SMALL Weapon Lights for AR15 Pistols / SBRs

[Emptymag]

Did you see this post.. maybe something you can use?


http://forum.pafoa.org/showthread.php?t=352238

Yeah. Looks like I sent him a pm about the same time you posted that. Ha!

Even if I don't end up using it for one gun, I have 2 others I will eventually add lights to and I'm sure it can be made to work with one of them.

[Emptymag]

In researching Elzetta lights as suggested by a forum member, I ran across this video which almost exactly addresses one of my biggest gripes with so many lights out there - they have too many options and too much dicking around to get to the mode you want.
I want something very basic - momentary, on, and possibly low/high.
I do see some good lights do have the ability to program the light to only give you the functions you want, but most don't.

The first two minutes of this video are exactly what I had in mind when considering light options...




This is the model I would choose if going with Elzetta.
https://www.elzetta.com/product/A113/

[Emptymag]

I just realized I have 34 tabs open JUST related to weapon lights. LOL!

I'm pretty sure I over think... EVERYTHING before buying.

[ar15jules]

Or I could just start shooting and use the muzzle flash to see!

Seriously though. I took a three day night fire instructor level course and day two was running shoulder fired weapons with a handheld flashlight. It is a viable option.

[Emptymag]

Seriously though. I took a three day night fire instructor level course and day two was running shoulder fired weapons with a handheld flashlight. It is a viable option.

I guess it would be similar to using a light in your hand while using a handgun.
I just picked up a carbine to give it a try and while knowing nothing about what techniques you used, could quickly come up with a few ways to do it.

[Hodgie]

There plenty of good affordable lights out there especially with Black Friday coming up to get yourself a decent weapon mounted light as well as a decent EDC light. While it's obviously possible to run a carbine one handed why would you want to unless you had to?

I definitely feel like you have gone into the over thinking this zone.

[Emptymag]

Life lesson/tip:
When you buy a flashlight, find a place on the light to write down what the lumens it's rated at.
Once you throw away the packaging, you'll have a way to have that info in the future.
I have a bunch of cheap lights around the house. The most recent one I bought, I wrote the lumens on the battery holder that slides into the light. It came in handy just now for visually referencing what "300 lumens" actually looks like.

I don't have a clue what lumens any of the other lights are, so they do me no good in terms of using them to determine if a certain lumen rated light would be better or worse..

[ar15jules]

I guess it would be similar to using a light in your hand while using a handgun.
I just picked up a carbine to give it a try and while knowing nothing about what techniques you used, could quickly come up with a few ways to do it.

If you are running a light that has a pressure switch near the bulb and lens, then you can almost obtain a "normal" grip on the rifle and actuate the light with your flashlight hand thumb. I was using a small Streamlight Protac 2L with the switch on the tail cap. I used a "Harries" style hold. If you aren't familiar, it is the one with the handgun where you pass your light under your dominant side arm and place your flashlight wielding wrist up to apply pressure on your dominant wrist. With a good sling, I found this to be really comfortable for longer periods of time. Remember, you won't need to pinpoint light on a possible threat to see it depending on the output of your light. Bouncing light off the wall, floor or ceiling may be enough to illuminate more than sufficiently. It is ALWAYS better to shine the light DIRECTLY at a threat. It will take some practice though. Any amount of lumens shined directly into the eyes in the dark will surely interrupt an adversaries OODA loop. (if you are super tacticool you will know what this means without looking it up) Simple terms, it will blind him for a second and he will have to reevaluate what he is going to do. Even if you decide to mount a light, which obviously is the preferred method, flashlights shit the bed from time to time because of batteries or defects. Being able to do it with a handheld just makes good sense. As a side note, a guy that was training with us bought and brought to class a knockoff In Force like the one pictured on page one of this thread. He bought it from Amazon for forty bucks or so. He wanted to test it out. I can't speak for longevity, but it survived a three day course and close to a thousand rounds down range and his expensive In Force wasn't getting pounded off of barricades or rubbing on the concrete floor.

[RenoV8]

Life lesson/tip:
I have a bunch of cheap lights around the house. The most recent one I bought, I wrote the lumens on the battery holder that slides into the light. It came in handy just now for visually referencing what "300 lumens" actually looks like.

If you buy cheap, you will eventually realize what cheap is. I think you need to focus on a quality light, that will give you years of service, rather than ending up in the "cheap light around the house" drawer.

Buy once, cry once...you end up spending more on cheap repeatedly, rather than on quality once.

Maybe a head lamp should be considered...look where you aim and all that crap...

[Emptymag]

I'm not finding any good lights that are SMALL.

I would have thought that with the boom in popularity of pistols/SBRs, that someone would have developed a light more suitable to short handguards.
Maybe it's because most "serious" SBR people use 10.5" which is better able to accommodate lights built for carbines?

With the 7" ATLAS handguard, I'm limited by the length as well as the overall shape/lack of top rail, and MLOK positions.

If I put a larger light on the right, I think I'll be forced to use a pressure switch on the left to activate with my thumb. I don't really WANT a pressure switch due to limited mounting spots (one) and because I don't like "extra crap" when not needed.

A tail cap switch WILL work on the left - activated by thumb - and won't be in the way - IF IT IS SHORT - like 3.5"-4" max.

All the short ones I find are not "weapon lights", so I dunno if they could withstand the recoil.

I'm at the point of accepting that I'll have to pay for what I want - I just can't find what I need.