Pistols and taclights

[Surgicalcric]

QP's:

Given the wide usage of weapons mounted tac-lights on rifles, I was curious as to whether you do/did utilize a tac-light on your secondary weapons as well or do/did you rely on a hand held flashlight for lowlight situations? And why for either?

It would seem prudent, to me, your secondary weapon would have a light attached for those "oh-shit" situations as well since most appear to have them on their primary.

Thanks in advance,

Crip

[The Reaper]

Originally Posted by Surgicalcric

QP's:

Given the wide usage of weapons mounted tac-lights on rifles, I was curious as to whether you do/did utilize a tac-light on your secondary weapons as well or do/did you rely on a handheld flashlight for lowlight situations? And why for either?

It would seem prudent, to me, your secondary weapon would have a light attached for those "oh-shit" situations.

Thanks in advance,

Crip

I didn't, till I had the opportunity to play with some and do a little force on force with Simunitions.

Now, if I didn't have one on the pistol while holstered, I would strongly consider packing a compact one like the X200B in my kit as both a pistol weapons light, and also as a general purpose light.

HTH.

TR

[82ndtrooper]

Although I'm not a QP I do have two Surefire Tac-lights that are weapon mounted to pistols. Both the Surefire Nitrolon and a Military series 6 volt with momentary pressure pad illumination and constant On/Off shuttle switch. Both lights are hard duty use and capable of being submeged to 90 ft in water.

For a civillian and home defense there is legal conundrum with the use of a weapon mounted white light instrument. Pitfall number 1: With a weapon mounted white light the muzzle will almost alway's be pointed in the direction of the intended or uninteded target. In most states this is considered assault when the muzzle is pointed at an individual. If my son brings a friend home after a night of drinking and decides to relieve his beer filled blatter in the middle of the night, it's possible to mistake his roaming for an intruder and the use of the weapon mounted light requires the muzzle to be pointed in his or her direction. This can be seen as negligent and or assualt. It's a slippery slope for civillians in a litigious society.

The pros to the weapon mounted light on a pistol are obvious. First, the weapon mounted light allows the use of both hands during a night time intruder scenario. Turning on lights, opening doors, and secondary weapons, if needed. With a separate hand held light, the ease of just opening a door is more cumbersome. The second advantage is having the free hand loose for leashing your home protection dog during your home patrol and control of the dog should you need to restrain him or her when the house is found to be clear or not clear. Police have found a weapon mounted light on a pistol for dog handlers to be necessary during various types of scenarios where the pistol will be drawn from the holster during low light and dark encounters. With a separate hand held light, the dog is obviously not under the owners control without having to leash both the light and the dog to your free hand. This is why I use a wrist leash for the hand held light should I need to walk the halls of the house in an intruder scenario. On the other hand, just turn all lights on in the house hold that are available If power has been cut, then the weapon mounted light or hand held light is your saving grace.

I also have a replacement fore end Surefire tac-light for the Benelli M1 Super 90 with constant on/off switch and momentary illumination pressure pad on the right side of the fore end. This is again the conundrum with having white light mounted to the weapon and civillian use. Use white light sparingly and only if necessary. The white light can become a bullet sponge and give your postition away to the home intruder, just as it would in an aircraft hanger or dark hooch in the military. I have red filter adapters for all the Surefire weapon mounted lights that I own.

Surefire has discontinued their Nitrolon and their Military series lights for pistols and are now only selling the X200 as TR explained. The X200 is also available with the slim line momentary illumination pad for most makes and models of pistols that you may own and including the Beretta 92fs (M9) The X200 is smaller, as powerful, and as durable as the military series and the Nitolon series lights that used to be Surefires staple lights for pistols.

You cant go wrong with the X200 and they do have an rail adapter for the Beretta 92fs (M9) if your duty weapon does not have the new Beretta built in rail (92A2 model)

HTH from the civillian point of view.

[The Reaper]

Deuce, all of that has been covered on other threads.

The question as I understood it was concerning a light on a handgun as a back-up weapon in a military situation as a QP.

You might want to read the question more thoroughly before responding in the future.

Crip, we have been mounting lights on handguns for a long time. As stated above, I recommend them. You also need the training, as noted, to know when to turn the light on and where to point it, as well as when not to. Unless you are cleared hot and are ready to engage, a weapons light is generally not a good search tool. You can use the X200 detached as a handheld, or use a handheld effectively with a handgun, as long as you have both hands free.

TR

[82ndtrooper]

Roger that and Wilco !

[Surgicalcric]

Originally Posted by The Reaper

...The question as I understood it was concerning a light on a handgun as a back-up weapon in a military situation as a QP...

...Crip, we have been mounting lights on handguns for a long time. As stated above, I recommend them. You also need the training, as noted, to know when to turn the light on and where to point it, as well as when not to. Unless you are cleared hot and are ready to engage, a weapons light is generally not a good search tool. You can use the X200 detached as a handheld, or use a handheld effectively with a handgun, as long as you have both hands free.

TR

Thank you Sir.

I was looking for guidance on its employment and whether lights are commonly left mounted to the weapon both day and night or not at all and handheld lights utilized for lowlight target engagement when necessary.

I presume the ROE for a pistol mounted light would be the same as it is for using the light on the M-4 with respect to when and where to point. And as such the task of searching would be performed with a handheld light instead.

Crip

[18C4V]

Crip,
It all depends on what you're doing. Most of the time you're light will be attached for the simple fact that the gun will fall out of the holster without the light attached to it.

Most guys don't have a handheld backup light, unless they are a cop. But on the other hand most of the guys have Petzl headlamps and use them. I have both, sometimes it's better to use the handheld and sometimes it's better with the head lamp.

As for ROE, I think you're getting that confused with LE.

[blue02hd]

I went round and round with an "old timer" on this subject not too long ago. He felt that pistol lights were fadish and gimmicks no true pistol shooter needed. I see things differently having experienced the tactical and psychological effect those Surefire lights provide when in a stressful situation. I can attest to the fact that when an unknown is "lit" with a weapon light, it lowers his/her ability to counter manuever or react. Language barriers are everywhere, but no one can mistake that they are center of attention if they are spotlighted. If your main goes down, having that ability on your secondary will allow you to keep flowing as opposed to going defensive. Secondary effect: it also keys your teammates in on a possible threat or item of interest faster than any verbal command will. I personally swear by pistol light systems while offensive.

Defensive, or driving, not so much, but if your on the aggressive side of the house, that light is nice to have.

"I was looking for guidance on its employment and whether lights are commonly left mounted to the weapon both day and night or not at all and handheld lights utilized for lowlight target engagement when necessary."

IMHO, the less you have to mess with your equipment the better. There will be times when you can tailor your gear for a specific mission, but in most cases, once your system is zeroed, cleaned, and holstered/ slung, the last thing you need to worry about is busting out Allen wrenches. Most teammates I knew left their lights on 24/7.


"Better to have and not need, then need and not have,,,,"

GL in the Course, it's worth it.