Pistol light out past the muzzle?

[5whiskey]

No, not normally. Finding a holster for your particular pistol/WML combination can sometimes be a problem, though.

What @wally said: The possible advantage, granted for unlikely scenarios, is that the WML (absolutely has to be securely mounted, they can loosen up) can conceivably be used as a "stand-off" if one has to deploy the pistol against the body of an assailant -- and could actually prevent failure to return to battery as would happen if the muzzle were against the body. When my last employer started equipping us with WMLs (we began with Streamlight TLR-1s, the old ones, not the excellent HL high-lumen editions), we actually incorporated this into our firearms training when we covered the issue of having to go hands-on...

Which is why I am personally a fan of X300s extending past the muzzle. We are issued the compact TLR-1s on Glock 45s currently, and they sit flush with the muzzle. Im not a fan. Not only are they weak, I like having that standoff for contact distances on a duty pistol. My personal recommendation for nightstand pistols is they should be duty sized.

Now if we discuss CC pistols with WMLs, the decision matrix changes significantly. I probably am looking atna micro TLR-6 then.

 

[Old Dog]

I'm just gonna concur with what @5whiskey said above. My current (for the past three years or so) nightstand pistols - 15+1 in .45 ACP, 20+1 in 9mm. And the wife is great shooter, who is very calm under pressure. Come on in! (yeah, you probably won't get past the German Shepherd or the Belgian Malinois anyway, though)

 

[Miami_JBT]

Complete noob question... I know, but I am not familiar with lights on firearms at all....

I've just picked up a Kahr TP9... with the rail under the frame. I'd like to make this my nightstand gun... and have a light on the way, a Streamlight TLR-1 HL. It's a fairly big light... I expect it to extend past the muzzle. Is this a problem?

You're fine.



If that worked decades ago with no issues, it'll work today. All that happens is a little bit of carbon scoring gets on the bezel and needs to be cleaned.

 

[Shawn Dodson]

Yeah that's they way I used to believe until I tried one for my outside at night hunting weapons. Trying to hold the light and getting a bead on the hogs was problematic. Still handheld the old school way of training in the house as it my EDC and no lights on my EDC. To each his own though,,,

The Harries technique works quite well. I've used it since the 1980s. See - https://michaelharries.com/harries-flashlight-technique/

Also, the neck index technique illuminates both your sights and your target - no night sights needed.

 

[Shawn Dodson]

No, not normally. Finding a holster for your particular pistol/WML combination can sometimes be a problem, though.

What @wally said: The possible advantage, granted for unlikely scenarios, is that the WML (absolutely has to be securely mounted, they can loosen up) can conceivably be used as a "stand-off" if one has to deploy the pistol against the body of an assailant -- and could actually prevent failure to return to battery as would happen if the muzzle were against the body. When my last employer started equipping us with WMLs (we began with Streamlight TLR-1s, the old ones, not the excellent HL high-lumen editions), we actually incorporated this into our firearms training when we covered the issue of having to go hands-on...

Attempting trying to press the muzzle into an aggressor's body is the recipe for having to fight to maintain control over your gun.

Always shoot from retention position at contact distance.

 

[Shawn Dodson]

WML AND handheld lights require proper training during low light range time. There is no substitute.

No formal training is necessary.

Just buy the light and attach it to your gun. Then watch a couple Youtube videos.

I mean, how hard can it be to use a WML under stress?

 

[Old Dog]

Attempting trying to press the muzzle into an aggressor's body is the recipe for having to fight to maintain control over your gun.

No one, including myself, has suggested that one should actively try to press the muzzle of one's pistol into an aggressor's body. I (and another poster) merely brought this up as one possible advantage (note how I used the term "conceivably") to having the WML extend past the muzzle.

Always shoot from retention position at contact distance.

