Your Views On Weapon-Mounted Lights

[bradvanhorn]

It can be just as big a mistake to underestimate your opponent.

Right...

How skilled do you have to be to shoot from behind cover?

Outside, maybe... Indoors, sure I can point the gun at the door to my bedroom and sit there all night waiting... If I plan to investigate the 'bump in the night', then the situation changes dramatically if you do 'underestimate your opponent'. Wandering around the home waving your long gun around creates numerous vulnerabilities to grabs or disarms. 40 inches of gun stuck out in front of you when you don't have the training for it really doesn't do you any favors in my opinion. I don't mean to suggest an untrained pistol bearer is a great alternative, but I think they are less vulnerable with a compact weapon unless they are complete idiots.

Hey, whatever... you like it, go for it. Only you know if it's the right choice for you.

 

[bp78]

Just shoot a night (no-light) IDPA match with and without a gun mounted light. The disparity in scores is pretty apparent and for competition a mounted light is the only way to keep up.

 

[psyopspec]

Brad, Jeff makes a good point. Tactially, it can't hurt to assume you're not he baddest ass on the block (until proven otherwise). I respect your experience, MSG, but Jeff also has an impressive resume of his own. You're both competent, and you both have valid points. Let it stand at "agree to disagree." No need to get terse.

 

[Jeff White]

brad,
The untrained pistol bearer will likely default to his training which is most likely what he/she has seen in the movies and on TV. They will be just as likely to lead with their pistol as they are with the rifle.

Anyone who investigates a bump in the night that he's reasonably sure is an intruder by himself is a fool. Holding up in the safe room is the best plan. At that point long gun or hand gun really doesn't matter. What matters is which weapon the homeowner is most familiar with.

Jeff

 

[Cosmoline]

You think a bad guy in your home is better prepared to go into action than you are?

I'm not expecting ninjas, but consider this. If you have an armed intruder he is not going to be observing any safety rules. You can expect whatever he has to be loaded with no safety engaged, and he'll be more than willing to point it at a noise or a warning call.

So if you have your encounter with a flashlight in left hand and a handgun pointed at the floor, you're going to have to raise the firearm, deal with a safety if applicable, while at the same time keeping the light on him and/or moving the flashlight hand over to support the firing hand. That's several steps involving major muscle and nerve groups. Even with practice it takes critical seconds. And even once in the stance you still have to aim, again taking critical moments.

All he has to do is point and start blasting. Indeed you can't expect him to be as well trained as you are, which means he won't waste time getting the stance right. He'll just start shooting at you. This may kill or wound you of course, or it may just rattle you and delay your response by a few more moments.

Contrast this to the long gun with a weapon mounted light. You engage the light. You can see who he is so there's no need for a verbal warning. If he has a firearm, you are already in stance with the weapon aimed, so you just pull the trigger. Instead of three or more steps you have only one.

 

[ar10]

Why would it make a difference if they are using an AK versus some other weapon?

There's a lot more of them (bullets). They don't have to be that accurate. I think of the gangbangers I read about that just "close their eyes" and start shooting. I think about two cops shot going into a gambling house last Feb with their tactical lights because it was dark. Both were in the door first and both were shot. The BG's, who were arrested stated they thought they were being robbed and started shooting right at the lights.

 

[Erik]

"Your Views On Weapon-Mounted Lights."

They are valuable additions to weapons. I can think of no plausible reasons for avoiding them that are not concealment related. (And these days, even that concern is beginning to errod as holster makers cater to the weapon-light users.)

 

[kcshooter]

All of my go-to home defense guns have a light mounted. My bedside 1911 and my under-the-bed and in-the-closets shotguns all have a light. That doesn't mean I have to use them, but it does give me the option. They all do have an on/off switch, ya know? (My carry guns don't, and I'll occasionally carry a surefire in my pocket or on my belt on the very rare occasions I think I may need it.)

While I agree that for some people, myself included, a handgun is better for HD. It allows one handed shooting and a free hand for anything that may be required, whatever that is. However, if you use a light in that other hand, you now have defeated the usefulness of that free hand.

My 1911 has a light. My house is reasonably lit at night. An intruder could hide in the shadows. I'd rather not give him a flashlight to target, if I have to clear my house myself. So it's a real toss-up between being able to have an intruder hide behind something upon being discovered and be able to see me anyway from filterered outside and ambient light, or my lighting up the suspected area and spotting him. He sees me either way. I only see him if my light is on.

It's a compromise that you have to decide for yourself if you want to make. However, I'd rather have the light on my gun in case I need it and a free hand.

