Light location question

[tekrsq]

General question here....trying to learn something.

Why do so many people have their flashlights mounted on the side of their barrels ?? I've noticed this on a lot of the AR forums also.

All of our shotguns and AR's at work have the flashlights mounted directly under the barrel. I've shot a couple with the side mounted lights, but don't like it. It casts a weird "side shadow" that to me makes clearing a building/room distracting and dangerous. A couple of the younger guys (fresh out of the military) run side mounted lights, but the majority of us seasoned guys prefer the under barrel lights. I know all about the bad guys returning fire at the light, but that can't be the only reason.

Is this a new trend, or is there something I'm missing ?

[Kentactic]

On a pump shotgun if you do run a light that isn't integrated into the forend you need to have quick access to the button with your thumb. You can't just run around with the light constantly on. So running it under the barrel makes hitting the button difficult. Even with the light side mounted its not ideal. As I brought up earlier an integrated light forend is the best way to go. You can press the pressure pad as needed without adjusting your grip to click a button on and off.

With an AR location of light isn't as important because the forend dosent move so you can run a pressure pad to wherever you hold the rifle from wherever the light is located. You can't have a pressure pad wire running to the forend of a pump shotgun for obvious reasons.

[tekrsq]

On a pump shotgun if you do run a light that isn't integrated into the forend you need to have quick access to the button with your thumb. You can't just run around with the light constantly on. So running it under the barrel makes hitting the button difficult. Even with the light side mounted its not ideal. As I brought up earlier an integrated light forend is the best way to go. You can press the pressure pad as needed without adjusting your grip to click a button on and off.

Agreed.

With an AR location of light isn't as important because the forend dosent move so you can run a pressure pad to wherever you hold the rifle from wherever the light is located. You can't have a pressure pad wire running to the forend of a pump shotgun for obvious reasons.

Don't agree. Some of us run a pressure pad back to our forend. We have Streamlights mounted on our duty weapons, and I have a Sun Optics mounted on my HD weapon. Everyone's setup varies slightly, some have a VFG, some with an AFG, and some with just the issued forend. In my opinion, you have better control over the light use. Also, I don't like having the flashlight mounted all the way back on the forend. That casts a weird shadow also. With the light mounted as far forward as possible, it reduces weird shadows (although it does make the gun a little heavier). I've been running pressure pads for several years on pump action guns without any issues. JMHO.

[Kentactic]

You have the pigtail wire flopping around on the shotgun? I can't imagine it would survive running through one bush. Its begging to be ripped off on anything and everything. Plus its not meant to be stretched thousands of times as you run the action. Its going to break at the worst possible time.

I do agree that mounting the light as far forward as possible is the way to go.

[tekrsq]

You're probably right if I was running through brush on a regular basis, but so far that has only happened a few times (at work) and luckily didn't have any issues. I work inner-city, not a lot of brush.

The streamlight on my duty weapon is several years old. It was actually recycled from another officer's gun because he wanted a new one. The pressure switch is something that was custom made by one of the dept. armors before he retired several years ago. I have no idea how many rounds have been put across that light, but so far it's holding up. Everything gets inspected 2x/yr by the armors. But you're probably right, it'll probably fail when I need it most.

The Sun Optics pigtail fits pretty tight against the forend on my HD weapon, so hopefully it won't stretch too much and become an issue. Time will tell.

I think it's very interesting (and educational) looking at how everyone has their guns setup, how they're used, and how everybody has different preferences on shooting styles. I probably should've joined some forums years ago, but I never considered myself a gun nut. I just used what they gave me. But all the coffee table talk with the "new guys" got me thinking I should expand my horizons a little..lol.

[DaveC]

I do know that some older/earlier 90-ish tactical instructors wanted the weapon light put on the right side of the shotgun for what they named/termed "roll outs" from cover to observation of a room or hallway or other enclosed space...

My first weapon light just had a push button on the back. It was mounted to the left side for the only reason so that I could use my forefinger or thumb on the pump-hand [my left hand] to momentarily switch it on or off, or just briefly light up a corner of a room. Eventually, I decided it stuck out a bit too much for my taste and that it might snag on furnishings, book cases, door knobs, what-have-you inside an enclosed room. So I went with an EOTech IFL forend. The light is just 120 lumens, but that is fine for my purposes. Also, it has too many "features" for me, like strobe-light capability--"Hey everyone, welcome to my DISCO!"

I like it, although the hand stop will bite ya, if you are not careful. For me it is a good piece of equipment.

[Synchronizor]

I can think of a number of reasons why side-mounted flashlights tend to be popular on pump guns. For flashlights with tail cap buttons, this puts the button within comfortable reach of the fore-end hand. Remote pressure pads or switches are possible, but as others have stated, this adds more things to break or fail even on firearms where the fore-end doesn't cycle back and forth between each shot. Also, when using a clamp, a side placement tends to be more streamlined than hanging the flashlight under the gun, and the light can more readily be clamped to both the barrel and the magazine tube for added security and durability.

The barrel and magazine tube may block some of the beam as you said, but with the 18 - 18.5" barrels that are most frequently used on HD builds, the flashlight can usually be placed close enough to the muzzle to minimize the issue. Also, good long gun tactics for HD usually center around taking a defensible position and letting an intruder come to you. In that situation, lighting up an entire room is not as important as lighting up your bedroom door. Room clearing is usually not a wise thing to do unprepared and without backup, and even if it is necessary, a handgun is a much better tool for the job.

Like a lot of things, where you put your light is part preference, and part role-specific considerations. Personal factors aside, home defense and LE duty roles are not as similar as many imagine, and a good build for one won't always be optimal for the other.

[tekrsq]

Like a lot of things, where you put your light is part preference, and part role-specific considerations. Personal factors aside, home defense and LE duty roles are not as similar as many imagine, and a good build for one won't always be optimal for the other.

Very true. However, most of my weapons are fashioned after what I'm trained/ accustomed to working with....train like you fight, fight like you train.

[Mcmar]

I have a pump and I certainly have a remote light switch located on my forend where I normally place my tumb. Works great for me. No tangled wire issues, etc.

[Zebra62]

I have my light mounted on the side because the shotgun won't fit into the rack with it mounted on the bottom. It works well enough for me on the side and provides easy access to the tail switch.

My light is an inexpensive LED from Ms. Carita (They sell transportation safety equipment - bright vests, hard hats, gloves, flags etc...). We received a case of a hundred of these things as a promo and everybody in the store got one to take home and we gave the rest away to customers. It's machined aluminum with 1 inch body diameter, 3xAAA battteries, 9 LED lights producing about 100 lumins. Only drawback is it is anodized blue so it sticks out like a sore thumb. I have it held on by the old "incorrect" sling clamp I had leftover from when I put the mag extension on Gypsy's 20 gauge.

I've put a hundred rounds or so downrange since mounting the light and it still works, so I'm going to call it a good fix. I'm sure it will eventually fail somewhere down the line and if uncle Murphy has anything to do with it, it will fail when I need it the most. But, that goes with anything.