Thank you (I almost want to say "Captain Obvious"), for suggesting the optimal route to take. That is how we train. But, if one has to go hands-on and lethal force subsequently becomes indicated, one might not have that opportunity. I can't remember any of the use-of-force incidents in which I was involved over the years that went exactly the way I wanted them to go, and too rarely the way I'd trained for... I speak only from having had occasion to go hands-on in a few sub-optimal situations.

 

[JDeere]

The Harries technique works quite well. I've used it since the 1980s. See - https://michaelharries.com/harries-flashlight-technique/

That don't work with an AR was my point about hog hunting. need 2 hands to shoot the rifle well at 75 or 100yds...

 

[JDeere]

No formal training is necessary.

Just buy the light and attach it to your gun. Then watch a couple Youtube videos.

I mean, how hard can it be to use a WML under stress?

Yep just trust your life to Youtube, how hard can it be...Kidding right? Youtube seems to have an answer for many things these days...

 

[Charlie98]

No formal training is necessary.

Just buy the light and attach it to your gun. Then watch a couple Youtube videos.

I mean, how hard can it be to use a WML under stress?

Although I appreciate your input, I found these last comments bordering on absurd... unless you are being sarcastic. Training and drilling with your carry piece... whether you carry one for your job (LE, etc...) or one in a defensive role (CCW)... is the only thing that's going to help you at the Moment of Truth. Most of the stuff on YT is trash, in much the same manner as watching a TV crime show for instruction on how to handle your weapon.

I've been to the range with my pistol once, already. Because I have long fingers, and I don't put my booger hook on the trigger until it's time to pull the trigger, I found the light switch DOES get in the way, and I inadvertently turned it on a few times when I didn't want to. No, I don't think 'formal training' is necessary, but I'm darned sure going to be working with it, both at the range, and dry fire.

Yep just trust your life to Youtube, how hard can it be...Kidding right? Youtube seems to have an answer for many things these days...

I saw it on the internet, so it must be true, right?

 

[Shawn Dodson]

That don't work with an AR was my point about hog hunting. need 2 hands to shoot the rifle well at 75 or 100yds...

Well... this is the Handgun Accessories forum, not the Long Gun Accessories forum.

 

[Shawn Dodson]

Thank you (I almost want to say "Captain Obvious"), for suggesting the optimal route to take. That is how we train. But, if one has to go hands-on and lethal force subsequently becomes indicated, one might not have that opportunity. I can't remember any of the use-of-force incidents in which I was involved over the years that went exactly the way I wanted them to go, and too rarely the way I'd trained for... I speak only from having had occasion to go hands-on in a few sub-optimal situations.

99 percent of folks here probably have never been in a fist fight or grappling fight, and many have never had any formal defensive pistol training.

 

[Shawn Dodson]

Although I appreciate your input, I found these last comments bordering on absurd... unless you are being sarcastic.

Yes, I'm being sarcastic in that post.

If one intends to use a WML then one is obligated to seek competent professional training with that piece of equipment, because, under stress in a fight, there's this thing called "task saturation" that can lead one to press the trigger instead of pressing the light switch, or pointing one's gun at innocent people when using the light.

 

[Charlie98]

Yes, I'm being sarcastic in that post.

I had to ask... I've seen people say some silly things... and they weren't being sarcastic. I'm probably guilty of that now and then, too...

under stress in a fight,

I have had some limited training in a variety of techniques, what I've drawn from all of that is... at what I call the Moment of Truth, the only thing that will keep you alive is what you have trained yourself to do, with repetition. It's one of the reasons I went with a carry pistol with no safety. Stress does a lot of things to a body... very few of them good.

 

[Shawn Dodson]

Some real good training with Craig Douglas of Shivworks:

What is an ECQC?

Extreme Close Quarter ConceptsThe "flagship" two-and-a-half-day course offers a multi-disciplinary approach to building functional, combative handgun skills ...

www.youtube.com

 

[JDeere]

Well... this is the Handgun Accessories forum, not the Long Gun Accessories forum.

Well OK Hoss...