You're never going to find a definitive answer to this question, and you'll have to weight opinions to see what makes more sense for you.

 

[Lady with a Gun]

They will allow you to see what you are shooting. However, they will let an adversary know where you are.

 

[Girodin]

A few thoughts on them that some people seem not to consider.

You don't have to turn the light on unless you want it on.

Having a weapon mounted light does not preclude you from having another light as well.

Arguements aginst poor use of a weapon mounted light are not strong arguement against the light its self.

I favor weapon mounted lights on a HD gun because it offers more flexability and options than only having a hand held light. I also keep a hand held light by my bed. I like options. Also on a long gun I find it easier to manipulate a weapon mounted light.

 

[Deanimator]

Also I *AM* talking long guns. They are vastly more effective and easier to use in home defense than the short gun.

That's an unsupportable generalization.

I'm glad you live in a large, spacious house or the kind of rent controlled aircraft hangar they call an "apartment" on Law & Order. I don't. I live in a cramped apartment with narrow hallways. Where I live, a long gun is not only NOT "vastly more effective and easier to use", it's pretty near worse than useless.

A long gun CAN be effective in the right circumstances. A lot of us just don't happen to live in those circumstances.

 

[crankshop1000]

Let's keep it simple...the ability to illuminate a dark area cannot be anything but a tactical advantage.The weapon mounted lights are very intense, even blindingly so. Positive target identification is another advantage. It's like a laser sight or night sights in that if you are in a situation and use them to you advantage they are the greatest things ever. If you are in a situation where you needed them and didn't have them,they are the greatest thing ever and your next purchase.Why fight technology?

 

[Onmilo]

+++ on weapon mounted light sources.
Anybody who thinks they are a bad idea is probably still going into a modern gunfight armed with a Single Action Army revolver and a prayer!

 

[Cosmoline]

I'm glad you live in a large, spacious house or the kind of rent controlled aircraft hangar they call an "apartment" on Law & Order. I don't. I live in a cramped apartment with narrow hallways. Where I live, a long gun is not only NOT "vastly more effective and easier to use", it's pretty near worse than useless.

Try it, you'll be surprised. As far as the amount of room they take up, the difference between a carbine held to the shoulder and a handgun held out in a weaver stance is a few inches if even that. In both cases you've got the firearm sticking out in front of you. But the carbine is easier to aim and control, plus it hits considerably harder.

 

[Kentucky Kernel]

I agree with a previous post: I'd not want to point a gun at someone just to ID them as friend or foe.

Having said that, I always keep a surefire flashlight right next to my 38 at night and practice using them both.


KK

 

[ctdonath]

Think "SBR".

 

[Ash]

I don't have lights on any of my firearms. I don't mind if other folks use them, but I personally prefer mine without them. I also don't have firearms with rails.

Ash

 

[skoro]

I think weapon-mounted lights are probably a good thing for home defense situations. Illuminating a posible target in poor light conditions can only be an advantage. I'd be very careful about where I held the weapon if I suspected I'd be illuminating an intruder, though.

My home defense weapon is a 20 year-old .357 revolver. I keep a compact high intensity flashlight with it that I'd carry in my left hand, with the gun in my right. In a defense situation, I'd hold that flashlight way above me and as far to the left as possible before turning it on. Don't want to give the goblin a good aiming point.

 

[kcshooter]

In a defense situation, I'd hold that flashlight way above me and as far to the left as possible before turning it on

I've seen that theory a few times before. I suggest you try shooting at the range with your hand outstretched this way.

 

[Deanimator]

Try it, you'll be surprised.

I did. I wasn't surprised at all. It was the waste of time I expected it to be.

A long gun is stupid as a first line of defense in MY home. You haven't seen my home so you really can't make an intelligent assessment of what's appropriate for self-defense inside it. I've lived there for almost ten years. You haven't.

If all I had was a long gun, I'd use it. If all I had was a chainsaw, I'd use THAT.

 

[Deanimator]

I've seen that theory a few times before. I suggest you try shooting at the range with your hand outstretched this way.

I guarantee it's easier than shooting with a sucking chest wound.

 

[ilbob]

It gives you an option you would not otherwise have. Nothing says you have to use it.

For a handgun, I am torn between the theory that you might want to put the light off axis so someone shooting at the light is less likely to hit you, and the idea that the light is basically a big aiming point so you will get off the first and accurate shot. I am more and more coming to the point of view that a weapons mounted light is overall a better choice.

For long guns, it seems to me the only practical answer is one mounted on the gun.