Flashlight for Handgun

[jugmax]

Looking for a flaslight to mount on a semi auto pistol for home defense(nightstand gun)want one at decent price,mounts on rail,and is there one out there that stays on stand-by until I use the pressure switch without running the batteries down....Any help is great....

[John R.]

I use  Streamlight TLR-1 on my Springfield XD45. It cost about a $100.00 and works great.

[Mikey]

jug:  think this - guns don't need light to shoot, we do.... flashlights are only good if the power is out.  If you need to grab a gun you will already know if you have power, and lights - a bad guys worst nightmare (er, lightmare???) - and you are home, turn on the darn lights - you know the layout of your home, he doesn't.  A gun mounted flashlight makes you a target in a dark room with places for a bad guy to hide and both hinders and limits your visibility.  If you need emergency light get one of those huge billion candlewatt hand-held white light night killer monsters, light up the whole room, blind his a.., ooops, eyeballs and steady yer aim son..........the rest is up to yew.........

Truth is that when you mount a rail to your gun you add weight and a night light also adds weight and this adds to fatigue and adds stress.  You stick the thing as far out in front of you as you can to see better and you become the immediate target.  Know the layout of the house and your light switches and get a monster light - might even weigh less than the light and rail mount set up......just a thought.   Flashlights work in two ways - strong beam longer distance less peripheral light or weaker beam shorter distance greater peripheral light; shadows could be children, pets, visiting in-laws, bad guy(s), or your wife's old furniture that you never liked.  Light it up, totally!  You will see much better and that should help you, not he/she or them.  Just a thought. 

[Savage]

Starting to think Mikey may not be a fan of weapons mounted lights! I like them for a couple of reasons: They allow you to operate both the light and the pistol with one hand. Never know when that spare paw will come in handy! Opening doors, manipulating those light switches Mikey mentioned, opening a door, dialing a phone, even fixing a PB&J sandwich. They also virtually guarantee that your muzzle will be pointed where you're looking, (Third Eye Principal) I wouldn't want one on a concealed pistol, but think they are a great idea on a nightstand pistol. (I keep a Streamlight Stinger there also). For that application, I have not found the few extra ounces to be a problem. At gunshows, I have seen LED models for as little as $20. I'd go ahead and spring for the $80-$100 Xenon models as they are much brighter. They are generally as bright as most reasonable size hand held flashlights. The run time on these Xenon models is supposed to be about an hour. The Lithium batteries have a 10 yr shelf life, so if you don't use it much they last a long time. The LED models have about twice the run time.
Savage

[kiddekop]

jug:  think this - guns don't need light to shoot, we do.... flashlights are only good if the power is out.  If you need to grab a gun you will already know if you have power, and lights - a bad guys worst nightmare (er, lightmare???) - and you are home, turn on the darn lights - you know the layout of your home, he doesn't.  A gun mounted flashlight makes you a target in a dark room with places for a bad guy to hide and both hinders and limits your visibility.  If you need emergency light get one of those huge billion candlewatt hand-held white light night killer monsters, light up the whole room, blind his a.., ooops, eyeballs and steady yer aim son..........the rest is up to yew.........

Truth is that when you mount a rail to your gun you add weight and a night light also adds weight and this adds to fatigue and adds stress.  You stick the thing as far out in front of you as you can to see better and you become the immediate target.  Know the layout of the house and your light switches and get a monster light - might even weigh less than the light and rail mount set up......just a thought.   Flashlights work in two ways - strong beam longer distance less peripheral light or weaker beam shorter distance greater peripheral light; shadows could be children, pets, visiting in-laws, bad guy(s), or your wife's old furniture that you never liked.  Light it up, totally!  You will see much better and that should help you, not he/she or them.  Just a thought. 

I agree there are other view points about using a light.  I was in LE at that time  when I engaged in a conversation with a LE exhibitor at a Las Vegas SHOT  show who was selling high intensity lights to attach to a handgun,my position was to hold the light away from my body so I wouldn't become a victim while confronting an armed perp if he targeted the light ,the exhibitor accepted my point.

[Savage]

Yeah, I was introduced to the old "Hold the light at arm's length out to the Side" and the "Roll it across the floor" to illuminate the room techniques. Never mind that you are illuminated in the light spill with the first, and have lost your light with the second. A weapon mounted light requires a different technique. There's a bit more to it, but basically it's : Illuminate, move, shoot as required. There is no "Good" way to clear a structure without some risk. The hunter is at a disadvantage to the hunted. It's usually better to stay put and let an aggressor come to you. I have never done a building search where I felt a weapons light would have been a disadvantage. I have done some where I ended up with a subject at gunpoint with a light in one hand and my pistol in the other! Extremely awkward to use a radio/phone, or secure the subject. Just my experience and opinion. Yours my differ. Either way, good luck!
Savage

[slim rem 7]

  just thinking if i was the badguy ,an willing to carry a situation out the end win or lose..that flashlight might help me out a lot..
  on the other hand do you have anybody that might think it was alright to slip in quietly so as not to wake you so they could go to bed..
that oughta be prearranged but is not always..gotta think when you using these guns.. getting shot wouldn t be the worst thing for me . shooting one o my children would be the worst i can imagine..jmo

[Savage]

Going on the hunt for an intruder should only be done when someone is in imminent danger. The wise move is to bunker down, dial 911, and wait in ambush while keeping the phone line open. To clear a structure properly, requires three persons. Two is an absolute minimum. BUT, should one HAVE to go on the hunt, it's a good idea to identify what you are shooting. As most of us don't have night vision gear readily available, that means flashlight. Most of us know our homes well enough to navigate in the dark. Moving quietly, and listening at least twice as much as moving is a good rule of thumb. When the subject is located, then the flashlight is employed. My kids are grown and do not reside with me. If they did, some sort of special arrangement would have to be made. No one wants to take the life of another, but I have to assume if someone enters my locked house uninvited, they are not selling girl scout cookies. They should be dealt with accordingly.
Savage