590 in February, maybe. For sure I will have them for the Winchester 1300 and Mossberg 500 in February. There is the MT clamp for the magazine tube only on just about any shotgun. It "should" fit the spacing between the barrel and mag tube but it will for sure fit the mag tube that MAX100 makes.
MT6DS.jpg
 
Me, I have wall switches in my house. I can also hit in the dark because I don't rely on sights to aim. My shotguns fit and point naturally. BUT, I have enough ambient light in my house, anyway, from the car wash next door and I won't leave the bedroom if I'm being invaded. I'll call 911 and let the cops earn the tax dollars they take from me every year. If I do have to leave the locked bedroom, I'll take a handgun. I trust the handgun and more importantly my abilities with it. I carry it daily, inside or out, any time I have my pants on and I shoot it often.
 
Candew ... I went to your site with an order to outfit a couple 870s this weekend and saw everything was sold out. You back up now, or still trying to catch up?
 
Some of these clamps look promising...I still don't have a shotgun outfitted for home defense. I have my handguns for that purpose but I would like to pick up a shotgun that I can have at the ready if something goes bump in the night. Training and practice are the real keys to success in a situation that would require you to take gun in hand to protect life and property in the dark.

http://www.candewman.com/clamps.html
 
I am waiting on some product but it is coming in. I just got a call this morning that my MT clamps are ready. I just have to pick them up and have them anodized. I should have them available for sale after this weekend. The BMT clamps are on the machines at various stages and hoping to have them before Thanksgiving weekend for a gun show in Dallas that I am doing. The gun show is the main reason I'm hanging on to the stock I have. After Thanksgiving I should have a pretty good supply with a few hundred items in stock. Sounds like a lot but it's really not. The new website should be up this weekend with the ability to reserve clamps if I get sold out. I'm not doing back orders where I receive money because that can be a problem for some people if it takes too long.
 
I rigged up my Moss 500 that I cut down to work in the house with a light. I have a bad shoulder on my shooting side so I don't plan to hunt with my 12ga. I took a Lowes bought LED light and ziptied and taped it to the barrel and mag tube. It has white light and red. It's about 3" long. I've fired it a few tiimes at the range with the light on it and it still works. Even if it doesn't hold up for the long haul, it will work the first time I "need" it to, then it can get replaced
 
I can also hit in the dark because I don't rely on sights to aim.
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Can you properly identify the target in the dark? That is perhaps a more important issue than even being able to hit it and a chief reason to have a light IMO. One simple can not engage a target they have not identified.

If you mount a light definitely go shoot the gun with the light mounted and do so with full power loads. One needs to wring out their equipment and be familiar with it as well before it is wise to rely on it.
 
If you mount a light definitely go shoot the gun with the light mounted and do so with full power loads. One needs to wring out their equipment and be familiar with it as well before it is wise to rely on it.
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It's true, the first time I mounted a light too close to the muzzel and it got blasted off after a couple of shots. The light even has some pretty bad burn marks on it. The ATI clamp that I bought was only big enough to go around the barrel and a 1" diameter light or the mag tube but not the mag tube plus the light, if that makes any sense.

I ended up having to use a slightly smaller light mounted from the mag tube and I still had to make the clamp that holds that light a little larger with a rotary tool and then tightened it really hard. I only tested a few shots out of it but it seems to be holding pretty good now. It's definatley a good plan to test your set up before you rely on it though.
 
Why not just accept the fact that zombies are not going to attack you in the night?
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You are kidding....right?

To the OP-

The obvious choices would be either a) a weapon mounted light, b) night sights or c) a well illuminated interior. Frankly, I have opted for both "b" and "c" as I found that mounting a light on my already heavy 590 (w/added heavy walled barrel) was a bit too much. Now, a weapon mounted light is a good item as far as I am concerned, but it does come with a weight/balance liability. Keep in mind, if you are going to go this route, buy it with a remote switch so that you may turn it off/on quickly. After all, leaving a light on (particularly when its mounted on your weapon) when a BG is around is just asking for trouble.

But, again, I prefer a night sight (mine is a front bead only) and choose to keep my home well lit with "smartly" placed lighting. Weapon mounted lights are certainly beneficial and I will never argue against them. But, as stated before, they are just not for me at this point based on my own experience/needs.

In terms of low light conditions...its interesting that if you do not look directly at your "primary" target, but rather look just to the left or right of it, it becomes more visible. Dont ask me why, but its true. Try it out and you will see what I mean. In addition, whenever you anticipate there being a bright light present, just prior to everything going dark (ie., turning a flashlight or interior light on/off), try closing your dominant shooting eye during this process. This may help your eye to "adjust" to such conditions much faster.
 
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Can you properly identify the target in the dark? That is perhaps a more important issue than even being able to hit it and a chief reason to have a light IMO. One simple can not engage a target they have not identified.
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All the kids are gone. I figure if he has the balls to break down first my front door, then my bedroom door to get at me and the wife, he deserves to die just out of stupidity. Do my duty to Darwin and take the stupid genes out of the gene pool. If he knows me, he knows I'm considerably better than him with firearms and cold enough to kill him. No one I know is that suicidal.
 
Can you properly identify the target in the dark? That is perhaps a more important issue than even being able to hit it and a chief reason to have a light IMO. One simple can not engage a target they have not identified.
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True. But, a well lit target is not exclusive to the weapon mounted light (within the home). Not that Im against weapon mounted lights, but Im willing to bet that people were able to effectively defend their lives/homes long before such lighting systems became vogue.

Using a weapon mounted light can be a good thing, but it does require practice and forethought. Simply having it on the weapon is not enough. If using it "properly," you will turn the light on only as long as necessary...then turn it right back off (all via a remote switch). Otherwise, you are painting yourself as a target. In addition, given that the light is mounted on the weapon, when you have the light trained on someone you are also pointing a loaded weapon at this individual. To go one further, if you are easily "surprised" by what is "caught in the light," you may instictively be prone to firing the weapon. Not a good thing.
 
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+1 on proper training to use both the gun and the light


In addition, given that the light is mounted on the weapon, when you have the light trained on someone you are also pointing a loaded weapon at this individual.
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I share Pat Rogers feelings on this point. I'll try to dig up some stuff he has written about it. The long and short of it is that yes you will be pointing your gun at things but it is not the problem people want to make it out to be.
 
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